Jeremiah
32:27 -
"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there any thing
too hard for Me?
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~ FAITH KILLERS ~
As I have pointed out before on this website, just let some poor slob (Man or woman) who just went through a horrible divorce walk out of the Church Sunday morning all pumped up because they just listened to the sermon about "God's Forgiveness" and how much he loves us, and there will be a (Well meaning?) Christian lurking in the parking lot ready to stab them in the heart with Malachi 2:16, and then finish them off with Mark 10:11 and 10:12.. Malachi 2:16 - "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.Mark 10:11 - He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.Mark 10:12 - And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." These scriptures of course, are taken out of context, but they make an excellent weapon to kill baby Christians with! Why do people do this and what is the point? Only God knows! There is no constructive purpose that I can see, by quoting these scriptures to someone who is already downtrodden. All it accomplishes is to make the victim feel lost and hopeless and drive them out of God's house forever. (after all, what do they have to lose?) What do you think God will say to these "Good Christians" on judgment day? Do you think he will say: "Well done good and faithful servant?" Not likely! ~ THE SWORD OF JOB ~ On a couple of occasions I have had people write to me after reading my articles/web pages about having a personal relationship with God. (How to receive a miracle, healing etc . . ) As I'm sure they do the same to other people, they can't seem to wait to whip the book of Job out of their scabbard like a sword, and try to stab my faith (and yours) to death with it, then to make sure you are spiritually dead, they pull 2 Timothy 3:12 out of their holster and shoot you with it. Just about the minute your faith is being built up, and you are feeling secure knowing you are walking under God's protection, some so called "well meaning" Christian will leap out from in between the coat racks in the Church foyer just to "Beat you with the book of Job" and tell you that Job was blameless, upright and favored by God, but God allowed even "him" go through the horrible things that happened to him. (Meaning of course, if God allowed it to happen to Job, you might as well skip the buffet after Church and go write your will - because you're toast!) Concerning the book of Job, it describes Job (Pronounced like Joe, with a "B" at the end - Joe-B) as blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. It also gives an account of Job offering burnt offerings to God. Though this book was written before the Ten Commandments were given, people basically lived by the same rules concerning God. Let me point out something interesting. In the book of Job, it does not state that Job had a personal relationship with God, but instead, shows that Job simply adhered to the religious requirements of the time. At that time, rather than accepting the sacrifice that God made on our behalf (sending his son to die on the cross), which had not happened yet, Job gave burnt offerings on a regular basis. Not only for himself, but for his children and family also. Being righteous and having a personal relationship with God are two different things. Being righteous simply means "Doing what God considers to be right". (Many people proudly raise their hand and claim to be righteous, because this simply involves following a set of rules) Having a personal relationship with God means "Loving and communicating with God on a consistent basis" (Very few good Church people even know how to do this) 2 Timothy 3:12 - In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,This verse is usually taken out of context. Back up to 2 Timothy 3:1, and it is very clear that the author was speaking specifically about "The Last Days". 2 Timothy 3:1 - Now don't misinterpret me, I'm not saying that bad things will never happen to you. The trials of life are usually necessary for us to grow and have a healthy, acceptable spirit that is pleasing to God. Just as evil is necessary. As much as we are told to hate evil, without evil, we would have nothing to compare to the good. Thus we grow. I firmly believe, if we pray constantly to God to protect us from something particular, "He Will". However, Satan will cause new problems to pop up in our lives that we had no knowledge of, and had no reason to pray against. Of course we learn and pray, so the same affliction does not come upon us a second time. Psalms 34:17 - The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.Psalms 34:18 - The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalms 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalms 34:20 - He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken. Psalms 34:21 - Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned. Psalms 34:22 - The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. I believe the greatest lesson to be
learned from the book of Job is not that calamity can and will strike us at
any moment no matter who you are, or how good you are, but instead, being
only religious and perfect will not insure the protection of God in your
life.
Job 1:8 - This is supported by the fact that the Pharisee that Jesus spoke of in Luke 18, left with a lower standing than the tax collector, although he lived just as righteous a life as Job did! With the coming of Jesus, new rules were set in place, old ones were done away with. Luke 18:11 - "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. Luke 18:12 - 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' Luke 18:13 - "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' Luke 18:14 - "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." The Pharisee Jesus spoke of, in comparison, was also blameless, upright, feared God and turned away from evil. That didn't work out so well for either the Pharisee "or" Job, did it? Being righteous is indeed pleasing to God, however, there is no substitute for a personal relationship. I recommend both! God Bless You Dan Douglass - I have spoken ~
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If
you are a Christian, have you ever noticed, it's not the atheists who say
and do things that tend to kill your faith, and it's not people from other
religions such as Muslim's, Hindu's or even Satanist's. Unfortunately, the
worst faith killers are "Other Christians" 
