THE TRULY WISE PERSON I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. —Job 32:7-9             Just because a person is aged does not mean that person has godly wisdom.   As we have already seen that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 1:7, 29; 9:10).     If a person truly fears the Lord then they will depart from evil and hate it (Job 28:28; Proverbs 8:13). They will have a…

IT IS GOD WHO OPENS AND CLOSES DOORS! They came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord. —Acts 12:10 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. —Revelation 3:7                     God is the God of the impossible as man sees it. What man cannot do, God can do. Imagine a locked iron gate opening up all by itself! You don’t have to imagine it because it really happened!…

 FEAR THE LORD! Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding. —Job 28:28 Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery. —II Chronicles 19:7 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. —Psalm 19:9 Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. —Proverbs 1:28-29 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. —Proverbs 1:7 My…

HE WILL COMPLETE IN YOU WHAT HE WILLS! For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind. —Job 24:14 Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. —Philippians 1:6 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. —Philippians 2:12-13             What is God doing in your…

PEOPLE WHO ARE READY TO HEAR HIS WORD! At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called…

LOST IT ALL— BUT NOT GOD! Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree. He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary. His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent. “He has put my brothers far…

HELP THE HURTING For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return. —Job 16:22 My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. —Job 17:1             Job is in so much emotional pain from his losses.   He knows his time on earth is short and is lived only once. He is a broken man. Not only was his animals and most of his servants destroyed, but his 7 sons and 3 daughters all died together at the same time in a storm. He feels like his time on earth is done and that the grave…

CLEAN IN CHRIST Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. —Job 14:4 As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”  And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may be baptized.” The eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. —Acts 8:36-38             Only God can make a man clean, whiter than snow— “Come now,…

GROPING IN THE DARK But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. —Job 12:7-10 He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste. They…

PLEASE… DO NOT TALK BACK TO GOD!  If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded? —Job 9:3-4 “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?” —Acts 7:49-50 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?”…