Misunderstanding God - Job 8-10 and Acts 8:26-40
Our lives are affected negatively when we operate under misconceptions of God. I am afraid this happens to most people at one time or another for various reasons. When we do not see God accurately, we misunderstand why He is doing what He is doing. That can cause all kinds of problems. This is the most important reason for having a daily "unhurried time" with God. We must come to know Him well. He wants us to know Him well, but it takes time in His Word and in prayer to really come to know Him and to overcome our misconceptions. Just think how long it takes to fully know another human being. Then, consider that we are getting to know God, who is in a whole different category from us. It is going to take time to fully fathom His personality.
Job and his friends were operating under certain misconceptions of God, which we will see as we read the rest of the book. Bildad thought that God always prospered the righteous. Therefore, Job could not be righteous, because God was not prospering Him. Perhaps, you have this same false belief. God is a Loving Father. He does provide for His children, but at times, He knows a period of poverty will help them know Him better. He knows that some people just can't handle money, so He would hurt them by giving them money, at least, until they learn how to handle it. We all need to understand this truth about God, or we could think He does not love us when we have a lack of money. Then, Job seemed to think that God was a strict Father, to whom he could not talk. He was frustrated by this misunderstanding of God. It seems that he thought that God was going to do what He was going to do, and God did not really care what effect that had on Job. He also thought that there was no mediator for him to turn to in his desire to explain himself to God. Job did not yet know about Jesus. He did not understand God's heart of love for us. He did not realize that God would come down to earth to relate to us and to communicate Himself to us. In fact, God loves us so much, He would die for us. If Job had known these things, it would have helped him relate to God much better. I believe he learned these things by the end of the book, but it took him a while before he came to know God in these ways. What is your concept of God? Please, make sure it is correct. Do all you can to know God fully.
The Ethiopian Eunuch did not have a true concept of God, either. He had gone to the Temple to worship. He even had a scroll of Isaiah, but he did not understand about Jesus. God sent Philip to show him the Savior, who died for him. Then, he trusted Christ, and his life was forever changed. How many people do you know who do not realize that God loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for them? How many people do you know who do not realize God forgives sins? They need a right understanding of God in order to live life as God designed. We are here to explain God to them. We are here to live out a relationship with God before them, so they can come to know God, too.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 11-13 and Acts 9:1-21.
Job and his friends were operating under certain misconceptions of God, which we will see as we read the rest of the book. Bildad thought that God always prospered the righteous. Therefore, Job could not be righteous, because God was not prospering Him. Perhaps, you have this same false belief. God is a Loving Father. He does provide for His children, but at times, He knows a period of poverty will help them know Him better. He knows that some people just can't handle money, so He would hurt them by giving them money, at least, until they learn how to handle it. We all need to understand this truth about God, or we could think He does not love us when we have a lack of money. Then, Job seemed to think that God was a strict Father, to whom he could not talk. He was frustrated by this misunderstanding of God. It seems that he thought that God was going to do what He was going to do, and God did not really care what effect that had on Job. He also thought that there was no mediator for him to turn to in his desire to explain himself to God. Job did not yet know about Jesus. He did not understand God's heart of love for us. He did not realize that God would come down to earth to relate to us and to communicate Himself to us. In fact, God loves us so much, He would die for us. If Job had known these things, it would have helped him relate to God much better. I believe he learned these things by the end of the book, but it took him a while before he came to know God in these ways. What is your concept of God? Please, make sure it is correct. Do all you can to know God fully.
The Ethiopian Eunuch did not have a true concept of God, either. He had gone to the Temple to worship. He even had a scroll of Isaiah, but he did not understand about Jesus. God sent Philip to show him the Savior, who died for him. Then, he trusted Christ, and his life was forever changed. How many people do you know who do not realize that God loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for them? How many people do you know who do not realize God forgives sins? They need a right understanding of God in order to live life as God designed. We are here to explain God to them. We are here to live out a relationship with God before them, so they can come to know God, too.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 11-13 and Acts 9:1-21.