Who Shall Separate Us From God's Love?

Job's friends offer little comfort. They say, "If you lived a righteous life all would be well. As it is, you must acknowledge your sin and change. Then God will bless you."

But this advice seems foolish to Job, for he struggles with the God who remains hidden and far beyond him. He cannot contend with God,

"For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both."Job 9:32-35

So many questions. So much confusion. And amidst it all how helpless is Job. God does indeed demand a righteous life.

"Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. - Job 9:2-3 

How puny and helpless is Job before God, the Creator of earth and sky.

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength --who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?-- he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?' - Job 9:4-12 ESV 

Turning to his friends, Job continues, imagining himself in a court room with God. Before Him Job admits his own mouth would condemn him.

How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. - Job 9:14-20 ESV 

He has no way to justify himself. Turning back to God, he says,

If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. - Job 9:30-31 ESV 

What is left for this poor sinner? Back and forth, round and around go his thoughts. God is completely in charge. Job is His puppet, yet Job cries out that he is innocent.

Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man's years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? 

Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. 

If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction. And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me. You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me. - Job 10:3-17 ESV 

Finally this confused, suffering man cries out in despair. Death, doom, gloom and darkness is all that awaits him.

"Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer before I go--and I shall not return-- to the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness." - Job 10:18-22 ESV

 Are you familiar with Job's struggle? Can anyone understand God's ways? Why suffering, sickness, sadness, sorrow and finally death? Only by gazing upon the cross is there an answer. The apostle Paul

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urges us to consider Abraham, that great man of faith. Everything depends upon our believing in the undeserved mercy of God. So old man Abraham clung to the promise that he was to become the father of many nations and that through his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. - Rom 4:18-21 ESV 

In the days ahead we will continue to walk with Job and hear his pitiless friends. Perhaps in all these words we will find our own answers, answers from the God who forces us to struggle that we may grow in our trust in His promise that in all things He is at work for our good, the promise that began to be worked out in the manger of Bethlehem. So the Apostle teaches,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Rom 8:28 ESV 

Grace Alone, Not By Living A Righteous Life

"What good are you as friends?" Job asks, as he listened to those who came to comfort him. "What good are you?"

"Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me? "He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away, which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself. When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place. The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish. The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope. They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed. For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid." - Job 6:13-21 ESV

His friends were nothing but melted snow and ice that disappears when it gets hot. He felt like men in the caravans of Tema (Gen. 25:12-16), the travelers of Sheba who found no water in the desert. They plodded along in the dry lands, hoping to find water, but found nothing but parched desert. They were but dried up streams. Job's friends accuse him of some wretched sins for which God is punishing and disciplining him.

But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face. Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake. Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity? - Job 6:28-30 ESV

Poor, wretched, miserable Job (Job 6:1-10). He loathes his life. He cannot sleep. His flesh is clothed with worms and dirt. His skin hardens, then breaks out with new sores. He complains to his "friends" and to his God. In the anguish of his spirit and the bitterness of his soul he cries out. Instead of being comforted he is terrified and scared with dreams and visions. When will it ever end?

What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? - Job 7:17-19 ESV

OK! Enough already. If I am guilty of sin and deserving of this sick and troubling disease, show me.

If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be." - Job 7:20-21 ESV 

Cyperus Papyrus

Next it is the turn of Bildad the Shuhite. He says the same thing as Job's other friend. God does not pervert justice and the right way of life. If you are pure and upright God will restore you to your former life. You must not forget God. To emphasize this he uses a number pictures drawn from the natural world.

"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web. He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden. His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.' Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring. - Job 8:11-19 ESV

So Job and his friends struggle with a type of religion that continually seeks to bargain with God. It is a religion that tells us that if we live a righteous life God will bless us. If we do not, He will punish and humble us until we repent and return to His ways. This is a religion of works. It does not look deep into the teaching of God's Word to discover what the Apostles of Christ taught. Listen to Paul as he despairs of ever being righteous. No one is. All have gone astray. This is the true teaching of Scripture.

As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." - Rom 3:10-18 NKJV 

How then shall anyone be saved from eternal death and destruction? Paul's answer:

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, - Rom 3:20-25 NKJV 

It is all by God's grace, undeserved and unearned, yet given and available to all who put their faith and trust in the death and resurrection of the promised Messiah, the Christ whose birth we Christians celebrate at this time of the year.

Do Not Fail To Visit The Sick

As we enter chapter 2 we read that Job retains his faith, despite his wife's encouragement to "curse God and die." In all this, says the writer of this marvelous book, "Job did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:9).

At this point we have not learned who wrote the book of Job. Was it Job himself? No answers are immediately forth coming. Rabbis of old suggested Moses as the author. Some commentators in the 17th century (i.e. French Capuchin monk Jacques Bolduc) suggested that Moses took the original Aramaic form of the book and translated it into Hebrew. Still others suggested that Elihu, one of Job's comforters, or even Job himself, was the author. The fact that the book has Arabic words, nomadic habits, illustrations from sandy plains and an awareness of nature suggests that it was written in the era of the O.T. patriarchs. All we can do is guess, because the text does not identify its author.

So, back to the story.

We now meet three of Job's friends.

• Eliphaz the Temanite - his name means "El (God) is pure gold." He likely came from Teman, an important city of Edom (Amos 1:12; Obadiah 8-9; Jeremiah 49:7. Tradition gave this name to Esau's son, the father of Theman (Gen. 36:11; I Chron. 1:35-36). 

Baal, god of thunder

• Bildad the Shuhite - his name means "Bel has loved" He is probably called the Shuhite because he belonged to Shuah, a district in Arabia, where Shuah, Abraham's sixth son by Keturah, settled (Gen. 25:2). His name suggests he is the representative of the various Baal and Bel cults. Baal is the storm god, rider of the clouds and active during the storms. 

• Zophar the Naamathite - his name means "sparrow." We do not know where Naamah was. The LXX (Greek OT) renders him "king of the Mineans or Midianites." Others suggest Maonites (Judges 10:12). Perhaps the Maonites were a tribe of Arabs inhabiting Maon (Jos. 15:55; 1 Sam. 23:24-25:2). 

These fine friends of Job heard of the tragedies that struck him and his family. They came together to "show him sympathy or to console and comfort him." But when they arrived they didn't even recognize the man, so distorted were his features, so filled with blisters and sores was his body. All they could do was to tear their robes and sprinkle dust in the air above to indicate their grief and pain. 

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. - Job 2:13 ESV

We will hear later about how they tried to comfort him with their words. For now let us ponder the importance of our personal visits to those who are grieving and sick. Jesus healed many during his ministry. He commends those of us who follow his example by reaching out to the sick. He tells us that in so doing we are ministering unto him.

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' - Mat 25:36-40 ESV

Are You Sick? Its Because You Don't Believe!

Today we pick up the question about whether all sickness comes from the devil and the conclusions drawn from that claim. Those who make this claim argue like this.

• If God is all-powerful and all-good, why is there suffering in the world?  Why especially do faithful Christian suffer? Their suffering demands an interpretation.
• Jesus is the Son of God who has revealed the will of His Father. He said, "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me." - John 5:30 ESV
• Jesus never made anyone sick. By His words and actions He revealed that the will of God is to heal ONLY! 
• If you believe your sickness is God teaching you, correcting you or testing you; then you must conclude that it is something good based upon James 1:17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
• But is sickness ever good? Is wife beating ever good? Is child abuse ever good? If you think these are all good things then you are clearly confused and vastly deceived. I do not know of anything good about sickness. Sickness and disease is a thief and a robber of your well-being, strength, your life and substance.
• So where does sickness come from? God clearly calls sickness satanic oppression. Consider passages like this: John the Baptist proclaimed, "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. - Act 10:38 ESV
• In the revelations of God in the New Covenant given to the church we hear that "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13 - KJV). 
• The curses of the Old Covenant included all forms of disease and sickness (Deut. 28:61). If Jesus Christ came to redeem you from sickness and disease then there is NO WAY that God is sending you sickness or disease to kill you. These things come from the devil. 
• Christians who have a zeal for God, but no knowledge of God's complete will as revealed in Christ, suffer and are sick because they do not renounce Satan in the all-powerful name of Christ.  
• Those who trust in Jesus and God's Word will follow the example of Jesus who freed a woman "whom Satan bound for eighteen years" (Luke 13:16).  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability." And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. - Luk 13:12-13 ESV

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Conclusion: If you, as a believer in Jesus, follow this rationale and are still sick, then it must be that you do not fully trust Him. You have not taken Him at His Word and renounced the devil. You have permitted Satan to have power over you. Its your problem, not Jesus'. He wants to heal you, but you won't let Him! 

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In a January, 2011 post I examined Jesus' healing of that woman bound by Satan as recorded in Luke 13. I urged confession of sins and the promise of forgiveness for the sake of Jesus. This is the true freedom from satanic slavery. In Christ the devil can no longer accuse us of sin. We are free indeed. And this freedom leads to wholeness. Quite often the mental or bodily sickness or dis-ease disappears. Body, heart, mind and soul become one under the blessing and power of forgiveness and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are at peace or shalom in Christ, as Paul writes in his beautiful letter to the Philippians, 

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. - Phl 4:4-7 NLT

 Yet there is so much more that needs to be said, for there are many among us, faithful believers in Jesus as Savior and Lord, who remain sick or disabled in mind, heart and/or body. Their struggle continues even as they believe in Jesus and God's forgiveness. I must speak to them lest they be overwhelmed by the terrifying burden suggested by those "you-don't-have-the-right-faith" teachers referred to above. More on that in my next post. 

Why Do We Get Sick?

There are so many sick people. Why? Of course there are numerous answers to the question. For instance, those who embrace the emerging science of Darwinian medicine argue that illness is part and parcel of the evolutionary system. Sickness actually helps us to evolve towards a better adaptation to our environment. We are adapting by natural selection. So those who have a tendency toward child abuse are probably influenced by evolution and the passing on of genes!

First century Jewish people in Galilee and Judea had theories about sickness almost as outlandish as those of current Darwinian medicine folks. They connected sickness and disabilities directly to a person's sins or to the sins of his/her parents.

As he (Jesus) passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - Jhn 9:1-5 ESV

Of course we all know that there can be a direct connection between sin and sickness. We sin against one another. A mother on drugs ends up with a baby addicted to cocaine. Children abused by their parents become themselves abusers. Many illnesses are directly related to poor diet. The list goes on and on. But dare we say that God causes sickness as a punishment for the person's sins? What a frightening thought. We'll come back to that later as we look in depth at Jesus' promise to bring light to the world—also in this arena. For now, a little background to modern thinking about sickness.

Ancient Greek physicians, like Hippocrates and Galen advanced the concept of humorism, a theory which held that we get sick from imbalances of the four basic substances within the human body, which they identified as blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. Health or eucrasia was associated with a balance of these humors,. The qualities of the humors, in turn, influenced the nature of the diseases they caused. Yellow bile caused warm diseases and phlegm caused cold diseases. These theories led to such practices as blood-letting by cutting or with leeches in order to balance the humors. Incidentally the traditional red and white striped poles—representing blood and bandages—can still occasionally be seen outside barber shops. Barbers were also blood letters. All this is a fascinating reminder that these medical beliefs and practices didn't finally die out until the late 1800s.

This thinking also influenced medieval doctors to group each person into one of four temperaments, based upon the dominance and combinations of the four humors. Thus they concluded a person was either sanguine, choleric, melancholic or phlegmatic. In turn, these bodily dispositions determined a person's susceptibility to particular diseases, as well as being inclined toward certain behaviors and emotions. The causal link between bodily fluids and health has not stood the test of time. However, the analysis of the four temperaments as a personality model has. The Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory is a dominant modern example. Stephen Montgomery, an English teacher, in a spin on the Myers-Briggs personality types (People Patterns: A Popular Culture Intro. to Personality Types), even connects them to Ezekiel's vision of the four creatures.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. - Eze 1:10 ESV

There does indeed seem to be a strong correlation between personality and sickness. So today we often speak about psycho-somatic illnesses. I will not attempt to go into detail other than to point out that almost all physical illnesses have mental and psychological factors that determine their onset, how they present, maintain and are resolved. Psychological factors also make one susceptible to various illnesses. Psychosomatic medicine is considered a subspecialty of the fields of psychiatry and neurology.

Finally, there are those who claim that the New Testament teaches that all sickness comes from the devil. So Peter proclaimed to the household of Cornelius.

As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. - Act 10:36-38 ESV

Jesus himself said the same thing as he healed a woman bent over for 18 years.

Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" - Luk 13:15-16 ESV

I shall leave modern medicine and modern psychology to ponder their own theories about why we get sick. What interests me more is the spiritual question. Does the devil indeed cause all sickness? More on that in my next posts.

Are You Suffering?

My primary concern these past two weeks has been to lift up the central task of the Christian church, namely the ministry of reconciliation. This is so very important in a world of suffering, sickness and death. Jesus came among us out of deep compassion to  bring healing, power, new life and joy. Listen to James, son of Mary and Joseph, brother to our Lord and witness to His resurrection (Mark 3:21-34; 1 Corinthians 15:7).

"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:13-16).

In this chapter James constantly reminds us that the Lord Jesus is coming. We who believe in Him are ever aware of His promise to return to complete the great work of salvation and the renewal of all things (Romans 8:18-25). In this interim we must not be surprised at suffering, sickness and sin. Even in the midst of all that, the Lord is present with His great power to heal and restore. He who is coming in power and glory at the end of the age is also present with us even now to heal and save. Let's look closely at what James teaches. 


He addresses those of us who are suffering. Something bad has happened in your lives. Things have not gone as you anticipated. The Apostle Paul wrote of this to Timothy. He said he was in jail and bound by chains, unjustly accused of being a trouble maker (2 Tim. 2:9). As a pastor, I have known of that kind of suffering. People misunderstood what I did. I failed to communicate my intentions. I acted on my own without discussing it with the congregation leaders beforehand. As a consequence, for reasons of their own, even acting out of fear, several of them accused me of false teaching. They began to slander me and gossip in the congregation. They called a secret meeting of like minded leaders to discuss what they might do to stop me from bringing further damage to the congregation. They even sent out letters. When I learned about their clandestine meetings and their slander I was deeply troubled in my heart. Why did they say what they said? Why had no one come directly to me to talk about it? I suffered great pain inwardly. 


James urges such sufferers to pray. Oh I did that. I prayed long and fervently, but the pain did not go away. The suffering intensified. I was no longer cheerful. It was most difficult to sing praise. It was nearly impossible to carry on with my work. I was, as James says, sick! I felt like the poor wretches that lay paralyzed, weak and helpless at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (John 5:1-9). I desperately needed help. Yet I was the pastor of the church, the one James calls an elder (Acts 14:23). Who was I to call out to for help? I had no one. I had no pastor or elder of my own. I recall that during that time I tried to reach out to one of the pastoral leaders of our church body, but he too misunderstood and offered me no help whatsoever. I longed for someone to come to me, to discuss my problem with me, to pray over me and to lay healing hands upon my shoulders in the name of Jesus. But there was no one. 


So I offer to anyone who is suffering, be it from a physical illness or from a weakness and pain of the heart, this wise counsel of James. Do not suffer alone. Please, please reach out to your pastor or to his lay assistants, those we often call in our day the elders. Through them the Lord Jesus will act. He has not forsaken you. He longs to raise you up again and to fill your heart with cheer and hope. He longs to pour the healing power of His Spirit into your heart. All you need to do is ask (Luke 11:1-13). 


More on this another day. 

Sin, Sickness And Healing

When you study the New Testament seriously you come upon some curious passages about illness. I consider the following one of them. It's about a woman who appears to have had idiopathic scoliosis, advancing for the past eighteen years. We don't know that, of course. All physician Luke says is that she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. He goes on to record Jesus' healing and this comment by Jesus to the ruler of the local synagogue (Luke 13:11-17).

"And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" 

Why does our Lord describe her illness as a binding by Satan? Curious, to say the least. The idea of binding is common in the N.T. Strong men are tied up, a demoniac couldn't be bound with chains, colts are tied to a post and—note this—Jesus gives Peter and the other disciples the authority to bind and to loose (Matthew 16:17-19). This authority is called "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" and is invariably understood within the church to refer to the authority to forgive or retain forgiveness of sins.

Is there a connection between illness and unforgiven sins? Most assuredly or should I say sadly. Here's what the Apostle James writes:

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).

When James describes people being sick he chooses a verb (kamno in Greek) used only one other time in the N.T. in Hebrews 12:3. In that chapter the Hebrews author talks about struggling with sin, particularly when the struggle is against others who are hostile and angry with you. As I read that I can't help but think about the many families in which there are daily conflicts between husband and wife, between parents and children and between siblings. The quarrels and hostility never end. That's why the Hebrews writer urges us to consider Jesus so that we don't get weary (kamno = sick) and lose heart, become discouraged and give up in body, mind and soul.

I can imagine this woman enduring 18 years of this kind of life until she was bent over with discouragement and hopelessness. She would never get out of her marriage. She would never be rid of the man who beat her down with his bitter words, his endless demands, his demeaning remarks and  his frequent physical attacks.

Then along comes our Lord, fully aware of what has been going on, intimately aware of the true nature of her sickness. He calls her to Himself and, laying his hands on her, says, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness, your weakness, your disability." In other words, "Ma'am, God loves you even if your husband hates you. I love you and accept you into my fellowship. Feel my hands upon you. I want to be in touch with you right now and forever to bless and guide you. You are not the stupid, ignorant, useless pile of garbage that man has been saying you are all these years. You are a precious, wondrous and beautiful daughter of God. So straighten up. Move on. I'm with you and together we'll make it through the days ahead until one day we will dwell together in the Father's house."

Perhaps this good news will help you, dear reader, as well. Satan cannot condemn you now that Jesus is in your life. He may send demons to accuse, mock and malign you through members of your family, people at work or your so-called friends. Their ugly words may be making you sick, bending you over with and weighing you down with suffering, pain and weariness. But consider Jesus. Go to your pastor or a believing brother or sister. Tell them about your sin, weakness and sorrow. Confess your part in all of this. Then open yourself to allow them to speak the words of Jesus upon you so you may be forgiven, loosed and freed. Discover the freedom that is rightly yours in Christ. And then move on with your life under the blessing of Jesus, your Savior and Redeemer.