Job 21:14-16

14 Therefore they say ['amar] unto God ['el], Depart [cuwr] from us; for we desire [chaphets] not the knowledge [da`ath] of thy ways [derek].

15 What is the Almighty [Shadday], that we should serve [`abad] him? and what profit [ya`al] should we have, if we pray [paga`] unto him?

16 Lo, their good [tuwb] is not in their hand [yad]: the counsel [`etsah] of the wicked [rasha`] is far [rachaq] from me. KJV-Interlinear

14 'And they say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Thy ways. 15 'Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we entreat Him?' 16 'Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me. NASB

Being spiritually negative is not restricted to those you would think to be extremely evil people, such as criminals, tyrants, terrorists, ugly people, people with a scar, or people who wear black hats. You know, the usually suspects.

Spiritually negative people include anyone who does not follow the spiritual life as outlined in the Bible.

Namely being saved first of all, through faith in Christ, then maintaining their life inside of the fellowship sphere through a persistent watch over their own life through confession. Then pursuing a daily study of the Word, by using what they study in their daily lives, by gaining an understanding of what they learn in this process, and by repeating this cycle of study and learning and growing throughout their lives. If you do this, then you are definitely a positive person and advancing in your spiritual life.

Anyone who does not maintain their life inside of the fellowship sphere, is functioning outside of the plan of God and is therefore classified as wicked. This has been you from time to time in your life when you just got lazy, or disappointed, or indifferent, or discouraged in your daily study, if ever you had one.

And as far as the world is concerned, most of the world lives outside of the fellowship sphere and is therefore wicked.

Out of the seven billion people in the world, only about two billion are considered Christian. And out of that two billion, I'll just bet that far less than ten percent out of the entire world of Christians pursue their daily Bible studies. Doesn't speak very well of the world. And yet this world is presently experiencing one of its most historically prosperous times ever. We have now in our present day, more wealth and technology than ever before in history.

And yet, people around the world neglect God. And in that I mean the one true God.

People certainly pursue many types of religions and cults and philosophies, but those are not the pursuit of God. There is only one God, one salvation, one faith, one doctrine, one spiritual life. And everything else is false and a lie.

The simple fact is that people do live in varying forms of prosperity while neglecting God, while their interest is in themselves, not truth.

People do not ask, 'What is right?' But they do pursue, 'What is advantageous to themselves.' If there is no immediate benefit, then why even deal with something that pays no immediate results?

The other day, I suggested that you look up at the night sky and then say your prayers. What happened? Well nothing happened. The stars did not change. The earth did not shake. The lottery did no name your ticket. Nothing happened.

So why pray? Why study? Why read the Bible at all, especially when most folks tend to look at it differently anyway? Ask ten people about the Bible and you'll get ten different answers.

And so, the vast majority of the world will look elsewhere for their higher fix for life. They will look at religion, at cults, at philosophies, at normal everyday hustling in life, or they'll not look at all.

And all of this indifference, substitution, compromise, apathy, doubt, etc., etc., etc., is telling God, 'Depart from us.'

People who do not want to follow the Bible correctly, are in effect rejecting God and excluding Him from their life. And that includes anyone who generally says that they believe in the Bible, but more or less pick and choose what they will accept from it, or agree with, and what they will ignore or disagree with.

God is truth. The Bible is the window through which we can look in order to see truth. Ignoring that window means that you do not want to know Gods ways, or Gods truth. You prefer your own.

'Who is God anyway?' 'Why should we serve Him?' 'What has He done for us lately?' 'We do not know God.'

And those were the comments of Pharaoh, and those are the comments of anyone who is spiritually negative.

People do not know, because they do not want to know. They do not want to know because they are only interested in their own personal self-gratification, now. They presume that they can get anything on their own, if given a little more time and a little more luck.

But as Job states here, 'Their prosperity is not in their own hands.' They do not have any control over their prosperity, as they think that they have. No one earns or deserves what they have. God made provision for all matters, for all circumstances, for all events in history.

Perhaps a person has become wealthy, but they are wealthy because God allowed it and provided for it, so others might have jobs or economic benefit in some way. And so everything in your life is connected to many other things in this world.

No one possesses command over their own destiny in this temporal world.

The only control we have over our destiny, is through our decision to either be positive and pursue our spiritual lives, or not. That decision, or daily series of decisions, will dictate what our future will be.

Believe in Christ and you'll go to heaven. Reject Christ and you'll go to the Lake of Fire. That is your destiny. Purse your daily spiritual life and grow up and you'll have phenomenal blessings in heaven. Ignore your spiritual life, as a believer, and you will lose that phenomenal package of blessings in heaven. Blessings that are over and above what everyone will have, that is. That is your destiny. And your decisions now, will dictate your future status.

But as for this life, we all have a parallel life in this temporal world while we are advancing in our spiritual life.

By pursuing God and your spiritual life, you elevate yourself out from the typical laws of this world, into a higher class of laws. Those are the laws of greater grace from Christ. The laws of establishment and of the jungle will still swirl around you, but in Christ you have a greater power and protector, regardless of what the world tries to do to you.

But if you ignore God, Christ, doctrine, and so forth, then your life will be guided by the laws of establishment as well as the laws of the jungle. Good luck! You are going to need it. Without Christ, you are on your own, and as we noted the other day, the vast majority of the world suffers from the ever present and ongoing pressures of life, which the world can never rid itself of.

The counsel of the wicked is lie after lie, a constant and frantic pursuit of happiness which occurs temporarily as a disguise, but will never be authentically attained.

The counsel of the wicked is outside of truth and therefore will never solve anything, because it never deals honestly with anything in life.

The counsel of the wicked closes its eyes to truth, and pursues only what it wants now, despite the repercussions of later on.

The counsel of the wicked will always end in failure, and life in this world always ends for everyone sooner or later.

But still, the wicked of the world seemingly continue to prosper, and our daily life drags on and on, ever so slowly. If they have it better than us, then why do we spend our time with this Bible?

And so just what is your answer to that question? Why do you study this Bible? Why should you pray today, and tomorrow and the next day? What advantage is there to you?

The test of faith is the single most difficult test of them all. It requires a steadfastness and poise which surpasses the norm.

It is far easier to let your emotions go and cry and blame, and complain that all is unfair. 'Why me? Why me?' But then this world was never designed to be fair. It is the devils world, after all.

Persevere in your daily studies, and do not miss even one single day, even when life seems to be dumping you along the side of the road. And though you may live to be a hundred, this life is very short when compared to all of history and to eternity.

One day you will leave this world, and you will stand before the Lord. Do you want Him to shake His head in disappointment, because you took the easy way out of life? Or, do you want Jesus to smile with a great big smile at you, looking right at you, and extending His hand to shake your hand and extending His arms to give you a giant hug because you made it?

That big day in your life is a certainty. It is coming. It is not a fairy tale, or a pipe dream. Will you be ready?

Now is the time to post a prayer.