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Trusting by faith

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indianabob:
Received this message from a friend. Bob

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him." (Job 13:15-16)
 
The patriarch Job was, according to God's own testimony, the most perfect and upright man in all the earth (Job 1:8), yet he was subjected to the most severe testings that anyone (except Christ Himself) ever had to endure. He lost all his great possessions and his large family in a single day, then was afflicted for months on end with a most loathsome and painful disease. He lost the respect of all who had once honored and followed him and was even accused by his closest friends of being a wicked sinner and arrogant hypocrite. Worst of all, the God whom he had loved and faithfully served all his life had apparently completely ignored his prayers for deliverance, or even for understanding of what was happening to him. Finally, a presumptuous young religionist related what he (falsely) claimed was a divine message that even God had accused Job of sin and hypocrisy.
 
Yet, despite all this, Job never once lost his faith! "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," he insisted. "For I know that my redeemer liveth" (Job 19:25), and "He also shall be my salvation" (today's verse).
 
What an example has been provided us by this ancient patriarch, whose knowledge of God's Word, God's love, and God's great salvation through faith in Christ was only a small fraction of what we know now, with God's complete revelation before us. The apostle James well reminds us of "the patience of Job," probably the greatest example of all "the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience" (James 5:10-11). We can, like Job, know that He who created us deserves absolute trust. HMM

Fester:
 
Reminds me of a song from my childhood...
 
Have faith, hope and charity
That's the way to live successfully
How do I know, the Bible tells me so.

Don't worry about tomorrow
Just be real good today
The Lord is right beside you
He'll guide you all the way.
 
So let's have faith, hope and charity
That's the way to live successfully
How do I know, the Bible tells me so.
 

River:
Now see that is hard for me to swallow because I couldn't honestly say that I have never doubted, I still doubt. The way Job is presented to us by others is like this guy just knew for sure and had his head on straight. My name isn't Job but I knew I have been tested and I know for a fact that I didn't know nothing. I did surrender to the fact that everything was beyond me but I also knew that all the ideas I was taught about God were thrown out the window. Doctrine and scripture lines and all that to be honest all go by the way side when your slammed. You don't know jack and that is the truth of my Job experience. So for me to be able to say "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,"  "For I know that my redeemer liveth" (Job 19:25) well it most likely would be a grasp at some sort of hope or just clinging to a strong conditioned religious upbringing. Everytime I have experienced my Job testing I just surrender but I don't know if I can call it trusting or faith. For me it is more like I realize my place and know I don't run the show. I'd be curious to know how others have faced their darkest hour.

Deborah-Leigh:



....darkest hour (singular)...LOL....darkest HOURS...(plural)....Yes, sure there's a gradient...some moments are worse than others...

How I faced the worst one...LIKE a Zombie...totally arrested, paused, blank, ..... knowing nothing, thinking nothing..hey..isn't that how Hades is defined...lol....well like that. Not even being able to lift up my voice to God or even know that God exists. Totally zoned out, and not by a drug or anesthetic either. My mind stopped. Pain stopped reason. Agony stopped hope, and Love kept me breathing. ~ :)
 

Arc

John from Kentucky:
Actually, Job was a sinner just like all the rest of us.  The scriptures say that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  The scriptures also say that there are none good, no not one.  Jesus asked why the man called Him (Jesus) good; Jesus said that there are none good but one---God.

Job had a great sin that only God could see.  Even Satan didn't see Job's sin.  God toyed with Satan by making relative statements about Job's goodness.  Satan didn't understand or see the absolute truth of Job's sin.

Job's great sin was that he was self-righteous.  Job did good works.  Job thought he was good because of the good things he did.  A common deception that has fooled all mankind, especially Christians.

God brought Job low to get his attention.  God then compared Himself to Job to show Job how low and wrong Job was in comparison to God.

Job finally got it and repented.  "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."  Job 42:5-6

If Job had been truly righteous, then he wouldn't have had to repent before God.

One of the lessons of the Book of Job to those who hear God's voice today, is that we shouldn't think all that highly of ourselves based upon what we know or our good works.  Only God is good, and only He should get the glory.

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