“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” – Job 1:21

Whatever loss we suffer we should look at in the light of this verse. All we have received was graciously given by God’s goodness. As James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Therefore when we incur a loss we should be appreciative we had it rather than angry because it was taken away from us. Out of the depths of God’s love it was given and out of the great well of His wisdom it was taken. In both cases God is love. He changes not. Whether sunshine or shadows He remains the same.

God loves you just as much when He takes as He does when He gives. And, although we might not see it at the time, the greater good can often come through grief rather than gladness. At this time it is not for us to know the reasoning of God in regards to such matters. Only that he has a reason. It is our duty to trust Him, not judge Him. Since we didn’t and couldn’t do anything to deserve what He gave, we shouldn’t complain when He deems it best to take it away. 

Hopefully you will apply this to every area of your life — the departure of a loved one, the demise of your health, the departure of your youth, the dispossession of your goods, and the deprivation of your desires. That which you so desperately wanted to cling to might have ultimately brought you great pain and suffering had God allowed you to keep it. So out of His mercy He removed it to spare you the agony He knew it would bring. You could say that even when the Lord takes He is giving in some sense of the word.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “But how shall I live without it?” The answer is found in 2 Cor. 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” A child of God in the will of God can endure absolutely anything. As Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”- Phil. 4:13. — HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346 

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” – Philippians 2:3-4

Senior Living tells this story that illustrates the truth in our text. A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But because this was America, there were no hall servants.

Walking the halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and was determined not to embarrass his European brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but was met with only silence or excuses. So Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.

When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never know by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret.

D. L. Moody was a man with a servant’s heart, which was the basis of his true greatness. And while many might consider his act of service as that of someone who was “super spiritual”, all it took was humility to do what he did. In the same way, God calls us to humility each and every day—to live out the love and life of Christ to a watching world around us!

Ask God to give you the humility it takes to show Christ’s love to a watching world. 

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine”– Job 41:11

As God questions Job, we see even this righteous man coming quickly to the end of himself and to the realization of the sovereignty of his God.

Job had lost everything he owned and all his children; he was covered with putrid sores from the top of his head to the sole of his feet; for an extended period of time, he felt utterly forsaken by God. Yet, when God does finally speak to him, there is not a hint of apology on God’s part.

Rather, as God pounds Job with one question after another, Job is made to realize this startling truth: although his present pains have not come upon him because of any particular sin on his part (as his friends were suggesting), he did deserve everything that was happening to him and more! It is Job, and not God, who repents in the end.

What brought Job to the recognition of his utter dependence upon the grace of God? It was the reminder that God is the sovereign creator of all things and that everything and everyone receives their strength and life from Him.

No one can demand anything from God, because no one has ever given anything to God that they have not first received from Him. God is indebted to no one, for anything. If we enjoy good health, or prosperity, it is all because God has graciously granted it to us. Everything under the whole heaven is His.

Have you surrendered yourself, like Job, to the sovereignty and mercy of God? – Baptist Bible Hour

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Rejoicing in hope.” Romans 12:12

The believer cannot always rejoice in possession, for he appears stripped of everything; but he may rejoice in hope even then. He is warranted to hope for eternal life; for righteousness by faith, that God may be magnified in his body, by life or by death; for the resurrection of the body, and its reunion with the soul; for the appearing of his beloved Savior, and complete salvation through Him. The hope which is laid up for him in heaven, of which the gospel now informs him a weight of glory, a crown of righteousness, and an eternal inheritance, are in reserve for him; and in hope of these he may rejoice. They are set before Him to excite desire, produce courage, prevent despondency, and fill with joy. They are freely given, plainly promised, and carefully preserved; therefore we shall never be ashamed of our hope. Let us not yield to our gloomy feelings, or to distressing forebodings; but let us lift up our heads, rejoicing that we shall so soon be made partakers of our hope. Let us hope in God, and daily praise Him more and more; making use of hope as the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. – James Smith, 1840

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

The late Ravi Zacharias wrote the following article. Since this is the subject of my message this morning I hope you will give it serious consideration:

Paul Tillich, the noted existentialist theologian, traveled to Asia to hold conferences with various Buddhist thinkers. He was studying the significance of religious leaders to the movements they had engendered. Tillich asked a simple question. “What if by some fluke, the Buddha had never lived and turned out to be some sort of fabrication? What would be the implications for Buddhism?” Mind you, Tillich was concerned with the indispensability of the Buddha—not his authenticity.

The scholars did not hesitate to answer. If the Buddha was a myth, they said, it did not matter at all. Why? Because Buddhism should be judged as an abstract philosophy—as a system of living. Whether its concepts originated with the Buddha is irrelevant. As an aside, I think the Buddha himself would have concurred. Knowing that his death was imminent, he beseeched his followers not to focus on him but to remember his teachings. Not his life but his way of life was to be attended to and propagated.

So, what of other world religions? Hinduism, as a conglomeration of thinkers and philosophies and gods, can certainly do without many of its deities. Some other major religions face the same predicament.

 

Is Christianity similar? Could God the Father have sent another instead of Jesus? May I say to you, and please hear me, that the answer is most categorically No. Jesus did not merely claim to be a prophet in a continuum of prophets. He is the unique Son of God, part of the very godhead that Christianity calls the Trinity. The apostle Paul says it this way:

“[Christ] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” – Col. 1:15-20

Moreover, Jesus himself prayed, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” – John 17:2-3

As many have observed, Christianity is Christ. Indeed, Englishman John Stott writes, “If Jesus was not God in human flesh, Christianity is exploded. We are left with just another religion with some beautiful ideas and noble ethics; its unique distinction has gone.”(3) At the very heart of Christianity, Jesus is the image and the incarnation of the invisible God. And it changes everything. – Ravi Zacharias (Revised to use KJV, by HDS)

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346