Think Spot 24 August 2015

24th August 2015

G'day! Welcome to Partakers Monday Think Spot helping you into this new week! Come on in and listen!

Job: a man of integrity
Whether you have read about Job in the Bible or not I am sure you must have heard some mention of his name in association with his sufferings or the term 'Job's comforters'. Job suffered immensely, losing his family, wealth and health but never lost his integrity with what he went through. Neither did he curse God for what he was put through.

He could even have lost his sanity as he had no warm hearted friends to console him, only those who were supposed to be friends but they certainly were not comforters to him in his distress. Instead they blamed him for what he suffered. They believed he must have done something wrong in order for the tragedies in his life. However if you read the very beginning of Job, in the very first chapter you will discover that Job is singled out by God as a righteous man. A man who loved and served God with all his heart.

Job was mystified for a while (we see this in the first twenty chapters) but then as his three so called comforters continually attack his righteousness assuming he was responsible for the suffering he was enduring, saying all manner of cruel things about him which were totally untrue, suddenly in replying to one of these three accusers he says “ I cannot see God and all the ways He takes “But He knows the way I take”. He sees me continually and knows all about me. Then Job having understood the intention of God in his ufferings says “When He has tested me I shall come forth as gold, fine gold.” Job knows there is a purpose to his sufferings.

If gold is being separated from impurities in a refining process the heat has to be intense for the separation to take place and for gold to emerge as fine gold. Perhaps you too are going through a testing time at the moment and asking why? Why? Why? The 'hospital visitors ' to Job had no knowledge of the purpose of Job's sufferings and counselled him without wisdom. Perhaps If grapes had been in a bowl beside him perhaps they would have eaten them and thought they were doing Job a favour.

How careful we need to be when helping someone who is going through some form of suffering that we take the time to do more listening than talking to the patient.

Compassion is something that Jesus certainly had and plenty of it. The lepers,the bereaved, poor, lame and those unjustly treated all became His concern and from morning to night he spent his hours ministering to their every need. His wisdom was not always listened to but when it was people were greatly benefited.

How we need to look at Jesus life more in the gospels and see how He talked and listened to people and responded to their cries. He never ever passed by on the other side when he saw a need. When someone cried out he responded.

Joy’s Prayer
Lord, we are often complaining when we have nothing like the experiences of Job or others like Gladys Aylward to compare with. Forgive us for our moaning and grumbling. Help us to see as the scriptures say our 'light afflictions are but for a moment '.

When we think of Jesus and His sufferings for us we are put to shame. Thank you we have such a wonderful God as indeed You are to comfort us in our afflictions. “Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits who forgives our iniquities, heals all of our sicknesses and diseases and whose mercy ,reaches unto the heavens. ... Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, serve the Lord with gladness”.

Lord help us to do this for Your names sake.
Amen

Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file~ You can now purchase our Partakers books! Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site!

Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!