Job 22:21-25 New American Standard Bible
21 “Be reconciled with Him, and be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
22 Please receive [a]instruction from His mouth,
And put His words in your heart.
23 If you return to [b]the Almighty, you will be [c]restored;
If you remove injustice far from your tent,
24 And put your [d]gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
25 Then [e]the Almighty will be your [f]gold
And abundant silver to you.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
These are the words of counsel from Eliphaz to his friend, Job during the worst possible time of his life. Job’s children were gone. His wealth gone. Everything God had blessed him with in his lifetime taken from him within a single day.
Even his own physical health compromised, I am quite certain that he was not looking for a long drawn out sermon but a bit of sympathy from his friends.
The story of Job is one, though hard to read and difficult to comprehend, is absolutely necessary to understand true submission to God.
“Submit to God and be at peace with Him.”
This may imply that Eliphaz had decided that Job must have sinned against God to invite such a magnitude of tragedy into his life.
From a human aspect – it would be the natural assumption.
However, his words I believe are led by the Holy Spirit and not his own intellect.
Submission to the Lord in all things will give us peace.
The Holy Spirit produces peace in our life as a fruit.
As our soul prospers so does our life, but I do not believe that God will allow us to prosper in this life if it compromises eternal life. “
“In this way prosperity will come to you.”
Everyone has a natural desire to prosper.
To see increase and live in abundance.
It is a common thread of commerce.
However, peace does not come from financial security but confident faith that there is more to life than this.
A place of eternal rest offered through Jesus Christ.
The Lord has given us His Spirit to produce the kinds of fruit that satisfies our soul and causes our heart and mind to prosper in God’s Word which is His Plan for us.
“Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.”
I have studied the Word of God nearly every day for the last four years.
Each morning getting up early to read, study and meditate on it.
I want to extract every single truth, promise and blessing hidden within the pages of text.
I do not say this to boast but rather to share even though I have spent countless hours poring over the Word of God, I find new things every single day. It is life to my heart, mind, thoughts and soul. It is never old but always fresh and new.
Romans 10:2-4 (NIV) For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Our zealousness and enthusiasm serving God must be based on His Word.
Faith comes by hearing and found in God’s Word.
We desire righteousness but do not fully understand what it entails.
Pride wants to earn it.
Somehow find a way to deserve the Grace of God.
It is impossible.
Yet still religiosity can interrupt our relationship when pride tells us – “I can do it.” The only way of reconciliation with God is through His Son, Jesus. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can make it to God except through Him.
The Word made flesh to live among us is none other than Jesus.
I must submit to God’s Righteousness fully accepting His Grace in my many weaknesses. His Power is complete in my life when I do.
The story of Job depicts man’s struggle with pride.
Doing everything right cannot erase our sin or promote a relationship with God.
It is our thriving relationship with Jesus that gives us total access to God the Father and His Power in this life.
Divine discipline as recorded in Hebrews 12 is not in the form of punishment.
It is God’s Love at work in us to remove barriers of pride, fear, and insecurity that keep us from reconciling our life to God through His Son,
Jesus. It is always born of love, mercy and grace.
God cannot punish those who believe as it would be contrary to His Word.
God doesn’t take back His Promises but daily pursues us in order to bless us.
It is His Desire to give us the desires of our heart.
Misalignment spiritually creates conflict in our life. (James 4:1-6)
Our friendship with God makes us enemies of the world.
I want more of God’s Grace.
To have it means moving my life from this world to Kingdom living by constantly pursuing a relationship with God by way of accepting His Grace more and more which means I must decrease and He must increase in me.
Pride is crucified in this place and submission fully embraced as a way of life.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
To be reconciled with God is to live at peace with Him.
Submission to God comes in the form of acceptance of His Grace as enough for my life. His Power is manifested in my weakness and my inability to accomplish anything of worth outside of my deep abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.
I must become a new creation.
Pride must be executed so the fulfillment of His Purpose can be accomplished in me. I must learn to submit. Humbling myself before the Lord and other people.
God has a plan containing a future and hope that oversteps death into eternity.
By faith, I can achieve it.
I must understand my place as a participant in this process.
I must humble myself before the Lord which means also extending it to other people.
“Submit to God and be at peace with Him” is not any kind of threat or form of punishment.
It is an invitation. Like a wedding invitation all in white tied with a scarlet bow, bidding us to come and participate in the single greatest love story ever written.
To be His Bride.
To await His Coming with real enthusiasm not overrated zeal.
His Word gives us the opportunity to know Him.
His Spirit is the intimate consummation of His Betrothal.
We have a promise, not only of a fantastic future, but blessings for the land of the living.
Pride will never exalt us to the level of confirmation that humility born of absolute trust in the Living God allows. It is the destruction of the platform of pride that spiritual elevation takes to the new levels and life intended by God.
I must live in Christ to find them. He must increase and I must decrease. I must live at peace with God in Christ Jesus to reach my full potential. Sometimes it is the moment when all we have is the Lord, that we find He is all we ever need.
Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 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.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 