Full Assurance

Full Assurance

“My soul fainteth for thy salvation:

but I hope in thy word.”

Psalm 119:18, KJV

Hope mends a broken heart. Hope strengthens the weary soul. Hope brings life to the dying but only to the degree of the foundation of our hope.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians concerning hope or confidence placed in our personal determination—

• to put on a happy face,
• to walk in our strength when the road is rough,
• to press on when there is no where to go—in short, our self-will, works, or status.

Paul writes, these things’ worth is like dung—that’s right, manure—when compared to the value of knowing Christ Jesus.

“Yea doubtless,

and I count all things but loss

for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,

and count them but dung,

that I may win Christ,

And be found in him,

not having my own righteousness, which is of the law,

but that which is through the faith of Christ,

the righteousness which is of God by faith:”

Philippians 3:8,9, KJV

Hope we place in our ceremonial rites, our government, our family heritage, or even our zeal for right, is not hope built on a solid foundation … it will leave us hopeless. Full assurance of the thing desired waits for those who—

hope in thy word.

God’s word. For—

“thy word is truth …

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God …

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,

(and we beheld his glory,

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)

full of grace and truth …

grace and truth came by Jesus Christ …

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,

the truth,

and the life:

no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 17:17b; 1:1,14, 17b;  14:7, KJV

Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the living Word of God and Jesus is truth, God’s word is truth. Truth gives full assurance of hope. We don’t have to wonder if God’s word will come to pass. When he speaks to us through his written word or his living Word—it has happened, is happening, or will happen. No lie of Satan swallowed by people, no unbelief will change the truth, nor God’s performing the truth of his word.

“There are many devices in a man’s heart;

nevertheless

the counsel of the LORD,

that shall stand …

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD,

and whose hope the LORD is …

Heaven and earth shall pass away:

but my words shall not pass away …

BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOR EVER.

And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

Proverbs 19:21; Jeremiah 17:7; Luke 21:33;1 Peter 1:25, KJV

We can know God and trust his word through God the Spirit dwelling in us.

“Howbeit when he,

the Spirit of truth, is come,

he will guide you into all truth:

for he shall not speak of himself;

but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:

and he will shew you things to come.

He shall glorify me:

for he shall receive of mine,

and shall shew it unto you.”

John 16;13-14, KJV

We have three witnesses of the truth of God’s word that makes it trustworthy for hope—The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Their words will always—

• agree,
• speak truth,
• and glorify the Father.

With prayer and study of the word we can be filled with hope that is fully assured, backed by the Lord God himself.

• Pray to,

“be filled with the knowledge of his will

in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”

Colossians 1:9b, KJV

• Be in the word to aid in answering your prayer as you—

“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, KJV

• When your hope leaves you ashamed, look to the one who is hope—

“which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Christ in us is our healer, our strength, our life. He is our hope of glory—our full assurance we will complete our journey in victory.

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How has Christ given you hope when hope seemed impossible?

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According To His Word, Hope

According To His Word: Hope

“So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:

for I trust in thy word.

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;

for I have hoped in thy judgments.”

Psalm 119:42-43, KJV

“How do you know the Bible is true? I’ve heard inconsistencies exist in it. Is that true? If it is, how can you believe any of it?” The challenge spewed from his mouth, daring me to answer.

The Lord, true to his word, gave me answer that day through my personal testimony of the mercy and salvation God had given me through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My witness included the eternal hope the Lord’s salvation brought to my heart. The Lord made clear the hope he brings to believers when, as a young Christian, Peter’s words challenged me to know why I had hope.

 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:

and be ready always to give an answer to every man

that asketh you a reason of the hope

that is in you

with meekness and fear;”

1 Peter 3:15, KJV

In order to answer others with meekness(gentleness, NIV) and fear(respect, NIV), we must remember, the Lord has sanctified, or set us apart from the world to be his own possession. He saved us for two purposes, our salvation, and for setting us apart from the world’s way of living to live and speak the gospel to others. Sanctification is the process of salvation bringing us to completion—both a work of God in us. One of the motives of sanctification comes as we learn what our hope is and how to walk in it.

As a new believer, the cross of Christ spelled out hope for me. In reality, the cross freed me from sin’s punishment and power. I didn’t understand forgiveness of sin alone didn’t provide the reality of the hope for everlasting life. Hope is birthed at the cross, but comes in its fullness with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“And if Christ be not raised,

your faith is vain;

ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ,

we are of all men most miserable.”

***

“But now is Christ risen from the dead … “

1 Corinthians 15:17-19, KJV; 1Corinthians 15:20a, KJV

Our eternal hope is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is alive. Because Christ lives, we live now and forever.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

which according to his abundant mercy

hath begotten us again unto a lively hope

by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,

and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Who are kept by the power of God

through faith unto salvation,

ready to be revealed in the last time.

Where in ye greatly rejoice …”

1 Peter 1:3-6a, KJV

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, but faith is only as reliable as its substance. The only substance to withstand the trials of life and continue in hope is found in the faith of our heavenly Father. Without faith in God, hope vanishes. It is futile.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him:

for he that cometh to God

must believe that he is,

and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Hebrews 11:6, KJV

God is the answer to life. He is the word of truth. He is our hope of today and all eternity. He is our reward.

Giving the Lord first place in our heart and seeking his truth, He is our answer to those seeking hope.

“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,

whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is:

which keepeth truth for ever …

The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion,

unto all generations.

Praise ye the LORD.”

Psalm 146:5-6, 10, KJV

I don’t know if my challenger found hope or not. My hope for him is found in the Lord that pursues us with his love—until we no longer have breath. When you need a dose of hope, where do you turn?

From Dust to Delight

From Dust to Delight

“My soul cleaveth unto the dust:

quicken thou me according to thy word …

My soul melteth for heaviness:

strengthen thou me according unto thy word.”

Psalm 119: 25,28, KJV

Darkness envelopes the soul like a black cloud when depression covers the soul.  Medical reasons, loneliness, bad circumstances, loss of any kind, especially, loss of hope can lead to depression leading to despair and destruction. We don’t know what led to the psalmist’s depression found in our highlighted scripture. We do know he didn’t have the strength to pick himself up—but he did still retain hope, knew where the darkness would be lifted, and his soul renewed in life.

He prayed—

“quicken thou me according to thy word …

strengthen thou me according unto thy word.”

I am no mental health worker, doctor, licensed counselor, or pastor, but I understand some suffering, in this black hole, need help from professionals, and can be aided with medication. The Lord uses them as avenues of help and healing. The psalmist didn’t have these at his disposal. He found help and hope in the power of God’s word to lift him from the dust back to delight.

One reason for depression I omitted earlier, is spiritual sickness of sin. The psalmist’s depression appears to have come from sin, his or others, for he—

• Declared his ways;
• asked to be taught the Lord’s ways;
• asked for lying to be removed from his way.

The remedy for the spiritual sickness of sin, leading to depression, is found in repentance and forgiveness.

According to his word …

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation

not to be repented of:

but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

2 Corinthians 7:10, KJV

Depression didn’t exist until sin entered the world. We are mistaken if we believe depression doesn’t happen to Christians. David, Job, and the apostle Paul suffered from this problem—

• David through circumstances and his sin—
• Job and Paul through painful circumstances of loss and/or sickness and persecution.

What brought them through?

• David repented and remembered his redeemer.
• Job kept hoping in his redeemer.
• Paul, he knew his redeemer and kept his eyes fixed on things not seen.

“For our light affliction,

which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen,

but at the things which are not seen:

for the things which are seen are temporal;

but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, KJV

The same strength David, Job, and Paul had, we have available to us. It doesn’t mean we walk alone. The Lord has given us godly friends to pray for us and encourage us. Greater still, He has given us his Holy Spirit to abide in us, to comfort, and to strengthen us—according to his word—

“I had fainted,

unless I had believed to see

the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait on the LORD:

be of good courage,

and he shall strengthen thine heart:

wait, I say, on the LORD …

The LORD will give strength unto his people;

the LORD will bless his people with peace.”

Psalm 27:13-14; 29:11, KJV

When we believe his word, the Lord quickens or gives life to our spirit through his Holy Spirit. His word is our hope, even when the journey through the darkness becomes long and the light remains a pinhole drawing us forward. One day the light will overcome the darkness—those born of God are overcomers.

“For whatsoever is born of God

overcometh the world:

and this is the victory that overcometh the world,

even our faith.

Who is he that overcometh the world,

but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

1John 5:4-5, KJV

When you’re laying in the dust, the void of life leaves your mind empty of the Lord’s words of life; when you can’t even pray, here is a prayer for you.

“Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake:

for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble …

Teach me to do thy will;

for thou art my God:

thy spirit is good;

lead me into the land of uprightness …  

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,

to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man …

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,

that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

***

Now unto him that is able to do

exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,

according to the power that worketh in us,

Unto him be glory … Amen.”

Psalm 143:11; 143:10; Ephesians 3:16,19-20.21a. KJV

One final word of encouragement, don’t travel this road alone. The Lord wants to bring you out of the dust and into his delight. In light of eternity, your trial is but for a moment. One day at a time the light will grow until it overcomes the darkness.

The Gift of Peace Wrapped in Hope

The Gift of Peace Wrapped in Hope

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men.”

Luke 2: 14, KJV

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David

a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:11, KJV

When reading through the whole narrative of Christ’s birth, the human eye would not instantly put peace and good will as a theme. Israel had a growing rebellion against an enemy they couldn’t defeat. Zacharias struggled with disbelief. Joseph wrestled with the news of his betrothed wife’s pregnancy. Shortly, after Jesus’s birth, Simeon prophesied to Mary of a sword to pierce her soul. Upon hearing the news of a king being born in Israel, King Herod ordered all the baby boys two years and under, in Bethlehem and the surrounding area, killed, causing a cry of mourning to rise to the heavens.

Yet, the angels’ message rang out, “peace, good will toward men.” This peace would not be found in the world, but in one infant, who later said,

“Peace I leave with you,

my peace I give unto you:

not as the world giveth, give I unto you:

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid …

 These things I have spoken unto you,

that in me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation:

but be of good cheer;

I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27;16:33, KJV

Our world today is as full of trouble as the world was when Jesus was born, but we can still have peace. It is found when we hold to the gift of hope born over two thousand years ago. Hope and peace are tied to one another.

It appeared hope died on a cruel cross at the hand of sinful men. In truth, hope only rested until it tore open a stone tomb. In that moment, hope resurrected to reveal the path to peace with God and life forever with him.

“But now is Christ risen from the dead,

and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death,

by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die,

even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-22, KJV

In his resurrection, Jesus Christ made good on the hope of peace with God. For those who believe, we have God’s peace and good will toward us.

“Therefore being justified by faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access by faith

into this grace wherein we stand,

and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1-2, KJV

The gifts of hope, peace, and God’s good will toward us all abound today even as they did when our Savior was born. When our focus is on the world and its chaos, those gifts are veiled from our eyes. By fixing our eyes on the hope born in a stable we receive God’s peace and good will. We find rest even in a troubled world.

“I have set the LORD always before me:

because he is at my right hand,

I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad,

and my glory rejoiceth:

my flesh also shall rest in hope.”

Psalm 16: 8-9, KJV

Jesus before us is—

our strength,

our anchor,

our glory,

our joy,

our rest,

our hope.

How will you find peace in this season of hope?

Longing

Longing

Photo by Rodolfo Clix on Pexels.com

‘“Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Oh that I were as in months past,

as in the days when God preserved me;”

Job 29:1-2, KJV

Do you wish for days gone by? When we are children we want to be adults. When we are adults we wonder why we wished for the years to fly. Some past days are good to remember and others are good to forget. Job desired to return to the days of sweet fellowship with the Almighty—days when the Lord’s presence was evident in his life and protected him.

“Hast not thou made an hedge about him,

and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?

Thou has blessed the work of his hands,

and his substance is increased in the land.”

Job 1:10, KJV

Who wouldn’t trade the days of misery Job experienced for the days of unnumbered blessings? The Lord blessed Job with increase in property, family, respect among his community, and a close relationship with the Almighty.

His longing—

• “As I was in the prime of my days,
• When the friendship of God was over my tent;
• When the Almighty was yet with me,
• And my children were around me;
• When my steps were bathed in butter,
• And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!” Job 29:4-6, NASB

Job’s agony swallowed his closeness with his God. He felt alone and forsaken. Then as if the Spirit blew a breeze of hope into Job’s mind he recalled God’s faithfulness to his children, even as King David did in the psalms.

“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:

• for the end of that man is peace …
• the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD:
• he is their strength in the time of trouble.
• And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them:
• he shall deliver them from the wicked,
• and save them, because they trust in him.”(From Psalm 37)

Do you feel the weight of sin, sickness, or sorrow crushing your spirit as Job’s trials crushed him? Job recalled what he knew of God and had hope. We can do the same when—

Crushed by Sin:

“If we confess our sins,

he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness …

• let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
• and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
• Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

who for the joy that was set before him

endured the cross, despising the shame,

and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

1 John 1:9; Hebrews 12: 1b-2; KJV

No matter how hard, when the weight of sin is cleansed from our heart we can look to Jesus for strength to finish the race.

Crushed by Sickness:

• “Bless the LORD, O my soul
• and forget not all his benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

who healeth all thy diseases …

Is any sick among you?

• Let him call for the elders of the church;
• and let them pray over him,
• anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,

and the Lord shall raise him up:

and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

Psalm 103: 2-3; James 5:14-15, KJV

For the follower of Christ, healing has been bought and paid for by Jesus’s stripes. It is ours in the here and now or in eternity. We have been healed.

Crushed by Sorrow:

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

• Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
• that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God …

I will not leave you comfortless:

I will come to you.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4; John 14:18, KJV

Christ knew sorrow. He knows how to comfort us.

In our troubles we may wish for days gone by. Those wishes will go unheeded and bury our hope. It’s better to live in the day we have, thanking our heavenly Father for his forgiveness, his healing, and his comfort. In a moment our distress came. In a moment it will vanish. We need only to look to Jesus and wait. He will come. He will not disappoint.

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Do you long for days gone by or look to Jesus for hope in this day?

Taking It Easy

Taking It Easy

No, taking it easy isn’t why I didn’t get my post up yesterday, but that’s another story for another day.

‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Luke 12:19, NASB

A Parable:

The old man ran his fingers through his thinning salt and pepper shaded hair. He glanced at the hospital bed swallowing the petite figure of his wife and caressed the back of her slender hand with his thumb. No movement. Beeps and whirrs of machines filled the otherwise silent room. Life betrayed him—and the love he and his faithful companion of forty-five years had planned. The past year stole their dreams of the ease in the golden years. Their last days would be spent in the sights, smells, and sounds of a hospital room.

Job most certainly understood what the man in my parable felt when Job said,

“I was at ease,

but He shattered me,

And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;

He has also set me up as His target.”

Job 16:12, NASB

Like Job, the man in Jesus’s parable, in Luke and my parable, had amassed great treasure. They all enjoyed the ease of plenty until their ease was shattered.

The two were overtaken by—

“The thief

cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and destroy …”

Job lost the ease of temporary things, as did the others, but didn’t lose his faith. He clung to the good shepherd that was to come.

“I am come that they might have life,

and that they might have it more abundantly.

I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

John 10:10-11, KJV

Job enjoyed the prosperity of life and family while the Lord blessed him with it. But when ease was stripped from him and anguish filled his body and spirit, Job still had ease found in the knowledge of the Almighty. He asks the questions,

“Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope?”

(Job 17:15)

His friends offered him no hope. His circumstances offered him no hope. But his faith in the Lord God’s character gave hope to Job when found in a hopeless situation. He believed death would bring him to his final hope.

“Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Whom I myself shall behold,

And whom my eyes shall see and not another.”

(19;26,27, NASB)

Job, troubled in body and spirit, found relief when he remembered to set his mind on truth. When we set our life’s ease on temporary possessions,

• We put ourselves in danger of becoming self-sufficient, forgetting the Lord is our sufficiency in all things—

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves

to think any thing as of ourselves;

but our sufficiency is of God;”

2 Corinthians 3:5, KJV

• We become sluggish in guarding our hearts so as not to follow the Lord’s directives to—

“Watch and pray,

that ye enter not into temptation:

the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Matthew 26:41, KJV

• When trials rob us of our temporary ease, we lack strength in the battle, for we haven’t been diligent in keeping watch over our hearts and praying often.

Job began his trial with a strong faith, a solid relationship with the Almighty. We see it in his offering of sacrifices for his children. We hear it when he defends himself before his friends.

“I am a joke to my friends.

The one who called on God, and He answered him;

The just and blameless man is a joke ….

Job then states another problem with finding our ease in circumstances.

• We think, “It can’t happen to us,” for it only happens to bad people.

“He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,

As prepared for those whose feet slip.”

(12:4-5)

Job’s strength came from the Lord God who he knew before calamity came. Out of his pain, he honestly declared his lack of understanding, and his feelings of abandonment—but by God’s grace, he tenaciously held to the only hope of ease he had. The only real hope we have.

“But I will hope continually,

and will yet praise thee more and more.

My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness

and thy salvation all the day;

for I know not the numbers thereof.

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD:

I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.”

Psalm 71:14-16, KJV

Where now is your hope? Will it carry you through life’s trials? There is one hope that will—his name is Jesus Christ.

Hope For the Hopeless

Hope for the Hopeless

Yesterday, my bible study revealed what I was sure would be my blog topic for today. A couple of phone calls lead my mind to the following verse and changed my topic.

“For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off,

When God requires his life?”

Job 27:8, NASB

The rest of the chapter paints a bleak picture for the godless. In essence the answer is simple. The only hope for the godless lies solely in this life. If one dies godless, eternity will be godless, without hope. The state we die in is the state we live in for all eternity. For—

“For the wages of sin is death,

“but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23, NASB

“The hope of the righteous is gladness,

but the expectation of the wicked perishes.” Proverbs 10:28, NASB

“The desire of the righteous is only good,

But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.” Proverbs 11:23, NASB

• Eternal death,
• hopelessness,
• and wrath of God,

these are the reality of the one dying in a godless state. And not just any god has the authority, ability, or the desire to give hope to the godless. Hope, a sure hope, a positive end comes by one alone.

“”And there is salvation in no one else;

for there is no other name under heaven

that has been given among men, by which we must be saved …

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have eternal life …

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,

and this life is in his Son.

He that hath the Son hath life;

and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Acts 4:12, NASB; John 3:15, KJV;  1John 5:11,12, KJV

In a moment of decision the godless are turned to godliness, the hopeless to the full of hope. The decision comes by the grace of God through faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, his death, burial, and resurrection.

“Repent therefore and return,

that your sins may be wiped away …”

“for He says,

“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,

AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU”;

behold, now is

“THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,”

behold, now is

“THE DAY OF SALVATION”

Acts 3:19a; 2Corinthians 6:2, NASB

The godless have a hope in this lifetime.

The hope is found in repenting—complete turning from being without God to being reconciled to God.

But when God requires the godless’ life, when it is cut off from this world, that is not the end but the open door to eternity.

When that door opens and life on this earth is no more—there is no more opportunity

• to be helped,
• no more acceptable time,
• no more day of salvation.

We are told in the last book of the Bible, the last chapter—

“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong;

and let the one who is filthy, still be filthy;

and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness;

and let the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

“Behold, I am coming quickly,

and My reward is with Me,

to render to every man according to what he has done.”

Revelation 22:11,12, NASB

When the Lord comes for us, who we are will be who we are for all eternity—the godless will remain godless and the godly will remain godly. Receive the hope while hope is alive.

What is your hope?

A Fainting Heart

A Fainting Heart

“My flesh and my heart faileth:

but God is the strength of my heart,

and my portion for ever.”

Psalm 73:26, KJV

He sat covered in dust and ashes scraping the oozing sores spread across his body. He no longer had strength to swat at the swarming flies or the gnats eating from his abscessed putrid skin. The drone of his useless comforters irritated his ears worse than the insects.

Job’s mind replayed the first day of his suffering. The loss of his possessions and his position among his friends meant little. But the pain of losing his ten children shredded his heart. Only the thread of hope for God’s vindication would hold the pieces together. This Job held onto tenaciously.

“And as for me,

I now that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Whom I myself shall behold,

And whom my eyes shall see and not another.

My heart faints within me.”

Job 19:25-27, NASB

We get a midnight call—there’s been an accident.

We listen to the doctor give a daunting diagnosis.

We lose a loved one.

A friend betrays us.

We walk a painful journey day after day that promises only one end.

Any one of these situations lends to a weariness of mind, heart, and strength. Job faced them all within a short time frame. Yet, he found strength in the knowledge of his Redeemer.

When we, like Job, come to the end of our strength, when our heart just can’t take anymore, we have a Redeemer. Jesus has taken our suffering on his shoulders and shared his strength with us. He is our strength and our portion, our inheritance. With Christ we can do this.

“For which cause we faint not;

but though our outward man perish,

yet the inward man is renewed day be day.

For our light affliction,

which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-17, KJV

Job received his reward and we will too. Suffering has its, end, purpose, and its reward.

Suffering’s End:

It came in a moment and suffering’s end is a moment away. And the Lord is faithful to keep us until that moment comes.

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation

ready to be revealed in the last time.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice,

though now for a season, if need be,

ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations;”

1 Peter 1:5,6, KJV

Trials come with this world—it’s broken. But for the child of God our trials serve a purpose.

“Knowing this,

• that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
• But let patience have her perfect work,
• that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing …
• though it be tried with fire,

might be found unto praise and honour and glory

at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

James 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:7b, KJV

Suffering’s reward: Our pain is temporal, even when the end stretches out before us on a seemingly endless road. Like Job we want it to stop for our pain masks the reward—the revelation of Jesus in us to others, that gives them hope, while still walking in this world.

“But we all,

with open face beholding as in a glass

the glory of the Lord,

are changed into the same image

from glory to glory,

even as by the Spirit of the Lord …

Always bearing about in the body

the dying of the Lord Jesus,

that the life also of Jesus

might be made manifest in our body.”

2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:10, KJV

Faithfully enduring the suffering of this world reaps reward now and for all eternity.

‘But as it is written,

EYE HATH NOT SEEN,

NOR EAR HEARD,

NEITHER HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN,

THE THINGS WHICH GOD HATH PREPARED

FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM.

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:

for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-10, KJV

When the end of your trial has wearied your heart, remember—

• Christ in you is your strength.
• Suffering has its end, a moment in time,
• a purpose, refining the image of Christ in you,
• and a reward—Christ himself being your portion, your reward.

“I will not leave you comfortless:

I will come to you.”

John 14:18

In His Hands

In His Hands

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“So the LORD said to Satan,

“Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

Job 2:6

What keeps a person hoping when trials are heaped against him like one stone on top of another—until the only place to look is up?

After chapter two of Job one character is conspicuously absent from every conversation. His handiwork casts Job into a pit he cannot understand. He feels God’s hand is against him as an enemy. His friends berate him without mercy, blaming him for the mess he is in. Not once does Job blame Satan for the troubles that have come to him. The closest he comes to recognizing another hand involved with God is when, in desperation, Job cries out,

“The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?”

Job 9:24

But as the words come from his mouth, Job rhetorically states someone had to give the earth into wicked hands. His conclusion—it had to be God.

Truth is if it is not God, we are all in big trouble. We would be left on our own or at the whims of Satan. But, ultimately, God is sovereign, ruling over all, setting boundaries for nature, man, and the devil.

When we don’t understand, any better than Job, why God allows some severe trials and others relative ease, nor why wickedness prospers for a time, or why suffering comes to the righteous, we can say with the psalmist David,
“Incline Thine ear to me, rescue me quickly.

Be Thou to me a rock of strength,

A stronghold to save me …

Into Thy hand I commit my spirit;

Thou has ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.”

Psalm 31:2,3,5, NASB

Of course, the quick rescue rarely comes fast enough for our impatient spirit, but when we place our spirit in God’s hands, we are assured by his truth, he will save us, even as he did Job, David, and Jesus.

As Jesus hung on the cross, he felt in his humanness as if God had abandoned him.

“And Jesus, crying out with a  loud voice, said,

“Father, INTO THY HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” 

And having said this, He breathed His last.”

Luke 23:46, NASB

The Father heard Jesus’s cry and delivered him—into death—to deliver him, and all who believe, out of death.

We have a choice, commit our spirit into God’s hands or the hands of the wicked one. When we place our lives in God’s hands we are promised—

“My Father, who has given them to Me,

is greater than all;

• and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand …
• The LORD will protect you from all evil;
• He will keep your soul.
• The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
• From this time forth and forever …
• So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
• And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

John 10:28; Psalm 121:7-8; Jeremiah 15:21 NASB

When we commit our spirit into the hands of the wicked one, we may enjoy the season of sin for awhile but know, “the wages of sin is death.”

May we choose wisely to—

“present our bodies

a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Romans 12: 1b, NASB

A sacrifice of praise:

“Blessed art Thou,

O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

Thine, O LORD, is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty,

indeed everything, that is in the heavens, and the earth;

Thine is the dominion, O LORD,

and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from thee,

and Thou dost rule over all,

and in Thy hand is power and might

and it lies in Thy hand

to make great, and to strengthen everyone.

Now therefore, our God,

we thank thee, and praise Thy glorious name.”

1 Chronicles 29:10b-13, NASB

Job continued to commit his spirit to the Lord through all he suffered. David facing his many enemies committed his spirit into God’s hands. The Lord Jesus, knowing he walked in the Father’s will, committed his spirit to his Father. May we do the same knowing—

“You are from God, little children,

and have overcome them;

because greater is He who is in you

than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4, NASB

This is what keeps hope alive when the trials of life surround us. Look up. Your redemption draws near.

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What scripture do you look to when needing a fresh dose of hope?

Flip To The End

Flip to the End

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“Though he slay me,

yet will I trust in him:

but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

He also shall be my salvation:

for an hypocrite shall not come before him.”

Job 13:15,16, KJV

Job became wearied with the lies his friends spoke against him. He would turn to God. God would be his judge. So he could say with confidence—

“Though he slay me …

Job’s loss of family, possessions, health, and friends left him with only one he could trust in, find some hope. He knew the Lord held the power of life and death, and if death should take him, he had confidence the Lord knew his heart. He trusted God rather than the empty words of his friends. Their words added pain to misery—

“But he knoweth the way that I take:

when he hath tried  me, I shall come forth as gold …

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me …

The wicked is driven away in his wickedness:

but the righteous hath hope in his death …

 For I am persuaded,

that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,

nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,

shall be able to separate us from the love of God,

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Job23:10; Psalm 23:4; Proverbs 14:32; Romans 8:38,39, KJV)

Job remained convinced of his relationship with God. Even when tempted to think the Lord had forsaken him, he would return to what he knew and what David wrote—God would comfort him. He would remember death is not the end—something better waited. When given a moment of reason beyond his agony, Job knew nothing would separate him from God’s love.

We can choose to follow Job’s example and hope when hope seems foolish. A follower of Jesus Christ is in a win, win situation. If we live, we live through him and for him. If we die, we live through him and with him. We have hope when we walk with the Lord. So when bad comes our way we can say with Job—

yet will I trust in him …

“My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let go;

my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live …

But with me it is a very small thing

that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment:

yea, I judge not mine own self.

For I know nothing by myself;

yet am I not hereby justified:

but he that judgeth me is the Lord …

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not,

then have we confidence toward God.”

(Job 27:6; 1 Corinthians 4:3,4; 1 John 3:21, KJV)

Job’s friends condemned him, his losses condemned him, and his health condemned him in the eyes of others—but his heart, nor his God condemned him, and that was the important thing. He knew his God and knew­—

He shall be my salvation …

“The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid? …

He only is my rock and my salvation:

he is my defence;

I shall not be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory:

the rock of my strength, and my refuge,

is in God …

 Neither is their salvation in any other:

for there is none other name

under heaven given among men,

whereby we must be saved.”

(Psalm 27:1; 62:6,7; Acts 4:12, KJV)

Job had no place to turn but God. His wife was now silent. His friends judged him harshly. Only One truly understood. It would be to Him Job would go. He knew he could for Job was not a godless man.

for an hypocrite shall not come before him  …

Job looked forward with eyes of faith to the mediator that would make it possible for him to enter the presence of God. He saw what we have now.

“For we have not an high priest

which cannot be touched with the felling of our infirmities;

but was in all points tempted like as we are,

yet without sin.

Let us therefore come boldly

unto the throne of grace,

that we may obtain mercy,

and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:15,16, KJV

Job knew what it felt like to be forsaken of God, but feelings cannot always be trusted when they disallow God’s word. When Job experienced his lowest lows, the Lord spoke truth in Job’s mind—truth that Job declared. He didn’t know the why’s of his suffering, but he did know the who. That’s why he could say,

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him …”

Who else can you fully trust with your life? My husband, as much as he loves me, is human. But there are times he will not be there for me—or me for him. I can’t even trust myself when I try to go it alone without God leading.

But we can trust God’s word—

“And we know that all things work together

for good to them that love God,

to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28, KJV

Remember, God’s got this—whatever your “this” happens to be. If you don’t believe me, flip to the end of Job’s story—he will tell you the same thing, now that he has experienced the God he once knew only be the hearing.