God's Man

“Thank You for that lesson Job. You’ve given us a lot of food for thought. One more thing before we finish up, “What should we always keep in mind as new Heroes?”” “That’s also an easy one, constantly remind yourself: I am Accepted (John 15:15) "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” I am Secure (Romans 8:28) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I am Significant (2 Corinthians 5:17; 20-21) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” “Thanks Job. I appreciate you talking with us today.”

"I got caught up in a Poor Me attitude. I asked God some very heated questions. It really boiled down to this though. I wanted to know “Why Me?” “Why Now?” “Why This?” I cursed the day of my birth , focused on what I had lost , and lamented my new circumstance . But at the end of the day those questions were irrelevant." I asked, "What would you tell someone who has those same questions?" “I would answer their questions with a question. Why Not You? Why Not This? Why Not Now? I mean who would you rather this happens to? Is there someone you would like to dump your tests onto? Is there a better time for you to go through the storm? Is there some other test that you would like to go through?” Lean on God and endure, (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hea...

“And the last loss?“ Loss of Health “I was a pretty healthy guy. I ate what I was supposed to and there I was sick and in serious pain.” “I won’t ask, You Praised Go, Talked with Him and Asked Him what next… Right?“ “Actually, I was mad at this point. I started talking with Him. I questioned God pretty seriously. I wanted Him to come to me and explain why all of this was happening to me. Instead of focusing on His promises I wanted Him to explain Himself. I should have stood on (Psalm 41:3) “The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. I should have turned to the wall like Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1-6) Remember, O God, who I am, what I've done! I've lived an honest life before you, My heart's been true and steady, I've lived to please you; lived for your approval. You should embrace the Savior sacrifice (1 Peter 2:24) “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by h...

(continued from our interview with Job) “What was the next loss you suffered?” Loss of Love “This loss I suffered is two distinctly different ways. The loss of love is always a tough one to deal with. I had a great family, children who loved and respected me as well as each other. And then like that they were gone…” “What did you do? How did you survive that?” He replied with a smile, “Easy answer. Praise God, Talk to Him, and Ask what now?” “How can you possible say that? I mean couldn’t God have kept them safe. Couldn’t He have stopped it?” “I came into the world with nothing and when I go there will be nothing. The only thing that will last is my God who loves me.” “People might say that that is a pretty cavalier thing to say.” He responded by saying, “The only one who was there for me in my loss was my God. My wife, my friends, everyone was gone. But my God was still there. (Deuteronomy 31:6) “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for t...

The Main Thought that came through my message is: When the storm comes… Respond don’t React. Job Shows Us how to handle loss. These are the types of loss that he experienced as told through the interview that we shared. He said, “I’m not sure how much of my story you know but I once thought I had it all. At one time I was on top of the world. I loved God and He loved me. My family and marriage were great. My business was thriving and friends were always coming to me for counsel. Life could not have been sweeter.” His facial expression changed and I stammered out, “then what?” He said, “There are going to be storms in your life son. There is nothing you can do to change that. However you can control how you let the storm affect you . I had everything and then I lost it, but that is ok, because everyone experiences loss. However there are some things that cannot be lost. And that is where your strength comes from. That’s where I found the strength to make it through. My loss...

Update: The sermon went very well on Sunday. God moved during our worship in a mighty way. I'm removing what I posted over the weekend and sharing some excerpts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a world full of complex problems and complex people Technology Politics Relationships The Economy Everyday the world tries to bog us down in seemingly complex issues. People cry out for a simple way to navigate this world. Overwhelmed by the myriad of seemingly contradictory choices we try to find balance. We become the Jack-of-all Trades in order to make sense of it all. We read book after book, watch show after show and listen to Radio in search of answers. Or to just drown It all out. Getting lost in all of these choices is so easy Ask people what they want and get vague answers or blank stares. There is no more black and white. No more right or wrong. No more Yes or No. Shades of gray cloud every issue and situation. Mayb...

I will be speaking this weekend at Living Hope Church during our Heros Sermon Series. I will be speaking on Job and his Simple Power. I'll be sharing my notes as I finalize them. Have a great friday.