Monthly Archives: October 2013

Day 284: The power of Purpose

Job 20-21; Philippians 1

I love Philippians. From our reading in Acts, I feel like I know the church well, and the book is especially meaningful knowing that Paul wrote it during his house-arrest in Rome…described in the closing chapter of Acts.

Philippians is hopeful and full of joy. Paul sees a greater purpose for his imprisonment and suffering; consequently, he can rejoice. The contrast to Job is stark. Job doesn’t have the written word of God to give him hope in the midst of immense suffering.

In today’s reading, Job asks some tough questions…Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer (Job 21:7-15)? Why do the wicked seem to go unpunished (Job 21:17-21)? What is the purpose of following God if both the righteous and the wicked die in the end (Job 21:22-26)?

Job doesn’t have God’s written word for encouragement. Job is left in despair because he sees no purpose for his pain.

Paul, on the other hand, knows the ways of the Kingdom…that this life is not the end, that at the end of the age, ALL will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and the wicked will be punished and the righteous will have their reward. Paul knows that suffering in this life will not compare to the glory of our eternal home (2 Corinthians 4:17)!

Like Job, Paul also wants to escape his suffering through death…but for a far different reason!! Paul knows that he will see Christ!

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account (Philippians 1:21-24).

Paul has a purpose that helps him endure the suffering. His purpose is to further the gospel, equip the churches and bring glory to God. Job is crushed under the weight of his suffering because he sees no purpose. And his friends’ false ideas about God and judgment in this life only serve to increase the weight of his burden (Job 20).

If you are suffering, do you suffer in hope or despair? Seek God’s comfort in the truths of His word. There is a good and loving purpose for your pain! Look to Christ and find hope!

Day 283: The weapon of Truth

Job 18-19; Ephesians 6:10-24

Yesterday’s reading in Job marked the beginning of another round of “speeches” from Job’s “friends.” Eliphaz spoke in Job 15, and it’s Bildad’s turn in Job 18. Both men continue their assault on Job – accusing him of being wicked, vile and corrupt (Job 15:16; 18:5).

Job laments in Job 19:13-20 that he is utterly alone – that everyone has abandoned him. And Job still struggles with the false notion that God has rejected him in anger (Job 19:11)…

BUT.

There are hints of hope in Job’s laments. The first we find in Job 16:19-21, “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.” This hint of hope is stronger in Job 19…

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me (Job 19:27)!

Oh, this is the grace of God!! That Job could lift his eyes and find a glimmer of hope – a truth to sustain him. The Lord has upheld Job (Psalm 37:24). He has given him hope. And because Job continues to find his only hope in the Lord, Satan has been defeated!!

Job didn’t know that his true adversary was Satan!

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Ephesians 6 instructs us how to stand against Satan’s schemes. We are to put on “the whole armor of God.” Everything in this armor is held together by the “belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14).

Truth was Job’s defense against Satan’s attack and it is our defense as well. We are to remember God’s truth… that He loves us and is Sovereign and Good. The righteousness we receive from Christ shields our hearts (6:14). Our faith in God’s truth is what extinguishes Satan’s attacks (6:16). And our salvation protects our minds from believing a false gospel (6:17). Our only offensive weapon against Satan is God’s word (6:17), which is…TRUTH. Satan is the father of lies. Truth is both our protection and weapon against him.

I pray God’s truth becomes as precious to me as my very life. So that I might say with Moses, “They are just not idle words for you – they are your life!” (Deut. 32:47).

Day 282: Mutual submission

Job 15-17; Ephesians 5:1-6:9

Be controlled by the Spirit. This is the heart of Ephesians 5.

Years ago, as a recent college graduate, I attended a small church that was filled with families. In fact, I was the only single person in the church (other than a few widows). The pastor had a passion for building up families and encouraging marriages. The years I spent under this wise pastor’s teaching has greatly benefitted my marriage!

I still remember him preaching on this passage in Ephesians 5. Surprisingly, he didn’t focus as heavily on the verses that deal directly with marriage (5:22-33), but rather emphasized Ephesians 5:18: “Be filled with the Spirit.” And then he gave the line that I have written down in my old bible, “I’ll tell you where it’s hard to walk in the Spirit…in Marriage!”

There is much controversy about the command for wives to “submit” to their husbands (5:22). Listen. God designed marriage to model the trinity. There is mutual submission within the trinity as each member has equal value but diverse function. Seriously…do we expect marriages to thrive if both halves are given the same function? That’s just silly. Marriage is a team effort, and typically that means each member has a unique role to fill.

For husbands, they are to love their wives (5:25). Now wives are supposed to love their husbands too, but what husbands cherish more than love is respect. So how fitting that wives are commanded to respect their husbands (5:33)! If both parties fulfill their roles well, as God designed, then submission becomes a non-issue – ESPECIALLY since the command for wives to submit to their husbands is given in the context of mutual submission…

Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:19-21).

The concept of submission extends beyond marriage and is expected in other relationships as well. Paul addresses parent/child relationships (6:1-4) and “master/bondservant” (or more modernly speaking), employee/employer relationships (6:5-9).

Why is submission such a big deal? We submit out of reverence for Christ (5:21)! Afterall, he is the model of submission! There is no shame in submission – especially when it is emulating the life of our Savior!

Day 281: Comfort in the church

Job 13-14; Ephesians 4

In Ephesians 3, Paul revealed a “mystery” (3:4-6). This mystery is the church where Jews and Gentiles can co-exist in peace.

In Ephesians 4, Paul expands upon this concept of “church” and gives all sorts of practical ways to improve church life…

  • Be humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love (4:2),
  • Keep the unity of peace (4:3),
  • Exercise spiritual gifts for the building up of the body (4:11-12),
  • Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor (4:25),
  • In your anger, do not sin (4:26), and
  • Earn an honest wage so that you might have something to share with those in need (4:28).

And finally,

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29, NIV).

So what do we do when we encounter the depth of suffering that Job experienced in our own churches? Job is in utter despair because not only has he lost everyone and everything dear to him (apart from his wife)… he also thinks he has lost God’s favor. He doesn’t understand why God would strike him with such hardship, so he assumes that God has turned on him. The assumed loss of God’s favor is so devastating to Job that he longs for death – but fears the lack of renewal and the loneliness of death without God (Job 14:12; 18-22).

We have the privilege of knowing why Job is suffering. We hear the heavenly conversation between God and Satan where God repeats twice, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8; 2:3). We know that Job is suffering to prove to Satan that one can love God even when all the blessings are removed (Job 1:9-11). Job’s suffering has a higher purpose that he cannot see.

And even though we can’t know for sure why people within our churches suffer – or why we, ourselves, suffer, we can apply the principles of Ephesians 4 to these relationships. We can be gentle and bear with one another in love. We can speak truthfully and serve the church in ways that builds it up, instead of tearing it down. We can use our words in ways that build each other up according to their needs that it may be a benefit and not a curse.

I pray that no one in our churches has to endure the hardships of Job… suffering, alone, without a friend to offer the truths of the gospel. May we be a friend to the suffering. May we comfort the “Jobs” in our midst.

Day 280: The God of all Comfort

Job 11-12; Ephesians 2-3

In many ways, the book of Job teaches us how to comfort those who are experiencing great suffering, specifically by NOT following the example of Job’s friends!

We read Zophar’s, “comfort” in Job 11, and it is filled with rude accusations that Job is foolish to claim he is blameless, and that if Job would just repent, his life would be all hunky-dory again. Humph.

On so many levels, Job’s friends say the most horrible things. They are judgmental of Job and presumptuous of God.

We don’t have the power of God to judge a man’s heart! We have no idea if the suffering is because of sin or not. And moreover, our sins have been forgiven!! Listen to what Frankie Bennett writes in her bible study on Job…

God may prune me (John 15:1-5), discipline me as His child (Hebrews 12:7-11), test me (Job 1-2), or have any number of other purposes for my trials, but I need never again wonder if my sufferings are His retribution for old sins or His condemnation of my failure to achieve perfection (Job, Lessons in Comfort, Frances Bennett, CEP, 2009, pg 46). 

This is the gospel! That all of our sins have been forgiven! That Christ took the punishment we deserved and God’s wrath has been satisfied. It is finished. No more punishment. We are accepted!

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

This is where comfort is found…in the grace of God. God’s comfort is deep and profound. It makes it way deep into our hearts and assures us that we are loved and accepted. In fact, his love is so vast that we need the Spirit’s help to understand it!! I’ve prayed Paul’s prayer at the end of Ephesians 3 so many times… for myself and for others who need the strength of God’s comfort…

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Now that’s comfort! The kind of comfort that seeps into your bones and quenches your thirsty soul. That’s the power of truth, offered graciously in love.

Day 279: The value of Truth

Job 8-10; Ephesians 1

Job needed Ephesians 1. Seriously.. he desperately needed the truth found in Ephesians 1.

For Job misinterpreted his sufferings and chose to believe that God was angry with him. Job feared that God’s anger would cause him more and more pain…

And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion
and again work wonders against me.
You renew your witnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
you bring fresh troops against me (Job 10:16-17).

Job’s friends were no help. In fact, they should be lifted up as an example of what not to do when someone you know is suffering. Today, in Job 8, Bildad theorized that Job’s children were destroyed because of their sin (8:4), and that God had rejected Job because he was not blameless (8:20). Encouraging, eh? But even more damaging, Bildad’s words were just not true!

What Job needs is truth. Healing, refreshing words of truth to pour over the bitterness of his heart. He needs the truths found in Ephesians 1….

That before the creation of the world, God chose us to be adopted as his children. And because of His great Love for us, we have been redeemed and forgiven.

Job longs for an arbitrator to stand between him and God (Job 9:32-33). He needs to know that Christ is our mediator! That God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus on the cross… that his wrath has been satisfied – that we are not to fear His anger.

Job needs…

the Spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of God…He needs to have the eyes of his heart enlightened, that he may know what is the hope to which God has called him, what are the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints (adapted from Ephesians 1:17-18).

How thankful I am to have God’s word to guide me when trials strike! God will reveal Himself to Job in time, but for now, Job’s thoughts about God’s purposes and plans are distorted. Consequently, he is left hopeless, despairing for his life. He needs truth. He needs Christ!

Day 278: The “Who” outshines the “why”

Job 4-7

The first of Job’s three friends speaks in Job 4-5. It would have been much better if all three of them would have just kept silent (as they did in Job 2)!

Eliphaz clearly believes in God and understands glimpses of God’s character. I’m sure he means well, but his words are filled with false assumptions and presumptuous claims. But most damaging, he places his own observations and dreams above the truth of God’s word.

For example, in Job 4:7-11, Eliphaz makes sweeping generalizations when he says that the innocent never suffer – only the evil are destroyed. Later he presumes that God is “disciplining” Job (5:17-18) and promises that God will restore all of Job’s blessings if Job learns from the Lord’s reproof. Eliphaz even goes so far as to suggest that Job is a “fool” (5:2-6)!

Poor Job. He has lost everything, and now he must deal with disappointment in his friends (Job 6:14-21).

But the hardest thing that Job has lost is his belief that God loves him.

The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me (Job 6:4, NIV).

Ironically, it is because of God’s great love for Job that God has entrusted him with this trial! Satan suggested that Job’s love for God was really just love for his blessings – not for God, Himself. So God has entrusted his beloved Job to stand firm in this test to prove to Satan that God, alone, is worthy of our love.

And Job’s only comfort through this trial is that he has not “denied the Holy One” (Job 6:10).

So even though Job has sunk into complete despair and is devoid of all hope, he is standing firm in his faith in God. Satan has not won!

But here’s where I relate to Job the most… Job magnifies his pain because he seeks to know the “why” behind the suffering. How many of us have echoed Job’s question to God in the midst of suffering?? “Why me, Oh Lord??!!”

Why have you made me your target? (Job 7:21)

In Frances Bennett’s bible study on Job, (Job, Lessons in Comfort; CEP, 2009), she asserts that we must not seek after the “why” of suffering but the “Who.” She writes, “God teaches from Genesis to Revelation that all we really need to know is Who.”

Job has temporarily misunderstood God. He has assumed that God doesn’t love and care about him. This false belief has led him into hopeless despair. He needs to remember Who God is – and then the why of suffering will fade in the splendor of God’s character!

*Anything I’ve written about these chapters in Job, I have learned from Frances Bennett’s excellent teaching in her bible study on Job. I highly recommend her to you: Job, Lessons in Comfort.

Day 277: God of all Comfort

Job 1-3; Galatians 6

For my sighing comes instead of my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water (Job 3:24).

This, friends, is grief. Job has lost everything.

When he lost his possessions and children, he said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

When he lost his health, he said, “Shall we receive good from God and not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).

But now, after time has settled in, and the reality of his loss becomes heavier, Job curses the day he was born (Job 3:3).

This was it. This was all he could bear. And Satan waited – and watched – and hoped that he had taken away the thing Job cherished more than God.*

But that was impossible, because Job loved God above all else. And because of Job’s love for God, the thought that God, Himself, might have forsaken him… well this was Job’s hardest trial.

For Job didn’t suffer because of his sin. And Job didn’t suffer because of someone else’s sin. He suffered to prove his loyalty to God.

How do we reconcile God’s goodness with the heavenly conversations recorded in Job 1 & 2? How does Job wrestle with these same doubts? This is the crux of Job.

But sprinkled through Job’s test of faith in God’s goodness are lessons in comfort. The word “comfort” finds its roots in the Latin words meaning “with strength.” So we must not mistake comfort for removing the pain. Sometimes the best comfort comes from finding truth in the midst of the pain. For instance, God knew Job’s limits. And he refused to let Satan overstep those limits. This is a comforting truth. Job’s friends come and sit in comforting silence (Job 2:11-13). Even Job offers comfort to his wife, in the form of a gentle rebuke (Job 2:9-10). But ultimately, it is Job’s hope in God that provides him the most comfort (Job 3:23).

Paul, in his final words to the Galatians, gives specific ways to comfort those around us who are suffering…

restore him in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1).
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).
let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).

Do you see God’s comfort in the pages of Job? I do. I am comforted that God limited Job’s afflictions. I am comforted that God gave room for Job to grieve. I am comforted that all suffering doesn’t come from sin – but that my response in the midst of it could thwart the plans of Satan and bring glory to God! I’m comforted that God had a purpose for Job’s suffering that transcended Job’s lifetime and ripples into our hearts today. I’m comforted by God’s sovereignty, his authority over evil, and yes, His goodness. For even in the midst of suffering, God is still good.

*Job, Lessons in Comfort, by Frances Poston Bennett, pg 24

Day 276: Take the high-road

Esther 7-10; Galatians 5

Esther concludes in dramatic fashion as she reveals Haman’s evil plot to destroy the Jews to the king. One of my favorite aspects of this story is how the foolishness of evil is revealed – especially in the ironic relationship between Haman and Mordecai. In the end, evil is defeated in the most humiliating of ways – as all of Haman’s evil plans come back on him!

But let’s turn our attention to Galatians 5, where Paul is continuing to persuade the Gentile Christians to not look to the law for salvation…

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. […] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love (Galatians 5:2; 6).

And then Paul clarifies himself…

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

Paul then paints a vivid picture of how to live by faith. He instructs the Gentile Christians in Galatia to walk in the Spirit. He lists all the ways to live in the “flesh” and contrasts them with the fruit of living in the Spirit. The fascinating thing about these two lists is that they contrast the “works” we are able to accomplish in our own power with the “works” that the Spirit can accomplish through us. Do you see the difference? One list represents “our effort” and the other list represents “God’s effort.”

This is what we are able to accomplish with our sin nature at the helm: impurity, idolatry, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, envy (5:19-21). I took out the “bad” sins just so we can more easily identify with this list…because all of this list – even the “bad” sins I omitted – are present in our churches today.

Contrast this with what God can produce in us by the power of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control (5:22-23)….This is the way of faith.

When Paul says that we are “free from the law,” he is not saying we are no longer under moral obligation…No! We are to live a life surrendered to the Spirit – so that our lives can no longer be condemned by the law.

In a way, it’s a higher calling – made possible only by the Spirit’s working in our life!

Day 275: A false gospel

Esther 4-6; Galatians 4

The situation in Galatia is intriguing. Paul was originally detained in Galatia because of an unknown illness (4:13-14), so he took the opportunity to preach to the pagan Gentiles in the region. They received the gospel with joy and faith, and Paul left to continue his missionary journey. Then false teachers, trying to please the Jewish authorities, began to teach the new Gentile Christians in Galatia that they needed to also obey aspects of the Jewish law – such as circumcision and observing the holy days and festivals (4:10).

Paul was outraged! If the Galatian Christians received salvation through faith alone, then they should continue to live by faith alone! Adding requirements to the gospel makes it a false gospel… in essence, it is teaching that we are justified through works – which is impossible!

Paul continues to counter the false teachers by giving examples from the Old Testament that prove that justification has always been by faith and never by works (or the law). In Chapter 3, he pointed back to Abraham’s faith as an example (3:6) and also quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith” (3:11). And in today’s reading, Paul contrasts the two sons of Abraham – saying that Ishmael represented slavery under the law, but Isaac was a child of the promise…he represented faith.

And then Paul does something extraordinary… he tells the Gentile Galatians – those who used to worship pagan gods – that they are also children of the promise; consequently, they are not under the law (4:28)! This is amazing! And a truth that should set us free from works-righteousness and help us to embrace the gospel of grace.

But we mustn’t think that God has forsaken those of Jewish heritage. ABSOLUTELY NOT! God has opened the gates of heaven to all who turn to Him in faith!

We see a picture of extraordinary faith in today’s reading from the Old Testament, as Esther, puts her life in God’s hands and acts on behalf of the Jewish people…

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:15-16).

This is the kind of faith that pleases God… a self-sacrificing sort of faith, that surrenders everything into God’s hands. Self-justification through good works is an arrogant affront to God. The love of Christ is what compels us to good deeds because our salvation has been accomplished through his perfect work on the cross! When we add anything to the gospel, it becomes a false gospel!