14/01/2025
According to Google, praise is the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation. The offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship, is a hymn of praise to God. We know that Job is very familiar in the Bible, and I believe that some of you think Job is everyone's favorite Bible character. If you read the 1st chapter of the Book of Job, you can see that Job is a rich man; he has many servants, has numerous wealth, and has a family. But when the great trial comes, all he has in his life is gone, especially his family. But there's only one thing that he has, and that is his faith in God.
We, as Christians, do praise Him in our church services because we worship God, singing gospel songs and listening to the preaching of God's word. But the question here is, how often do we praise God in our lives? Do we praise Him in good and bad times? Or have we forgotten to praise Him in our lives? We are guilty sometimes; instead of praising God, we used to praise our favorite famous celebrities because of their fame, like NBA basketball players, international or local singers, Korean pop singers, etc.
In our main text, as you read in Job 1:20-22 there are three things on how Job praises God despite his trials:
1. HIS CHARACTER.
Job was not just a rich man; he is also a righteous man. He always manages to obey God in his life. With this character, we may see first his righteousness in verse 1: he rose up early and burnt his offering to God, and with that, we may see his reverence to the Lord; he deeply respects God in his life as he served God with his family. But when the great trial comes, he loses everything he has; he never turns his back to God because he lost everything, but he learns to be humble because he only depends on God alone, not himself.
2. HIS CATASTROPHE.
In verses 13-19 of Job chapter 1, God allowed Satan to bring destruction into Job's household in order to prove that Job's faithfulness is not just because of God's blessings. He may have lost everything especially his family, but he never lost God in his life. Brethren, let me tell you that no one can be exempted to face trials or challenges. Because we are all humans, but as we have Christ in our hearts, we must experience trials to prove that our faithfulness is only by Him or by ourselves. Many people are afraid of losing money, friends, houses, jobs, expensive cars or cellphones, but they are not afraid of losing God in their lives. My friend, this world is not our home, we are just passing through, our true home is in heaven where He prepares a place for you (John 14:2).
3. HIS COMPOSURE.
Despite everything that has happened, Job kept his composure. He kept his faith in God, having no malice in his heart, only love for God. His trust is only to God, he may feel down but he never put his anger in his heart because he lost his family, his servants, his home, his flocks. He only depends on his trust in God. And in verse 21, he truly said "blessed be the name of the Lord".
We may have different trials in our lives; either good or bad, we still praise God. because there's always a reason to praise God. Remember in Romans 8:28: "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."
"All things work for our good
Though sometimes we don't see
How they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim
And you just don't see Him,
Remember you're never alone.
God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart"
DEVOTION BREAK | PRAISING GOD ALL THE TIME
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, [21] And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. [22] In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Job 1:20-22 KJV
Devotion by A Letter from Heaven ๐๐
May the Lord find us faithful