1 Corinthians 15:20

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

When I was sixteen years old, driving to my first part-time job, a wild thought entered my mind. I thought, “I wonder what happens after we die?” I realized later I was grappling with one of the deepest philosophical questions man has ever attempted to answer, but at that time I had never considered anything like it before. As quickly as the question entered my mind, I came up with an answer, “When we die we go to heaven.” This was followed by the question, “What is heaven?” To which I answered, “Heaven is getting to do whatever you want for all of time.” I then asked a third question, “Who goes to heaven?” To which I replied,”Those who are good.” This of course brought me to a…

Job 16:9

“He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.”

When we find ourselves in times of great trial, it is often difficult to discern the voice of God. In Job’s case, the voices of pain, sorrow, suffering, and loss were screaming so loud, the voice of God was drowned out. He could no longer hear God’s Word reminding Him of the great love with which he had been loved. He could no longer hear the voice of compassion, mercy or providence, explaining He would make all things right. All Job could hear was the voice of his anguish, and it was screaming, “God must hate me.”

While we may never face trials as grievous as Job endured, we will no doubt, encounter difficulty that will call into question the character of God. We will…

Job 15:12,13

“Why does your heart carry you away, And what do your eyes wink at, That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth?”

Job has been plagued by a series of severe hardships that have caused others to believe he must be experiencing judgment from God for hidden sins. The body of the book is like a debate between Job and three men who are convinced he is hiding something. It is important to keep in mind, while their premise is wrong, much of what they say is in fact true. Here we find Eliphaz asking a very probing question that we would all benefit from taking a few minutes to consider. He asks, what it is in our hearts that is carrying us away from the Lord? Jesus asked a similar question, He inquired “what will a man give in…

1 Corinthians 14:29

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”

Confusion broke out in the Corinthian church. Instead of meeting for the worship of God and the study of His word, the church had become a place for people to show off their spiritual gifts. Those with the gift of tongues saw the meetings as a time to speak or even sing in tongues. They thought the church existed to hear them sing. Others had the gift of prophecy, or at least they thought they did. To them the church existed as a place to share the things they thought were most relevant for the people to hear. I can imagine what the scene must have been like as the church gathered, opened in prayer, and then one by one, each louder than the last, the people began to share their thoughts and sing their songs…

Job 14:1-2

“Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away…”

In the midst of his struggles, Job came to the realization that life is short. He compares life to a wild flower that blooms one day and seems to be gone the next. While it is important to realize the brevity of life, how we interpret that truth, will radically affect our viewpoint on life.

Some, like Job seem to develop a fatalistic approach to living. They look around, see the rich and poor, young and old, good and bad, all experience suffering, and all die. They soon become disillusioned, and begin to wonder what the point of life really is. Sadly, this usually leads to destructive behavior. It is not uncommon for a fatalist to become isolated from others, or develop a dependency on…

Job 13:7
“Will you speak wickedly for God, And talk deceitfully for Him?”

Years ago some good friends of mine were involved in a business transaction that drew a lot of press. It was not long before the papers decided to go public with the story. As we cracked open the paper, it was almost comical to read their account because it was filled with so much error and had even misquoted certain individuals. They had not really paid attention to the facts, or those they chose to interview, and instead wove a story that they thought sounded good.

Sadly, this is all too common with people as it relates to God and His word. People seem to be completely unencumbered by the facts as they develop their viewpoint on God, or what they believe to be God’s viewpoint on the issues of life. It would serve us all well…

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love suffers long and is kind

Love does not envy

Love does not parade itself

Love is not puffed up

Love does not behave rudely

Love does not seek its own

Love is not provoked

Love thinks no evil

Love does not rejoice in iniquity

Love rejoices in the truth

Love bears all things

Love believes all things

Love hopes all things

Love endures all things

Love never fails.

Rather than looking for others to love us like that, let’s express the love of Jesus by showing this love to our family, our friends, and our world.

Pastor Jim

Job 12:10

“In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?”
There are certain truths that, if we took hold of them, and allowed ourselves to be taken hold by them, would transform the way we live, and as a result, the world we live in. This is one of those truths. If we really believe that the breath of all living things is in the hand of God, our lives will show it.

Believing this should transform your view of God. A God who holds the breath of all living things is both powerful and personal. Perhaps rather than viewing Him as one who at any moment might take our life, we should consider Him as a surgeon, whose hand is actually keeping our hearts beating, so we can know Him and uncover His purposes for our lives. A life surrendered to this…

Job 11:6
“…Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.”

Scattered throughout the book of Job are some of the most amazing truths about God and His treatment of man. Here, Zophar reveals something about the way God deals with sin in the life of the believer. We know, because of the great love God has for us, He will chasten us when we misbehave. The chastening is not only punitive, but is designed to bring us out of sin, before it destroys us. We see in the story of the Prodigal, God will allow everything we trust in to fall apart, in order to bring us to our senses, so we might return to Him. That being said, notice what Zophar declares,

“Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.”

In His infinite mercy, God does not give us, His children…