Job CCXIX

 Scripture is timeless. The lessons it teaches us are likewise timeless. To put it another way, the Word of God is evergreen, never withering, changing with the seasons, or with the times. You receive spiritual succor from God’s Word today, as readily as someone two hundred years ago, or five hundred years ago. The only thing that has changed is man’s willingness to humble himself and receive the truth of Scripture. Access to knowledge and its availability have increased exponentially, but those who avail themselves of it have not kept pace. Broadly speaking, it’s undeniable that knowledge has increased, but wisdom has not.

Even when it comes to knowledge, not all knowledge is created equal. There is worldly knowledge, then there is knowledge that comes from God. When God points out that His people perish for lack of knowledge, it’s not knowledge of how to work a universal remote, but rather knowledge of Him, His character, His will, and His attributes.

Knowledge has increased, but it’s knowledge of the wrong things. As far as wisdom is concerned, by all available evidence, it seems as though wisdom has fallen off a cliff, rolled down the side of a mountain, and tumbled its way into a deep crevice.

That doesn’t keep us from beating our chests until we’re bruised and screaming “look at me, look at me, I’ve built a better mousetrap” from the top of our lungs. It wasn’t broken. We just didn’t like it in its original form. There was nothing that needed fixing, but we took to changing it with gusto nevertheless. That, in a nutshell, is the crux of the madness. We’ve gone from “look to Him” to “look at me”, and because there’s only so much market share to go around, we needed a hook. We needed something that would make us stand out.

Given that I’ve run across both, I can say with a high degree of certainty that the gypsy fortunetellers in the old country possess more real power than many of the so-called prophets of today, who are being raised up on pedestals as the newest spokespersons for the divine. At least the gypsy women can guess your name, your age, your birthday, or your dog’s name without the aid of Facebook. This is what ignorance of the word gets us, and since there is never a mention of repentance from those pretending to be the next Oz Pearlman or the next Amazing Kreskin, the sheep lap it up hungrily.

What does guessing the first three numbers of your home address have to do with Jesus? What does guessing how many children you fathered have to do with repentance, righteousness, or holiness unto the Lord? We don’t want God, just our own spiritualized version of bread and circuses. We don’t want sanctification; we just want a carney act to tell us how special we are, because that just reinforces our beliefs.    

Our conceit has convinced us that we know better than God, that we can take liberties with the written Word as we will, do away with the parts we don’t like, abolish context altogether, dismantle the text, then clobber it back together in a way that best suits us, insisting it’s still as originally intended, just an upgraded version. The hubris is mindboggling, yet here we are.

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

That just won’t do; it won’t do at all. Piercing and cleaving, even to the division of soul and spirit, sounded too painful, so we found a workaround to mitigate the corrective attributes of the living and powerful word of God. Rather than have the Word pierce us to the depths of our hearts and expose the thoughts and intents of the heart, we decided to take a hatchet to the Word itself, make it say things it never did, and so avoid its sharpened edges.

It took a generation or more, but we’ve gone and done it and couldn’t be prouder of ourselves. We managed to blunt the sharpness of the Word, tone down the controversial bits, roll our eyes whenever anyone happened to remind us of them, convincing ourselves that we’d gotten one over on God. Hi fives all around; we’ve perfected the magic sauce. You can now have revelation without relationship, be a servant without submitting to the Master, and live like hell and be guaranteed heaven.

Isn’t that more appealing to the masses? Isn’t that more palatable? No more talk of the Word being sharper than a two-edged sword. No more talk of the Word having the ability to pierce even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, or the most troubling part, discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It’s easier to wag our fingers and point at what the world is doing than to look inward and see the catastrophic tragedy the contemporary church has become. As far as God is concerned, however, his first priority is His house, and that is where judgment will begin, flowing outward to the wicked and the godless. God deals with His own kids first before taking the rod to someone else’s kids.

1 Peter 4:17, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

It makes no sense that we want to change the world while resisting and refusing to be changed by the Word of God. It makes no sense that we expect the wicked to be more righteous than those declaring themselves to be ambassadors of Christ and prophets to the nations. Physician heal thyself, indeed.

It is the church itself that must return to the living, powerful Word of God, and not shrink back from its sharpness. It is the church itself that must clean house and tear down its idols, and the altars at which they worship that are as a stench in God’s nostrils, before it can be useful to the Kingdom and preach the gospel with the power and authority that have been missing for so long.

Will it? Will the church have a come-to-Jesus moment, a moment of true epiphany wherein it not only realizes how far it has strayed from the truth, but repents of it, acknowledges it, and returns to the basic tenets of Scripture? Given what the word tells us, given what we can see with our own eyes, it is unlikely. The getting’s too good, the vanity too deeply rooted, the praise of men too intoxicating. The hubris has metastasized to the point that we think we can dictate terms to the Creator of the universe. Rebellion has become so commonplace as to have been normalized, and wickedness is now considered par for the course, something we willfully ignore and sweep under the rug because exposing it will risk the income streams we’ve made our de facto gods.

Even so, a remnant remains, the few are being sanctified, the bride is being prepared, and those striving to enter through the narrow gate will see what their heart yearns for, their Redeemer, face to face, and hear two of the most profound words they will ever hear, well done!

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Job CCXVIII

 So, which came first, the chicken or the egg? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Was there an ice cream land in heaven before ice cream was invented, or is heaven expanding in tandem with human invention and ingenuity? The same applies to Jello-Land, and isn’t there some sort of copyright infringement happening because, technically, Jello is a company that sells flavored gelatin, not the actual product itself? Does the Jello company have a legitimate lawsuit against heaven for naming it Jello-land? Inquiring minds want to know.

Why are you focusing on this? To highlight the absurdity of the claims some people are making on behalf of God, and in the name of God, that’s why. They’re jesters, farceurs, tellers of fables and ticklers of ears, wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest with no connection to the vine or foundation in truth.

Tell us more, tell us more about how cows drive around on tractors, about the unicorns in heaven, about the sasquatch, and other such fables. Make us smile, make us laugh, make us cringe and roll our eyes, but by no means insist that we reflect on our own wretchedness, our faithlessness, our hypocrisy, and ignorance of truth.

It takes less effort to pop a Twinkie in your mouth than it does to cook a meal, but while one may take longer, it’s packed with nutrients and vitamins, while the other is just empty calories that leave a coat of mystery oil on the roof of your mouth. One provides sustenance that is lasting and beneficial, the other an insulin spike that leaves you hungrier than you were before consuming it.

The choice of which to gravitate toward is yours as an individual. I’m not going to hide in the bushes and stuff a Twinkie in your mouth while jump scaring you, nor am I going to drive out and cook you a meal every night. It is you who must determine which is better for you and take steps to ensure you acquire it regularly.

You choose whether you will pursue fables and bedtime stories meant to lull children to sleep, or the power and authority that comes with walking in the will of God. One requires little to no effort, the other demands the putting to death of the old man and the forfeiting of all things for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.    

How do cows turn the key in the ignition if they have no thumbs? How do they know to change gears? Are the tractors automatic? Are there gas stations in heaven, or do the tractors run on sustainable energy sources heretofore unheard of? When it comes to the nature, character, sovereignty, providence, and supremacy of God, there is no need for such banal, laughable questions. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forevermore, unchanging, everlasting, sovereign, and omnipotent.

That’s all well and good, but you have to admit heaven sounds quirky, cute, and fun, I mean, cows driving tractors of all things. You can’t make that stuff up! Actually, you can.

Oddly enough, of all the things John the Revelator saw during his glimpse of heaven, there was no mention of cows driving tractors. He saw the throne, the One who sat on the throne, the twenty-four thrones surrounding the central one, he saw the elders, the seven lamps of fire, the sea of glass, and the four living creatures, not resting day or night saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come”, but no mention of pet dinosaurs or tractor-driving cows.

Granted, John admits he was in the spirit while the individual to whom the tractor-driving cows are attributed says she was translated bodily, but unless there is a different wing of heaven for receiving physical guests, like a solarium, it’s more than likely it’s pure, undiluted fiction.

Just compare and contrast the two. The solemnity, awe, reverence, worship, and grandeur of John’s vision of heaven, with the pitiful recreation of pet dragons and unicorns. Perhaps God remodeled to keep up with the times, one might say, but God is outside of time and does not seek the affirmation or validation of man. He is God! Worthy of honor and praise, worthy of glory and power, for He created all things and by His will they exist.

The God Job knew was the God who reigns in majesty, the God who is high and lifted up, whose train of his robe fills the temple. He knew the God who is from everlasting to everlasting, his Redeemer, and that’s the prism through which he served, worshipped, and had fellowship with Him. Had it been a child’s cartoonish version, replete with tractor-driving cows and sasquatch, would his faith have endured, I wonder?

It doesn’t take exhaustive research to discern the lies vomited upon the unsuspecting by self-professing heaven-hoppers, just a rudimentary knowledge of the Word of God and how ones such as John, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Paul, or Stephen described what they saw.

Just because we want to believe fables, it doesn’t make them true. Just because what is described is fanciful and imaginative, lighthearted and eccentric, it doesn’t make it Biblical. No, you didn’t sit on God’s lap, no, you didn’t braid His beard, no, you didn’t beat Him at pinochle or spend a week playing Pictionary.

2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Even though we knew it was coming, it’s still tragic to behold. Even though we tried to steel ourselves, it still smarts because real people are getting hurt, even though they’re the ones who sought out teachers who, rather than challenge them, rightly divide scripture, and preach the truth, would tickle their ears and speak fanciful fables to them. If you have a heart for people, you can’t help but be saddened by it, even though you know they participated in and invited their own deception while actively turning their ears away from the truth.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Job CCXVII

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord? Perhaps once when there weren’t so many people vying for the spotlight, but nowadays you have to elbow your way through the masses, get some fresh anointing, a new revelation, something to set you apart like claiming to take trips to heaven as often as some of us commute to work, otherwise all you’ll end up being is a servant of Jesus who follows in his Master’s footsteps, and that won’t get you any air time on public access television, be sure of that!

Does it matter that nowhere in the Bible is there a precedent for being physically translated to heaven, coming back, and then making return trips every other week? Of course not! That doesn’t matter. People want to believe, and they’ll believe it because they want to believe it, even if it is wholly extra-biblical.

You’re just jealous that you never got to see the body part room in heaven, witness the grandeur of pet dinosaurs, or smell the aroma of pumpkin pie while walking through Jello-Land, which is the patented, proprietary scent of the Kingdom. Any reasonable individual would think I was poking fun, making it up, finding the most absurd word combinations I could think of, then hurriedly typing them, but no, these were actual claims of an actual person who actually deems herself a prophetess! And you wonder why so many are suspicious and skeptical of anything to do with the prophetic nowadays?

Zophar knew nothing of God’s wager with Satan, and neither did Job, for that matter. Even so, he had no qualms about declaring that Job checked off all the boxes required to be labeled a wicked man. Sure, he could hide it well enough, but then again, the wicked hide evil under their tongue, and do not forsake it.

You’re not fooling anyone with all your talk of your Redeemer living and seeing Him face to face one day. If you were the faithful man you claim to be, you would have already relented. You would already have acquiesced to our collective wisdom and confessed to the wrongdoing we know you to be guilty of. What other explanation could there be? Just because we don’t know of one instance where you have oppressed and forsaken the poor, or violently seized a house which you did not build, it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

I’ve lost count of how many times the household of faith was aflutter about the imminent return of Jesus on a specific date because someone made an assumption, saw things that weren’t there, or drew conclusions without any underlying Biblical support. Each time, the reason it has to be a specific date differs, but the root cause of why someone came to their conclusion is the same. They took one passage of Scripture out of context, then assumed, presumed, guessed, contrived, and manufactured the missing parts to fill in the holes in their narrative.

We will not allow for the possibility that some things were not given for us to know, so we have to come up with a plausible explanation as to why Jesus was wrong when He said no man knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, but the Father only.

Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Well, yes, Jesus said that then, but he hadn’t met the blind mystic from the Eurasian peninsula, or the fellow from Nigeria who assured us that they knew exactly when Jesus would return. I’m sure after getting a thorough tour of heaven and regaling us with all the wonders it holds, from chocolate rivers to ice cream land, the frequent visitor will get around to asking when Jesus is coming back, and will be sure to let all of us know.

Does the when really matter if He doesn’t find us in peace, spotless and blameless upon His return? Does it really matter how long we have to the finish line if we’ve already given up running the race that is set before us with endurance or running in the opposite direction?

We will always find an excuse to put off doing what we know we ought to do because we’re either hoping someone else will do it or are unwilling to put in the effort.

Nobody in our family likes folding clothes. Whenever a fresh load of laundry comes out of the dryer, everyone finds something else to do that is more important and time-sensitive than taking the basket and going through the shirts, towels, pants, and other sundries, and folding them. My daughters suddenly remember they have homework, I suddenly remember I have to shovel the driveway for the third time that day, and my wife is busy either baking bread or preparing dinner.

Everyone waits for the others to finally break and start folding, and the battle of wills begins. That is, until momma bear speaks in a tone that shatters any hope of levity or mirth, and insists that everyone take their own laundry and fold it before dinner, otherwise they’ll be sitting in front of an empty plate.

Nobody’s quick about it; everyone drags their feet, but we all start folding because dinner smells good and we’re hungry.

God has not only told us what the end will look like in His word, but He has also outlined what we must do to overcome and endure to the end. Build up your faith, build up your prayer life, trust Him, follow Him, know His voice, submit to His will, and here we are saying I’ll get to all of that, but first there’s something more important I have to deal with. I’ll start taking my walk seriously, I’ll start investing my time wisely, I’ll start using my discernment to separate false hope from lasting hope, but first, there’s this one thing I need to research, there’s this one rabbit trail I need to follow, there’s this one straw I need to grasp at, and then, once that’s done, I’ll get to doing what You’ve said I must do.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Job CCXVI

 Sometimes the hubris is insufferable. You want to grab the person by the shoulders, shake them a bit, and ask, “Do you hear yourself? Do you hear what you’re saying? Do you understand the ramifications of insisting that people who were martyred for the sake of Christ will not enter the Kingdom because you deemed it so based on your personal prejudices? Do you get that in declaring that someone will be barred entry into heaven based on some arbitrary rule you determined, or some performative ceremony you insist upon is appropriating the authority of God and putting yourself in His place as judge?”

We’re no better than the people who think biological men can get pregnant sometimes. We cling to things that are demonstrably false and will not be moved from our position, no matter how many times we are proven wrong.

If Paul was a demonic plant, then Peter must have been too, yes, the selfsame Peter of whom Jesus said that upon this rock He would build His church. How so? Peter cosigned and vouched for Paul, calling him a brother. If he were a deceiver, then, by Peter calling Paul a brother in Christ, he, too, must have been deceived. 

2 Peter 3:14-16, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation – as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

Not only did Peter call Paul a brother, but he also called him beloved! Well, there you have it, Peter’s off the list now, too. There go another two books of the New Testament. Eventually, all we’ll have left of the canon of scripture is the book of Enoch and Genesis 6. Yes, I know, the book of Enoch is not contained within the canon of Scripture, but that too was a conspiracy, don’t you know. They left the best, most essential part out on purpose, they did!

The God who is sovereign over all creation missed that one! The God who knows the end from the beginning and is supreme in purpose, will, and design got this one wrong. If He were smart about it, He would have scrapped everything Paul wrote and replaced it with the book of Tobit, the book of Judith, the book of Enoch, the book of Mary, the gospel according to Nicodemus, and just for some added spice, the Protevangelion.

Full disclosure, yes, I’ve read the Apocrypha, the writings of the early church fathers, such as Origen, Polycarp, Augustine, Irenaeus, and Ignatius, as well as later writings by men such as Gurnall, Luther, Knox, Pink, Spurgeon, Bunyan, Ryle, Watson, Flavel, Tozer, Ravenhill, and a score you’ve likely never heard of, but they were never meant as a replacement or substitute for Scripture, nor are they on equal footing with it.

Since the Son of God was the only perfect man to ever walk the earth, in every case, there are things I agree with wholeheartedly and things I don’t agree with, things I understand, and, as Peter says, things that are hard to understand, but I filter them through the prism of Scripture and not personal prejudice. To some extent, we can’t help but be influenced by upbringing, personal experience, and worldview, but we cannot allow those things to dictate in such a fashion as to discount the Word of God in favor of them.

I don’t like kale. It’s a personal preference. My wife loves kale, and that too is a personal preference. The Bible does not make any determination on the consumption of kale; therefore, neither my dislike of kale nor her enjoyment of it is wrong or sinful. Sin is sin because the Bible deems it sin, and what the Bible deems sin is sin, no matter how many faux shepherds try to say otherwise.

If Aunt Trudy all of a sudden decides meat is murder, and no flesh shall evermore pass her lips, that’s her prerogative. It does not make it a doctrine. It does not make it a divine edict. It does not make her more righteous for not eating meat, just as it does not make me a sinner if I enjoy a steak on the rare occasion I can afford it. If, however, Aunt Trudy determines that her not eating meat means no one else should, and if they do, they’re headed for the lake of fire, Aunt Trudy is playing God, and one day she will answer for her missives.

Rather than being diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless, we’re spending our days and nights trying to prove how smart we are at the expense of Scripture itself. Sometimes it’s okay to sit in the corner and eat a slice of humble pie. Sometimes it’s okay to be silent and not offer a hot take on how you feel about what the Bible says. Sometimes, it is perfectly reasonable and even highly recommended that we don’t create new doctrine out of whole cloth in the hope that others see us as luminaries and wise men among fools.

Granted, it’s easier to stargaze and ruminate about Nibiru than it is to submit to the process of sanctification, molding, pruning, and refining, but Nibiru doesn’t save; Jesus does. We’re watering the potted plants while the house burns. We’re rearranging the deck chairs as the ship is sinking. We’re running out of time, but in our arrogance, we presume that God will see it our way, so what does it matter what tomorrow brings? We won’t be here to see it anyway, so back to the talk of black holes and dwarf planets we go. Who wants to hear about all that righteousness and holiness unto the Lord stuff anyway? That won’t get you much traction nowadays, and traction is what it’s all about.

Zophar’s reaction to being challenged was to take offense. I’m certain that not only will some take offense at the preceding pages, but they will also be sure to let me know loudly and repeatedly. Such is life; the more things change, the more they stay the same, and that goes double for human nature.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Job CCXV

 Being hated as a child of God is inevitable, unavoidable, and certain. Jesus said as much. The question that remains unanswered is how we react to the hatred and vitriol. Will we wither, shrink away, and attempt to blend in with our surroundings, making compromises in the hope of not being singled out and villainized, or will we stand firm in the truth that a servant is not greater than his master, and if they persecuted Him, they will surely persecute us.

It comes with the territory, and that is something we must acknowledge, be aware of, and prepare for. Given that Job was an archetype of Jesus, and though God found him blameless and upright, his friends concluded he had sinned grievously, and his household deemed him forsaken, the notion that our innocence will keep the wicked from persecuting us is flawed from its inception.

You don’t have to be guilty to be deemed guilty when those declaring themselves to be the arbiters of justice practice injustice whenever it suits them. In their eyes, your crime isn’t that you stole, murdered, lied, or cheated, but that you serve Jesus. If that’s a crime, guilty as charged.

Satan knew Job was blameless. He knew Job had not sinned, yet it did not stop him from unleashing the closest thing to hell this side of eternity against him. There is no mercy, empathy, or sympathy for the innocent. There is no kindness or compassion in him. There is no point during Job’s sifting when Satan eased back on the throttle, concluding that he’d suffered enough, or that his suffering wasn’t fair.  

Job 20:12-19, “Though evil is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue, though he spares it and does not forsake it, but still keeps it in his mouth, yet his food in his stomach turns sour; it becomes cobra venom within him. He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly. He will suck the poison of cobras; the viper’s tongue will slay him. He will not see the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down; from the proceeds of business, he will get no enjoyment. For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, he has violently seized a house which he did not build.”

You can tell when someone is trying to make a rational argument, a logical counterpoint to what you’ve said, and when their emotions get the better of them, and they just unload, regardless of whether it makes sense, or there is a coherent through line. By this point, Zophar had abandoned all pretense of being comforting or conciliatory. Considering the words he spoke, it’s likely it wasn’t in a monotone voice, soft-spoken and reasonable. He was getting flustered, his ego had been bruised, and it’s not hard to imagine a wagging finger added to the mix as he expounded upon the lot of the wicked.

This wasn’t just a battle of wills; it was war, and there could only be one victor. It should have been easy enough since it was three against one, and that one was clinging on for dear life, but Job’s strength and resolve extended beyond his frail flesh because his hope was tethered, anchored, and cemented in the God he served, and though at times he gave as good as he got, he understood that his deliverance, were it to come, would not come by the hand of man, but the Almighty Himself.

The danger of presuming we possess more wisdom, knowledge, or understanding than we do is on full display in the form of Job’s friends. The entirety of their argument regarding Job and his situation was based on a fallacy, a conclusion they’d drawn based on what they saw with their eyes, without allowing for the possibility that they weren’t as wise as they thought themselves to be. We see this playing out in our modern era with startling regularity, not among those of the world, but those of the church who happen upon some tertiary issue or another and make it the nexus of their existence, going so far as to diminish the supremacy of Christ in the life of the believer in lieu of their chosen pet doctrine.

Such individuals become so entrenched and myopic in their stance as to be defined by that one issue rather than by the presence of Christ in their lives. It runs the gamut, and you’ve likely encountered such individuals at some point. Whether the conversation focuses on the timing of the catching away, if wearing a necktie is a sign of pride, whether not belonging to their particular denomination is Ichabod, aliens, giants, flat earth, or something as irrelevant as wearing a wedding band, if you disagree with their particular take you are worthy of being cast into the outer darkness, and must be disfellowshipped forthwith.

But I thought we were all members of the body of Christ. I thought that having been saved, born again, and serving Jesus as Lord, Savior, and King of my life was the only thing that mattered. Not so fast there, Sparky. Unless you address Him by His Hebrew name, you’re not really serving the real Jesus, and neither were any of those people who were tortured, murdered, and martyred for His name’s sake. They died in vain, forfeited their lives in vain, watched their sons, daughters, mothers, sisters, and wives butchered before their eyes in vain, because they didn’t know what I know, and that’s just the way it is.

And while we’re at it, that Paul guy who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament and was decapitated with Jesus on his lips, he was a demonic plant, and we know this because he called Him Jesus too. See? It all makes sense now. I’m the only one in a sea of nine billion people who knows the truth, who has the keys, who can unlock the mysteries that have been kept hidden for millennia. Well, me and my cousin Albert, because he believes exactly the same way I do!

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCXIV

 We cannot live with the presumption that our faith will never be tested, that we will never have to endure persecution, or that, as was the case with Job, the enemy will ask to sift us. For anyone who thinks it’s a one-off, that the only person throughout the entirety of scripture that Satan asked to sift was Job, you would be mistaken. Jesus Himself warned Simon that not only had Satan asked to sift him, but also all the disciples at that time.

Luke 22:31-32, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

If there is a biblical precedent for something, and repeated warnings throughout scripture that as wise servants we ought to be watchful, on guard, and aware that we have an enemy seeking to devour us, it is to our detriment that we dismiss them wholesale for the promise of some grinning face on a screen telling us it’s all gravy trains and biscuit wheels from here to eternity.

Paved roads, sunshine, and rainbows aplenty, and if, perchance, you get tired of all the blessings, prosperity, and inflow of miracle money, just you wait until your next breakthrough. It’ll make this one seem like child’s play, an accounting error, walking around money, because with each new seed you sow, your coffers will overflow exponentially.

In essence, we are dismissing what the Bible clearly warns of and embracing the things it never promised, all in the hope that God was wrong, man is right, and easy street is just around the corner.

Fish in a barrel is an apt metaphor for much of the contemporary church, and if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve got no one to blame for our divided, lukewarm hearts but the face staring back in the mirror. We were told to build up our most holy faith, but decided tomorrow, next week, or next year suited us better, so we put it off. We were told to pray for boldness, strength, and steadfastness, but decided calling money down from heaven would be a better use of our time. We were told he who endures to the end shall be saved, but the promise of a beachside stroll rather than a marathon was more attractive, so we’re looking out the window every thirty seconds, wondering why Jesus is late in His returning.

A wise man builds his house upon the rock because he knows that once the storm comes, there is nowhere to run, nowhere to evacuate to, and his spiritual house must be strong enough and built on the proper foundation so that it will weather the storm.

Conversely, a foolish man builds his house upon the sand because in the back of his mind, he believes he will no longer be here when the storm arrives. We can either use the time of relative peace we have left preparing for the battle that is coming, or stare at our navels, hoping it will never come. One will fare better than the other every time.

There’s a meme going around of a sign posted by a lakeshore, likely somewhere in Florida, that reads “Crocodiles do not swim here.” It’s meant as a warning, but because an exclamation mark is missing between “crocodiles” and “do not swim here,” one could misinterpret the sign and cannonball into the water without a second thought. Do we blame the sign exclusively, or does some of the blame fall at the feet of the individual who ignores the frothing waters, whipping tails, and chomping teeth of the crocodiles eagerly awaiting their next meal?

There is no such ambiguity in scripture when it comes to the believer’s role, purpose, or expectation while journeying through this world. You can’t misread the repeated passages warning of the environment of the last days, the enemy’s hatred, the vitriol of the wicked against those walking in righteousness, or the reality that we are in enemy territory. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are more comfortable among the enemies of the cross than we are among those carrying their crosses, are we truly followers of Jesus?

Just because they are uncomfortable, we can’t skip over the words of Jesus, who, in light of the reality that the world will hate us for His name’s sake, counseled that we ought to count the cost and see if we’re willing to pay it in full.

Not all will be called to sacrifice their positions or possessions, but some will. Not all will be called to spend endless nights in a cold cell, but some will. Not all will be called to suffer a martyr’s death, but some will. What we know with certainty is that everyone who calls Jesus Lord, everyone who has humbled themselves, picked up their cross, and followed after Him, will be hated, and if they desire to live godly in Him, they will suffer persecution. On what level, to what extent, for how long, or when is on a case-by-case basis, but all means all, and we can’t reimagine Scripture to say something different just because the truth makes us uneasy.         

The day may come when those closest to you, those you consider friends and family, will see you as an oddity, as someone who brought suffering on themselves for refusing to bend, make allowances, or compromise, seeing no further, digging no deeper, content with passing judgment and using your situation as a cautionary tale of what not to do.

At this point, if there is any lingering doubt in your heart, if you are not fully committed to the way of Christ, if the willingness to forfeit all the comforts of life and even life itself are not the overarching themes of your existence, the enemy will exploit the situation to the point of slowing your stride, stunting your surefootedness, and causing you to grow reticent about running into the arms of Jesus.

It will usually come via the tried-and-true “has God indeed said?” and the often-used “what if?” all the while insisting that it’s plain common sense to question, to query, and to wonder. The problem is that God has indeed said that the soul that sins will die, Jesus did indeed say that if we deny Him before men He will deny us before the Father in heaven, so it’s no longer an honest query or a request for clarification on a particular matter, it’s disobedience and rebellion, plain and simple.

Job knew all that he needed to know in order to endure. He didn’t know if he would be healed, he didn’t know if his wealth would be restored, he didn’t know whether he would have more children, or if he’d survive the night but he knew that his Redeemer lived, and no matter what Zophar and his other two friends attempted, no matter how far they went in the hope of discouraging him, or compelling him to question his innocence or relationship with God, he would not.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCXIII

Had it not been targeted at Job, Zophar’s soliloquy could readily pass for a sermon on the fate of the wicked, and how any pleasure, prominence, wealth, or influence they might have is only temporary and fleeting. While they are ascendant, while the things of this life are plentiful and there is no storm cloud in sight, their haughtiness grows, mounting up to the heavens. They’re on top of the world, the wind in their sails, and in their eyes there is nothing that could stop them or slow them down. They conclude that excess equals God’s favor, though they know their lives do not mirror what Scripture clearly states they should. Yet their end is inevitable, and they will perish forever like their own refuse if they continue down the path of wickedness.

Whether it’s a trick of the mind or a trick of the devil depends on the individual in question, but either way, they convince themselves that superficial commitment, situational devotion, and feigned worship are sufficient to access the storehouses of heaven itself and be drowned in material things. The only thing they really have to worry about is not getting crushed by all the blessings. That, and not missing the Sunday service where they get to beat a tambourine out of tempo, and testify to the goodness of the Lord because now their driveway looks like a used-car lot, even though it’s only them and the wife who are licensed drivers. I have things, therefore I must be doing something right. I have possessions, therefore God must be overlooking my hypocrisy, duplicity, and lack of reverence.  

More people have failed the tests of prosperity than have ever failed the tests of hardship. Wealth is as much of a test to determine where your true heart and affections lie as trials and setbacks are. If we rejoice and show gratitude when the Lord giveth, but grow bitter and disillusioned when He takes away, it says much regarding how we view God, and what we believe the core of a relationship with Him ought to be.

Either we believe God’s purpose is to sanctify, purify, and perfect us however He sees fit, or we believe His purpose is to placate and give us all the stuff we want just to keep us quiet, like a toddler who starts whining, screaming, and crying the instant his pacifier is out of reach.

Toddlers don’t go to war; mature, fully grown adults do. If ever you walk into a congregation, you’ll know which is which immediately. Are they praying for power, boldness, courage, and strength to endure, or are they trying to call money down from heaven and claiming riches beyond their wildest dreams? Are they focused on the growth of their faith, their spiritual man, and their commitment to Christ, or on the flesh and the ease and comfort thereof?

If the flesh is your priority, you will inevitably sacrifice anything in service of that ideal. You’re saying if I deny Jesus, I get to keep all my toys? You’re saying if I deny Jesus, I’ll never see the inside of a prison cell or suffer the loss of anything? Pinkie promise? If yes, then you’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll just repent later or cross my fingers behind my back when I do.

Conversely, if your priority is obedience to the will of God, then nothing the world can offer or threaten you with will be enough of an incentive for you to turn your back on Him. Take it all, take me away, do as you will, but I will never deny Jesus. An easy enough declaration to make when no one’s knocking on your door, searching your house for Bibles or other religious paraphernalia, waiting in the parking lot at church to see who shows up, or when something as benign as a prayer meeting is deemed a crime worthy of a prison sentence. We can tell ourselves it will never happen here, but the Bible says it will. Whether your gut or your heart, they are untrustworthy. The Word of God, however, is true from generation to generation. What God has foretold will come to pass. It is an absolute certainty.

When such practices begin to roll out, however, when the words of Jesus regarding the world hating us for His name’s sake, persecuting us, and killing us as though we were the greatest threat to civilized society, you will see the difference between those who spoke words they never meant, and those who are fully committed to Jesus even when it costs them everything to do so.

You’ll know soon enough who’s playing at being a follower of Christ and who is an authentic follower of Christ when there is pressure and an explicit cost to doing so. Until then, words are easy to come by, especially with a sympathetic audience. Getting on a soapbox and pontificating endlessly about how we would lead the charge against the darkness if it threatened the light is a proven lie since the darkness has not only threatened the light but is making headway, and most calling themselves Christians today pretend not to see it, excuse it, or justify it by pointing to the changing times and the changing culture.

Man will always find a way to excuse faithlessness, cowardice, indecisiveness, or selfishness when he places his wants, needs, interests, and comforts above obedience and commitment to God. It’s a coping mechanism, and one that works temporarily, but eventually we will all stand before the God who judges justly, and our jumbled, self-serving excuses just won’t do.

One’s dedication and commitment cannot be half-hearted, situational, or superficial when called upon to suffer loss, privation, physical or psychological torture, and still remain steadfast, unbroken, and resolute to the last.

This isn’t some hypothetical pabulum or theoretical rumination. It’s a truth that has been proven throughout the history of mankind time and again. Wherever persecutors rose up to persecute the household of faith, those whose commitment was steadfast weathered the storms no matter how turbulent they got, while those who were there for reasons other than being lifelong bondservants of Christ either faded away or became the persecutors of those they once called brother and sister.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.