Jesus Said, "You Will Have Troubles"

Scripture Reading: Job1:1-22   

Focus Verse: Job 2:10 Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never adversity?  So in all this Job said nothing wrong.

Sometimes in our lives we tend to remember all the bad things that have happened to us and forget the good things.  We remember Job for all the bad that happened to him.  But we should remember how Job had victory in spite of his adversity.  There were four things that were important to Job: his faith, family, friends and his fortune.  Satan tried to take all of them from Job hoping he would curse God.  Instead we see Job thinking on the goodness of God and worshiping His greatness.  Satan was probably the one cursing and not Job.  At no time do we see Job blaming God for these things.  God was enough for Job, with or without the other things Job had.  Job said in 13:15 "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him."

Do you bless God and praise Him even when you don't understand what is going on in your life?  Job's faith is a great lesson to us on how we can trust in God even though we may be going through unexplained trials.  Job did express his grief to God, and God wants us to cry out to Him also.  Remember Job for his victory during the trials and we can do the same with God's help.  Almighty God is enough.  We need nothing else.

"He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only".
C.S. Lewis

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Three Words to Overcome Temptation

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1-12

Focus Verse: Psalm 119:11  Your Word I have Hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

How did Jesus stand up to the temptations of Satan in the wilderness?  He did it by quoting Scripture.  "It is written".

If Jesus needed the Bible to overcome temptation, how do we think we can live a pure life without it.  So many times we find ourselves in a mess and can't understand why, but we haven't gone to the only source that can really help us.  We make Satan weak and defeated in our lives when we pray and read the Bible.  Satan knows that his time is limited here on earth, and he's going to do all he can to destroy God's greatest creation, "us".

God has given us everything we need to stand up to his attacks.  The question is, "will we use it, or try to resist on our own?"  I have seen in my own life I can never be victorious on my own.  I must rely on Christ and the power of His Word every day to overcome the evil powers of this world.  As believers we have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.  "It is written "we can have victory".

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries