JOB

So today, er last night I was charged to make this day a day of fasting and prayer. No food. Just water. No television. No secular music. No twitter. No facebook. If I wanted a job it would be just Jesus and I today.

So it’s 1:28 p.m. I’ve been given a few scriptures to share.

The first is Job

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            ¹Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. 

²“ Who is this that belittles my advice with words that do not show my knowledge about it?

³Brace yourself like a man! I will ask you, and you will teach me.

⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have such insight.

⁵Who determined its dimensions? Certainly, you know! Who stretched a measuring line over it?

⁶On what were its footings sunk? Who laid its cornerstone

⁷when the morning stars sang together and al the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ Who shut the sea behind the gates when it burst through and came out of the womb,

⁹when I clothed the clouds and wrapped it up in dark clouds,

¹⁰when I set a limit for it and put up bars and gates,

¹¹when I said, “You may come this far, but no father. Here your proud waves stop?”

¹²“Have you ever given orders to the morning or assigned a place for the dawn

¹³so that it could grab the earth by its edges and shake wicked people out of it?

¹⁴The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal, and parts of it stand out like folds in clothing.

¹⁵Wicked people are deprived of their light, and an arm raised in victory is broken.

¹⁶ Have you gone to the springs in the sea or walked through the valleys of the ocean depths?

¹⁷Have the gateways of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gateways of total darkness?

₁₈Have you even considered how wide the earth is? Tell me, if you know all of this!

¹⁹What is the way to the place where the light lives? Where is the home of darkness ²⁰so that you made lead it to its territory, so that you may know the path to its home?

²¹You must know because you were born then and have lived such a long time!

²²Have you been to the warehouses where snow is stored or seen the warehouses for hail

²³that I have stored up for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

²⁴Which is the way to the place where the light is scattered and the east wind is spread across the earth?

²⁵“Who made a channel for the flooding rains and a path for the thunderstorms

²⁶ to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on a desert where there are no humans,

²⁷to saturate a desolate wasteland in order to make it sprout with grass?

²⁸Does the rain have a father? Who gave birth to the dew drops?

²⁹From whose womb came ice, and who has given birth to the frost in the air?

³⁰The water hardens like stone, and the surface of the ocean freezes over.

³¹Can you connect the chains of the constellation Pleiades or untie the ropes of Orion?

³²Can you bring out the constellations at the right time or guide Ursa Major to its cubs?

³³Do you know the laws of the sky? Or make them rule the earth?

³⁴Can you call to the clouds and have a flood of water cover you?

³⁵Can you send lightning flashes so that they may go and say to you ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who put wisdom in the heart, and understanding in the mind?

³⁷Who is wise enough to count the clouds or pour out water jars from heaven

³⁸when the dirt hardens with clumps and the soil clings together?

³⁹ Can you hunt prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of her cubs

40 as they crouch in their dens and lie ready to ambush from their lairs?

⁴¹Who provides food for the crow when its young ones cry out to God and wander around in need of food?

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The Mountain Goats

¹Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch the does when they are in labor? ²Can you count the months they are pregnant or know the time when they’ll give birth? ³They kneel down to give birth and deliver their young. Then the pain of giving birth is over. ⁴Their young are healthy and grow up in the wild, they leave and do not come back.

The Wild Donkey

⁵“Who lets the wild donkey go free? Who unties the ropes of the wild donkey? ⁶I gave it the desert to live in and the salt flats as its dwelling places

⁷It laughs at the noise of the city and doesn’t even listen to the shouting of its master. ⁸It explores the mountains for its pasture and looks for anything green.

The Wild Ox

            ⁹Will the wild ox agree to serve you, or will it stay at night beside your breeding trough? ¹⁰Can you guide a wild ox in a furrow, or will it ploy the valleys behind you? ¹¹Can you trust it because it’s so strong or leave your labor to it? ¹² Can you rely on it to bring your grain back and take it to your threshing floor?

The Ostrich

 ¹³Does the ostrich flap its wings in joy, or do its wings lack feathers? ¹⁴It lays its eggs on the ground and warms them in the dust. ¹⁵It forgets that foot may crush them or a wild animal may trample them. ¹⁶It acts harshly as if they weren’t its own.

It is not afraid that its work is for nothing ¹⁷because God has deprived it of wisdom and did not give it understanding. ¹⁸It laughs at the horse and rider when it gets up to flee.

LESSON ONE: I DO IT. NOT YOU.

The next one, I’ve read in two different versions God’s word translation and English Standard version.

2 Corinthians 11:5-15 (ESV)

⁵ Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. ⁶ Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. ⁷ Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel free of charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. ⁹ And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedoneia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. ¹⁰ As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

¹² And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of the light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

2 Corinthians 11:5-15 (GWT)

⁵ I don’t think I’m inferior in any way to your super apostles. ⁶ Even though I’m not good with words, I know what I’m talking about. Timothy and I have made this clear to you in every possible way. ⁷ Did I commit a sin when I humbled myself by telling you the Good News of God free of charge so that you could become important? ⁸ I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to serve you. ⁹ When I was with you and needed something I didn’t bother any of you for help. My friends from the province of Macedonia supplied everything I needed. I kept myself from financial burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do that. ¹⁰ As surely as I have Christ’s truth, my bragging will not be silenced anywhere in Greece. ¹¹ Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do love you. ¹² But I’ll go on doing what I’m doing. This will take away the opportunity of those people who want to brag because they think they’re like us. ¹³ People who brag like this are false apostles. They are dishonest workers since they disguise themselves as Christ’s apostles. ¹⁴ And no wonder, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of the light. ¹⁵ So it’s not surprising that his servants also disguise themselves as servants who have God’s approval. In the end they will get what they deserve.

LESSON TWO: You have the knowledge; even if they question your credentials, stay humbled keep doing what I have called you to do. The truth cannot be hurt by false teachings and they will reap what they sow.

(1) “Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. ⁷ Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel free of charge?”

 (2)

“But I’ll go on doing what I’m doing. This will take away the opportunity of those people who want to brag because they think they’re like us. ¹³ People who brag like this are false apostles. They are dishonest workers since they disguise themselves as Christ’s apostles. ¹⁴ And no wonder, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of the light. ¹⁵ So it’s not surprising that his servants also disguise themselves as servants who have God’s approval. In the end they will get what they deserve. “