JOB MOMENT – (10JUN19) Elihu, the fourth and youngest friend
in the group, decides that he is going to break his silence to do what his older
friends could not do. He was going to tear holes in Job’s case as a prosecutor
would with the defense. Elihu felt that he had more wisdom than his older
friends and that they should pay attention to him because they obviously were
not getting the job done when it came to condemning Job. Therefore, if they
could not make him repent, then he would make Job see the errors of his wrong,
or at least he thought.
Although Elihu was wrong in his assumptions as to Job’s trials,
his strategy is often used by many Christians today. Some Christians try to
beat a dead horse and force people to believe the way that they do even when it
is in error. They do not know how to witness to others and will resort to
name-calling, character assassination, and manipulation (a form of witchcraft)
to tear down those who may have a slight difference of beliefs. However, are we
to do the job of the Holy Spirit? Is it our job to beat people over the head
until they retreat in utter defeat, or are we supposed to just witness to them
and allow the Holy Spirit to do what He does best – convict?
Too many Christians make the mistake of thinking that they
can whip someone into the kingdom. The kingdom is taken by force, but not the
people. God has given everyone freedom to choose Him. He has not made any of us
robots or with artificial intelligence. We are free to choose Him or deny Him.
The choice is up to us. We as Christians are to speak the truth in love, but we
must allow people to make a choice for Christ themselves. God does not want us
to serve Him out of fear in the sense of penalties, but He desires that we
serve Him out of genuine love. We must be careful to never destroy our witness
to others by using fear, intimidation, and manipulation, but present the truth in
love, soundness, and in an uncompromising manner, so that we can allow the Holy
Spirit to work on their hearts to accept Him freely. Something to ponder…
QUESTION OF THE DAY – (10JUN19) Elihu did what his other
friends did and that was to mix truth with error. One of the things that he
erroneously said is that God keeps the godless from ruling. If that were the
case, why was there a Pharaoh who enslaved the Children of Israel, a Jezebel
and Athaliah to come to the throne, and so many other wicked leaders throughout
Israel’s history. God does not always prevent evil from ruling, but He will
prevent it from winning.
Elihu thought that he had all the answers as to the problems
of the world, but he was only wise in his own eyes. God allows wickedness to
run its course because it will be brought to a permanent halt one day. The
wicked do not always receive what is due them immediately because God is giving
everyone enough time to repent and turn to Him. Yet, that day is quickly approaching
where all evil will have its place in the lake of fire. Therefore, we have a
work to do to help the lost know who Jesus is and bring in the harvest before
probation closes. We must always examine ourselves and ask, “Are we doing what
God has required of us to win souls for His kingdom.” It is important for Christians
to understand that time is getting short, but there is a lot of souls who are
in need of saving. Only Jesus can save, but He uses us as tools to bring them
into the fold. When was the last time that you witnessed to someone about
Christ? When was the last time that you handed someone a Bible? When was the
last time that you prayed with someone? Are you doing your part for the kingdom?
Something to ponder….
JOB MOMENT – (10JUN19) Elihu made the mistake of judging a
book by its cover. He looked at the disease-stricken Job and thought he knew
the contents of the man. Elihu was so enthralled by Job’s outside circumstances
that he could not see what was on the inside of him. He had to have a reason as
to why Job was being afflicted because no evil comes to good people…right?
Wrong! Evil happens to the righteous all the time and it is a mistake to think
that they brought it on their own heads.
We as human beings are always exploring the if’s, what’s,
and why’s. Our curiosity is never ending, nor will it ever be completely
satisfied. That is why Job’s friends could not fathom as to why he had been
afflicted other than some hidden sin that he had done wrong. There had to have
been something that they overlooked, and if they could not find it, they were
going to make it up.
Are we so different in today’s time from Job’s friends? How
many times have we heard people accuse others of going through hardships
because they have done some major wrong? How many times have we often thought that
we did something ourselves to deserve some misfortune that came our way? We are
often harder on ourselves than anyone else could be, so we can too be
critiquing areas that God may be punishing us in when trials come.
Nevertheless, God is not always punishing people when they go through challenges.
There are times when God does send judgments as warnings for people to turn
back to Him, but then, there are times when the Lord allows for us to be tested
and it has nothing to do with some great sin that we have committed. When we
know who God is, we can have a better understanding for what He does. We may
not always have the answers, but one thing that we must know is that He loves
us unconditionally. Therefore, God is not punishing us when we are living for
Him, but He will allow us to go through trials to strengthen our walk with Him.
Something to ponder….
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