Job’s response to his friends gets pretty harsh. He was not happy that they were accusing him of receiving these things for punishment for some wrong he had done. The questions he asks put back on them accusation of their possible wrongdoing. “Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?” (Job 13:9) We all know nothing can be hidden from God, but He wants us to confess our sins to Him. (1 John 1:9)
In all that happened to Job, he remained humble. He knew that none of us by ourselves could be righteous no matter how hard we try. “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? (Job 9:2) He also knew that unless we follow God’s commands we are hopeless in whatever we do. “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?” (Job 9:4)
Do you ever feel like things just aren’t going your way? Maybe you receive some bad news that really gets you down? In one day Job lost most everything he had. Four separate messengers, one right after the other, brought him terrible news with the last one telling him that all of his children had died. What did Job do? In 1:22 we read “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” As we read on it becomes obvious that the people in Job’s life were not very encouraging to him. But Job knew no matter what happened, God was in control. How did Job’s life end? “…the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…” (Job 42:12). No matter what the world around us may say, from God’s Word and passages like Romans 8:28 we can know that if we live a life in service to God, everything will work out for good in the end.
Noah and his wife, their sons and their wives were the only people left on the earth after the flood. God had destroyed everything on the earth but these eight people and what was in the ark with them. He used water to destroy everything, but left the rainbow as a reminder that He will never destroy the earth with water again. By floating the ark, this same water is also what saved Noah and his family. We can find a comparison to this saving power of water in 1Peter 3:20-21. “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”
At times we don’t understand all the details of God’s plan. I would say Noah also had some unanswered questions as he was building a huge boat with no way to float it. Genesis 6:22 tells us “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” It didn’t say “Noah did the parts of God’s commands that he liked.” It says he did ALL that God commanded him. If we want to serve Him, we have to follow all of His commands not just the ones that we pick.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Are you planning on watching any games today? Who do you think will win?There is one place where victory is guaranteed. In Jesus! “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1st Corinthians 15:57) God loves you and wants you to be victorious thru His son. He wants every person to be saved. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4) To come to that knowledge of truth requires diligent study of His Word.
We will be reading the Bible thru chronologically again this year. Each day I will post a few words about the Scripture along with the chapters to read for the day. Some days the readings are easier than others, but I encourage you to stick with it. As we discussed yesterday in our final message for 2025, our eternal destiny depends on us knowing and obeying His Word. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” (Revelation 22:14) Don’t trust your eternal life to what some person has told you. Read and study for yourself to know all of God’s instructions that He has preserved down thru time for us to follow. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) We would love for you to follow along reading with us. Please share this post with others that you think might be interested as well.
Much of what we read in the book of Revelation is figurative language. The thousand year period referred to in chapter 20 is not a literal time, but the time of Jesus existence is literally eternal. He (along with the Father and Spirit) existed before all things and will exist forever. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:13) In Isaiah we see a similar statement from our Heavenly Father. “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” (Isaiah 44:6) If you are going to put your trust somewhere, would you rather it be short-lived or eternal? “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:4)