I know, O LORD, that your regulations are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it. [Psalm 119.75]
How many of us will say this?
How many, instead, will say, "You disciplined me because You just do that sometimes"? Or, "You disciplined me because You wanted to test me (and then refer to Job)"?
It is time we stop interpreting everything in the Bible through our pride and arrogance! It is time we humble ourselves before God and admit that we suffer because we sin. And, because of sin, we need to repent.
I don't have a lot of answers about some of the things in the Bible. Take Job for example - why did God brag about Job's perfectly righteous condition?
Is it possible that God's "question" to Satan ("Have you considered Job?") was something like all of God's other questions in the Bible - not that God needed an answer, but that the one being questioned needed the answer? Is it not possible that God merely spoke what Satan "thought" was true about Job (that he was righteous) while God Himself knew all along that Job had pride issues that only a "fire" would bring to the surface - issues that would reveal Job's need to repent?
Is it not true that God knows everything? And, then, if God knows everything, He does not need to test us to know what is in us! WE NEED TO KNOW!
And, is it not true that Satan does NOT know everything? And is it not true that Satan does not and cannot know the heart of man? Would it not make sense then, that God would have to direct Satan to inflict suffering on Job (remember, we suffer because we sin) in order to draw out Job's repentance because Satan did not have the ability to see Job's heart?
Satan's job is to inflict curses. God was telling Satan to do his job. Why? Because God loved Job but knew that the pride in his heart was going to be a problem.
God does not need to test us to see what is in us. God needs to test us so WE will see what is in us... AND REPENT OF IT! We need to repent so that we might walk in blessings not curses.
What about Jesus? The same applies! If we are not trusting Jesus - not believing - then we are not 'in faith' and, if we are not in faith, we are sinning because "whatsoever is not of faith in SIN!"
God has never required anything more or less of people than to believe. Whether to believe that He would bless their obedience to the Law under the Old Covenant or to believe in Jesus under the New Covenant, God's requirement upon man has not changed - the just shall live by faith.
So, if we suffer, it is because of sin. If we suffer, we need to repent. It is in this "humble and contrite spirit" that God blesses us.
In a class last night, the scripture was pointed out about Jesus's disciples asking Him who had sinned causing a man's handicap. Jesus' response was that neither the man nor his parents had sinned but that the handicap was for the glory of God. Okay, stay with me... if the handicap was for the glory of God, then why would Jesus heal it??? He Wouldn't! But if the removal of the handicap (healing) was for the glory of God, then Jesus would indeed heal the man! SO, if indeed God puts curses upon people's lives undeserved (which by the way Proverbs says is not the case - Proverbs 26.2), it is for His glory that they be healed of the curses - not that they die of some disease!
We have made entirely too many excuses for ourselves when it comes to our sufferings.
So, I was talking to my wife about this this morning and she said I am too combative in my presentation of this and cause people to immediately resist. For that, I apologize. All I want is that we get to the Truth and quit all our conflicted, powerless and ridiculous religious pretense before a watching, skeptical, and unbelieving world.
Father, I don't want to be conflicted. I don't want to be combative. But I do want Truth. I know Your discipline is good in that it brings me to repentance. I can only imagine if Jesus started His earthly ministry off with the word "Repent" that it is and remains a main priority. Please forgive me for any pride and arrogance that I have come across to anyone with (and even that which lies within that no one sees). I don't want the 'righteousness of Job' that eventually yielded terrible things spewing from his mouth that got him rebuked. I want a humble and contrite spirit - one that pleases You in pure undivided faith.
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