The Man From Uz


Some times, or should we say
many times, things are not as 
they seem to be. There was a
man that lived in the land of Uz.
His name was Job. He went through
a terrible time in his life. Job could
not understand the whys of what he
was going through. He was suffering
from great storms and lost all
his seven sons and three daughters.
 He had people
come and steal his wealth in livestock.
Job had seven thousand sheep,
and three thousand camels,
five hundred yoke of oxen,
five hundred asses.
Job had a very great household.
Job was the greatest of all the men
of the east.
Job was one of the richest men
in the World.
Job was greatly blessed by God!


Then one day, ...

Job 1: 6-8
"Now there was a day when the sons
of God came to present themselves
before the LORD,
and satan came also among them,
(satan is the leader of evil)
*We are given a glimpse into
the Spirit World through
these verses.*
And the LORD said to satan,
Where have you been?
Then satan answered the LORD,
and said, From going to and fro
in the Earth, and from walking
up and down in it.
And the LORD said unto Satan,
Have you considered
My servant Job,
that there is none like him
in the Earth,
a perfect and upright man,
one who fears God,
and eschews evil."

As we read these verses,
We learn that at times,
satan is granted entrance into
Heaven to stand before the LORD.
It is interesting to note satan
said that he walks to and fro,
up and down the earth.
We have to understand,
we have a adversary always
looking for opportunity to
take us out and destroy
our lives.
Also,
(so much to be learned here)
Father God was very aware
of Job and how Job
feared God,
(the beginning of wisdom,
Proverbs 1:7)
and eschews (hates) evil.
(Psalms 97:10
God calls Job because he
fears Him and hates evil,
a perfect and upright man.
I love how Pastor Swaggart
explains this in the
Expositor's Bible.
He teaches us that
satan at times,
 is allowed to go
up before the LORD.
The LORD and satan had a
conversation about Job.
If the LORD had a
conversation about us,
what would God say
about our lives?
Just a thought!

When we fast forward to
verse 1:13 we see the
beginning of satan attacking
Job. He has to get God's
permission to do so. And,
satan could only go so far.
We read of this in the
previous verses of Chapter One.

Job loses
His Wealth, Servants, and Children
"And there was a day,
when his sons and his daughters
were eating and drinking wine
in their eldest brother's house:
Job 1: 13-15
And there came a messenger
unto Job, and said,
The oxen were plowing, and the
asses feeding beside them:
And the Sabeans fell upon them,
and took them away: yes,
they have killed the servants
with the edge of the sword;
and I only am escaped alone to
tell you."

This was the first blow of satan, with
many more to come.
While that servant was still telling Job
of what happened, another servant came
to tell Job that the fire of God has
fallen from Heaven! All his sheep were
burned up, and the servants and only he
had escaped to run to tell Job.
Satan is so cruel. Fire from Heaven,
made it look like God did this to Job.
Can you just imagine the pain in Job's
heart and soul at this point.

None of us have ever gone
through a trial as awful as
Job experienced.
However,
I am sure many of us can say that
there were times we felt like we
were going through the worst
days of our lives...
With all the pain of lost of loved ones.
Possibly with the pain of loss of
our physical health in one way or another.
The pain of losing everything financially.
The pain of friends talking about us
when we were down,... instead of
giving us a hand of encouragement,
support and hope, they kicked us
with judgmental words, and gossiped
about our loss to others.

If we read on we will see the loss of
Job's Children reported by another
servant while yet the last servant
was still speaking! Yes, at one time,
Job now has lost all ten of His Children!

What did Job do?
He fell on the ground and worshiped!
Job said,
Job 1:21-22
"...Naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked shall
I return thither:
The LORD gave, and the LORD
has taken away;
blessed be the
Name of the LORD.
In all this Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly.

There came another day when
satan was allowed to go before
the LORD and he asked to be
able to come against Job
physically. God gave permission
for satan to do this but also
told satan he could not take
Job's life.

We see here that God either
orchestrates, or allows all
that we experience in this life.
We could say,
every trial we go through
 is a test. The enemy of our
lives is given only so much
leeway, or freedom to come
against us. In fact he has
to ask permission for what
ever he uses to try to destroy
our love and faith
in our God.

Children of God,
Life is not easy, especially in
the days we are living.
In fact it looks like we are
headed for some very
difficult days ahead.
I know many of us are already
hurting deeply. Satan has come
against us
physically, emotionally, and financially.
And then on top of all this,
we have to face our Country seemingly
falling apart by a President that
is doing everything he can to
destroy the U.S.A.


DON'T LOOSE HOPE!
This world is not our home!
We are just passing through!
Let us lay up our hope
and treasures in Heaven!
If ever Sister Joy felt the
soon returning of Jesus,
it is now!
Jesus is Coming Soon!
(Matthew 24:7-20,
Luke 21:8-11)

We will all go through times
when we walk on the
mountain tops of victory.
And,
times when we walk through
the valleys of pain and hurt.

 It is so sad that in the times
of trials and testing, there may
not be many friends or family
members, (if any at all)
 that will love you
through it.

They may come like Job's
friends and family and
try to tell you of how
you failed God and this is
why you are sick, or why
you lost all your earthly goods.
They may persecute us with
their words and attitude of heart.
Job told his friends
that though God kill him,
yet He would trust in Him.
(Job 13:15)

Children,
No matter what we go through in this life,
No matter what people say about us,
No matter how many lies satan whispers
into the ears of our friends and family,
about us. No matter how much we have
lost, physically, financially, or emotionally.
No matter what or who took our wealth away,
or who kicks us when we are suffering.
None of that really matters in the
view of Eternal Value to God.

What matters is how we walk
through the trials of life.
As our LORD is watching us,
and how we react to the
losses of life,
What will we do?
What will we say about
the LORD?
Will we hold on until God
either turns things around,
or takes us home.
I know this is not always
what a Child of God wants
to hear when pain is racking
our body, and we are
suffering so terribly that
we cannot even speak as
the tears are running down
our face.
Or, we have lost in one way
or another all our financial
wealth.
Or, we are suffering from
emotional ups and downs.


We need to always remember,
through it all,
FATHER GOD IS RIGHT
THERE WITH US...

If you read the whole book
of Job, you will see he has
his ups and downs emotionally.
However, in the end God
gives back to Job every thing
that was taken away
and much more.

Our God is faithful.
He loves us and will not allow
satan to go any father in the
trials and tests of our lives
than we are able to bear.
1 Corinthians 10:13

Children of God,
Go to the LORD.
When we are hurting,
The LORD looks for us to
go to Him and tell Him all
about it. He wants us to ask
Him for help to walk. We
fight the enemy on our knees.
Satan has no power over a
Child of God that
Trusts His God!

No matter what we face
our
Heavenly Father is
right there to help us.
All we have to do is
ask Him. He loves to
be our Miracle Worker!
God loves to hold us and
help us each and everyday
of our lives!