Friday, June 27, 2014

The Strength of Friendship

L
et’s take a careful look at the events in Job 1:6-12:
“One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

God: ‘Where have you come from?’
Satan: ‘I have been prowling around on the earth, watching everything that’s going on.’
God: ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.’
Satan: ‘Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!’
God: ‘All right, you may test him, do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically.’”

For many people, this is one of the most troubling scenes played out in the Bible, perhaps because God allowed something so horrific to happen to someone so holy. Job lost everything, his wealth, his family, and eventually his health, all with God’s approval. We will never understand many things about that scene played out in Job’s life, but the reality is that we see those same kinds of scenes played out in the lives of people we know and love today.

Before we get mad at God, consider what He’s doing for Job and for the readers of this tragedy. The first time we see Satan in scriptures, it was amidst God’s perfect garden. He came to destroy what God established, but he was powerless to rally an army to rival God’s army. Satan was, and is, no match for God. God created humans to be independent thinking instruments of praise, which means we have the free will to choose God over other things and Satan knows that.

Scriptures have pointed out to me that God is primarily concerned with getting those that love Him to join Him in heaven, rather than focusing on the things of this life, like how wealthy, healthy, or happy we are. True happiness will be experienced in His kingdom. Therefore, Satan is on a timer; he only has what time we have during our span on earth to convince us to reject God and live for anything else.

Pain is Satan’s best trick in getting us to turn away from God. I feel confident in saying that it’s for that reason that Satan has worked so hard to destroy families, because of the tremendous pain caused when people God brought together are overcome with so much hurt, disappointments, frustrations, or hate that they disregard one of the purposes of their coming together in the first place.

Paul illustrates this for the Corinthians when he asked them to take back the man that they had discipline in 1 Corinthians 5, so “he won’t be overcome with discouragement.” He was part of a “church family” and he had been involved in things that would hurt the unity of that family, therefore he was punished, but just for a time. Time enough to help him see why he needed those people. Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 2:8, 10-11, “So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him… [I have forgiven him] for your sakes, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

The goal was to keep him with the family, the problem was that Satan was getting to him through sinful behavior; but we are not ignorant of his schemes. Understanding how Satan works helps us realize the need for brotherly support. The Bible is filled with examples of people coming together to be strengthened by one another. Even in Job’s situation, a bulk of the book is the debates between Job and his “friends.”

Job’s friends came with the intentions of sympathizing with Job, to comfort him, and console him; however, Satan used a tactic that ended up causing Job more pain and frustration. His friends ended up picking Job apart instead of encouraging his continued faithfulness. When trouble strikes, that’s when we need friends more than ever, just as Solomon said in Proverbs 17:17, “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.”

Peter said in 1 Peter 5:8-11, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

It seems that Peter acknowledges the influence our spiritual peers have on our lives. Paul described the Spiritual armor we are to wear that helps us stay focused on God’s plan, His goal for our lives, and His ability. However, God has shown all throughout scriptures the need for brothers and sisters to support us. People in our lives to be a support, and at times, we are that person in the life of someone else to support them. Or as Galatians 6:2 states it, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

The love we show those in trouble is what will help the world to recognize the difference between Satan and the Creator of all things – God Almighty. John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Let’s never forget that we may be how God chooses to demonstrate His strength to help someone finish the race of life. Job’s pain was an opportunity for friends to strengthen him.

They failed the task: what will you do? I know I have become dependent upon the advice, comfort, and support of Christians running alongside of me.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Preparing God's Way

Imagine you’re the new king of a major world empire. Your father did everything by his strength and his efforts, but now that you’re king, you’re going to do things differently. Although you still make efforts to make your nation great by building more trade relationships with surrounding nations, and you strengthen your army to rival any nation, you also seek to do it God’s way, asking Him to guide and direct your path.

Time would tell if you reached your goal, but perhaps the way you used your blessings would prove whether or not you were successful. For King Jehoshaphat he inherited a kingdom from his father Asa that was in need of repair, economically and spiritually. Jehoshaphat wanted to make it better, stronger, a force to be reckoned with. It was when other nations started asking for Judah’s assistance in fighting their enemies that proved his efforts were worth it.

We read in 2 Chronicles 18 where King Ahab of Israel asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to war?" And Jehoshaphat replied, “Why, of course! My troops are your troops. We will certainly join you in battle, but first let's find out what the Lord says.”

This was perhaps what really proved he had built a Godly kingdom. Although he wasn’t perfect, he continually sought out what the Lord wanted to do with his life and what the Lord had in mind for the kingdom. Jehoshaphat knew to be true what his ancestor David said in Psalms 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”

Ahab on the other hand wasn’t the kind of person Jehoshaphat should have been teamed up with; Ahab was probably one of the worst kings Israel ever had. Ahab simply gathered around him many false prophets who were willing to tell him whatever he wanted to here.

In 2 Chronicles 18:5 Ahab summoned 400 prophets, and asked them, "Should we go to war, or should I hold back?" They all replied, "Yes, go right ahead! God will give the king victory." But Jehoshaphat could recognize a true prophet from a false one, so he asked, “Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here?” But Ahab’s response was, “There is one more man who could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but trouble for me! His name is Micaiah.”

Micaiah did present himself before the kings to prophesy about the upcoming war. Even though he was told to agree with the other prophets, Micaiah finally tells Ahab the truth. He says, “You will die.”

Although this was orchestrated by God to get rid of Ahab for his many sins he committed, hopefully we can see how important it is to be prepared for the battle. Jehoshaphat prepared his kingdom with warriors, but he was also wise enough to rely on God’s strength to win his battles. Why did he trust God so much when his own efforts seemed to be so prosperous? As Psalms 24:8 reveals, “Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.”

Part of putting on the armor of God is realizing where the strength actually comes from. Then realizing the need to stay alert and sober so that you can recognize when it’s best to join the crowd or buck the system. Read Ephesians 6:10-18 and see if the armor Paul described could help you make the right choice in some decision you have to face.

Paul describes that our battle really isn’t against flesh and blood, but against something harder to identify. Ultimately, that enemy is Satan. Satan hates you because God loves you. Satan wants you to be teamed up with people that may cause you to harden your heart to God. However, the battle armor Paul reminds us to put on is spiritual protection. Do you have your armor on?

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Library to host book signing for Ada Writers

ADA, OKLAHOMA  – Ada Public Library will host a book signing for “Creations 2014,” the newest anthology from Ada Writers, Thursday, June 19, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

The book will be available to purchase at the signing for $12 and is available now at Lulu.com, Amazon.com, and other online retailers. Later this month, it will be on sale at Karen’s Art & Framing, Inc., in downtown Ada.

“We’ll have most of our authors at the signing,” Ada Writers president Stephen B. Bagley said. “It will be a great time to get your anthology signed by the writers and to meet them and talk about writing.”

A limited amount of the previous anthologies will also be available at the signing, and there will be a table featuring books by group members, including three new books. “Don Perry will be there with his new young adult book ‘Little Texas on the Pecos,’” Bagley said. “Tom Yarbrough will be bringing his new inspirational book ‘Treasures of the Kingdom.’ And Gail Henderson will present her new poetry and photography book ‘Bare.’” Other authors featured will be Bagley, Kelley Benson, and Martha Rhynes.

This is the third year that Ada Writers has produced an anthology. “Each year we’ve gained new authors,” Bagley said. “This year, we feature poems, essays, short stories, memoirs, and book excerpts from 17 local and area writers. Five of the authors have never been published in our anthology before.”

Authors will read from their works at the signing, Bagley said. “And we will have cookies. We can’t have a reading without cookies. It’s one of our traditions now.”

The local and area anthology authors include: Stephen B. Bagley, Kelley Benson, Eric Collier, Stacey Foster, Gail Henderson, Mel Hutt, Sterling Jacobs, Ken Lewis, Rick Litchfield, Don Perry, Martha Rhynes, James Sanders, Anna Tynsky, Joanne Verbridge, Tim Wilson, Tom Yarbrough, and Loretta Yin.

Ada Writers meets the second and fourth Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. in an upstairs meeting room at the Ada Public Library, 124 South Rennie. New writers are always welcome. For more information about the anthology and the writing group, please visit AdaWriters.blogspot.com.