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| JAMES #4 We ended up yesterday with James 1:7- want to take a side trip out of James in order to put puzzle pieces together for you later in James �and ask �Why trials?� �Where do they come from?� �What purpose do they serve?� It�ll take us a couple of days to get through this. Turn to the book of Job. This is probably one of the oldest books in the Bible. When you look at chapter 1 I want YOU to be �Job� � put �YOU� in the story. Verse 1: Job is described as : blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. Those are pretty big shoes to step into wouldn�t you say? A lot of times we grow up thinking that if we�re �good enough,� bad things won�t happen to us. Bad things happen to bad girls and boys right? Wrong. Job was not only good on the inside, but when you read on down through verse 3, you see that he was known as one of the greatest men in the east. Verse 4-5 And his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on �his day,� -�His day� refers to his birthday. (Look up Job 3:1 and compare the phrase �his day� in the margin notes) Every birthday feast- there were 10 a year, Job offered a burnt offering to cover sins that had been committed. �Burnt offerings,� were �voluntary.� Not mandatory. Look at Leviticus 1:1-9 Mark in verse 2 that the sacrifice is �one of the herd� � not one �outside the herd� � but �one of the herd.� Mark in verse 3, that the offering was a �male without defect� (as Jesus was) � and mark that it was to be offered at the doorway of the tent of meeting: (as Jesus was, just outside the temple, on Calvary). In verse 4 mark that the sacrifice was to make atonement (payment) on his behalf. In verse 6, when the skin is removed it is a picture of God taking off our outer covering in order to examine what�s inside � note that. In verse 8 the �suet� is fat: the things that are �worthless� are placed where? On the fire. In verse 9 what are �entrails?� Those are the �insides.� What does he do to the �insides?� Washes them � just as God washes us with the Word of God. (we will see that later in James) �AFTER it is cleansed it is ignited in fire: a picture of Spirit of God � so that it is a pleasing aroma to God. Mark that. This Job did voluntarily, how often? Continually - Back to Job 1:5 What was Job�s one fear? That his kids would sin and curse God where? In their hearts. The word �curse� in the Hebrew is �barak� and it means �to turn away from as in treason.� Verse 6-8 Who�s calling attention to Job? Who�s the �proud parent� in this picture? Who�s the One showing off His kid? Pointing him out? WHO is drawing Satan�s attention to Job? God is. Notice that GOD is saying that Job is blameless and upright � Wow. What does �fearing God� mean? Deeply respecting, with great humility. What gives Job the ability to �turn away from evil?� His fear of God. Be Job: Would God say that about you? Verse 9-10 What does Satan do? He ACCUSES God. Job�s righteous because you�ve given him all this stuff and put a hedge around him. How do you suppose Satan knew about the hedge? Yup � He�d tried to break through it. What surrounds Job that he can SEE, and HEAR, and FEEL and KNOW: What evidence of the �hands of God� in Job�s life is very visible? His family, His possessions, His servants, His position, His wealth, --all things that would make any of us �feel� like God loved us right? Satan decides to throw the darts at Job�s life, just like he wants to throw the darts at yours. Ahh � The only reason they trust you is because of what you DO � Let me pull the bottom out of their lives and You�ll see- they�ll ditch you in a minute! On through verse 11-12: God says- ok- go for it, just don�t do anything to him physically. Verse 12-19 Mark every reference to �I alone escaped, or �another also� �and notice that Satan always has a mouth to send to make sure everyone knows the bomb has hit. Look at the progress in this �trial picture.� In your life, when the trials start to kick in, is it just one hit and then you�re done? Or is it one, and then another, and then another � moving in so quickly that you�ve barely picked yourself up from the first one before the next one knocks the air out of you? How do you usually �REACT.� You see, it�s not in how we ACT that our faith is �greatly seen,� as much as it is in how we �REACT.� What are your first thoughts? How does your heart �communicate� with God when one thing happens, then another thing happens, then another thing happens? Do you run into His arms or do you start to shut down? Your answer will depend on WHERE your faith is anchored. Is your faith anchored in what God does or doesn�t do? Or is your faith anchored in the LOVE OF GOD � for you? When the bottom falls out, and everything you see and hear works well at convincing you that God could care less about anything that concerns you � how do you react? Where does your �mind� go? What you �do� determines how you feel � and what you do is determined by what you THINK. So it�s THINK-DO-FEEL - Pay attention to that. We�re going to talk about that a lot in James. What did Job do? Look at verse 20-22. He tore his robe � a sign of grieving. He obviously was hitting the wall emotionally. He shaved his head, a sign of deep deep mourning. What did he do next? He �worshiped� God. What is �worship?� Is it singing, dancing, praying, reading..what? All those are �expressions� of worship- but �worship� happens when you recognize the �worth-ship� of someone and in deep humility become a �servant.� Keep your hand there and flip to Romans 12:1. Worship is a �service� � what �service?� That of being a �servant.� Note that next to the word �worship.� Question: Does a true �servant� question his master? No. Did Job �question at this point? No. Where did Job say all this stuff came from? Verse 21- God. Does He �blame� God? No. Would you? What�s the difference between saying that all this stuff �came from God,� and �blaming� God for what�s happened? Looks like it would mean the same thing to me- let�s look at it. To say that all this stuff �came from God,� is simply to acknowledge that God is in charge of what�s happening. To �blame� God is to �condemn and accuse� God of error � and fault for what�s happened to you. If Job �blamed� God, Job would have placed himself in a position of greater understanding on how the events should be played out in his own life � rather than entrusting the care of his life to the love of God. What does it do to your relationship with God when you step into a position of knowing more about what should be happening in your life than He does? There is no �relationship.� You�re acting �independent� of Him. What�s the temptation when everything we see and hear TEST THE WORD OF GOD � Test the Word of God?? Well what�s the Word of God say? �Trust me. Don�t lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways, acknowledge ME and what? I will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.� What�s the temptation when everything seen and heard strives to convince us that God isn�t there, doesn�t care, and isn�t in charge? Disobedience/Fear/Doubt �with a response of �I�ll be in charge now� �..big mistake. What did Job really have a handle on at this point? Who God is- and who Job isn�t. Do you? Who�s calling the shots in your life today? When you look over the last week, what have you seen and heard � how has �experience� called God a liar? You say, �called God a liar?� Yup- How has experience said to you, �God doesn�t love you. God doesn�t hear your prayers. God isn�t there when you need Him. God doesn�t lead. You�re on your own. You�re alone � get it. Where there�s a will there�s a way. If anything is going to happen, you�ll just have to do it yourself. God doesn�t heal. God doesn�t deliver. God doesn�t �.When God starts moving all the visible things around in your life do you let Him? Are you willing to learn? Or do you fight Him because your eyes are on His hands and you�ve completely lost sight of His heart? Did the journey turn Job away from the love of God- or did it draw Him into it? How much emphasis did Job place on what God did or didn�t do? He was aware � and he�d acknowledged his position in it � but he never faulted God. Get This: Job�s focus was on the love of God � and his heart remained captive to GRATITUDE. He didn�t lose his joy � in the middle of the chaos, the sorrow, the loss � He didn�t lose his joy. Is �joy� in this picture �happiness?� No. �Joy� is the response to knowing the love of God and standing secured in it. In spite of what experience is screaming in this picture� Did the love of God ever change concerning Job? More tomorrow. I�m praying for you guys- The love of God is safe- The love of God is sure- The love of God is unchanging- And no matter what happens- The heart of God will never abandon you. �copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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