I was listening to the story of Job the other day from Job chapter one. Job
was a godly man, who hated evil. God bragged on Job to the Devil. So Satan
suggested taking away everything he had, to test him, but Job passed the
test. Job refused to curse God. Job's wife lost ten children, who died when
a strong wind destroyed the building they were in. Job and his wife lost all
their live stock and most of their servants were killed by thieves. Satan
had the power to cause theft, damage, murder and sickness. That is
interesting. It is important for every Christian believer to understand that
the Devil cannot do anything bad to us without God's permission. Everything
must be approved by God before Satan can harm a Christian! When you become
born-again, God's Holy Spirit literally comes to live inside you. We call
this theologically, the “indwelling of the Holy Spirit.”
I have had many horrible things happen to me in life, and have been in Job's shoes. Job's wife never abandoned him, nor was she taken from him by death; but I have not had the companionship of a faithful wife since 2006, when she divorced me against my will. When I hear a man praise his wife in a church, I have to leave the room, because I am heart-broken, being alone all these years. I have forgiven her, but she still blames me for everything. That's okay, God is our only Judge (James 4:12). When Job's calamity ended, God restored to him double of everything he lost. I lost my home after the divorce, and have rented since, and will likely never own my own home again (and if I do, it won't be anything like the large home I once owned). Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
My neck injury is permanent and I will suffer in constant toothache-like neck pain (stenosis, radiculopathy and displaced disks) for the rest of my survival on earth. I cannot express in words the misery I endure in constant neck pain. Since it is right next to my head, it cannot be ignored. So, in many ways, Job had it made, because his suffering ended, and he was restored double. Job's painful boils from head to toe were all healed. His health was restored. I will never regain my full health. Job never lost the companionship of his wife when life caved in upon him, although she discouraged him (because she was discouraged too). I don't feel sorry for myself, nor do I feel sorry for Job. Job is not my hero. It is hard for me to feel sympathy for people who suffer, because I have suffered so much myself. I can relate to their suffering, and help them, but I do not feel sorry for them. I have suffered through more things than I can remember. Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
I know what inexplicable lasting pain of soul feels like, lasting years, with no one to help me back up. I have even reached out to Baptist churches on Guam for help, who left me for dead and couldn't have cared less about me, such as Harvest Baptist Church on Guam (whose pastor in 2014 compelled me to leave and in 2017 told me I couldn't come back) and Agana Heights Baptist Church (whose pastor in 2009 was mean to me and didn't want me in his church because of hateful slander he had heard about me) and Lighthouse Baptist Church (whose pastor in 2018 got angry at me for exposing corruptible seed and the Bob Jones Alexandrian cult). A fool would say that I must be at fault, since there are multiple churches that don't want me; but God knows the truth is that I am more righteous than all of them! They are the self-righteous hypocrites! They are the one's (all of them) promoting or bidding Godspeed to corruptible seed. They are the ones who tolerate Satan's counterfeit Bible versions, tolerate and promote John MacArthur, and are indifferent toward truth. They are the bastards, not me! I don't have a problem with pastors, they all have a problem with me!!! GOD KNOWS THAT I AM PURE OF HEART!!!!!!! Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
Here are some precious Scriptures about giving thanks to God the Son and God the Father at all times, for all things (carefully notice the deity of Jesus)...
Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Colossians 1:12, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Colossians 3:17, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
I could easily become bitter at God and people, but I would rather die than go down that low road. BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!!! Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.” Everything that the Lord does is right! James 1:12, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” PRAISE THE LORD ANYHOW!!! I love a precious truth found in Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Anyone can praise God during times of peace, plenty and prosperity; but it requires a sacrifice to praise the Lord when your life is falling apart, when you're homeless, when you get fired, when your spouse abandons and divorces you, when you lose your home, when you lose everything, when your health fails, when neck surgery makes you worse, when churches reject you in your darkest hour of pain and need, when life runs over you like a team-roller, and it seems as if God has forsaken you! I have been there, and am there! I SAY PRAISE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! I SAY BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!!! THERE IS NO GOD LIKE UNTO OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR!!! Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
Job 33:12b-14, “...God is greater than man. Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters. For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.” Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.” I often think about quadriplegics confined to a wheelchair their entire life, and I quickly realize how abundantly blessed I am. I think about over 2,200 youth under the age of 18 in the United States, who have already been sentenced to life in prison for crimes they've committed. Things can always be worse dear reader! Thank God you are free! I thank God I am not stuck in a wheelchair, or attached to a machine to survive. I have already decided that I want to die rather than be kept artificially alive, if such a situation ever arises. Millions of people would die in they didn't go to receive kidney dialysis multiple times every week. It's not like you can just get too busy and shirk it off, because you will die without it! Type-II diabetes is a dangerous self-induced disease which afflicts 10% of Americans, and 25% of people on Guam. Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
Please do not think I am complaining or feeling sorry for myself in this article, I am not. I am simply saying that I know what it means to suffer, and my physical afflictions are permanent. My neck is burning with horrible pain as I type, in the bony area in the back. My whole nervous system feels like someone laid a menthol strip over my body. This is the norm for me since 2010, when my second surgery made me worse. My neck problem became evident in 2004. I have to be on-guard all the time, because people don't know or understand my condition, and they don't cut me any slack. For that reason I am a loner, and love being at home by myself, where I am safe. The loneliness is overwhelming at times, and I long to go home to be with the Lord in Heaven. I am so glad that I am 51 and not 21, meaning that my life is winding down. In a little over 18 years I will be 70 years old, Lord willing. Wow, where did the time go? I want off this insane planet! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!! Psalms 145:21, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”
I rejoice that I do not have a crippling disease, not yet at least, not that I am aware of. But as they say, life is what happens to you when you're making big plans. We do not know what tomorrow may bring. it is a sin to boast of future plans, without acknowledging God. James 4:13-16, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.” We can only live life as God gives it to us, which is ONE DAY AT A TIME!
“Nothing
in my future can ever affect the salvation that I have... Once you trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are eternally secure!”
—Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon
titled, “
