Job & Eliphaz exchange words but NOT understanding
Thru the Bible: Job 4-6
Job continues to speak from the bitterness of his heart while his friend Eliphaz offers good counsel, but which leads to wrong conclusions.
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Author Archive: Pastor Mark
Imitation from admiration IS the Gospel!
The recurring theme of Paul’s letter to the Colossian believers was to stay centered on Jesus.
Our lives are hidden with Christ in the Father. This implies a need to seek Him, discover Him in growing and intimate ways.
The overall picture is very much like a young boy who imitates his father who he looks up to. He admires him and wants nothing more than to be just like him. He pays attention to what he does, where he goes, what he likes, what he wears and becomes SO influenced by him, that he begins to acclimate to his ways. This is not just by means of forced imitation, but through loving admiration – his find himself influenced by his father to the point that he is becoming like him without any real effort at all.
THAT is the gospel!
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Job, in your weariness will you listen?
Job’s trials are now in full bloom and his friends, upon hearing of it, come to comfort him.
After 7 days of silence sitting in ashes of mourning, Job speaks from the bitterness of his heart and curses the day of his birth. He also offers subtle blame at God for being complicit with his suffering.
His friend Eliphaz hears his words and discerns his heart of grief offering advice that was both solid and mistaken all at the same time.
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Nailed to His cross
Paul stresses the need for ongoing Faith to the Colossian believers, as well as the need to stay established in the truth.
Both Jews and Essense were influencing this church to consider the aesetic practices of neglect of the body and observance of the externals of the ceremonial Law of the Old Testament for righteousness.
Paul explains that such things have been removed out the way and nailed to the cross with Jesus our Messiah.
In this message we also address the misunderstanding of Paul’s words regarding obeserving sabbath days. This he clearly meant in relation to the other laws he listed which were all celemonial and exterior in nature. ALL Feast days had associated sabbath rests which were in no way related to the Sabbath day declared Holy by God on the 7th day of Creation and the 4th commandment of the Law.
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Laying Hold of the Mystery of Christ in Us
In the letter of Paul to the Colossian believers, he stresses the importance of being found well pleasing to God.
That pleasure is directly connected to the mystery God has kept hidden in Christ from before time began. It is the mystery of Christ in us!
As Michael Card so clearly stated in his song, Live this Mystery “The Mystery of life in Christ, is that Christ can live in you!”
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