Thursday 7/25/13 The Thorn 4

Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for another really nice day.  Thanks for a break in the heat, thanks for all You do for all of us, thanks for Your healing hand, thanks for the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, the food we eat and the roof we have over our heads.  Dear Lord, thanks for everything Yo do for us.  Please, Lord, place your healing hand on Pastor Carol and also her husband Don.  Please bring peace into the world, Lord.  Now, Lord, please help me with the message and then please dispatch it.  In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Hi, brothers and sisters.  Yes, I feel like a broken record, but it is beautiful here at the Southern Location of the North Pole.  Someone asked me how I was doing today, and I said I am still riding in the front of the hearse.  (We have two antique hearses.)  We were blessed again today as we were given an extra day of bread from our local food store, which was great as we were near the bottom of our bread freezer.  Folks, God never fails, NEVER!!  Just in, please pray for Pastor Carol McNair, she had a knee replaced and it looks like it is failing.  Also, her husband Don, who has a large hernia.  Also pray for Beverly who has a really bad back and needs to have God open a door for a job that is easier on that back.  Let me get to the message.

2 Corinthians 12:7 - To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Job 2:1 - On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.  2 And the Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"  Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."  3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.  And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited Me against him to ruin him without any reason.  (NIV)

Job 2:4 - "Skin for skin!"  Satan replied.  "A man will  give all he has for his own life.  5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face."  6 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."  7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.  (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, once again I have brought forth the scriptures for the series, does this help you?

Satan and our Lord keep on talking.  Our Lord was building up Job, and had said there is no one on earth like Job.  Satan said, as recorded in Job 2:4, "Skin for skin."  Back in those days people would trade animal skins for food and other things they needed.  Trading or bartering is a neat thing.  At one time I would barter fixing cars for dental work.  (Don't tell the IRS.)  However, it is never good if Satan has his hands on it.  "Skin for Skin." When I tie this together with the next line that Satan says:  "A man will give  all he has for his own life," it sounds tome like Stan is willing to bet his skin against the skin of Job.  I think Satan is thinking that all men would do anything to save their own skin, and the Lord is saying, not Job.  So Jesus gave Job over to Satan, tossed Job under the bus, so to speak.  Jesus had so much faith in Job, so much, that He placed Job into the hands of Satan with one condition, that Satan would spare his life.

Job 2:7 - So Satan went out from the present of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  (NIV)

So after the Lord released Job, Satan snatched him up, and as we know the master of evil, he thinks Job would be an easy person to take.  How about you, folks, when Satan comes after you, do you let it happen or do you hang in solid with our Lord Jesus and tell Satan to get  out of your life?  I know that when I feel the devil is coming after me, I will call upon the name of the Lord.  I will pray for Jesus to protect me and I have even yelled out telling Satan to "get out of my life and go to hell where you belong."  It would sound like this ... "Satan, in the name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, get out of my life, in the mighty name of Jesus, Satan, you can go to hell."  And it helps, folks, but you cannot let down your guard for Satan wants all people and he really wants those of us who love Jesus.  Maybe when he keeps one soul away from it is like getting a trophy.  Folks, I AM NOT GOING TO BE A TROPHY FOR SATAN, and I pray you will not want that either.  Also,if you really love Jesus, make sure your family knows to look out for Satan, for when he cannot get to you, he will try hard to get to your family or your friends.  So, brothers and sisters, pray for your family each and every day, pray the protection of Jesus over them and do it often.

Okay, let's put our feet into those sandals of Job.  Okay, ladies, they are too big for you, put them on anyway.  Okay, we love Jesus and all of a sudden we are having health problems.  We pray to be healed and the pain gets worse, we pray more and it seems to hurt more.  Are you giving up on Jesus?  I am not, I am going to grow tighter with Jesus, and brothers and sisters, this is happening in our lives, in the lives of both Dolores and me.  Let's take a look at Job 2:8.

Job 2:8 - Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.  (NIV)

What is about sitting in the ashes?  For that, let's look at:

Job 42:6 - Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.  (NIV)

Okay, what happens next?  Does Job turn from the Lord because of this sickness?  What does Job's wife have to say?  Just how will Job handle this?  Tomorrow it is going to get good as we work on this thorn in our side.  I ask you today as I leave you, what is your biggest thorn?  Yes indeed, some have more than one.

Now go forth, sharing your blessings, loving others, sending Satan out of your lives in the name of Jesus, and know I love ya (pass it on).

Pastor Dan

Pastor Dan's Safety Tip:  As we age, our reflexes slow down, so allow for that in your following distances.