{"id":7517,"date":"2020-02-04T20:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T03:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=7517"},"modified":"2020-02-02T22:31:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T05:31:38","slug":"job21_1-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/job21_1-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Renew Your Perspective in God\u2019s Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Job 21:1-16\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Job 21:1-16.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Job 21:1-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Job replied:
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient?
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-16:\u00a0\u00a0Contrary to Zophar\u2019s assertion in Job 20 that the wicked always die young, Job can\u2019t understand why God allows some wicked people to prosper, living seemingly comfortable lives \u201cgrowing old and increasing in power\u201d (v7), all the while being indifferent and rebellious toward God (v14-15).<\/p>\n

While Job wants nothing to do with the wicked and believes any prosperity they enjoy is ultimately due to the hand of God and \u201cnot in their own hands\u201d (v16), still Job is disturbed when he sees those who seem to live rich, prosperous and comfortable lives despite not trusting or even believing in God.\u00a0\u00a0Have you ever had a similar feeling?\u00a0\u00a0Have you ever thought, \u201cWhy should I bother trusting in God when others seem perfectly happy not trusting in Him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Job\u2019s sentiment here is similar to Asaph\u2019s in Psalm 73:2-15.\u00a0\u00a0There Asaph admits that he envied those who seem to be rich, successful and problem free despite not fearing or trusting in God.\u00a0\u00a0However, Asaph\u2019s turning point came when he took these hard feelings to God and spent time in God\u2019s presence.\u00a0\u00a0As Asaph says in Psalm 73:<\/p>\n

16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Asaph went to God with his uncomfortable feelings, he found insight and a new perspective in God\u2019s presence and was able to go on enjoying life with God again (read Psalm 73:21-28).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Job would get to a similar place eventually.\u00a0\u00a0Later in the book of Job, Job will personally experience the fact that we are far better off trusting in God and living our lives to please Him than not.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you struggle with envy, jealousy or other uncomfortable feelings, when you are wrestling with tough questions and can\u2019t find an answer, bring your feelings and questions to God.\u00a0\u00a0Spend time in God\u2019s presence.\u00a0\u00a0Without insisting on anything from God, just worship God for who\u00a0He\u00a0<\/em>is.\u00a0\u00a0When you do, you will gain a new perspective on your problem.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s the perspective-renewing power of God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that whenever I struggle with envy, jealousy or other hard feelings, whenever I have questions for which I have no answer, my heart finds its resolution in You, in being in Your presence.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for being the ultimate answer to all the questions and issues my heart wrestles with.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Job 21:1-16.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Job 21:1-16 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Then Job replied:\u00a0
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.\u00a0
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.\u00a0
\n4\u00a0\u00a0“Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient?\u00a0
\n5\u00a0\u00a0Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth.\u00a0
\n6\u00a0\u00a0When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.\u00a0
\n7\u00a0\u00a0Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?\u00a0
\n8\u00a0\u00a0They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.\u00a0
\n9\u00a0\u00a0Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them.\u00a0
\n10\u00a0\u00a0Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.\u00a0……<\/p>\n

On verses 1-16:\u00a0\u00a0Contrary to Zophar\u2019s assertion in Job 20 that the wicked always die young, Job can\u2019t understand why God allows some wicked people to prosper, living seemingly comfortable lives \u201cgrowing old and increasing in power\u201d (v7), all the while being indifferent and rebellious toward God (v14-15).<\/p>\n

While Job wants nothing to do with the wicked and believes any prosperity they enjoy is ultimately due to the hand of God and \u201cnot in their own hands\u201d (v16), still Job is disturbed when he sees those who seem to live rich, prosperous and comfortable lives despite not trusting or even believing in God.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7517"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7520,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7517\/revisions\/7520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}