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Showing posts from April, 2025

Reality Is Not A Game,

“Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?” Job 15: 8-9 Sometimes, I think that I am the only one listening to God. I am wrong. It is so easy to fall into the pattern of using God's name in vain, or using God's name to add power and authority to what I believe. Miriam, Moses's sister, had this attitude, and God struck her with leprosy. Job and his buddies differed in their understanding. There must have been a reason why God pointed Job out to Satan and not to Eliphaz. It is easy to justify whatever we want and even claim that God has directed us to think this way. It is easy for us to elevate ourselves to "God" status and believe that because we think it, so must God. Reality is not a game, and there are no "house rules." Eliphaz was "sort of" correct, which made him all wrong. How right are you? How do you know?   https://...

Where’s Your Hope?

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: "Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God. For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you." Job 15: 1-6 Eliphaz and his buddies continued to get it wrong because they had messed up the concept of love. They believed that Job must have angered God, when, in reality, He had pleased Him very much. Therefore, Job was placed on the galactic stage for all to observe, and he became the target of a fierce battle. At this juncture, the only hope for anyone is found in knowing God and trusting His character. Nothing has changed through the years. My only hope, and your only hope, is knowing God and trusting His character. We have nothin...

We See In Part

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.” Job 13: 5 This seems to epitomize the struggle of the child of God who walks with Him. We see in part; He sees the whole. We understand that by looking through dirty glass, He sees things crystal clear. We have hope in His reality, yet we are sometimes uncertain of what reality is. God loves us and wants us to approach Him boldly, yet in the context of who He is and who we are. In the beginning--God. Not in the beginning--Dave. In the challenging circumstances of this day, God is the same as He was in the "good" circumstances of yesterday. Plead your case, respectfully, knowing with Whom you are pleading. In that, you will have real hope. https://www.podbean.com/relate365

“Sort Of” Truth?

“Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it. What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God. As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all. Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom! Hear now my argument and listen to the pleadings of my lips. Will you speak falsely for God, and speak deceitfully for him?” Job 13: 1-7 Whenever we begin to mix our human definitions with God's definitions, we pervert the truth. Half-truths, like half-lies, are entirely wrong and will destroy those who cling to them. Half-truths, or "sort of" truths, seem to be the Evil One's chosen tool. He had Eve repeat what God said, and then add a "twist" and "turn" to it to actually change its meaning. We are most capable of combining truth and error, of creating "terror" with the truths that should bring us peace. It is ti...

What’s Missing?

“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven —what can you do? Deeper than Sheol —what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. If he passes through and imprisons and summons the court, who can turn him back. For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!” Job 11:7 -12 It is easy to mix truth and error. Indeed, Zophar stated many truths about God here, yet we know that he actually missed the main point. Zophar was Job's good friend, one who seemingly knew God, yet who could not grasp what was really going on. I may know about God but miss His plans, purposes, and provisions. Could there be anything more pitiful than knowing yet not knowing, understanding, yet not comprehending, or even trying to help when you are making the situation worse? https://www.podbean.com/relat...

Trust?

“I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, "Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man's years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your...

Spend your time discovering God!

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: "How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind? Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.” Job 8:1-7 Some people talk in a way that makes you think they know what they are discussing. All Bildad did here was prove that He did not know God or His ways, yet he was willing to speak on His behalf to one who was hurting. If you have not spent time knowing and loving God, then when someone who is hurting comes to you for help, you should send them to someone else. Bildad's help is no help and only glorifies himself while ignoring the One who giv...

Live today with the end in mind.

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"Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good." Job 7:7 "Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow." Psalm 144: 4 Living for the moment seems so foolish when we can live for the One who gives us the moments. Today, all life can be different, yet there will be things that will stay the same. This life will pass, but life will not. My body will decay, but I will still be alive and well. My thoughts will cease as they blend into His thoughts. Today, things can and will change for many, yet the unchangeable will bring certainty and stability that is foreign to most, yet quite common to the children of the King. Live today with the end in mind. Live with no regrets. Live as if life actually mattered and that death is an inevitable reality that will usher you into the very presence of Almighty God.   https://www.podbean.com/relate365

Playing The Lie

Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. Job 6:1-3 What should we expect? Where can we find joy, fulfillment, significance, and security? False expectations lead to a miserable life. Sin causes problems, and we live in a sinful world. God and Satan are battling over the concept of love. Satan has played the lie so often that we believe his lies to be truth and accept God's truth to be lies. This will only cause confusion, pain, and sorrow. The answer is quite simple. Start discovering God and His truth, and quit making it up. You will know you are in the truth when you are truly free when the fruit of your actions and thoughts are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) You can struggle, even sweat dro...

Depending On Our Understanding?

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: "If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking? Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." Job 4:1- 8 What do you think about God? Do you have any idea of what is going on in the universe? Do you talk as if you know something you do not know? Love is not about performance; it is about choosing to put someone else's interests over your personal interests, comfort, or pleasures. God is older than us, smarter than us, and loves us; we can trust Him. God...

Perhaps

And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Job  2:12-13 It is hard to see a good friend go through a trial. Job, a man who did things right, was amid some confusing trial. When his friends looked at him, they had to wonder. They had to wonder what Job "did" to cause God to unleash such terror. They had to wonder what God was like, what He was doing, and why. They had to wonder what secret past Job had, and they were probably devastated at the thought of what might have happened behind closed doors. These were good friends. Yet, it seemed they were so focused on this life that there was no room for what was going on behind closed doors in the universe. They seemed to have a skewed or limited underst...

Do you think you have things rough today?

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:9-10 Job seemed to be in this alone. His wife, who was created to be a helpmate, was no help. In fact, this has to be the worst advice ever given to anyone. What kind of logical thinking tells someone to curse God and then die and face God? On a human level, Job had nothing going for him. His beloved children were gone, his money was gone, his possessions were gone, his health was gone, and now his wife, the only human left to comfort him, was anything but comforting. Do you think you have things rough today? Will you use your circumstances to gain pity for yourself, focus on yourself, or as an excuse for your sin? You will be sorry. If you are disappointed with God, you do not know Him. If y...

Perhaps Job Knew

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Job  1:18-22 What? There is no "Where is God when I am in pain?" routine. There are no questions such as "How could a good God allow the universe not to revolve around my comfort?" Where was Job's head at? Perhaps it was where it should have been. While Satan and Job's family and friends focused on things, Job wa...

The future has yet to be written.

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." Job 1:9 -10 There is a war, a real war, between God and Satan, and we are the prize. Satan schemes and deceives, whereas God informs and gives us a chance to decide honestly. This war is about the very concept of love. Satan was counting on Job to believe that God's love was demonstrated by the "blessings" he received. Satan was counting on Job, thinking that if he behaved properly, God would love and continue providing him with material blessings. Satan equated "stuff," "power," and "money" with love. How silly. Love has never been about stuff, and those in horrible situations today are still loved...

Things do not cause problems.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Job 1:1 It is possible. One can be wealthy, have many children and responsibilities, and be blameless and upright. It is not money, possessions, or power that are corrupt. It is sin that corrupts. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us that you cannot serve God and money. Job was serving God. Jesus tells us that you can summarize Christianity in the idea of loving God and loving man. Job loved God and loved man. Things do not cause problems. We cause problems with the things that we have. If we have come to trust anything other than God, we are not blameless and upright or fearing God. God did not create you to enjoy this earth, but to enjoy Himself; then you can enjoy this earth. The order matters immensely. https://www.podbean.com/relate365