ENDURING FAITH

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him" (Job 13:15 NKJV).

Although sorely tested, Job’s faith was strong and so it endured through the struggles of his trial. Thus from our verse, we want to note the statement of his faith and the season of his faith.

Statement of his faith - “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” This is a grand statement of unmovable faith. Job said that regardless of what happened to him, he would still trust in God. Unlike Job, we often condition our faith and trust in God on future blessings. However, to condition our faith and loyalty to God on future blessings is not noble faith. We ought to trust God simply because of what He has already done. To withhold our dedication and devotion to Him until He does something more in the future is to say He has not done enough in the past to merit our trust in Him. He sent the Lord Jesus to die on Calvary for our sins. Isn’t that enough motivation to live for Him?

Season of his faith - Here we note that Job made this grand statement of faith during the darkest hour of his life. He had just lost nearly everything he had - family, possessions, and health. His friends were criticizing him and his wife was no encouragement, for she told him, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Yet, in his darkest of hour, Job said, he was still trusting God. It is easy to say wonderful things about God when the sun is shining and things are going great. But to say what Job said in the darkest of hour really shows one’s faith to be genuine and great. We need to cultivate a faith like this; a faith that will shine in the darkest of hours as well as during good times.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“He pleases God best who trusts Him most!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Direct

In 1 Thess. 3:11 we read, “Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you” (NKJV).

Direct is the Greek word kateuthunō (κατευθύνω = kat-yoo-thoo'-no). It is made up of two words – “kata” which down and intensifies meaning, and “euthunô” which means to make straight, to straighten fully, to guide or lead directly straight towards or upon something, to guide one’s way or journey to a place. Thus the word means direct, guide, lead. The idea is that of conducting one straight to a place, and not by a round-about course.

In Classical Greek kateuthunō means keep straight or make straight. In the Septuagint kateuthunō means advance, prosper, direct, order. In the New Testament kateuthunō literally means direction. It was also used figuratively for spiritual guidance. Here in 1 Thess. 3:11 kateuthunō gives the picture of opening up the way by removal of obstacles. The apostle Paul recognized that it is God who “direct our way” and who alone is powerful enough to remove all hindrances that Satan places in our path.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would bruise Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15)

New Testament Fulfillment – Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8

Bible Facts

Soil conservation (Lev. 23:22). Not only was the land to lay fallow every seventh year, but God also instructed farmers to leave the gleanings when reaping their fields, and not to reap the corners (sides) of their fields. This served several purposes: vital soil minerals would be maintained; the hedge row would limit wind erosion; and the poor could eat the gleanings. Today, approximately four billion metric tons of soil are lost from U.S. crop lands each year. Much of this soil depletion could be avoided if God’s commands were followed.

Bible Quiz

According to the Lord Jesus, what should a disciple of Christ do to his enemies?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: What did the Son of God say He would do to the “lukewarm” church according to the Book of Revelation? “Vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:16)

That’s in the Bible

"Move and have your being”

“For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28 NKJV).

“Move and have your being” - The expression “move and have your being” carries the idea that man derives his life, activity, and being from God. Not only is God necessary for us to live physically but He is essential for our spiritual life. He is the very source of our existence - the principle of life as well as the principle of motion comes from Him. Paul used these quotations from Cretan poets, not because they were inspired, but because they are true. God is indeed the Source of our existence and is near us.

Did You Know - Christian History

John Chrysostom was born 347 in Antioch, Syria. He was an early Church Father, Biblical interpreter, and Archbishop of Constantinople. The zeal and clarity of his preaching, earned him the Greek surname meaning “golden-mouthed.”

John was raised as a Christian by his widowed mother. Although he studied law under a distinguished pagan rhetorician, Libanius, he gave up his profession to study theology, ultimately becoming an ascetic hermit-monk. When his health gave way, he returned to Antioch and became an ordained deacon in 381 and a priest in 386.

Over the next 12 years he established himself as a great preacher, and his sermons were well regarded. Above all, John was concerned for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the needy and oppressed. He believed that personal property is not strictly private but a trust. In his eloquent, moving, and repeated insistence on almsgiving, he frequently taught that what was unnecessary to a person’s reasonable needs should be given away.

In 398 John was called to Constantinople to be its archbishop, much against his will. There he gained a large following among the people, but his teachings on the misuse of riches angered the wealthy and influential. However, a corrupt alliance led to him being condemned, banished, and kept in confinement at Cucusus in Armenia.

While in exile, John found it possible to keep in touch with his supporters and was still able to exert a measure of influence in his cause. He was to be removed to an even more remote place at the eastern end of the Black Sea, but he did not survive the exhausting journey. His last words were, “Glory be to God for all things. Amen. John Chrysostom died September 14, 407.

Although not an outstanding theologian, or theological writer, John Chrysostom was a superb orator though. In his sermons, he spoke plainly and combined the meaning of Scripture with its personal application. Each of his sermons had its moral or social lesson. His works consist of many scriptural homilies and other sermons, together with some treatises and letters.

A Little Humor

A visitor to a drought stricken area was engaged in conversation at the local store about the no-rain situation. “You think the drought is bad here,” the merchant observed. “Further south of here, they haven’t had any rain for so long that the Baptists are sprinkling, the Methodists are using damp cloth, and the Presbyterians are issuing rain checks!”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Nature forms us; sin deforms us; school informs us; but only Christ can transform us!”