It boils down to the sin of pride, doesn't it?
This is the LifeSpring One-Year Bible Rewind,
and coming to you from Riverside, California,
podcasting since 2004.
My name is Steve Webb, and I am your OG Godcaster.
This is the podcast that comes to you every day,
and we're reading the entire Bible together in a year.
Thank you for being with me today.
I appreciate it.
I'm honored.
The website is lifespringmedia.com.
This is Poetry Thursday.
We'll read Job 33 and 34,
and after today's reading and my comments, I have an announcement I need to make,
so please be sure to listen all the way to the end of the show. Let's begin. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank you so much for your word, and we thank you for our time together. We pray, God, that you
would touch our hearts and that you would teach us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Job chapter 33. Listen to my words, Job. Pay attention to what I have to say.
Now that I have begun to speak, let me continue. I speak with all sincerity. I speak the truth.
For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Answer me if you can. Make your case and take your stand. Look, you and I both belong to God.
I, too, was formed from clay, so you don't need to be afraid of me. I won't come down hard on you.
You have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard your very words.
You said, I am pure, I am without sin, I am innocent, I have no guilt.
God is picking a quarrel with me, and He considers me His enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks and watches my every move.
But you are wrong, and I will show you why.
For God is greater than any human being.
So why are you bringing a charge against Him?
Why say He does not respond to people's complaints?
For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.
He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.
He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings.
He makes them turn from doing wrong.
He keeps them from pride.
He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death.
Or God disciplines people with pain on their sick beds, with ceaseless aching in their bones.
They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food. Their flesh wastes away,
and their bones stick out. They're at death's door. The angels of death wait for them.
But if an angel from heaven appears, a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare
that he is upright, he will be gracious and say, Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a
ransom for his life. Then his body will become as healthy as a child's, firm and youthful again.
When he prays to God, he will be accepted, and God will receive him with joy and restore him to good
standing. He will declare to his friends, I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it.
God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light. Yes, God does these things
again and again for people. He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life.
Mark this well, Job. Listen to me, for I have more to say. But if you have anything to say,
go ahead. Speak, for I am anxious to see you justified. But if not, then listen to me.
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom. Job chapter 34.
Then Elihu said, Listen to me, you wise men. Pay attention, you who have knowledge.
Job said, The ear tests the words it hears, just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
So let us discern for ourselves what is right. Let us learn together what is good. For Job also said,
I am innocent, but God has taken away my rights. I am innocent, but they call me a liar. My
suffering is incurable, though I have not sinned. Tell me, has there ever been a man like Job,
with his thirst for irreverent talk? He chooses evil people as companions. He spends his time
with wicked men. He has even said, why waste time trying to please God? Listen to me, you who have
understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn't sin. The Almighty can do no wrong. He repays people
according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve. Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty
will not twist justice. Did someone else put the world in His care? Who set the whole world in place?
If God were to take His Spirit and withdraw His breath, all life would cease, and humanity
would turn again to dust.
Now listen to me if you are wise.
Pay attention to what I say.
Could God govern if He hated justice?
Are you going to condemn the Almighty Judge?
For He says to kings, You are wicked, and to nobles, you are unjust.
He doesn't care how great a person may be, and He pays no more attention to the rich
than to the poor.
He made them all. In a moment, they die. In the middle of the night, they pass away.
The mighty are removed without human hand. For God watches how people live. He sees everything
they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from His eyes. We don't set the time when
we will come before God in judgment. He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone, and He sets
up others in their place. He knows what they do, and in the night He overturns and destroys them.
He strikes them down because they're wicked, doing it openly for all to see, for they turned away
from following Him. They have no respect for any of His ways. They cause the poor to cry out,
catching God's attention. He hears the cries of the needy, but if He chooses to remain quiet,
who can criticize Him? When He hides His face, no one can find Him, whether an individual
or a nation. He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to people.
Why don't people say to God, I have sinned, but I will sin no more? Or, I don't know what evil I've
done. Tell me, if I've done wrong, I will stop at once. Must God tailor His justice to your demands?
But you have rejected Him. The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead, share your wisdom with us.
After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say,
Job speaks out of ignorance, his words lack insight.
Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked.
For you have added rebellion to your sin, you show no respect,
and you speak many angry words against God.
Well, even though Elihu is the youngest of Job's visitors, I find him to be the wisest.
I don't think he has quite understood Job perfectly, and he does accuse Job wrongly in some aspects.
But at least he doesn't accuse Job of lying when he asserts his righteousness.
But Elihu is correct when he says that God is not unjust in his dealings with man,
and that if afflictions have come upon Job, then it is for his own good.
It's not that Job has necessarily done something wrong, but only that God has a reason.
Elihu says that we're not able to understand all that God does, but that God is almighty,
righteous. He has complete control over the affairs of men, and He is wise.
Some people don't accept the fact that God is wise. They don't accept that we're not able to
understand all that God does, so they don't expect that He is trustworthy. Have you ever known someone
who looks at conditions in the world and says, how could a loving God allow these things to happen?
I could never worship a God like that. I have. They've judged God based on their own flawed and
limited human understanding. It boils down to the sin of pride, doesn't it? Romans 1.22 says,
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. It's a sad thing to see, and in many,
if not most cases, only prayer and the Holy Spirit can change their hearts and minds.
because you cannot reason with a fool unless the Holy Spirit opens their eyes.
2 Timothy 2, 23-26 says,
Again I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.
A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be kind to everyone,
be able to teach and be patient with difficult people.
Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.
Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth.
Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap,
for they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.
Beloved, we've been commanded to preach the gospel to every creature in Mark 16.15.
Notice it doesn't say, except for fools.
So, as 1 Peter 3.15 says,
We must always be ready to gently answer anyone who asks the reason for the hope we have in
God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray for your foolish friends and family members.
Ask God to soften their hearts and ask Him to give you or someone else the opportunity
to share Christ with them in a way that will cause the scales to fall from their eyes so
that their foolishness will be replaced with God's light.
What do you think?
send me an email at steve at lifespringmedia.com. Our reading tomorrow is Jeremiah 22 through 26.
So at the top of the show today, I told you that there was an announcement I need to make.
I'm not going to make it long and drawn out. I'm just going to say it.
I've mentioned on the show a few times that the lovely lady Leanne and I have a business that I
opened way back in 1988. Between her income at her full-time job and the income from our business,
I've been able to spend up to four hours a day to bring this show to you seven days a week.
Well, I'm not going to be able to do that for the foreseeable future. Today, we had a pretty big
setback in the business, which will cut our income substantially. And I'm going to have to spend much
more time actively working that business in order to try to make up for the shortfall.
I will still put up a show every day, but I won't be able to create any fresh content for each episode like I have been.
I do hope to be able to create an episode of Verses We Missed each week, but if you listen to that show, you know it's a shorter show with fewer moving parts.
I will say this, and this is important. Stay subscribed to both shows.
As quickly as this setback happened today, the Lord can bring another change in the other direction, and I might be able to bring new content for you here.
You never know. But one thing I do know is this. God knows, and He is in control. There are times
in each of our lives when surprising things happen and we ask, why? Sometimes we get an answer,
often we don't. But I've discovered that God always knows what He's doing, and He is faithful,
and He is trustworthy. He is God, and I am not. And I'm happy with that arrangement. Amen?
I would ask that you would pray for Leanne and I, though. Please do that.
Okay? And now on with today's show.
On this date in church history, February 12th.
On this day in 1663, one of the most prolific minds in early American history was born.
Cotton Mather was a third-generation Puritan minister who seemed destined for leadership.
By the age of 12, he was studying at, get this, at Harvard.
By his 20s, he was a leading voice in the Boston wilderness.
Mather is an often misunderstood figure, frequently remembered only for his connection to the Salem Witch Trials, which was minor.
However, his real legacy was his attempt to harmonize the Christian faith with the dawning age of science.
He was a pioneer of medicine, an early advocate for small group prayer meetings, and the author
of nearly 500 books.
Mather believed that a sharp mind was one of the best tools for serving God.
He pushed the American colonies to look forward, blending traditional theology with a vision
for social reform and intellectual growth.
His work helped lay the groundwork for the spiritual awakenings that would follow decades
later.
comment on the show at comment.lifespringmedia.com or email me at steve at life spring media.com i
would love to hear from you so now until tomorrow may god bless you richly thank you so much for
being here my name is steve webb bye
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Thank you.
The Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind is a Lifespring Media production hosted by Steve Webb, the OG Godcaster, since 2004.