Do all things without complaining or arguments; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. Philippians 2:14-16 NASB

Round One

January 14, 2024
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Scriptures: Job 2:1–9
Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

Satan replied to the LORD, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” (Job 2:3–5)
When bad things happen, they often happen to the wrong person. And when that occurs, we're always left with that haunting question, "Why?" Somewhere in all of this, there is room for the story of Job. For, as we have learned, a better man never lived in his day. He was not only a good man, he was a godly man. He was not only a faithful husband, he was a loving and devoted father. He was a good employer. With plenty of land, an abundance of food, and sufficient livestock and camels to fund Job's dreams, it looked as though his entire future would be a downhill slide.

I imagine that in the struggle of that first fitful night, trying to sleep after burying all ten children with his own hands, laying alongside his grieving wife who had also endured the loss, much of what had happened was still a blur. And there was more to come, much more. He couldn't have imagined it any more than those in the Pentagon who were already busily engaged in dealing with the details of the Northeastern Atlantic shoreline and the New York Harbor, where the terrorists had struck. Our military personnel had no idea they were next. A third plane on another evil mission would soon plunge into the very side of the building in Washington where some were already working on the atrocity that had just happened in New York.

I have spoken to some of those officers who were in the building at that time. One admitted to his own embarrassment, "It never dawned on most of us that the Pentagon was next." We may never know for sure if the third plane was seeking to locate the White House and, because of the foliage of mid-September, couldn't do so. The pilot, in his maddening plan to crash the plane, spotted this five-sided building and tore a hole 200 feet wide due to a double explosion—first from the plane itself crashing into the building and then the igniting of the fuel that sent fire down the wide hallway.

As with Job, it just wasn't fair! At least it wasn't fair from our perspective. The man had modeled genuine integrity. He had blest his Father; in fact, he had worshiped Him, and Satan couldn't stand it.

The Adversary lost round one.

The Accuser

January 07, 2024
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Scriptures: Job 1:1–12
One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. “Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan.

Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” (Job 1:6–8)
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Verses 1 to 5 are full of good news, wonderful blessings, business integrity, purity of heart, and faithfulness of life. The man is spiritually mature, domestically diligent, and professionally respected.

As he sleeps, another scene opens to us that Job doesn't see. Similar things happen in our lives as well. When we're not aware of it, God is carrying out a plan that would amaze us and, on occasion, shock us. He is permitting things to get underway that we would have never expected. Without Job's knowledge, something is happening in the heavenlies. We are transported from Planet Earth to the third heaven to witness its occurrence.

As the Lord God looks about, He sees His angelic servants who have come to present themselves before Him. And why not? They're accountable to Him. They do His bidding as they carry out His divine will.

Suddenly the Accuser appears among the other angels. He is the evil one who accuses God's people day and night.

Pause and remember that Satan is not a little imp with a red body, carrying a pitchfork, and sitting on one of your shoulders whispering ugly little nothings in your ear. That's a medieval caricature that Satan would love for you to believe. Instead, he is the most attractive, brilliant, powerful archangel that God ever created. He has not lost his brilliance. He has not lost his power. He has certainly not lost his appealing beauty. He is also insidious. Satan's favorite method of working is behind the scenes. Just because he is invisible does not mean he is not real. As we will see a little later, he has personality. And he is engaged in a relentless commitment to destroying God's people and opposing God's plan. It is this insidious adversary we find standing in the heavenlies among the group of faithful angelic servants.

Look at the permission slip He hands Satan. "All that he has is yours to deal with." He adds a caveat, "only do not put forth your hand on him" (Job 1:12). "Don't you touch his life. Don't touch his body or his soul or his mind. You can remove his possessions, and you can attack his family, but leave the man, himself, alone."

Satan departed from the presence of the Lord with a sinister grin. Keep in mind, Job knew nothing of that dialogue and the evil that would soon befall him. And remember this: we don't know what wicked schemes Satan is planning against us either.

Life Is Difficult

January 06, 2024
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Scriptures: Job 1:1–12
There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. (Job 1:1–3)
Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this earth. When the writer of the biblical book named Job picked up his stylus to write his story, he could have begun with a similar-sounding and equally blunt sentence, "Life is unfair."

No one could argue the point that life is punctuated with hardship, heartaches, and headaches. Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult. But unfair? Something kicks in, deep within most of us, making it almost intolerable for us to accept and cope with what's unfair. Our drive for justice overrides our patience with pain.

Life is not just difficult, it's downright unfair. Welcome to Job's world.

Job was a man of unparalleled and genuine piety. He was also a man of well-deserved prosperity. He was a godly gentleman, extremely wealthy, a fine husband, and a faithful father. In a quick and brutal sweep of back-to-back calamities, Job was reduced to a twisted mass of brokenness and grief. The extraordinary accumulation of disasters that hit him would have been enough to finish off any one of us today.

Job is left bankrupt, homeless, helpless, and childless. He's left standing beside the ten fresh graves of his now-dead children in a windswept valley. His wife is heaving deep sobs of grief as she kneels beside him, having just heard him say, "Whether our God gives to us or takes everything from us, we will follow Him." She leans over and secretly whispers, "Why don't you just curse God and die?"

His misery turns to mystery with God's silence. If the words of his so-called friends are hard to hear, the silence of God becomes downright intolerable. Not until the thirty-eighth chapter of the book does God finally break the silence, however long that took. Even if it were just a few months, try to imagine. You've become the object of your alleged friends' accusations, and the heavens are brass as you plead for answers from the Almighty, who remains mysteriously mute. Nothing comes to you by way of comfort. It's all so unfair; you've done nothing to deserve such anguish.

Pause and ponder their grief—and remember that Job had done nothing to deserve such unbearable pain. If it had been you, how would you have responded?

As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is refined; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.Psalm 18:30 NASB