TEXT: ‘Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honour beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven’ (Hebrews 8:1 NLT) THOUGHT: One of the mantras of Leadership Training is, “Keep the main point, the main point!” The writer of Hebrews urged his readers to do just that. For the Christian, the main point is always centred on Jesus Christ. Since the beginning of creation, there has always been a point of contact between God and man. It started in the Garden of Eden when God would come down to talk with Adam and Eve.1 Sin destroyed that relationship and since then God had to remain at a distance. Believers started building altars as a point of contact and called on the name of the Lord.2 When the Children of Israel came out of Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for forty years, God was with them in The Tabernacle.3 When they were settled in Canaan, King David wanted to build God a permanent resting place, a temple, although it was his son Solomon who actually built it.4 Finally came the church that Jesus is building, ‘On this rock I will build My church. The powers of hell will...
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TEXT: ‘There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil’ (Job 1:1 NLT) THOUGHT: In this final part of “A Good Job!”, Today’s Teaching considers the outcome or end result. Who wins, God or Satan? God always has and always will. Job does have a happy ending. Some would say, “But what about the loss of his ten children? Possessions can be replaced but not life.” His children are in heaven and Job has joined them. Not re-united in a physical state but a spiritual one, where there is neither male nor female. The earthly relationships believers had with each other are replaced by a God-man marriage which is eternal. This is why Christians do not grieve like those who do not have this sure hope.1 This truth was referred to during the funeral of Prince Philip. Job’s Future In the midst of this awful trial, all Job saw ahead was continued pain, suffering and ultimately death, something he wanted to come quickly to put an end to his misery. God, however, had a glorious future in store to help compensate for the unjustified attacks by Satan. I want...
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TEXT: ‘There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil’ (Job 1:1 NLT) THOUGHT: When evangelising I have been asked many times, “Why does bad things happen to good people?” or “If God is a God of love why does He allow so much suffering?” Sometimes we do not have easy answers to difficult questions. When Abraham was interceding with the knowledge of God’s impending judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, he said, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25). The answer is always a resounding, “Yes!” The Book of James makes this very clear, ‘Remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it’ (James 1:13 TLB). God is good, all the time! In Part 1 of this study we considered Job’s family, finances and fear. Part 2 highlights two more aspects of Job and the ordeal he went through. Job’s Frustration A. With his friends – ‘Miserable comforters are you all’(Job 16:2) Sometimes we have to be willing to let people pour out...
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TEXT: ‘There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil’ (Job 1:1 NLT) THOUGHT: Job is one of the most remarkable books in the Bible. There is so much to discover when someone is willing to wade through the dialogue. Try it and see for yourself! Reading it out loud to myself certainly helped me to understand more the depths of despair Job had sunk to, yet he maintained his faith. He certainly is a shining example to the many who let the least thing hinder their relationship with God and attendance at their local church. The book opens with tragedy hitting this godly man. Bad things happen to good people! God is a good God but Satan is a mean devil. Never confuse the two. Unknown to Job, conversations between God and Satan resulted in him suffering in a way perhaps no other person has. Today’s Teaching concentrates on the reasons for this unimaginable trial, his reactions to it and its final outcome. Job’s Family Job had a wife, seven sons and three daughters. There was a strong bond of love between all of them. Whenever the sons...
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TEXT: ‘Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me’ (Micah 7:7) THOUGHT: Waiting for God to answer and bring about a change to a situation can be one of the hardest things to do. Delay can seem like denial but often it is not the case. In the Bible there are a number of scriptures that refer to ‘waiting’ and Today’s Teaching highlights five areas we need to be aware of and focus on. Wait Politely – ‘Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath’ (James 1:19) Waiting can bring out the worst in us. Think about reactions, ours included, of people waiting in a queue, whether at the supermarket, traffic lights or the entrance to a big event. How impatient we can get even over the slightest hesitation by the person ahead of us. Many an obscenity has been shouted at the car in front for taking off slowly after the light has turned green. Having driven in Africa and Italy, the use of horns there to express frustration and anger is widespread! The epistle of James exhorts us to be slow to respond and get angry because, ‘Anger will...
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