Job 14:4 “”Who can make the clean out of the unclean?  No one!”

JUST PLAIN DIRTY

When I was growing up I worked part time at a local gas station.  I started working there when I was 14.  Yep, back then you could do that.  I was put in the side alley where all I did was wash cars.  They would pull one in, I would wash it and they would pull it out.  Repeat!  Repeat!  I got pretty good and fast at washing cars.

I learned something quickly though.  You HAD to change the wash water after every car.  You could not get a car clean if you used dirty water.  I had to rinse out my wash mitt and pour out the old dirty water before I could begin the next car.

TEACHING MOMENT

There is not a thing we can do to clean up our child’s life.  That is ALL up to the Lord.  He alone has the power to clean them up.  Job was talking to God in our passage today.  He knew no one on earth had the power to cleanse the wicked.  But God….

Our job as parents is to make sure our children are in the right environment where they can hear from God.  We have the responsibility to prepare them so He can cleanse them.  We can pray for them and teach them the Word.  But we cannot clean them.  That is God’s job and His alone.

Are you clean today?  Have you allowed the Lord to cleanse your heart and mind today?  Do you think He can’t cleanse you?  He can!  He is so much more powerful than Mr. Clean.  He cleanses us so we reflect His Son.  And we know that He is clean.

Won’t you let the Lord have His cleansing way today?  Allow Him to throw out all the efforts you have made (the dirty water) and cleanse you the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit (the clean water).  I promise you will shine for Jesus!

Matthew 21:12 “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”

RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION

Have you ever gotten mad?  Dumb question, right?  We all get mad sometimes.  But usually we don’t have a good reason.  I have always told children I work with, “No one can make you mad.”  You see if we let someone else make us mad, we have given them power over us.  Don’t let them have that power.

However, it is okay to get mad over the right things.  Jesus was mad!  He entered the temple and “drove out” all those folks who were treating it like a market place.  He turned over tables.  He made a scene!  But it was over the right thing.  He was mad how they were treating His Father’s house.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our kids get mad, don’t they?  Sure they do.  We have to teach them how and when to get mad.  Getting mad about losing a ballgame is not appropriate.  Seeing another child getting picked on and made fun of is reason to get “angry.”  We need to teach them that we should be mad about evil in our world.  But we can’t act like the world.  We have to allow the Lord to show us how He wants us to respond.

Now, I kind of doubt He will ask us to go into church and turn tables over and drive people out.  But He may ask us to speak out on behalf of the unborn.  He may ask us to step in and defend the helpless.  You just don’t know what He will ask you to do until you are willing.

Moms and Dads, don’t take this as permission to jump and “defend” your child every time they run into a bully.  Some battles our children must face by themselves (with your support, of course).  But you will teach them so much by how you handle your anger.  Do you snap at people when they jump in front of you in traffic?  Do you yell at the neighbor whose dog just left a “prize” on your lawn?  That is NOT the right kind of anger.

Let the Lord show you how to get mad in the right way.  He knows how!

Psalm 56:9 “You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?”

GOD IS CRYING

I had to look up some scholars’ thoughts on this verse.  What does “tears in Your bottle” mean?  It was an ancient practice for people to take small bottles made of glass or pottery and catch tears they shed due to the loss of a loved one.  They would then place those bottles on the grave of that loved one.  The Psalmist here is saying God grieves for us when we are hurting.  He catches His tears in a bottle.  How precious!

Now, I don’t know if God really does that or not.  We know Jesus wept twice – once over Jerusalem and another time at the grave of Lazarus.  So, we know God weeps, but does He put His tears in a bottle?  We just don’t know. I can imagine, though, if He does that He must have a huge room of tear bottles.  And one of those bottles has your name on it.

TEACHING MOMENT

I believe we must teach our children that it is okay to shed tears.  They need to know to is okay to cry.  As for me, I cry over every little thing.  I cried yesterday, as a matter of fact, as I was praying over a newborn.  Tears heal!  Tears can bring comfort.  Tears can bring us closer together.

Don’t you let your child feel bad for crying.  Tears shed for the right reason are good.  Your child should not use tears to manipulate, of course.  But crying is a natural, healthy thing.  Teach your children to know when it is right.  Sometimes it is hard to hold them back.  Let them flow.

Have you had a good cry lately?  That is usually not a problem for me.  COL (crying out loud).  Let yourself cry. Cry for the brokenness of the world. Cry for the injustice done to the unborn.  Cry for the lives lost due to persecution of the church.  Cry for our nation.  Keep your tear ducts clear.  I think I will get a quart jar for mine.

Job 11:14 “If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;”

LISTEN

There is a truth I have learned through the years.  Even ungodly people can give good advice sometimes.  Notice I didn’t say they give godly advice, just good.  My dad wasn’t saved until he was 80 years old, but he was one of the wisest men I knew.  I loved to get his advice on things.  But I knew I couldn’t rely on him for spiritual wisdom, at least not until he came to Christ.  Those last four years of his life as a believer were wonderful!

In Job 11 Zophar is rebuking Job without knowing the cause of his suffering.  But even Zophar said some things worth remembering.  You know the saying “a blind hog will find an acorn every once in a while.”  Lol.  Zophar makes this statement about iniquity and wickedness which is so true.

TEACHING MOMENT

We would do well to encourage our children to keep iniquity and wickedness far from them.  Sometimes our children like to “flirt” with evil.  That always leads to mistakes.  Put iniquity far from you.  Get it out of your hands.  If necessary, run from it.

The trouble our children face is that a lot of the time the wickedness is literally in their hands.  Smart phones and Ipads can bring the wickedness of this world right into their hands and flood their minds with evil.  It is your job as parents to guard them against that.

Are you allowing the iniquity and wickedness of the world to enter your “tent”?  Are you just sampling the edges of that?  Don’t be fooled, Mom and Dad.  Everything you allow to enter your life WILL influence your children.  You may not even be aware that it is, but it does.  You will begin to loosen your standards of morality or excellence, and soon your children will see it.

Be careful – little eyes are watching!  Be careful – little ears are listening!

Best Verse: Matthew 17:27 “However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

FISHING

I love to fish, but sometimes it is hard to figure out what the fish are biting.  You have to use the right bait.  Now that could be live bait or an artificial bait.  Either way, if the fish don’t want it, they are not going to bite it.

The first thought I had about this verse was, “What kind of bait was Peter using to catch that fish with money in its mouth?”  I think I want to find that bait and use it here.  I could always use a little extra money.  LOL.  Seriously though, I bet Peter (who was a fisherman) never caught a fish before or after with money in its mouth.

TEACHING MOMENT

So how can we teach our children this verse?  I mean, come on, what lesson does this teach us?  What was Christ doing?  He was obeying the law.  He was paying his taxes.  He just got very creative in doing it.  Our children can learn from this verse that Jesus was obedient to those in power, even if they were scandalous.

It seems a lot of young people today do not respect authority unless they agree with the authority.  Our children must learn to obey the authorities in their lives, unless they are asked to do something illegal or immoral. They may not “like” the person in charge, but they have been placed over them for a reason.

How about you, Mom and Dad? Do you have a boss you don’t like?  Tough!  Submit!  The Lord has placed them in your life for a purpose.  You must allow the Lord to teach you through them.  Perhaps the Lord has placed you there for them.  Will you be obedient to Him?  Submit and allow Jesus to show you how He will use that in your life.

You see, this verse wasn’t about fishing after all!

Matthew 14:35-36 “35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36 and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.”

It never ceases to amaze me how I find “brand new” verses in the Bible every year.  But it has happened again.  I don’t recall reading this passage before, even though I know I have.  We all remember the woman who had the issue of blood sneaking up behind Jesus and touching His robe and receiving healing.  But look at this passage.  It says “as many as touched it were cured.”

How many touched it?  Who were they?  What ailment or disease did they have?  It doesn’t mention that Jesus asked who they were.  It just says when the people knew He had come they sent word and brought all the sick to be healed.  All they needed was just a touch of His robe.  Now that is power.

TEACHING MOMENT

What’s the point for us?  How do we teach our children this truth?  Our children need to know that Jesus is there and that He is perfectly fine with them touching Him.  I don’t mean He is physically present, of course, for them to touch.  But He is always available for us to reach out and touch through prayer.  He invites us to touch Him.

One of the best truths we can teach our children is the reliability of the healing power of Jesus.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that Jesus is going to heal every boo-boo or scrap they have.  His healing goes much deeper than that. His healing can remove the grief and pain of heartache.  His healing can take away the hurt and anger we have towards someone who has hurt us.  His healing can….

Mom and Dad, do you need to reach out today and touch the fringe of the garment?  Do you need a fresh touch of Jesus?  Won’t you allow Him to surge His healing power through you today?  He wants to.  He, in fact, is inviting you to do just that.  Touch Him today!

Job 8:21 “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouting.”

Don’t you just love a good belly laugh?  Some of the funniest videos online are of babies laughing.  I still remember an old one of quadruplets all lying on the bed laughing.  When one started, they all started.  It was impossible to watch that and not smile.

I truly believe the Lord gives us laughter, not just for ourselves, but for others.  He knows if we are joyful and full of laughter we can bring a smile on the face of others.  Bildad, the Shuhite, (who by the way was the shortest man in the Bible.  Shoe height, get it?  Made you smile, didn’t I?) said these words to Job.  Not much of what he said was any good, but these words are certainly true.

TEACHING MOMENT

It’s not hard to teach our children to laugh.  It comes naturally.  But before long the childhood laughter ends due to the influence of the world.  They begin to worry about stuff and get their feelings hurt.  We have to be diligent to keep laughter ringing throughout our homes.  They need to be reminded that laughter is good when it is pure.

What does that mean?  I mean they need to know that we don’t laugh AT people. We laugh WITH people.  We join in with them during those happy times and just bust our gut with laughter.

When is the last time you laughed until you cried?  Don’t remember?  That’s sad.  You need to call up some old friends or go out to eat with some buddies and laugh.  We need that.  God knows that.  Enjoy those laughing times.  It is good for your soul!  Does the Word call it medicine?

Psalm 16:1 “Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.”

I love a nice hedge or bush.  In fact, I have planted or maintained several through all my moves.  One, in particular, reminds me of this verse, though.  When we lived in Florida, our first house had an ugly utility box in the right front corner of the lot, right next to the street.  So, I decided to plant something around it so it would be hidden.  I wanted a nice flowering hedge of some sort, so I picked a bougainvillea.

Do you know anything about bougainvilleas?  Well, it grows pretty fast and has beautiful flowers.  However, it also has large thorns which can tear you up.  What began as a flowering hedge to hide something became a flowering tormentor which “protected” that box.  You see, that word “preserve” in our verse can be translated “put a hedge about.”

TEACHING MOMENT

We can build hedges to hide or protect.  We need to pray a hedge around our children to keep them from harm or evil influences.  Have you ever prayed that?  “Lord, please put a hedge of protection around little Gertrude.”  We need to do that.  We need to ask the Lord to protect their hearts.

But we also need to teach our children to pray that themselves.  They need to learn how to pray for spiritual wisdom and understanding.  There is no better “hedge of protection” than God’s wisdom and understanding.  If they have the mind of God they will make good decisions.

How are you doing, Mom and Dad?  Are you praying that for yourselves?  We can get attacked and brought down.  We need to be praying that for ourselves each day.  Temptations are great.  We must guard our hearts.  No – we must pray for God to guard our hearts with His hedge of protection.  I want the Lord to plant huge, spiritual bougainvilleas around me to keep the enemy away.  How about you?

Job 6:6 “Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of an egg?”

TASTELESS

What a strange verse!  In this chapter of Job, Eliphaz has just finished rebuking Job, and now Job is responding.  But why did he say this?  Salt and eggs?  Really?  What is he trying to say?

Many commentators believe Job is saying that his suffering must be accompanied with grieving or lamentations, just like salt must accompany food to give it flavor.  Perhaps that is it.  We can’t be sure.  But we do know that every Word of God is meant to teach us, right?    Certain things are meant to go together.  When we suffer, it is natural to grieve.  That’s okay.

TEACHING MOMENT

So here is a challenge for you. How do you teach this truth to your children?  The next time you are boiling eggs for something, show your children the egg white.  Let them taste it (if they don’t have an egg allergy, lol).  Let them see how tasteless it is.  Then read this passage to them.  They will probably be amazed this verse is even in the Bible.

Then explain the meaning of the verse to them.  It is not about an egg white being tasteless.  It’s all about how, even in a simple illustration like this, God’s Word points us to another truth.  Certain things are meant to go together.  It’s okay to be sad when bad things happen.  It’s okay to cry.  But we can’t stay there.  We have to allow the Lord to be our Healer.

Are you living a tasteless life?  Are you so down and depressed that the whole world seems without flavor?  God does not want you to stay in that place.  Yes, we are flesh, and we respond emotionally to events in our lives.  But we have a God Who cares deeply for us.  He gives us the flavor we need to keep living.  He gives us the salt for those tasteless times.  After all, don’t you like a little salt on your food?  Let God supply it for you.

Matthew 9:27-31 “27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ 28 When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘It shall be done to you according to your faith.’  30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: ‘See that no one knows about this!’ 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.”

CAN’T KEEP A SECRET

Several times in the Scriptures we read that Jesus tells someone He has just healed to NOT tell anyone what He has done.  I am sure Jesus knew they would not be able to keep that secret.  After all, look at this story.  These men were blind.  When they showed up seeing, don’t you think the questions would start flying?  And how about the people (who aren’t mentioned in the story) who saw this this happen?  Don’t you think they were telling everyone what they saw?

Jesus did this “according to” their faith.  He saw they believed in Him, not just to heal their sight, but they believed in Him.  We do not know what happened to these two men, but I have to believe they were followers of Christ from that day forward. One day we will know, won’t we?

TEACHING MOMENT

Children love these stories of Christ.  But they need to know the real reason for them.  They aren’t just miraculous stories of healing.  They have a much deeper meaning.  Jesus healed because of their faith, not to impress the crowd.  Jesus heals our hearts today because of our faith which we have placed in Him as our Savior.  He doesn’t save us to use us a trophy for others to see.  He wants no recognition, except to be known as the Savior of mankind.

Will you commit to telling others what He has healed you of?  You also were blind, but He has given you heavenly eyes.  You were deaf to the truth until He opened your ears to hear His voice.  You were mute with no words to express your love until He touched your tongue with His Spirt and gave you His words to spread to everyone.  Rejoice in His healing powers of salvation in your life.  And, by all means, tell someone!