Beloveds,
If we are honest we may feel like Job many times in our lives. I am convinced God has given us Job’s testimony so that we can overcome the schemes that satan still uses today, with real, passionate conviction for who God is and what He can do, despite our circumstances or the people around us.
The Lord May allow certain things to come our way to strengthen us ~ but it can only happen if we have clean hands.
The entire New Testament does not reveal to us a life of no troubles but just the opposite. From the very way, Jesus came into this world, to His ministry, to His death~ suffering, trials, and rejection are all woven into the life of Jesus.
I have found that I only have eyes to see this truth when my heart is aware of the same truths in my life.
When you can not save your best friend from sickness you see Jesus as the friend that’s weeping over his friend’s death. When you feel like your alone in your zeal for the things of the Lords to be the Lords, you see Him teaching with the Pharisee’s rejection of it and turning over tables because people have made it their “business” and not a house of prayer.
When you feel as if all of your friends have rejected you, you will see Jesus carrying His cross without one friend standing up for His character.
When you see in your own life the very same sufferings, trials or rejections, I pray you that you see how Jesus walked and long for more of Him to accomplish only what He can do. May we have eyes to see His clean hands, that will reveal so much strength and power. May you see His beauty.
•You can see Beauty because He is our example of uprightness.
•You can see beauty because He has not left you alone but given you the victorious path to walk boldly. To walk a path that will indeed make you stronger.
• You can see Beauty, because of Him, you can have the power to not walk in the flesh~ anger, bitterness, separation, and hate but you can walk as He walked ~ in the Spirit.
You can do good instead of evil~ which stops evil.
You can restore what is broken with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, and kindness.
•This is the beautiful fruit we will know each other by. Because it looks like our beautiful Jesus. It looks like a life of clean hands ~ not perfect hands but clean ones.
One very important thing to do in our brokenness is to look to Jesus to give us clean hands and strength to suffer well. So we may be encouraged and encourage others when we take our weakness and brokenness to Jesus!
“Bear fruit with keeping with repentance.”~ John the Baptist, a friend of Jesus