Consider My Servant Job.

If you are like most people, when you read or hear about the story of Job, the first thing that comes to mind is the great sufferings that he endured. Perhaps you think about the Lord calling the devil before Him, and asking "....Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" Job 1:8, and thus the trouble begins! As we read on, God has given, what seems like free reign for the devil to do what he likes except take Job's life. And while it seems like that at a casual reading, the fact is that there are some very specific guidelines layed out, and notice that the devil complains because he can't do anything without God's permission! The devil is nothing more than a dog on a tight leash, and don't forget that it is God who is holding the leash. Okay, so that analogy doesn't do much for some people because many of God's ways seem so mysterious that it is hard to imagine any good purpose that would come of such tremendous suffering! It is hard to get past Job living a righteous life, and God picks him out, and sets the devil on him to prove something, and then God gives Job back twice as much in the end for passing the test. If that sums it up for you, then follow me to see something that I think will set you free! The first thing you need to know is that the book of Job is a parable. It is a story to teach a deeper truth. So don't get upset reading about his sons and daughters dying. Now, with that in mind first notice that Job did not KNOW God at all. How can I say that? Well read this verse: "And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. " Job 1:5 Why would Job worry about what God would do if his sons might have sinned and cursed God? Job did not know what God was like. He did not know God's character, or His nature, all that Job knew was that God was creator, and demanded a sacrifice. He did not know that God was going to supply the very sacrifice He demanded Himself! This is not unlike many people even now who only know what they have been told about God, and are mislead by even well meaning preachers that are just as uninformed about the TRUTH. Have you been told that God loves you, only to then be warned about what will happen if you mess up? Oh, we know that we are saved by grace, and not of works..... so then why do we constantly worry if we pleased God by our works, or think that whatever trouble we are going through is God punishing us anyway for something we did or didn't do? If you have ever said, "I can't live the Christian life, it is too hard, I give up!" My answer to you is YES! Please give up! God does not intend for you to live the Christian life, He intends to live His Life through you! The death of Jesus on the cross was to put an end to the Adamic carnal, natural man, and His resurrection was to create a New Man. Quit trying to patch up the old man, and make him perform better recognize that he is dead. Okay, so maybe you too have thought like Job that you had better follow all of the rules, and obey all of the commandments to avoid God's punishment. But your righteousness cannot save you, and your righteousness cannot keep you either! The 10 Commandments were never intended for us to keep them! And yet, we want to display them, and crush ourselves and others under those stone tablets! The fact is that God made sure we couldn't keep them, and built within each commandment the desire to break it! Romans 5:20 The harder you try to keep the law, the more you want to break the law you are trying to keep. (Ever notice so many ministers falling into sin?) The simple fact is, that the Law is called the Law of sin and death (Rom. 8) The ten commandments are sin and death to the natural man, BUT... (pay close attention to this!) They are PROMISES to the Spiritual man! Okay, so I am off track from my original intent with this post, and I will continue it next time, but I feel compelled to explain this further. If you are under the notion that all that happened when you became a Christian was that you escaped going to hell, and that now you believe in God, and you are trying to be like Jesus, and obey the law, and do good and live a righteous life, or any such thing then you have been short changed in your understanding of what actually happened! You might not have changed on the outside, but boy did you change on the inside! There was a complete change in government within you! A complete change in nature. You became a brand new creation! All the old things have passed away, and BEHOLD all things have become NEW! You have become dead to sin and alive to God. That is why I said that the commandments have become promises, because the old nature could not fullfill them, and was never intended to, but it is part of the new law that governs our new nature. What is that new law? "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2 Since there is this new law abiding within you now, it is no longer a commandment to you, Thou shall not... but now it is a promise which says you will not because it is not a part of your new nature to do otherwise! The desire to break the law is now replaced with the nature to fulfill it! So then are you now asking why you still find yourself acting out of your old nature? Perhaps because it is that you did not know you have this Life within you! Did you not find some of your desires changed when you became a Christian? Like I already said, Truth will not set you free, you have to know the truth! Well, now that you know the Truth, let it set you free! Okay, here is a personal example of mine that happened after I learned this truth. I mentioned in an earlier post that I got delievered from smoking, and then about 7 years later I began smoking again. The reasons why are not important for now, but suffice it to say that I smoked for at least another ten years or more. I was never under any conviction for smoking, since I at least knew that my salvation was not dependant on that, but it did become somewhat annoying to be so restricted everywhere, and also the cost added to the inconvenience. I tried to quit a few times, and went on the patch, and even smoked with a patch after a few weeks, since I craved the nicotene. The best I could do was smoke a "lighter" cigarette. After a few more months, in Jan of '94 I took a trip to Florida, and brought a book with me to read. The name of the book is The Character of God in You by Gary Sigler. It was the first book of his that I read. Even though I have not read it again since, the one fact that I learned that changed my life was the same thing that I have been trying to explain here. The natural man cannot live the Christian life! What I also discovered was that my new nature was never addicted to cigarettes! It was a bondage and addiction to my old nature. All I had to do was to live out of the power of the new nature that lived within me, and I would not be subject to that addiction. And do you know that from that day till now I have not had another cigarette! I am not saying you should or should not smoke, that is not the point! Lynn Hiles was asked if you could be a Christian and smoke and still get to heaven? I love his answer. "Yes, as a matter of fact you would probably get there faster!" The point is that God used that addiction to teach me a very important lesson about the power of His Nature within me! Think about that the next time you go to tell someone about the Gospel! It is not so that they can escape some last day bar-b-que, but rather that the Life of God would dwell within them and give them power to know real peace and joy, and purpose. Next time I will try to continue with a lesson from the story of Job that you might not have heard that does tie into this post, as we "consider my servant Job".