Saturday, August 23, 2014

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S GRACE, CARE AND PRESERVATION OF YOUR LIFE"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S GRACE, CARE AND PRESERVATION OF YOUR LIFE"

Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.

Some explanatory thoughts, application, questions, and a prayer:

The Book of Job is filled with more pain than one can imagine.
It's also filled with many sayings, though meant to help, do not.
They are sayings by friends to Job that were thought to help explain why what happened to him did happen.
The friends could not have been more wrong.
They thought Job's problems were because of sin in his life, but in reality it was because of an attack by Satan, which God had allowed.

The verse we are looking at was spoken by Job himself. And, it's not only true, but it's true in the application Job was expressing.
Please enjoy it.

1. God has given His children life.
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.

Jesus is life, and God has given us Jesus, and for those who have turned to Jesus and believed in Him, and received Him, He is theirs.
Believers have life, because they have Jesus.
The life spoken of here is of course life that is eternal, it is life that is connected with God through Christ.
We have both physical life, but we are no longer dead in our sins, we are alive together with Christ.
God has given us eternal life.

Joh 3:16* “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 5:26 “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,

1st John 5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

2. God has given His children favor.
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.

Favor or grace. The undeserved blessings of God. We cannot earn it, we do not deserve it, there is nothing we can do to have it, except believe God. We are saved by Grace through Faith.

God has given us grab.

Ro 5:15* But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

2Co 8:1* Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:

Col 1:6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;

3. God has given us care, which preserves our lives.
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.

The idea here is put this way in the NLT
Job 10:12 You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.

What a great way to say this. " My life was preserved by your care"

How true it is. He because of His care for us has, is and will preserve us all the way to heaven

Questions:

1. Can you please try to take a moment and imagine what your first thought will be like when you see the face of Jesus in heaven for the first time?

2. Can you think back over your life, and try to count the times that your life was spared? Only to realize now that it was God who did the sparing. And, He did it because He loved you and cared for you.

3. Do you know that the grace care and love and mercy of God have no end?

4. Are you filled with hope and joy in knowing that God has saved you and your on your way to heaven?

A prayer:

Father we tell you often, but we love You. And we will tell You forever and forever. We will be singing your praises through eternity.
We will always be grateful for what You have given to us. Please help our lives to be so genuine and glowing that they have an impact on those who are potential christians. They just aren't saved yet. Make us compassionate and caring and aware of who we speak to and who we are influencing. May we be used by You Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.