Job 5

Eliphaz comments that man is born to trouble verse 1- 7

Call now – IF there be any that will answer you

and to which of the saints will you turn?

For wrath kills the foolish man – and envy slays the silly one

I have seen the foolish taking root

BUT suddenly I cursed his habitation

his children are far from safety

and they are crushed in the gate

neither is there any to deliver them

Whose harvest the hungry eat up – and take it even out of the thorns

and robber swallow up their substance

Although affliction comes not forth of the dust

neither does trouble spring out of the ground

YET man is born to trouble

as the sparks fly upward

Eliphaz explains the greatness of God verse 8- 16

I have seek to God – and to God would I commit my cause

which does great things and unsearchable

marvelous things without number

WHO gives rain upon the earth

and sends waters upon the fields

to set up on high those that be low

that those which mourn may be

exalted to safety

HE disappoints the devices of the crafty

so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise

HE takes the wise in their own craftiness

and the counsel of the forward is carried headlong

they meet with darkness in the day time

and grope in the noonday as in the night

BUT HE saves the poor

from the sword

from their mouth

from the hand of the mighty

so the poor has HOPE

and iniquity stops her mouth

Eliphaz believes the correction of God is good verse 17- 26

BEHOLD – happy is the man

whom God CORRECTS

THEREFORE despise not you the chastening of the Almighty

for

HE makes sore – and binds up

HE wounds – and HIS hands make whole

HE shall deliver you in six troubles

yea – in seven there shall no evil touch you

In famine HE shall REDEEM you from death

in war from the power of the sword

You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue

neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes

at destruction and famine you shall laugh

neither shall you be afraid of the beasts of the earth

for you shall be in league

with the stones of the field

and the beasts of the field

shall be at peace with you

And you shall know that your tabernacle shall be in peace

and you shall visit your habitation – and shall not sin

you shall know also that your seed shall be great

and your offspring as the grass of the earth

you shall come to thy grave in a full age

like as a shock of corn comes in his season

Eliphaz asks Job to receive his counsel verse 27

LO this – we have searched it – so it is

hear it – and know you it for your good

COMMENTARY:

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

: 2 For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the silly one. (6601 “silly” [pathah] means to be simple, be gullible, be deceived, be naïve, be open to deception, be inexperienced, or enticed)

DEVOTION: Here we have Eliphaz continuing his judgment on Job. He thought Job was gullible. He thought Job was deceiving himself into thinking he was living a life that was pleasing to the LORD. He thinks he knows the reason for all the trouble that Job has been having. His reason is that Job is a sinner who has deceived himself into thinking that he has received all the blessings from the LORD when in reality he received them from another source and now the LORD is judging him for his foolish thinking.

Eliphaz wants Job to rethink what is going on in his live and understand that he is acting like someone who has been deceived all these years into thinking that he is a genuine follower of the LORD.

Today he is reaping the results of his sinful life. That is the stand of this “friend” as he comes to comfort Job who has gone through so much. It is easy to come to this conclusion if you believe that only blessings come to those who serve the LORD and if someone is not blessed than he/she is not a genuine follower of the LORD.

We have to understand that the LORD does judge those who are sinners but every time someone goes through a hard time doesn’t mean that they are sinning. If we look at the life of Christ, we see HIM go through some hard times but HE NEVER SINNED. HE was sinless in the genuine sense. So, we know that Jesus went through times of temptation. Satan offered HIM many incentives to worship him but Jesus never did. HE just quoted Scripture at each temptation. HIS answer was always Scriptural. Our answer has to always be Scriptural when we are tempted.

Now we are going to have “friends” who will come into our life and say that we are suffering because of sin but we have to realize that God using suffering for chastening and HE uses it for pruning or maturing HIS servants. Only HE knows which type of method HE is using and the one facing these times.

Eliphaz was wrong but he talked real good to Job about how much he understood what he was going through and why he was going through it. Watch out for individuals who think they know why you are going through what you are going through. Go to the LORD and ask HIM for the reason. Fellow Christians are to come alongside with encouragement. Judgmental “friends” will come alongside with the answer they think is right.

CHALLENGE: Not all understand what is happening in your life. It is between you and the LORD.

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers

: 8 I would seek to God, and to God would I commit my cause (1875 “seek” [darash] means to enquire about, investigate, to earnestly try to encounter the presence of a deity; often involving requests or petitions to the deity, examine, or look for)

DEVOTION: Here is Eliphaz responding to Job’s comments. He is trying to say that Job has not been seeking the LORD and HIS thoughts regarding what is happening to him in the present.

He seems to think that Job is acting on his own with no regard for what God thinks about what is happening in his life. It is a judgment call on the part of Eliphaz. He is supposed to be a friend who would give a friend a reasonable benefit of doubt but this is not happening regarding Job.

He thinks he knows the reason for all this trouble that is coming into Job’s life and he has the answer to his problems. He needs to repent of his sin and everything would be good again. It seems simple to him.

However, it is not simple to Job because he doesn’t know what he is confessing to and why God is doing what he is doing. He is confused about what is happening and wants his “friends” to help him understand what God is doing.

It seems reasonable for a friend to think a friend would give him the benefit of doubt regarding the reason for all that his happening to him.

God does things in our lives to help us grow in our knowledge of HIM. Some of the things HE allows in our lives we might not understand but we have to still trust the LORD to be doing things for our good.

Does this mean that we can’t question what is happening in our life when it seems like what is happening is not something we think we desire? We all know that we desire hell for eternity but we have made a commitment to the LORD and try to live a life that is pleasing to HIM and yet trouble comes.

We have to trust in the LORD with all our heart during times of trials that HE knows what HE is doing and ask for strength as we go through that HE allows in our lives.

CHALLENGE: Sometime trusting in friends is not the answer to our present situation. We need to ask the LORD for guidance and direction when we are going through hard times.

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: 17 Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects: therefore despise not you the chastening of the Almighty (835 “happy” [’esher] means blessed, good fortune, or a state of joyful mind)

DEVOTION: This chapter continues Eliphaz’s comments to Job. Remember that Job’s three friends believe that only sinners are judged the circumstances that Job was going through. They are convinced he is a sinner.

He is telling Job that he should consider himself blessed of God because the LORD is chastening him. He wants Job to realize that the chastening of the LORD has come upon him because of his sin. He wants Job to just admit that he has sinned and move on in his relationship with the LORD. The friends don’t have the New Testament to refer to regarding how God deals with HIS servants. HE not only uses correction or chastening and purging or pruning.

Eliphaz gives a good description of who God is. HE is one who corrects HIS children. HE is Almighty. HE is able to redeem HIS people. HE is able to protect HIS people. HE allows trouble to come into HIS disciple’s lives but delivers them from all their troubles. HE is able to provide for HIS children.

There were some true statements in his comments. A true statement is that we should consider ourselves people of good fortune if we are going through trials. The trials show us two things: we are loved and we are one of God’s children.

Eliphaz believed that God’s children were protected through all mishaps or troubles. Troubles were going to come because of sin but the LORD would give peace to those who continued to follow HIM. All Job had to do is accept the correction of the LORD. He thought that he was a final authority on how God worked in people’s lives. Remember his whole premise is that only sinners go through this kind of trouble. Also, only bad things happen to sinful people. There is no room for the purging of the LORD for those who are still acting right in HIS sight.

Our beliefs have to conform to the Word of God, not to what people think the Word of God contains. We have to study the WHOLE COUNSEL of the Word of God to understand what God expects of HIS servants and how HE works with those who are HIS servants. Too often people only study certain parts of the Word of God. Some only want to study the New Testament. Some only want to study the Old Testament. Both Testaments are in the Word of God and both have to be studied and understood.

Watch the advice you receive from those who don’t know the Word of God. Never ask “What do you think?” Ask what does the Word of God teach?

Study to show yourself approved a workman who can rightly divide the Word of Truth. CHALLENGE: Look for individuals who you believe are mature in the Word of God and seek their counsel but continually check out their answers.

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 25 You shall know also that your seed shall be great, and your offspring as the grass of the earth. (7227 “great” [rab] means numerous, rich, enough, abundant, plentiful, many, or full)

DEVOTION: This “friend” will tell you of all the blessing you will receive if you listen to his advice and return to the LORD. However, Job didn’t think that he had left the LORD. He knew about all the promises of blessings that the LORD had promised to those who were faithful in their service to HIM.

So here we have one of the blessings that we should expect when we are faithful to the LORD. Long life is one of the blessings that we can expect if we are faithful. We can see those we love grow up and enjoy the blessings of the LORD because we have been faithful and in turn, they have become a follower of the LORD and they are faithful and blessed as well.

There is no thought that hard times might be expected for those who are genuine followers of the LORD. This is not true. Some believers don’t have large families. Some believers don’t have families that followed them into a proper relationship with the LORD. Some families never seem to understand what their parents or grandparents believed.

I have witnessed parents who have raised their children in church and worked with them to see that they understand the teachings of the Word of God. They have lived a life that is pleasing to the LORD and yet their children have not followed the LORD as they prayed for them.

Some of these parent cry when we talk because they are so sad that their families are not following the LORD. So, to promise that if we are faithful our whole family will be faithful is not a genuine promise of the LORD but it can happen in some cases.

There are some people who try to teach what Eliphaz was teaching without the backing of the Word of God. We are to be faithful and pray and work with our families but the outcome is theirs to decide. Some decide they don’t need the LORD which breaks our hearts if we are genuine believers.

CHALLENGE: Watch how you take the advice of those who think they are better believer than you. Ask the LORD for wisdom regarding any advice given by others.

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: 27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good. (2713 “searched” [chaqar] means to explore, to consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning, investigate, think up, determined, or plead a case)

DEVOTION: This first friend to speak was the thought to be the oldest in the group and he thought he knew what was going on in the life of Job. He had studied life and understood how God worked in the life of all those who lived on the earth. He knew the truths of life.

He wanted Job to listen to his counsel because he had figured out that Job had deceived himself into thinking he was a genuine follower of the LORD but in reality, he was a sinner who was receiving his blessings from the enemy.

So, he wanted to have Job apply his thoughts to his life and confess his sin and turn to the LORD and receive the genuine blessings that the LORD will give him. This was not what was happening but this “friend” thought he knew what was happening.

There are many people who want you to listen to what they have to say about what is happening in your life but the only ones who truly know what is happening in your life are you and the LORD. People can guess at what is happening and the reason for what is happening but the LORD will reveal to you through the ministry of the Holy Spirit what is really happening. Also, you know where you are with the LORD. You know if what is happening in your life is the chastening of the LORD or the pruning of the LORD.

So again, prayer and fasting if you are going through a rough time in your life will help you to focus on what the LORD is saying to you during a time of trial. Yes, there are friends who can come alongside with you to pray with you and encourage you to find out what the LORD is teaching you but ultimately it is between you and the LORD.

Remember that those who think they have figured out your life for you usually are wrong.

CHALLENGE: Many people will come and tell you what the will of the LORD is for you at any given time period in your life and you need to check what they say with the Word of God and your prayer life.

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

God – Elohim (Sovereign, Creator) verse 8, 17

God does great things verse 8

God does unsearchable things verse 8, 9

God does marvelous things without number verse 8

God gives rain on the earth verse 10

God sets up on high those who are low verse 11

God disappoints the devices of the crafty verse 12

God talks the wise in their own craftiness verse 13

God takes the counsel of the forward to

destruction verse 13, 14

God saves poor from the sword verse 15

God saves poor from the hand of the mighty verse 15

Chastening of the Almighty verse 17

Hands make whole verse 18

Delivers from troubles verse 19

Redeem from death and power of sword verse 20

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Saints verse 1

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)

Poor have hope verse 16

Happy is the man whom God corrects verse 17

Not afraid of destruction verse 21

Not afraid of beasts of the earth verse 22

Beasts of the field shall be at peace verse 23

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Wrath verse 2

Foolish verse 2, 3

Envy verse 2

Silly verse 2

Cursed verse 3

Far from safety verse 4

Robber verse 5

Affliction verse 6

Trouble verse 6, 7

Crafty verse 12, 13

Froward verse 13

Grope verse 14

Iniquity verse 16

Evil verse 19

Sin verse 24

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)

Seek God verse 8

Commit cause to God verse 8

Mourn verse 11

Safety verse 11

Saves the poor verse 15, 16

Hope verse 16

Happy verse 17

Corrects verse 17

Chastens verse 17, 18

Deliverance verse 19

Redeem verse 20

Scourge of the tongue verse 21

Not afraid verse 21, 22

Laugh at destruction and famine verse 22

Peace verse 23, 24

Not sin verse 24

Family blessed verse 25

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events)

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DONATIONS:

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QUOTES regarding passage

5:2 More than half a dozen Hebrew words translate as “fool/folly.” Two are in this verse, and there are only shades of difference between them. The first “fool” is one who “despises wisdom and discipline” (Prov 1:7), whose way is “right in his own eyes” (Prov 12:15, KJV), and who became a fool because of his rebellious ways and iniquities (Ps 107:17). This variety “spurns his father’s instruction” (Prov 15:5) and repeats his folly “as a dog returns to its vomit” (Prov 26:11). The second kind, “the simple,” is a more pardonable sort of fool. He is immature, impressionable, gullible, and lacks discernment; however, there is hope for him.

The two agents of death, “resentment” and “envy,” admit a variety of interpretations, with many turning the second in the direction of “anger.” The NAB has “impatience” and “indignation.” The NASB has “vexation” and “anger.” Job has evidenced none of these tendencies so far, but he will in the chapters that lie ahead. Perhaps Eliphaz noticed them in Job though they are unrecorded at this point in the book. (Alden, R. L. (1993). Job (Vol. 11, p. 90). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers)

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These lines are a fine example of hymn genre in OT poetry. A similar creedal hymn appears in Isaiah 44:24–28. That is why the apostle Paul could cite a line from v.13 in 1 Corinthians 3:19: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” But in Eliphaz’s case what is absolutely true is misapplied—the sick room is not the place for theological strictures that may turn out to do more harm than good. Eliphaz as a counselor is a supreme negative example. Great truths misapplied only hurt more those who are already hurting. (Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 896). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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8–16 Verses 9–16 Are in the form a creedal hymn on the nature of God as the Lord of creation and salvation. So, Job was admonished to appeal to God who does only what is right. He punishes the unjust and delivers the lowly. This is of course exactly what Job believed, but such advice did not help him understand why his suffering was so intense. On the contrary, since it implies, he was getting just what he deserved, it only added to his confusion.

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5:8–16. In light of his cause-and-effect view of sin, Eliphaz advised Job to appeal to God because He is majestic, powerful (v. 9), and benevolent, sending rain for crops (v. 10); He encourages and helps the downcast and sorrowing (v. 11), frustrates the crafty (vv. 12–14), and delivers the needy and the poor (vv. 15–16). To save the needy from the sword in their mouth means to deliver them from slander (cf. v. 21). Though that advice was not wrong in itself, Eliphaz wrongly assumed that Job had sinned deliberately. (Zuck, R. B. (1985). Job. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 726). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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His appeal (Job 5:8–17). This leads to an appeal from Eliphaz that Job seek God and commit himself to Him. The God who does wonders and cares for His creation will surely help Job if he humbles himself and confesses his sins. Job should see his trials as discipline from God to make him a better man (vv. 17–18), a theme that will later be taken up by Elihu. Job must have been in bad shape for God to have to take away his wealth, his family, and his health in order to straighten him out! And isn’t discipline a tool of God’s love? (Prov. 3:11–12; Heb. 12:1–11) (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Patient (p. 30). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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5:9–16 The whole of Eliphaz’s argument is based on the moral perfection of God, so he extolled God’s greatness and goodness. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Job 5:9–16). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

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Ver. 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, &c.] Or, it disappointeth; that is, the rain, as some Jewish commentators interpret it, and the whole paragraph to this sense; the rain coming upon the earth makes it fruitful, and causes it to produce a plentiful crop, whereby the schemes of crafty men are disappointed, who in a time of drought withhold the corn, and enhance the price of it, and distress the poor; and this in order to make a penny of them, according to Amos 8:4, 6. but through the rain falling are not able to gain their end, but are obliged to bring out their corn, and sell it at a low price, and so are taken in their own craftiness; their counsel becomes brutish, and they are brought into bad circumstances themselves, and the poor saved from being ground and oppressed by them, and have hope for the future of plenty of provisions, to the confusion and astonishment of their oppressors: but the Targum interprets this of the Egyptians cunningly devising mischief against the Israelites, without success; and not amiss, since that affair might be well known to Eliphaz, and he might have it in view: the fact was this, a new king of Egypt, after the death of Joseph, observing the great increase of the people of Israel in his dominions, and fearing, in case of a war, they should join the enemy, and get out of the land by such an opportunity, calls his nobles, courtiers, and counsellors together, to form some wise schemes how to diminish them; and the first was, to set task-masters over them, and afflict them with hard bondage, but this succeeded not; for the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied and grew; another decree was, to order the midwives to kill the male children of the Israelites, and save alive the females; but the midwives, fearing God, obeyed not the order, and the people still multiplied; and then a third project was formed, to cast every son born to the Israelites into the river, and drown them; but notwithstanding this they were preserved, as Moses, and doubtless many others; the people increased so, that they went out of Egypt 600,000 men; this was a recent thing, it may be in the times of Eliphaz, and which he might easily call to mind: and he might also have respect to a more remote case, that of the builders of Babel, who devised a scheme to build a tower, whose top should reach to heaven, and secure them from a dispersion of them throughout the earth; when God descended in the display of his power and providence, confounded their language, so that they were obliged to desist from their enterprise, and were scattered throughout the earth, which by their scheme they thought to have prevented: this may be applied to wicked crafty men in common, who devise schemes to commit sin, and gratify their lusts, to get tor themselves riches and honour, and to do mischief to others, which God in his providence breaks, frustrates, and makes of none effect; and to false teachers, that walk in craftiness, lie in wait to deceive, and make use of cunningly-devised fables, coin new doctrines, invent new forms of worship, and appoint new ordinances, and contrive different ways and methods of salvation; all which is foolishness with God, and to such persons the following verse is applied by the Apostle Paul: and this may likewise respect wicked princes and potentates, with their counsellors and wise politicians, who in former, as well as in later times, have formed designs against their neighbours and to the hurt of the interest of true religion particularly; but have been baffled and confounded by Divine Providence, of which, as there were many instances in Israel of old, so in our British Israel of late: so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise; what their heads have contrived, what they have resolved and determined upon, and what they have begun to effect, but could not go on with; or, bring it soundly to pass, as Mr. Broughton renders it; that is, could not complete it, or bring it to perfection; and indeed not able to do anything, as some translate the word, not anything of what they devised and contrived: it signifies that which is, which has a being and substance, and solidity in it, but nothing of this kind could be done; it is sometimes rendered wisdom, and sound wisdom, Prov. 2:7; Mic. 6:9 and so it is here by some, and may signify, that though their counsels were deeply laid, and wisely formed, according to the best rules of wisdom and prudence, they yet are not able to bring them to pass; which shews the infinitely superior wisdom of God, and his overruling providence, and which therefore must be a great encouragement to seek unto him, and leave every cause and case with him. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, pp. 226–227). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

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FROM MY READING:

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

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Prayer is one of the true mysteries in the Bible. It is inevitable, as we grow in our prayer life, that we will struggle with an inadequate understanding of how to pray.

The example of Jesus praying in Gethsemane helps us with what we can know and understand about prayer. First, we can know that prayer does not eliminate emotional struggling.

A second thing we can learn is that prayer can make us stronger spiritually and keep us from temptation. In each account of His prayer, Jesus says to His disciples, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” (Mark 14:38). If we watch and pray, we will be strengthened against temptation. (Quiet Walk)

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A Debt of Love

You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God. LEVITICUS 19:32
As a teenager, I recall my dad pushing back from the dinner table and walking a few blocks to visit his mother. Sometimes I would go with him, though the visits were pretty boring. There was little more than the ticking and occasional chirping of the cuckoo clock and the creaking of Grandma Rainey’s rocking

chair. Not exactly high-tech entertainment for an adolescent. But my dad’s commitment to maintain a relationship with his mom made an impression on me. I’ve never forgotten it.

Looking back now over the 26 years my own mom lived alone after my dad’s death, I wish I had done a better job of keeping up communication with her. Sure, we lived 4 hours away, and yes, we had 6 children in 10 years. Barbara had health issues. We were incredibly stretched and busy. Even my attempts at calling Mom once a week didn’t always happen. And though we went to see her several times a year, I’m convinced I didn’t think often enough about the loneliness she was experiencing with her increasing age. As I went through her bedroom after her death, I discovered a dresser drawer full of notes I had written her over the years. I believe she kept every one.

It made me wonder how many times each of them had been read and re-read. It made me wish there had been more. It made we wish I’d been as attentive to her all along as I became in the last two years of her life after she got sick—holding her hands, kissing her on the cheek, turning off the television when I visited so that we could talk without distraction. If it’s still possible, I urge you to make the sacrifices to keep your relationship intact with your parents—encouraging them, appreciating them, making sure they know how much they mean to you. (Moments with You Couples by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)

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SOWING AND REAPING

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:7-8
Life is a matter of sowing and reaping, and what a man sows that shall he also reap. There are certain moral laws in operation in this world that are absolute. All of us are responsible beings, and we shall all die and stand before God in judgment and give account of the deeds done in the body. And our eternal destiny will depend upon what we have done in this life and in this world. Life therefore is a tremendous matter. It is the most serious thing conceivable, because what we get in this life and what we will get through all eternity depends upon whether we sow to the flesh or whether we sow to the Spirit.
Very well then, the most important thing to discover in this world is, how does one sow to the Spirit? How am I so to live that I shall reap the blessing of joy and happiness and peace in this world and in the world to come forever and forever? The great apostle Paul answers the question. He puts it in this glorious and tremendous statement: “God forbid that I should glory….” The thing is unthinkable, he says, that I should glory in anything “save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14). This is the thing that he preached. And this by the grace of God is the thing that I am privileged to preach to you. The preaching of the cross, the preaching of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, is the very heart and center of the Christian gospel and the Christian message.
A Thought to Ponder: What we will get through all eternity depends upon whether we sow to the flesh or whether we sow to the Spirit. (From The Cross, pp. 17-18, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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He Gave Himself
“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” (Galatians 1:4)

There can never be a greater gift than this. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only has given us forgiveness and salvation and all spiritual blessings, He gave Himself! The pure, glorious Son of God gave Himself, substituting Himself in our place to suffer the righteous judgment of God on our sins.
Six times this wonderful affirmation is found in God’s Word. The first is in our text, assuring us that when He gave Himself, He paid the price to deliver us from this present evil world into the eternal world to come.
Then, in the next occurrence, this promise is made intensely personal. Christ “loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The gift Christ gave is more than the world could ever give.

The supremely sacrificial nature of His gift is then emphasized. “Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). The sacrifice has brought us to Himself, for “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. . . . That he might present it to himself a glorious church” (Ephesians 5:25, 27).
The offering was sufficient to pay for the redemption of all sin, as He “gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:6). This ransom is not merely to redeem us from the penalty of sin at the judgment, however, but also from the power of sin in our lives, and this is the testimony of the final occurrence of this great declaration. Christ “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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Help for When a Pastor’s Time and Energy Are Limited

by Paul David Tripp

Limited Time Is Grace

Time has been set for us; we didn’t have a vote, and we have zero ability to escape. The time structure that shapes the existence of all God’s creatures bursts off the page of Genesis 1. In one of his first and more significant acts as Creator, God lays down the structure of seven days, along with the structure of Sabbath rest. As a leader, you simply cannot ignore the limits placed on you by this plan and maintain spiritual and relational health and a life of long-term ministry effectiveness. It seems ridiculously obvious to say, but nonetheless important, that you will never get thirty hours in a day, and you will never grab nine days in a week. And you will always need Sabbath rest no matter how mature you become or how many leaders work alongside you.

Every limit that God has set for us has been set because God knows whom he’s created; he knows how we were designed to live and in love does not require more of us than we are capable of doing. Limits not only reveal his wisdom; they also express his love. Limits are not a prison; they are a grace.

You cannot allow your leadership community to assign more work to a leader than can be done in the time allotted to him or her. You cannot ask a person to pile work upon work, day after day, without periodic Sabbaths of rest. There are few more important things for a spiritually healthy leadership community to consider than the time limits that God designed for his creation from the get-go.

One other observation about the time contraints we live within. These were part of God’s perfect plan for people and for a world that had not yet been damaged and complicated by sin. If in a perfect world these were seen as a necessity for sin-free people in an undamaged world, how much more significant are they for us as we now grapple with the exhausting complications, discouragements, brokenness, and temptations of the surrounding world and with our own divided heart and its conflicting motives? Sin causes us to push against God’s wise and loving boundaries. Sin causes us to deny our susceptibilities and to assign more power to ourselves than we have. Sin tempts us to think that we know better and that we do not need what God knew we would all need.

But let me make even more practical the importance of a leadership community recognizing and submitting to God-given limits of time. I want to paint a visual in your mind. Picture a triangle of interlocking circles, with one circle at the top point and two interlocking circles forming the bottom of the triangle. So there are three interlocking circles of the same size. Those circles are meant to represent the three vital dimensions of your life. The top circle is your spiritual life (I know that all of life is spiritual), that is, your life of personal worship, devotion, and spiritual discipline. The left bottom circle is your relational life, that is, marriage, parenting, body of Christ, friends, and neighbors. The right bottom circle is your labor life, that is, your life of gospel ministry and church or ministry leadership. These are the three major areas of your life that God has designed to fill your 24/7, along with the Sabbath of leisure and rest.

Above, below, right, and left of this pyramid of interlocking circles of calling and responsibility, you have nothing, because you will never have 29/7 or 24/10.

Now, stay with me here. This means that as one of these areas of your life grows, it can’t grow outward, because there is no outward. God chose to give you only twenty-four hours in a day and seven days in a week, and you will never get anything more. So if one of these three circles grows, it will of necessity cause another circle to shrink. This is where a leadership community gets into trouble. When you unwittingly deny God-given limits of time, you assign more ministry work than a leader can do without shrinking the amount of time he can invest in other vital and unavoidable areas of calling and responsibility. How many ministry families have been damaged because ministry work began to take up family time? So more ministry means the leader spends less than the needed time investing in his marriage, parenting his children, fellowshipping with his church family, and serving his neighbors.

Resist the Urge to Try Harder, Do More

As leaders in the body of Christ, we have to quit acting as if balancing family and ministry responsibilities is the inescapable catch22 of ministry life. God is too wise, loving, patient, and kind to ever do that to us. We have to resist a “try harder, do more” leadership culture that results in unrealistic expectations, achievement idolatry, and a whole basket of bad fruit. I’ve written and spoken about this before, but I must also mention it here: in the New Testament there is no lengthy or detailed discussion of the tension between ministry and family that we seem to take for granted. This discussion is not there, because the Lord of the church would never call us to one area that would necessitate our neglecting or disobeying another such area. One of the reasons that tension is so often there is that we tend to ignore or deny the wise and loving time limits God has set for us. It really is possible to have a spiritually and relationally healthy family (circle of fellowship and friends) and have a dedicated and productive ministry life at the same time.

The limits of time is yet another argument for ministry always being done in community, so that no single leader attempts or is assigned to do more than he can responsibly do while also giving proper focus to the other things that God has called him to. Are your leaders working too long and too hard? Are their assigned responsibilities setting up tension with other areas of life? Do you have a mechanism for monitoring this? Are your leaders worn out? Have you watched leaders burn out? Have you talked to wives or friends to see how those relationships have been affected?

Are your leaders too busy to give adequate time to worshipful devotions, meditative study of Scripture, and a robust life of prayer? Is this concern a regular part of your discussions together as a leadership community? Do you provide Sabbaths of rest for your leaders? How often does the issue of time come up when you gather together? Is ministry and the desire for ministry achievement balanced with a commitment to relational and spiritual health in each of your leaders? As you think about God-ordained limits of time, what changes are needed in your leadership community? A spiritually healthy leadership community always does its work with God-designed limits of time in view.

This article is adapted from Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul David Tripp.

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This is sad but what those who don’t love christ want to do to those who believe!! Pastor Sharpe:

IL CONGRESS MEMBER SIGNS ONTO EFFORT TO REMOVE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE FROM AMERICAN CULTURE

WASHINGTON DC – The name of a Congressional member that represents Illinois’ 6th CD – which includes what was once known as America’s center of Christian Evangelism, Wheaton College, where the late evangelist Billy Graham attended college – is included among a group demanding President Joe Biden and VP <![if !vml]><![endif]>Kamala Harris remove Christian influence from the nation’s culture.

“We urge you to lead our nation on a path that revives the Founders’ vision of religious freedom in our government and promotes a unifying patriotic pluralism—not dogmatic religious chauvinism—in American society,” states the Secular Democrats of America within a 28-page list of demands. “We believe that this is a moment not only to enact policies to advance constitutional secularism but to position the Democratic Party to take back the mantle of religious freedom and pluralism from the Republican Party.”

The document, presented to the Biden-Harris transition team by Representatives Jamie Raskin and Jared Huffman, was endorsed by Representative Jerry McNerney. Those three are listed as founding members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus – one of which is Illinois Congress member Sean Casten (IL-6).

The document calls on Biden to make the following changes:

Eliminate government support for all crisis pregnancy centers and all abstinence-only education programs in schools.

Deny free speech and religious liberty to select Americans based on their religious beliefs.

Incentivize states to strip parents of all non-medical exemptions to mandatory vaccinations for children in schools or daycare centers.

Remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. currency.

Repeal the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

Rescind and replace the Trump DOJ’s federal protections for religious liberty.

Appoint an attorney general who will support governors whose emergency COVID-19 executive orders restrict gatherings at houses of worship.

Reverse the Trump administration policies that have allowed faith-based government-funded contractors to provide adoption and foster care services and work with Congress to pass the Every Child Deserves a Family Act.

Fully and robustly fund “comprehensive” sex education, which to the leftist means encouraging elementary and middle school-age children to declare themselves one of dozens of made-up non-biological gender identities and learn how to engage in various deviant forms of sex.

Work with governors to educate and combat Project Blitz and encourage the introduction of the Do No Harm Act at the state level. [Project Blitz is a pro-family lobbying group described by the Secular Democrats as “a coordinated effort by Christian Nationalists to inject religion into public education, attack reproductive healthcare, and undermine LGBTQ equality using a distorted definition of ‘religious freedom.’”

The document tells Biden: “We urge you to avoid invoking the phrase ‘Judeo-Christian values,’ as it has been weaponized by the religious right to advance an agenda that has the veneer of inclusivity but actually undermines religious freedom and tolerance and does not represent tens of millions of Americans implicitly excluded from its formulation.

For more information, see “Democrats Demanding Biden Clamp Down on Conservative Christians, Remove Them From Public Office and Re-educate Trump Voters”

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Zephaniah 3
Beyond impending judgment there is joy.
INSIGHT

Blue blood flows through Zephaniah’s veins. He is the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah, the thirteenth king of Judah and one of the most righteous of all kings. The flame for revival and religious reform burns as hot in Zephaniah’s heart as it did in his forefathers’. Zephaniah’s book has been called one of the “hottest” books in the Old Testament. He portrays “the final crash of the universe.” The impending Day of the Lord is his all-encompassing message. Twenty-three times in this short book he refers specifically to the day that signifies the final judgment of God on the earth. Following the time of terrible judgment is the time of restoration and peace. Beyond judgment there is joy.

(Quiet Walk)

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HE PROTOEVANGEL
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
What does God tell us in Genesis 3:15? Well, first of all that He was going to put enmity between the serpent and the woman and her seed. Hitherto there had been no enmity between them; but the serpent had beguiled Eve, so they were very friendly together, and the woman was now under the dominion of the devil. Had God not done something, that would have been the end of the story. But God came in and said, “Now I am going to break that friendship,;you were meant for friendship with Me, not with the devil. So I am going to put enmity between you and the devil, and between the devil and you.” This was the first announcement of salvation. Man cannot be saved while he is a friend of the devil and an enemy of God. He must be a friend of God; therefore, he must become an enemy of the devil.
The second thing, therefore, that is implied is that God was going to give man power and grace to fight the devil. Man had already been defeated by him and was his slave. Man must have help and strength, and God promised him that. God promised to be on man’s side in this fight against the enemy. He applied the promise also to the “seed”–“between thy seed and her seed.” That is most important. It was not a temporary promise given there in Eden; it was to continue until it had achieved its ultimate purpose.
You notice also that God said that the quarrel was to go on not only between the woman and her seed and the devil, but also between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. So humanity can be divided into the seed of God and of Christ and the seed of the devil, and there is a fight between them–all announced in Genesis 3:15.
A Thought to Ponder: Man cannot be saved while he is a friend of the devil.
(From God the Father, God the Son pp. 228-229, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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