Month: February 2022

“And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Job‬ ‭42:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬. This was another test for Job. As wonderful as God’s mercy was in sustaining him through that tremendous ordeal, he now faces this call to pray for those men who had misjudged and falsely accused him. We normally read these words so quickly without thinking of what was going on that they do not speak to us. But imagine if this was one of us! His 3 ‘friends’ had come to him in his grief and suffering and should have comforted and encouraged him. That was what he needed and expected. But instead, they misjudged him. They accused him of sin. They blamed him for all of his problems. And now, God is asking him to pray for these men. He is supposed to pray for God’s mercy upon the men who had shown no mercy to him. And we know what most religious people would do. But thank God, Job was of a different character! He was humble before God and asked God to show the same mercy to them that he had received from God. What an extraordinary example of God’s grace holding him up in a difficult situation! And when he obeyed and prayed for them, God turned his situation and great blessings followed.

“Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” Psalm‬ ‭80:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In this Psalm, the writer repeats these words 3 times. It’s clear from the context, that he is grieving because he knows the light of the Lord’s face cannot shine upon his people in their backslidden spiritual condition. He realizes that the help they need must come from God. And so, his prayer is that they will be turned. They have been going the wrong way, away from God. He knows that the light of God’s face cannot shine upon people who turn their back on Him. They must turn away from the darkness and turn to the Light. This turning is a picture of repentance. It is when we as individuals are awakened by the Spirit of God to our needy condition and by His grace we turn from our sinful ways and look to Christ Who is the Light. This turning is an absolute necessity in true salvation. When we yield ourselves to His divine influence and allow Him to turn our hearts and lives, we will be saved. And then, with our lives turned to Christ, we can walk in the light and His face will shine upon us.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”Genesis‬ ‭1:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬.These words that begin our Bible are the most important words ever written. “In the beginning God…”. Without these words our life on this earth has no real meaning or purpose. Apart from this fundamental truth, our existence is empty and meaningless. For many years now, our scientific and academic communities have denied this truth. The result has been a continual decline in human morality and an ever increasing rise in evil and chaos. But when we base our lives on these words, we will discover that we are here for a reason. And even more important, we discover that our Creator God designed us with the capacity to know and have fellowship with Him. But these words are not only fundamental to our knowledge, that are also a guide to how we live our daily lives. They tell us how every significant decision and choice should be made. Because in every part of our lives it should be ‘God in the beginning!’ Let this be how we start each day, ‘In the beginning God’. And as we keep God first, He promises to be with us every step of the way.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. The other blessing we find as we walk in the light is, that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin. Verse 9 goes on to state, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Paul writes in Romans 6:22 “Being now made free from sin…”. It should be abundantly clear that God desires and has made full provision for His redeemed children to be cleansed of sin. And yet, this clear Biblical truth is constantly opposed by religious people. We should all ask ourselves, “Do I want to cleansed of all sin, as God’s Word declares?” Or will we make excuse for ourselves and believe that God’s grace is not sufficient? Will we accept the opinions of men who imply that Jesus’ blood can’t really cleanse us of all sin? How much sin do we want to remain in our lives? Thank God when He saves us, He forgives and cleanses us, He changes our nature so we desire to be clean inside, and He makes the way for us to stay clean. By His grace, let’s walk in the light and live clean lives for God’s glory.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. When we walk in the light there are wonderful blessings God has for us. One of those is that we are able to enjoy spiritual fellowship with others who also walk in the light. The fact that we have spiritual kinship in Christ draws our hearts together across all of the barriers that men and religion would place between us. There are many who believe that we cannot have Christian fellowship unless we agree on every doctrinal issue. Some feel we must be in the same denomination or congregation. Others allow ethnic and racial barriers to separate them. But God’s Word makes clear that these things are not the basis of true spiritual fellowship. As John wrote in verse 3, our only fellowship is in the Father! When we are born into His family and walk in the light, we are able to enjoy fellowship with all who are a part of God’s family. May God help us to continue walking in the light and to keep our hearts open to all those who are walking in this same path. Our Heavenly Father knows that we need one another as we walk through this world.

“Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that Thou canst do every thing, And that no thought can be withholden from Thee.” Job‬ ‭42:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In the previous chapters is the longest recorded speech of God. Certainly Job was listening intently to all that God had to say to him. And after listening to the voice of the Lord, Job came to this profound realization, that ‘God can do everything and nothing is hidden from Him’. Of course, Job did not have the recorded Word of God as we do in the Bible. He didn’t know the scriptures we have readily available such as, ‘Nothing is impossible to God’. But he came to understand this blessed truth because He listened to God’s voice! Perhaps what we need to do in order to increase our faith is to listen more as Job did. He didn’t talk or interrupt. He didn’t get distracted by other voices. He simply listened to what God was saying to him! May we try to follow Job’s example and say “Lord, You speak and I will listen”. And as we listen, our faith will increase and we also will know, that our God can do everything! And armed with that knowledge, the troubles of this world will not bother us nearly so much. Let us learn to ‘Be still and know that He is God’.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” 1 John‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭KJV‬‬. The previous verse has made clear that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. He is holy, pure and blameless. That means that for us to have fellowship with Him, we must walk in the light of this truth of Who He is. To do this we must abide in Christ, Who has made the way for us to come into fellowship with the Father. To walk in the light means more than not living in known or open sin. Certainly no real Christian desires the darkness of sin. It means we must not rest on our goodness, but trust Christ as our Righteousness. It means we must not lean on our own human understanding and strength, but we must humbly allow Him to lead us and guide us so we can always remain in His light. And the good news is, that as we humbly abide in Jesus, He will keep us in His light! He alone has the power to keep our feet from straying. Only He can keep our life in constant fellowship with the Father. By God’s grace, let us daily humble ourselves to follow and abide in Jesus! And then, we will walk in His light.

“This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” 1 John‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭KJV. These words remind us of the absolute perfection of God’s nature and character. We know that God’s Word declares His holiness, His goodness and perfect righteousness. Certainly we should know that He is love. Everything He has ever done has been in love that is perfect and pure. And yet, with all of this knowledge of Who God is, it is amazing how so many people still doubt Him and question His goodness. Many people who profess faith are prone to blame God when bad things happen in their lives. Others blame Him for the sin and evil in this world. But let us be absolutely clear, our Holy God is blameless! He is beyond reproach. There is no trace of darkness in Him. It is not possible for Him to do evil or even to be associated with the darkness of sin. This truth of Who God is, is fundamental to our faith in Him. How could we trust a God Who we thought was a mixture of good and evil? How could we rest our souls on Him, if we doubted His love and goodness? Let us be sure, that our God is perfect and blameless in every way! And that knowledge will help us to put all of our trust in Him no matter what happens.