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Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD have, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

When God exposes our devotion to Him, He strips us of all the layers which may prohibit others from seeing where our heart is.   For Job, after all the layers in this text were stripped from him (his property and his children), he was found still worshipping, because as blessed as he was, his worship was not contingent upon what he held in his hand, but Who he adored in his heart!

And so it should be with us!  If God were to use our life as a testimony of His worthiness, would He want the world to get the impression that we deem Him worthy because of His presents (the things He gives us), or because of His presence (the person He is)?

The condition of mankind in their darkness is such that all blinders must be taken off before they can see God in all His glory!  Having said that, God chooses to use those of us who are redeemed by His grace as instruments by which to reveal His redemptive plan to fallen man.  In doing so, for the benefit of the blind who must see, He sometimes removes all things in our lives which might cause them to remain clueless and blind as it relates to our reason of devotion to Him.

Having said that, the question remains; IF He were to strip us down to nothing but our raw, exposed, inner devotion with no layers causing others to be misinformed of our true intentions, what would they then see?  Would we still be devoted?  Would we still worship our Lord?  Would they at last be convinced that He IS our life, whether we live in comfort or distress while serving Him?

Perhaps not even Job was fully convinced of his own devotion until after he lost it all.  I can’t say that for certain, but it is at least worth considering that it is possible.  It is possible that Job needed to KNOW what God already knew, but the only way Job could walk in confidence was for God to reveal it to him in a way that he would be unforgettably convinced.  And MAYBE God is showing YOU too, so that when He blesses you again, you’ll know where your true strength lies…IN HIM!!!

P.S.  HERE is a POWERFUL sermon on this same passage of scripture by Bro. Jonathan McNeese, which inspired me to write this devotion today.

Pastor Gary Caudill

copyright © by Gary D. Caudill, all rights reserved

Listen to “Do a Mighty Thing!” by The Caudill Family HERE on YouTube.

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Gen 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The Earth was, prior to God’s spoken Word, a lifeless, empty, dark wasteland.  Some seem confused by this text, exclaiming, “God does everything perfect the first time!” and thus attempts to explain this away by some alleged gap theory between the lines of Scripture which cannot be found.

However, it does not bother me that God would create the raw materials to be in such conditions prior to putting His finishing touches upon them.  The reason it does not bother me is because everything God does as it relates to creation is an object lesson by which He reveals to us eternal truths which transform our lives.

Just like His Word transformed the formerly lifeless, empty, dark wasteland we call Earth, God wants all of humanity to know that His Word has the power to bring life to lifelessness; fullness to emptiness; light to darkness; productivity, fruitfulness, increase, and abundance to the wasteland of our sin-wrecked existence!!

So, look again at verse two; “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  AND [emphasis mine] the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”  The first thing you need to know is that, despite the darkness, emptiness, wasted, death-like experiences your existence represents, God’s Spirit IS IN FACT MOVING upon the surface of your troubled waters!

Now, what happens next is beyond inspirational.  Look at verse three; “And God SAID [emphasis mine], Let there be light: and there was light.”  If God’s Spirit were the fuel, then God’s Word was the match that lit the fuel!!  Think of it this way; God’s Spirit is already “on standby” simply awaiting the activation of His power to change your life by the speaking of His Word!  I encourage you to look at all the times in Genesis 1 where it reads, “And God said…”  and then realize that God’s Spirit IGNITES AND ACTIVATES God’s Power at the speaking of His Word!!  Today, SPEAK God’s Word so that, as the match lights the fuel, so His Word activates His Spirit to bring light, life, fullness and hope!

Pastor Gary Caudill

copyright © by Gary D. Caudill, all rights reserved

Listen to “Word of God Speak” by MercyMe HERE on YouTube.

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2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

Contrary to king Azariah, king Hezekiah actually followed through and did what was necessary; he began tearing down and removing the high places of Israel. In fact, he was so thorough that he even took a very valuable and historic heirloom to the nation of Israel, namely, Moses’ brazen serpent, and broke it to pieces.