Tag: Satan

Write It On My Heart

You Think You Have Problems?

YOU THINK YOU HAVE PROBLEMS?  THE LORD gave us this illustration about Job.

  • He was rich and threw big parties.
  • He pleased God.
  • He was attacked by Satan.
  • Tragedy struck and he lost everything.
  • In it all, Job didn’t sin, and blessed God to boot.
  • But then he lost his health and got stinking boils all over his body.
  • His wife began to bug him and said, “Why don’t you just curse God and die.”  Nice woman, huh?
  • Job kept his mouth shut. Smart guy.
  • Job, being human, teetered on the edge of despondency and said, “What I ALWAYS FEARED has finally happened.” There’s a lesson here.
  • To top it off, his fair weather friend, Eliphaz, claimed he got a secret message from a spirit and Job’s hair stood on end (scared spitless). Of course it was bad news. They never bring good news.
  • Job’s other friends also chimed in with bad news.
  • Once again, being human Job started to question God. “Don’t just condemn me – tell me why you are doing this to me!”  God didn’t cause his problems and He didn’t answer.
  • Then Job came to his senses. His faith in God was stronger than his pain.
  • “God may kill me for this, nevertheless, I’m gonna argue my case before him.” That’s reasonable.
  • So Job prayed (AMEN!): “O God, I’m gonna keep this simple. Two things: (1) don’t abandon me; (2) don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.”
  • Job’s “friends” began to bug him again.
  • WE BETTER TAKE NOTE OF THIS – “There must be Someone in heaven who knows the truth about me, in highest heaven, some ATTORNEY who can clear my name— My CHAMPION, my FRIEND, while I’m weeping my eyes out before God.”   (Job 16:17-20)
  • Job didn’t give up. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” (Job 19:25-27)
  • “So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.” (Job 42:12)

    JUST ASKIN’: DID ANY LIGHTS COME ON?

Write It On My Heart

God Permits – Doesn’t Force

GOD MAY PERMIT HIS CHILD TO FALL DOWN AND SKIN HIS KNEE, BUT HE DOES NOT CAUSE THE ACCIDENT. So am I to believe that God is emotionally remote? Doesn’t care?  A thousand times NO!

A. We live in a fallen world – Satan is real and evil!

B. God designed us with a free will – we are not robots!

C. If God healed us, protected us from every sickness and pain, from evil in all circumstances, we would be spiritual invalids on earth. The Apostle wrote:
“There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.”    Hebrews 5:11-12

Do you remember that lady Jesus healed? It wasn’t God who caused her sickness.  She was “held by Satan for eighteen years.”    Luke 13:16
And Paul acknowledges,  “… a painful physical problem was given to me. This problem was a messenger from Satan, sent to beat me and keep me from being too proud.”  2 Corinthians 12:7

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”     Hebrews 4:15-16

🎼🎶                                                                                                                                           “There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one!
No, not one!
None else could heal all our soul’s diseases,
No, not one!
No, not one!
“Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide till the day is done.
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one!
No, not one!”
(Johnson Oatman, Jr.)

GOD DIDN’T CAUSE YOUR PAIN, BUT ARE YOU GOING TO GET BITTER, OR BETTER?