"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will
maintain mine own ways before him." (Job 13: 15)
Job was an upright man,
but not a righteous one. Abraham received righteousness in the eyes of the Lord
because he believed on Him (cf Genesis 15: 6), not for anything that the
Patriarch did, said, or even thought, beyond taking the Lord God at His
Word.
Job still stood by "his own ways," still insisting on coming to God
on his terms.
It is His Word that sustains us, that maintains us, that
retains us through all things:
"Thy word is true from the beginning: and
every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." (Psalm 119:
60)
And also in the Old Testament, the prophet writes:
"So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55: 11)
Jesus affirmed the eternity and power
of His Word:
"But he answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God." (Matthew 4: 4)
Jesus the preached in the Sermon on the
Mount:
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew
5: 18)
and
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
(John 17: 17)
Later, the apostle Paul affirmed:
"All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:" (2 Timothy 3: 16)
And Peter also
wrote:
"But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1: 25)
Too many
believers are trusting in their tenacity, in their strong sentiment, or in the
right burst of emotional verve in order to move God. It's not about how much,
how often, how strong we
God is already moving; we need to trust in Him,
not in our trust in Him:
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to
every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought
to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith." (Romans 12: 3)
We have the same measure of
faith.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith." (Galatians 5: 22)
Faith is a fruit of the
Spirit, which He brings forth in us as we abide in Christ:
"Abide in me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the
vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." (John 15: 4)
And the gift
of faith is ministered to us by the Power of the Holy Spirit:
"Now there
are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:
4)
Later followed by:
"To another faith by the same Spirit; to
another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;" (1 Corinthians 12:
9)
In fact, unlike Job, who lived before "the mediator" whom he sought
had come (Job 9: 33), we have the one mediator living within us, and by His
faith do we live:
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2: 5)
and then. . .
"I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)
It's
not the amount of faith, but the Person whom we believe in that counts. It's not our ways
that maintain us, but the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14: 6) who lives in
us, whose faith moves us, who prospers us as we receive from Him!
Have
faith in God, not in your own faith, because He has given it to you already! And
we are called to walk by this faith! (2 Corinthians 5: 7, Galatians 2: 20)
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