Tag Archives: Job

Christian Soapbox, Nathan Dooley

…TO SECURITY TO ENGINEERING TO ENTREPRENEUR TO…

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COUNT THE COST

There was a time… a time when I transitioned from a site supervising security officer to an engineer of a 14-story class double “AA” office tower that…

by Nathan Dooley

So there I was, without a job and free to do whatever again… I thought about seeing if my old position in the Public Services department (City of Richardson) as a Water Production (SCADA) operator was available, or to go back to engineering, but my heart has always been geared toward mission work! I just hadn’t known how it was going to come about. 

Laura and I prayed and waited a month before I would go back to Security Guard work; bear in mind that I’d been working random shifts on the GaurdTexas team through a friend/ Operations Manager (Boss Man) who kept me in the loop for Security work throughout Dallas. God’s providence is very real! 

So that’s what I did, I decided to go back to being a humble security guard with a plan to work the night shift. The days are too distracting for what I needed to sort out and not only that, I needed time to learn premiere pro. I’ve always enjoyed shooting video to create content, and to my surprise Laura wanted to join me on an adventure to video editing work through a friend you’ll know or discover if you stick around on this site, aka Dallas. The man is so good at what he does, especially when it comes to loving his family and others! Dallas blessed us with work, entrusting us to his guidance and direction as we got our feet wet in that field through him.

Now there’s a question that’s been beckoning…

“So why not go to bible college and or seminary?” MAN—that’s the question! Isn’t it! The answer is not a simple one for me and really, I think it might be controversial which is not my intention for it to be, but I have my concerns about that approach to “ordination” because of some trauma from my past, I don’t trust it.

Fast forward to January of 2022 when a breakthrough happened when fellowshiping with a friend over…

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christian Soapbox

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity | P2-V7

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The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security

Proverbs 2; I die daily devotional.

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

SOUND WISDOM

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright

Job 1:1—There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

I’m curious… have you read the story of Job?

If you haven’t, stick around … because this book of the Bible is pressing on my heart to write my—I die daily devotions—on next. I digress.

If we didn’t know anything else about the man named Job other than what that first verse describes…

…what would you think?

Because it sounds like Job would be protected by God; he’s blameless, upright, and respects the power of His Holy God by turning away from evil.

So what could possibly go wrong?!

Well if we were to continue on, in the story, one might make the argument that God went wrong to be proud of Job, and that is exactly what Satan did; Satan made that argument, ultimately challenging the Word of God about Job, and was granted the permission to put his [Satan’s] challenge to the test.

What do you think happened to Job?

Do you think that Job remained blameless, upright, and fearing God?

If we, Christians today, think ourselves to be upright, how would it be determined?

Do we think that if we lived with knowledge of the scriptures, to practice them in faith by: prophesying, casting out demons, working miracles, etc.; that according to the evidence of that power through the scriptures, we must be upright?

The answer according to scripture is…

No.

Mat 7:21—“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

You see… there are quite a few fascinating insights and treasures we can gain by this story of Job regarding uprightness and integrity:

  1. Job was known by God.
  2. Satan challenged the integrity of God’s Word.
  3. Satan challenged the integrity of Job’s character.
  4. Job was put to the test.

Okay, now watch this…

  • We are known by God through Jesus Christ.
  • Satan is challenging the integrity of grace.
  • Satan is challenging the integrity of the cross.
  • We are being put to the test.

SHIELD

 He is a shield to those who walk in integrity

Jesus is our shield of faith as we breathe each breath, clap our hands, and stomp our feet! Thinking to myself:

“Shoot…

It’s time to feel that beat of the drum!

BUM-BUM-BUM!”

Let death come?

No!

Let change come!

1Co 15: — “… 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. …”

As we walk through the valley of this shadow of death, we’ll fear no evil.

Christ, by His Word, is the Holy Spirit that lives in us who are known by the Word of God; to be that shield to our integrity, that justice due our sin was paid on the cross of Jesus, and by our acceptance of that truth is an act of faith revealed at the confession of our behavior—Jesus is the name of the Lord.

AND WE SERVE HIM…

TO THE GLORY OF GOD…

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN!

Oh… the war is here… it’s already happening… can you feel it?

Satan is killing; people are dropping dead. Satan is taking; people are losing income. Satan is lying; people are cursing the day of their birth for want of understanding.

Can you hear?

The Whirlwind is here… do you hear?

Are we listening?

Job 38:1—Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?

I mean… who am I [Nathan] to say what’s next?

Is God to blame? No! God is not to blame for divine beings that have manipulated His [God’s] glory for the sake of their own, of which is not attainable, but Hell is their destiny… their choice, and regretfully so… .

We are but dust, a vapor in the wind, and yet…

LOVED!

  • As you examine your life, and think about Job, what do you experience and why?
  • How does our verse today inspire you?
  • What do you hear come from the whirlwind in your life right now, and what is your response?

RECOURCE

[BP]

Proverbs 2 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org
1 My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, 2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; 3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come  knowledge and understanding. 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. 9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; 16 To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words; 17 That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God; 18 For her house sinks down to death And her tracks lead to the dead; 19 None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life. 20 So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

COMMENTARY

Matthew Henry (P2-V7) Commentary
3. He has particularly provided that good men, who are sincerely disposed to do his will, shall have that knowledge and that understanding which are necessary for them, Jn. 7:17. Let them seek wisdom, and they shall find it; let them ask, and it shall be given them, v. 7, 8. Observe here,

  • (1.) Who those are that are thus favoured. They are the righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which consists in righteousness, and those who walk uprightly, who are honest in their dealings both with God and man and make conscience of doing their duty as far as they know it. They are his saints, devoted to his honour, and set apart for his service.
  • (2.) What it is that is provided for them.
    • [1.] Instruction. The means of wisdom are given to all, but wisdom itself, sound wisdom, is laid up for the righteous, laid up in Christ their head, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who is made of God to us wisdom. The same that is the Spirit of revelation in the word is a Spirit of wisdom in the souls of those that are sanctified, that wisdom of the prudent which is to understand his way; and it is sound wisdom, its foundations firm, its principles solid, and its products of lasting advantage.
    • [2.] Satisfaction. Some read it, He lays up substance for the righteous,  not only substantial knowledge, but substantial happiness and comfort, Prov. 8:21. Riches are things that are not, and those that have them only fancy themselves happy; but what is laid up in the promises and in heaven for the righteous will make them truly, thoroughly, and eternally happy.
    • [3.] Protection. Even those who walk uprightly may be brought into danger for the trial of their faith, but God is, and will be, a buckler to them, so that nothing that happens to them shall do them any real hurt, or possess them with any terrific apprehensions; they are safe, and they shall think themselves so. Fear not, Abraham; I am thy shield. It is their way, the paths of judgment in which they walk, that the Lord knows, and owns, and takes care of.
    • [4.] Grace to persevere to the end. If we depend upon God, and seek to him for wisdom, he will uphold us in our integrity, will enable us to keep the paths of judgment, however we may be tempted to turn aside out of them; for he preserves the way of his saints, that it be not perverted, and so preserves them in it safe and blameless to his heavenly kingdom. The assurances God has given us of his grace, if duly improved, will excite and quicken our endeavours in doing our duty. Work out your salvation, for God works in you.
Christian Soapbox

Session 3 – An Interviewing by God

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Featured photo: Ben Jacobi www.bdjphoto.com 

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2)

I understand Job to be an illustration of our present day global suffering to the individual adversities each of us share.  Just as Job had experienced the loss of nearly everything, it wasn’t finished.  Evil has a strategic agenda to confuse the truth with lies, and thereby, challenges our devotion to what is good and righteous.  As long as our hearts receives the approval of those we care so deeply for rather than receiving from the only One Who matters, we’re lost and without understanding; in danger of fearing the wrath of God at the coming of His Son.

Although the wife of Job insists to “Curse God and die!“.  Job is not manipulated by the love he has for his wife; because God supplied and took away what was necessary for this process of understanding the truth of God.  Someone tell me.

  • How did Job come to life?  – Was it not through suffering?

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. 13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great. (Job 2)

We will not find truth in succumbing to the flattery of friends, nor by believing the accusations against us by self-righteous friends.  However, as Job goes through the turmoil of Satan discovers the character of God and His immense power.  Don’t give up where you are and don’t make the mistake of being someone else’s “god” for the sake of easing their pain.  Live by the understanding that the grace given by God abounds the sins of your life.  Confess and contend with God, but understand this truth, Job repented in dust and ashes when God showed up!  Do you, or we, think, that our place is not the same as Job’s.  Or are you so arrogant as a son or daughter of Satan, to challenge the character of another based on what God has provided for them, and not you?  I pray this is not confused with partiality or being favored by what is given materially, for we all equally have the opportunity at receiving the gift of God.  What have you chosen over that gift?