When We Do Not Know Of That Which We Search…… We Roam.

Today we are going to focus on the last 6 verses in Job 3 from God’s Word translation. Verses 20 - 23 appear as thought Job asks 2 questions, however in truth they are rhetorical statements.   Given that Job has always been the one to “give answers” the poor guys probably does not know how to be vulnerable…..and appreciate receiving care. Or maybe it is simply that no one around was attempting to give him any care or compassion.   Have you ever experienced Job’s land of UZ?  Let’s look at these 6 verses and separate the truth from the fiction:

“Why give light to one in misery and life to those who find it so bitter, to those who long for death but it never comes – though they dig for it more than for buried treasure?”
“They are ecstatic, delighted to find the grave, Why give light to those whose paths have been hidden, to those whom God has fenced in ?”

As you all know by know one of my greatest praises to God is that I am forever grateful to live in the space this side of the cross.  Job did not have the bible in which God had someone record the scene in heaven so that he could understand what we know as the spiritual battle.  We also have the word of God which gave us the true knowledge so that we would not be mislead as Job was. 
For instance, why give light to one in misery?  We know that Christ is the truth, the way and the life.  The reason is so that we can find our way, see the light and have a reason for hope.  It is only through hope that misery flees.  Christ came to bind up the broken hearted and to set captives free.  His light shines on the darkness so that the darkness must flee.  He sends the comforter for misery and when someone finds comfort their bitterness or hardness softens.  It is then and only then that hope blossoms.
…..to those who long for death but it never comes – though they dig for it more than for buried treasure?'” :  We are promised that God does not cut our time short and that is another reason for our hope.  We are to search for Him, dig if you will, with all our heart, strength and soul. Although we know our desire is to find relief it comes from life, not death.  We cannot perceive that we are already dead and in this death there is only anguish.  The only relief from death is life.  Most people or at least those seeking are in fear of loss, death, finality.
We know that Satan is in Jobs head when we hear the perversion from these words: Why give light to those whose paths have been hidden, to those whom God has fenced in.  Sound familiar?  In Job, scene 1, satan answered the Lord with this statement:  “Haven’t  you put a protective fence around him, his home, and everything he has?”  Now we hear Job confessing that the protection of his Almighty is claustrophobic. 
The next three verses are very important in order for us to see the truth in what is taking place here:

• When my food is in front of me, I sigh
• I pour out my groaning like water
• What I fear most overtakes me
• what I dread happens to me
• I have no peace
• I have no quiet
• I have no rest

…….and trouble keeps coming!
The first thing we give thanks for to God is our daily bread.  We know we cannot live by bread alone, but from the very word of God.  Job is struggling with both here.  His gratitude, for the one thing God stated satan could not take away, his very life is more than flailing here.
“I pour out my groaning like water” – we discussed last week how an unclean spirit is seeking out a waterless place to rest.  These spirits in the past could not enter Job because he was water filled.  So they waited, provoked,tormented, abandoned, mocked and belittled Job till he did not have the strength left to fight them off - “What I fear most overtakes me!”
How awful, have you ever been there.  All you see is darkness, you feel it crushing in ………and you don’t have the in your heart and mind these wonderful words to help you persevere “We may be pressed on all sides but we are not crushed!”  So we see that they did come in and they found rest because Job didn’t have it any longer.  He had no peace and obviously their voices were disturbing his mind because he stated he had no quiet. 
This my friends sound like “Hell on Earth”.  And true to the rest of the verse from last week “the state of the man became worse than the first!”
Satan lost that first round, so he came back with 7 more powerful.  They were wicked unclean spirits.
These are the things I want you to think about then write your thoughts for us to discuss:
Satan had been circling Job as a lion studying his prey. Do you think he had a pack of demons surrounding Job as well?
Job had 7 sons we are told and three daughters.  His sons were the ones creating the parties and opening their doors to encourage others to join in.  All that Job had been blessed with was theirs and they were using this prosperity in ways that harmed Job’s peace, and ultimately his reputation.  Could they have been waterless places in which evil found a resting place?
For today, I thank God that we have His mercy, grace and written word in order that we may know all things in advance.  I pray that those of us in need of wisdom, that our spirit prospers even as our soul just as He has promised.  I ask that we all intercede for each other first and then make requests on our own behalf so that God may have a body to call his very own – complete in all ways.
In Christ,
Candace


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What are you Beginning, Today?

Genesis 1:6,7,8
1In the beginning God created heaven and earth.2The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water.3Then God said, “Let there be light!” So there was light. 4God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. 5God named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was evening, then morning—the first day.6Then God said, “Let there be a horizon in the middle of the water in order to separate the water.” 7So God made the horizon and separated the water above and below the horizon. And so it was. 8God named {what was above} the horizon sky. There was evening, then morning—a second day

Yowm is a Hebrew word meaning:day, time, year, yesterday, today, tomorrow, a 24 hour period, day as opposed to night.  It is a "division of time", a working day or a day's journey.  When used of the collective past it is life time, in generic terms it is a period within time.

I combine all this to help us understand that God has purpose, thought and intention with every inclination within Him as well as what it creates.  He is what we are to be.  We ARE to strive to the best of our abilities to reach this lifestyle or manner of living out our lifetime.  If we do not, not only are we not useful, but we are against what He is striving to accomplish.  Do not be deceived!

The bible speaks of being deceived many times.  Sometime we are deceived and  at times we just ignore what we know.  This is another thing to not be deceived about, there is a difference.  God recognizes who falls into transgression and who is rebellious.  God tells us in Galatians 6:7

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows , that he will also reap.

In James 1: 16,17,18 He tells us not to be deceived or fooled:

My dear brothers and sisters don’t be fooled. Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon. God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us his most important creatures.

While God was creating everything good and perfect, separating light from dark and determining what they produce. He had already decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us His most important creatures.

I pray ‘this day in time” that you will not be deceived. That you will remember How Good the Lord is and not turn away, but run in all fullness toward Him that created you.

With the Love of our Christ,
Candace

I leave you with this poem to help us think about what we are sowing today.

Choice of Life
Light of dawn pushes out the dark,
Rays of home sear through the dense skies,
Heat hits, condensing our lives... our separate lives.
Each person walks, two feet can’t part, flesh rips from force.
The battle lies deep, not pressed from outside,
The mind wills the legs but the heart will not divide.
The tongue is a razor, slashing to and fro...
A machete to clear if the conscience takes hold.
Defend and survive or thrash and destroy?
Or lay weapons down and commune with the soul?
Life will be lived no matter where we go,
Resisting or planting, a choice is in tow.
Each day builds tomorrow, one stone at a time,
Take time to choose with deliberate thought,
Conscious of tomorrow and the path you leave behind.

By Candace Huffmaster ©

If Life is a Dance...Who are You Dancing With?

It is very picturesque to think of life being a dance. If that were true and others were watching me, most days I would look like the character Elaine dancing at her work party on the Seinfeld episode. 

So today...let's just rest and listen to the minuet God is serenading us with.  I pray peace over you and that it overtake you like a calm gentle current.

With Love..I leave you to read and relax...in Him.
Candace

Don't Dance With Your Demons

I love you so deeply…..
Speak to my heart..........
Be food for my soul.......
Your gentle voice encourages me, washes the world away;
Lifts the weight of debris, softens the earth of my flesh
Use your hands now to mold me, into your perfect fit.

Don’t dance with your demons, just take my hand
We’ll circle to the music, your body, my lead
Our gaze will lock; you’ll see only my face
As the music infuses, the rhythm soothes
We’ll glide on the dance floor in harmony perfectly timed
All on-lookers will be silent watching such a bond.
When learning it is awkward, hard to move smooth
Your muscles won’t flex or bend as they should
Patience and time train and build skill
Suddenly the dancer is beauty unveiled.

The music, is my voice, melodious as a bird
The instruments of harmony, the woodwinds of my words
My hand is the conductor, my children the notes
The audience is prepared and waiting with baited breath
Our curtain is split, rolling back like the tide
So let us work our magic while they are ready to ride.

There is so much to say, and time is at hand
Remember my instructions, wait for my prompt
Then all things come together, no note will sound flat
The notes are like drops of water which comprise the sea
The movements are like a compulsion bursting forth directed by me
The impact controlled for cause and outcome
To arouse the emotions of the anticipant crowd
They have come for a reason, let’s not let them down
Their passion will rise and their hearts will be moved
Their souls will be softened; my blood can roll in
Then return into our family held tightly in my hand.

Think of a farmer, one seed in his palm
He looks for a spot best suited for that life:
Perfect soil, sun or shade with nourishment it needs
He keeps watch to protect its growth
He loves it, supports it when its weight is too much
Till strength in its trunk help handle the size.

My hand is sufficient to meet all the needs
The plants have no worries; they grow as they’re willed
Predestined in all ways, for He know what they will be
A rose won’t grow coconuts and grass won’t become a tree
But each is perfection for its purpose and need
Beauty and function….now all is complete.

By Candace Huffmaster©

Christ I Know; Who are You?

The Discipline of Dismay

As they followed they were afraid —Mark 10:32

At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— "Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed" (Mark 10:32 ).

There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set "like a flint" (Isaiah 50:7 ) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.

Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.
The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 1:10-11 ). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy. By Oswald Chambers

Today I thought I would share another poem with you all. This one is so fitting for Oswalds devotion.

Proper Prospective by the Water’s Edge
– Reflections of a still heart

Be still my child; know that I am God
Come here, walk with me, reach for my hand
I have been calling you to be by my side
Still waters to calm you run through your path
All tensions drift, as you hold firm my hand

Rest deep as the waters, which have no beginning or end
Twisting and turning, rolling inward and flowing out
Time is a continuum, plunging deep while running out
Years into seconds, to turn back the hand of time
A wish from the sorrowful, there is a lesson to learn
To return a wave, requires an earth movement; which is no simple task
For man it is impossible through his lifeless hand
My hand, however, has strength yours cannot comprehend

To stop the world from turning, just watch and understand
I think and it happens, because love knows no bounds
When flowing like water, it quenches the driest of sand
Time is the shoreline, the boundary for us all
Its water the lifeblood running throughout each soul
Knowledge is power, the heartbeat understands
Energy is the motion to pump over and beyond
The spirit propels each vision, empowering good and halting the bad

Sit by my still waters; come near to contemplate life
Listen to the babbling of the years that you’ve passed by
Listen to all the laughter, forget all of the pain
Joy is through my spirit and peace is in my right hand

Lengthen your own shoreline to take more water in
Deepen your own tide pool, so that you may understand
Dive in with a deep breath, then kick hard to reach the top
Breath in all that freshness, as your face burst through the wet
Emerge a new life form, cleansed from your past

Walk as the righteous, upright and straight ahead
Now you can see forward, when looking behind
So wait for proper prospective, before standing to leave
Always focus your pathway, designed from my lead
By Candace Huffmaster