"God Is The Shield - part 3"

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." Job 42:5
 

This morning I want to talk a little more about something we said yesterday. We said that when God allows satan to touch our lives, there are three things we need to remember: 1) God is still in control; 2) God loves us and only has good thoughts toward us; 3) God will cause what is happening to work together for our good. This third thing is the one I want to talk about.

 

Although what happened to Job was not good, God worked it out for good. What was the good? When you ask people this question, their answer is-- he got back more in the end than he had in the beginning. He received more sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys. He also received money and gold. He had more children. His daughters were the fairest in all the land. 

 

The material blessings and wealth that Job received at the end sounds good. But that was nothing compared to what the real riches were that he received. There are blessings that are more valuable than silver or gold. There is an immeasurable wealth that is not material in substance. Sadly, that is what we focus on though-- the material blessings of money, gold, silver, and things. These were not the "real" treasures that Job received. These are all temporary. He was rich one day and a pauper the next-- he lost them all once, it could happen to him again. Riches take wings and fly. Gold can become devalued. This is why the Bible cautions us to not lay up treasures on earth that moth and rust corrupt and thieves break in and steal.

 

So what was the real "good" that came out of Job's trial? "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." It was a revelation of God that he did not have before. Job was a perfect and upright man, who feared God, served Him, hated and shunned evil, and was a worshipper. God Himself gave this testimony about Job. But before his trial everything Job did, his service to God, his worship, and his faith was based on "hear-say". "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear". But afterwards it was based on a personal encounter with God-- " mine eye seeth thee". He discovered in a personal way that God could do anything. He went from religious service and hear-say to an intimate relationship based on personal experience. 

 

Job's trial brought him into a personal, intimate encounter with God that forever changed his life. It changed his view of God; it changed his service for God; it changed his worship to God; and it changed his relationship with God. He received eternal riches, and they far outweigh material riches. That is how "all things work together for the good". They bring us into a personal revelation of God that causes us to know Him in a deeper, more intimate way and it increases our faith in Him. 

 

We need to change our focus and the way we think about what is truly valuable. Too often we want to embrace and settle for temporary riches-- money, houses, lands, cars, gold, etc.-- and forget about the eternal riches-- like a revelation of God that brings us into a deeper personal relationship with Him.

 

Have a great day. Are the temporary material blessings like silver and gold more valuable to you than the eternal blessings of a greater personal knowledge of God?

 

For further reading:

Job 1, 42

Matthew 6:19

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"God Is The Shield - Part 2"

"Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land." Job 1:10

 

Yesterday we talked about God Himself being the shield of protection around us. In the story of Job we discovered that the "hedge" that was around Job was God his shield. In the Book of Job we see satan testing and tempting Job. How could this happen if God was Job's shield? Because there was an opening in the hedge. How did it get there? It was there because God removed a small part of Himself which provided an opening to let satan get to Job. That is what we mean when we say, "God allowed it". 

 

When God removes a small part of Himself from around you, thus allowing satan to "touch" you-- (satan can't touch you other wise because he is not strong enough or smart enough to get through God)-- there are three things you need to remember while going through this time.

 

1) God is still, and always will be, in control. He is watching over the situation and will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to bear. He will not allow satan to destroy you. "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life." (Job 1:12a; 2:6)

 

2) God is not mad at you. He is not against you. He does not hate you. He is not punishing you. He only has good thoughts that He thinks about you and not evil thoughts when He allows satan to come against you. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jeremiah 29:11)

 

3) God causes all things to work together for your good. He will bring something good to you out of it. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) There was nothing "good" about what Job suffered but God brought "good" out of it. In Job's case the "good" that came out of it was not that Job received back more than he had lost, but that he got a revelation of God that he had never had before. "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." (Job 42:5) Before his trial, although he was a worshipper, he only knew God through what he had heard about Him. At the end of the trial, he saw God for himself and now knew Him personally. 

 

We are not exempt from trials. There will be times when God allows the enemy to test us. But if you will remember these three things-- God is in control, He loves you and only has good thoughts about you, and He will work this out for your good-- you will make it through it and be victorious like Job. "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning." (Job 42:12a)

 

Have a great day. When God allows the enemy to test you, He is still in control, He loves you and He will bring good on your behalf out of it.

 

For further reading:

Job 42

1 Corinthians 10:13 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"God Is The Shield"

"But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." Psalm 3:3

 

The Bible tells us that the Lord gives us spiritual weapons among which is the shield of faith. But in this verse it tells us that the Lord Himself is a shield to us. He wraps Himself around us and hides us so that the enemy cannot touch us. He did this for the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. He was that cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that "shielded" them from the army of Pharaoh.

 

The devil could not touch Job because there was a hedge around him. The hedge acted as a shield to keep the enemy from touching Job. Then when the hedge was removed he could only proceed so far in his attack against him. What was that hedge? The word hedge here means "to hedge up; fence about". The literal meaning is- "you fence around him; you guard him". The hedge was God. God was Job's shield hedging/guarding/surrounding him as protection from the enemy. 

 

Today the Lord is still our shield. He doesn't just provide a shield of protection for us-- He is that shield of protection. There have been so many times in all our lives when destruction came and should have taken us out but we are still here. That wreck you were in should have killed you, but you are still here. That storm that blew away your home should have destroyed you, that sickness should have overcome you, but they didn't. It is because the Lord was a shield around you. So thank Him for not only providing a shield for you in your battles against the enemy, but thank Him for being your shield.

 

Have a great day.  The Lord God Himself is your shield.

 

For further reading:

Ephesians 6:16

Job 1:10-12

Exodus 13:21,22

 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"A Future"

"Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." John 4:5,6

 

Yesterday I heard three different ministers bring up the woman at the well in their sermons. Of course they each said something different about her in connection with the topic of their sermon. I began to ponder this woman and I want to share something about her that stood out to me. 

 

She went to the well at the sixth hour-- 12:00 noon. There was a reason why she didn't go during the earlier hours which would have been a cooler time during the day. Twelve noon is the hottest time to go and do the task of getting water from a well, or any physical activity. But she did this because she had a "past" and a reputation because of it. She had had five husbands and was then living with a man who was not her husband. Her past kept her from going when it was cooler. It kept her away from others. It caused her to have to wait and arrange her schedule in such a way where she would be alone while drawing water. It kept her tied down in the present. Her past kept her in bondage. And it would have continued to keep her in bondage had she not had an encounter with Jesus on that particular day. After her encounter with Jesus she was no longer bound to her past. We read where she left the well and went to her city, witnessed to the people and brought them to Jesus.

 

Without an encounter with Jesus our past will not only keep us in bondage in the present but it will keep us from having a future. Is your past keeping you bound? Most of us love the verse, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11- NIV) When we think about this verse, we usually think about the "plans" as being some work God has for us to do-- some ministry, some vocation, some riches that will make us prosperous. But His plans for you also include freedom from the bondage of your past. His plan is that you have a future- a productive one. His plan is not for you to be tied down to past mistakes and failures. 

 

The life this woman was living was not His plan for her-- going from one relationship to another, having to avoid people, having a bad reputation, stuck in her past. He wanted to give her a hope and a future-- one of freedom, joy, security, peace, productivity. That is the same plan He has for you. His plan is not for you to live your life in the past, or in shame, or in bondage. He wants to set you free like He did her and give you a future.

 

Have a great day. Jesus wants to deliver us from the past and give us a future. 

 

For further reading:

John 4 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Nudity Or Modesty"

"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array." 1 Timothy 2:9

 

I heard someone once say that one of the signs that demonic influence is present is nudity. Specifically this person was talking about a nation as a whole. As you see nudity increase, it is a sign that the nation is going the way of ungodliness. I never thought about it before, but I can see it. This nation is getting further and further away from God and as it does I have noticed an increase in people wearing less and less. 

 

People from all walks of life are scantily dressed-- mostly women. The shorts are getting shorter, the tops are getting lower, the shoulders are bared, the skirts are split higher. Even our little girls are being taught to wear "less". Less seems to be better. There is a mindset that has influenced our society. That mindset wants to be "sexy/hot". It wants to be noticed. It wants to be attractive and attract attention.

 

I have even noticed this same "trend" among Christian women. I see women who profess Christianity dressed like what I have described above all the time. I see them in stores, at various events and even in church. I felt strongly impressed to address this today and call out to my sisters in Christ to please put some clothes on. As women of God we should do everything in a way that is becoming to our profession of godliness. This includes the way we dress. We should dress appropriately to the faith we profess. 

 

I am not talking about legalism, I am talking about modesty. I like to wear some bling. I like to be stylish. I like to look fashionable, but we can do that and still be modest. We can look like "a million dollars" and still be covered. You don't have to expose yourself to look "good". On the contrary, if you want the truth, that just distracts from your beauty.

 

Please, ladies, don't get on the defensive. Take these things into consideration as you think about your dress. We should not only dress modestly because of our relationship with Jesus but we are our "brother's keeper". When we dress inappropriately, we are placing a stumbling block before others- namely our brothers. Men are sight driven and have a greater temptation with the lust of the eyes. Are you going to place this temptation before them-- even in church where they are trying to get empowered to serve the Lord? When we dress in a revealing way, we are giving place to certain spirits-- seduction, immorality, adultery, fornication, pornography and perversion. While you are not under legalistic bondage, and you might argue that you are free in Christ and have the right to wear what you want to wear, remember the words of Jesus who called us to "deny ourselves" and "love our brothers". Deny yourself and don't wear it just because you want to wear it, but think about those who have to "see" all that skin and what it may do to them-- put your wants aside and do what is in their best interest. Love them with more than just words by not wearing something that will cause them to sin or be tempted. 

 

Have a great day. Please dress modestly. 

 

For further reading:

1 Timothy 2:9,10

Matthew 16:24

John 13:35

1 Corinthians 8:12,13

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.