I’m amazed at how many times that post gets a hit. I wonder if people are really looking for a light out of the darkness.

In that post, we looked at what God told the prophet Ezekiel:

“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.” –Ezekiel 3:17-19. (Emphasis mine.)

Recently, I had to remind my stepson that he needs to use wisdom and discernment with regard to people in his life and the lifestyle they are living.

It pains me . . . no it utterly grieves me to see young people walking in darkness. It angers me to see how Satan and his demons fool people into claiming allegiance to God but then live a lifestyle so far from what a walk with Him is supposed to be. It truly is a great deception.

Sometimes I’m confronted with things going on near to my family. I can feel Satan and his demons’ pressing down upon me and whispering lies in my ear at times to the point of asking: “What’s the use?” But then I recognize that is just what he wants: to discourage us! To give up.

It’s times such as these that I call to mind the verses:

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. –1 John 4:4.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. –Philippians 4:8.

It wasn’t so many years ago that I was a teenager and had walked away from God. That is probably why–when I see the younger crowd walking contrary to God’s Word–I get so upset. I was there! I know how lost I was and how utterly depraved I was! What is more concerning is that the time is getting shorter and shorter: the signs of Jesus’ return are becoming clearer and clearer each day.

We live in a dark age of deceit. The problem is that it is masquerading as enlightenment. The days are unbelievably evil when you view them as God views them. My prayer is that the young people will open their eyes before it is too late.

May He Increase!

Jon is the author of “Stuff Christians Like.” It started out as a blog back in 2008 and is now a book. The guy is really a hoot.

The post he wrote today was called “Finishing What We Didn’t Start” and boy was it timely for me. Although I’m super excited about rejoining my former team mates at my new job, I was thinking last night that I feel like I’ve lost the vision for my life.

Did you get that?

I’ve lost the vision for my life.

Has God?

No. Not a chance. He knows exactly the vision He has for my life and that is what I need to place my trust in.

Have I not yet learned in my 40 years of life that if I put my trust in myself, I’m an expert at screwing things up? Have I not yet learned and been an eye-witness to what happens when I place my trust in my Lord and my God?

Who am I? I’m but dust. How egotistical of me to think that it’s about me!

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. –Philippians 1:6.

We can finish the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 9:24) but ultimately it is God who began the work in us and He will finish it!

What about you? Are you trying to take matters into your own hands instead of waiting on God? What has been your experience?

May He Increase!

Like a lot of sports, football has a period during the game called “half-time.” It’s where the players and coaches go back to the locker room and huddle and set strategy for the second half of the game to either put it away or figure out a way to win.

Yesterday was my 40th birthday. I spent the evening with family who welcomed me to this new decade of life.

The past six to twelve months have been turbulent at times and also the best of my life yet thus far. I was laid off last year. I was trying to go back to work for a former employer and manager, but instead God lead me to a competitor. The job has been a struggle and for a long time I wasn’t sure I made the right decision. Yesterday morning I found out that that former employer was just acquired. I know what that usually means: layoffs. And so it would seem that I needed to thank God for unanswered prayers.

And yet, as I enter this new phase of my life, I’m trying to stand back and go into “half-time.” I need to get back into that locker room with God and let Him tell me what He wants me to do in the second half. He has been putting things on my heart that I have forgotten about. He also allowed me–and maybe pushed me into–a few things that would seem to be practice for something yet future in my life.

My wife has a book by Billy Graham called Day by Day with Billy Graham which are little daily devotionals. She handed it to me yesterday morning and told me to read the one for that day, my birthday, April 22.

Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. –Philippians 4:6 (TLB).

Historians will probably call our era “the age of anxiety.” Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us. When we make anything else our goal, frustration and defeat are inevitable. Though we have less to worry about than our previous generations, we have more worry. Though we have it easier than our forefathers, we have more uneasiness. Though we have less real cause for anxiety than our predecessors, we are inwardly more anxious. Calloused hands were the badge of the pioneer, but a furrowed brow is the insignia of modern man. God has never promised to remove all our troubles, problems, and difficulties. In fact, sometimes I think the truly committed Christian is in conflict with the society around him more than any other person. Society is going in one direction, and the Christian is going in the opposite direction. This brings about friction and conflict. But God has promised, in the midst of trouble and conflict, a genuine peace, a sense of assurance and security, that the worldly person never knows.

May He Increase!

In case you don’t, it says:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. –Philippians 4:6.

I like the translation of this verse that I heard recently:

“Worry about nothing, pray about everything, and give thanks for anything.”

I like that, a lot. The only problem is, a lot of times, it’s a lot harder than we think. I’ve had to remind myself lately that worrying is a sin. Did you realize that?

How many times did Jesus command us “do not worry?”

• Matthew 6:31
• Matthew 6:34
• Matthew 10:19
• Mark 13:11
• Luke 12:11
• Luke 12:22

Just to list a few. I guess “do not worry” means, well, “do not worry.”

How often do we view our worrying in direct violation of His commandment?

May He Increase!

Two of my favorite chapters in Job are next. We’ll look at Job’s reply to Bildad. What’s so exciting is that Job asks questions that can only be fulfilled in the coming of the Meshiach: Jesus!

The Book of Job – Part VII: Job answers Bildad

Then Job answered, “In truth I know that this is so; but how can a man be in the right before God?” –Job 9:1-2.

Job starts by saying that he acknowledges some of what Bildad said. He then asks the first of several pivotal questions: “How can a man be in the right before God?” Answer: on your own, through your own righteousness, you cannot!

“If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times. Wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has defied Him without harm?” –Job 9:3-4.

Many have tried to defy God. If never works in the end. Whether in this life or the next, you’ll have to answer for that yourself if you don’t have the Savior. Job wants answers to his questions, but he wants God to answer him.

“It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how, when He overturns them in His anger; who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun not to shine, and sets a seal upon the stars; who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea.” –Job 9:5-8.

In these majestic passages, Job describes his knowledge of who God is as Creator and Master of the Universe. And while God is both, and deserving of our awe and worship, Job has yet to experience God’s mercy, care, and tenderness.

“Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; who does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.” –Job 9:9-10.

Here Job describes the constellations that are still with us today.

“Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.” –Job 9:11.

Job correctly describes God here as a spirit; the spirit that created all things.

“Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are you doing?’ God will not turn back His anger; beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab. How then can I answer Him, and choose my words before Him?” –Job 9:12-14.

“Rahab” was a mythological monster subdued by the pagan god Marduk. Job here is using a figurative expression for pride. Moreover, I think the problem today is that we–human beings in general–have lost a healthy respect for who God is. I think we take Him much too lightly and esteem Him not as we should. One day, the world will have a wake up call when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

“For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge. If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.” –Job 9:15-16.

Here is another hint of the role Jesus plays in the life of a believer. Though we may say we are righteous, we are guilty before God. Jesus takes upon Himself our sin and imputes His righteousness to us. Since Job is living on the other side of the cross, Job can’t believe that God is listening to him.

“For He bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause. He will not allow me to get my breath, but saturates me with bitterness. If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?” –Job 9:17-19.

In the first verse, Job incorrectly ascribes his suffering to God. Again, this is because he was not privy to the conversations between God and Satan as we, the readers, were. He then goes on to ask how would it be possible for him to plead his case before Almighty God. The questions are more rhetorical than inquisitive.

“Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.” –Job 9:20.

Here is another pivotal verse. Although Job acknowledges that he would not be able to stand before God, he has and will hold to the position that he’s really not a bad guy. It’s almost the same thing as saying: “But I’m a good person.” Even though God does have a high opinion of Job, Job acknowledges that if he were to stand before God, God would find something in his character that he’s not aware of and God will declare him guilty.

“I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life.” –Job 9:21.

Job here is making a claim to being innocent by appealing to his unjust suffering and that he doesn’t even want to live anymore.

“It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’ If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?” –Job 9:22-24.

Job accuses God of being unfair and unjust. He asks the question “if it’s not God that has caused this, who did?” The answer is really Satan. But Job doesn’t know that at this point.

“Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good. They slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops on its prey. Though I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,’ I am afraid of all my pains, I know that You will not acquit me.” –Job 9:25-28.

He says that even if he tries to forget everything that has happened, gets happy and tries to be cheerful, He knows that God will still condemn him.

“I am accounted wicked, why then should I toil in vain? If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet You would plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would abhor me.” –Job 9:29-31.

Job has come to conclusion that God has declared him guilty. Even if he tries to “get clean” on his own, God would still send him into the pit and even his own clothes would hate him.

Job cries out for Jesus (he just doesn’t know it)

“For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. There is no umpire between us, who may lay his hand upon us both.” –Job 9:32-33.

From the depths of his soul, Job cries out for a mediator between God and himself. At this point in time, there is no true mediator that understands the deep longing and need for a Savior. Jesus is the answer to the question Job seeks. Jesus is our mediator. Jesus is our High Priest that offers Himself as sacrifice to pay for our sins! (1 Timothy 2:5).

At this point in history, there was no priesthood yet. The law hadn’t been given yet. There were rudimentary offerings and sacrifices, but no God-given procedures to cover the sins of the people, the Mosaic law.

“Let Him remove His rod from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him; but I am not like that in myself. I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.” –Job 9:34-10:1.

Since Job has no mediator and no viable way to plead his case, he is going to simple cry out in his bitterness, pain, and humiliation. Now, he will really get worked up about his situation.

“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; let me know why You contend with me.’” –Job 10:2.

Before the book of Job is finished, God will answer this question. We all would do well to pay attention to the answer.

“‘Is it right for You indeed to oppress, to reject the labor of Your hands, and to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?’” –Job 10:3.

Job is puzzled by his suffering (a good guy) while the wicked (the bad guy) don’t appear to be suffering. This is a question that all of us have wrestled with at one time or another.

“‘Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees?’” –Job 10:4.

He wants to know if God really can understand (“see”) his plight. The answer has always been “yes.” Even more so for us who live on this side of the cross. We have the benefit now of God coming to earth in the flesh to experience life as we experience it. God does know what you are going through and feels the pain you do. He understands your problems better than you ever could.

“‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal, or Your years as man’s years, that You should seek for my guilt and search after my sin? According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.’” –Job 10:5-7.

Like the defendant at a trial, Job now gets on the stand to begin to defend himself. In “The Shawshank Redemption,” there was a running joke among the inmates when new arrivals would ask “what you in for?” The answer was “we’re all innocent here.” The character Andy Dufresne was framed and falsely imprisoned. He suffered for many years in that prison. Assuming he was a real person, would he be righteous before God? No, he wouldn’t because we are all sinners.

The lesson that Job needs to be taught (at least one of them) is humility. We are starting to see some prideful statements being made by Job and that is a problem in God’s eyes.

“‘Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, and would You destroy me? Remember now, that You have made me as clay; and would You turn me into dust again? Did You not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese; clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews?’” –Job 10:8-11.

Job is describing the wondrous care and love God shows us while we are in the womb of our mother.

“‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness; and Your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You: if I sin, then You would take note of me, and would not acquit me of my guilt. If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery. Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion; and again You would show Your power against me.” –Job 10:12-16.

He acknowledges God’s lovingkindness and care toward him. However, he says that God is quick to find his sin and his faults. He describes God as someone who is always ready to find you out; to find the bad in you.

“‘You renew Your witnesses against me and increase Your anger toward me; hardship after hardship is with me. Why then have you brought me out of the womb? Would that I had died and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been, carried from womb to tomb.’” –Job 10:17-19.

Here ends the long statement that Job says he would say to God that began back in 10:2. Job again says that he wishes he had not been born or still-born “womb to tomb.”

“Would He not let my few days alone? Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer before I go–and I shall not return–to the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of utter gloom as darkness itself, of deep shadow without order, and which shines as the darkness.” –Job 10:20-22.

Job wants God to leave him alone so he can “have a little cheer” before he dies. From the sweeping and majestic descriptions of God’s might and power as Creator, Job now goes back into the dark place of gloom and doom.

We’re starting to see what’s behind the curtain in Job’s life. We’re starting to see some weeds growing in Job’s life that God needs to root out. So often, pain, trials, and suffering are God’s way of pruning away the dead branches from our lives so new growth can spring up.

Next time we’ll see Zophar’s first talk with Job. He is the last of Job’s three friends and he is “the legalist.”

May He Increase!