You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
Job 36:15-16
15 He delivereth [chalats] the poor [`aniy] in his
affliction [`oniy], and openeth [galah] their ears ['ozen] in
oppression [lachats].
16 Even so would he have removed [cuwth] thee out of the strait [peh]
[tsar] into a broad place [rachab], where [tachath] there is
no straitness [muwtsaq]; and that which should
be set [Nachath] on thy table [shulchan] should be full [male'] of
fatness [deshen]. KJV-Interlinear
15 'He delivers the afflicted in
their affliction, And opens their ear in time of oppression. 16 'Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth
of distress, Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; And that which was set on your table was full
of fatness. NASB
If you read the 23rd psalm, then you will
see a tremendous amount of correlation with what Elihu has and is saying here.
If a person opens up their soul to God, calls on Him
for help not only in time of need, but even in time of relative peace in their
life, then God is there to help. The
person of God needs to establish a genuine pattern of life, which is consistent
with that which God teaches in the Bible.
Most folks think that they have to be nice, use
spiritual words, never be aggressive in life, and in other words be some type
of humiliated, head hanging down maroon in life. That is not the spiritual life.
The toughest competitor in sports, the most aggressive
soldier in battle, the quietest person in town, all, can be spiritually mature
giants. Your spiritual life does not
depend on your personality, but the spiritual life will help mold the
personality you already have, into one which is compatible with Gods specific
plan for your personal life.
Remember the 'arms raised high' study? Live your life in fellowship, pursue your daily
studies, remain open minded (this can be the tough one), obey Gods commands
(you have to know them in order to be able to obey them).
And Gods principle commands are first to live in
fellowship and study daily. That will
get you going on the right path for life.
Life was designed for spiritually mature
believers. Heaven will become the home
of all believers. Who is missing? Unbelievers.
Likewise, life will be much better for you if you
pursue your spiritual life.
Living in this world, by default means that you are
the afflicted. We are all in the same
boat, so to speak. Oppression means all
of the burdens of life that you can imagine.
The narrow road is the tight place in which it is
extremely difficult to move around, if at all.
The broad road is the wide-open spaces that give you all the freedom in
the world to move about and function in life.
The table full of fatness is the prosperity, which you always dream of,
but never seem to attain.
All of this and more, comes from God and from God
alone. You can never achieve on your
own, the freedom and prosperity of life which God defines. You have to look to God through your
spiritual eyes, and those eyes come only from growing up spiritually.
This is the devils world and the devils world is filled
with deceptions, even the deception of false prosperity, which is designed to
make you believe that you do not need God, even the deception of false hope,
which is designed to make you think that God does not care about you.
For those who look to God, in the proper way, the way
which God has defined (not by your definition), as the function of the
spiritual life and the function of a relationship with Him, then He is
there. He is always there. God listens and in fact He has heard your
prayer all the way back in eternity past, and has already made provision for
you.
'Before you call, I will answer. While you speak, I will hear.'
You just have to get your life straightened out and in
line with His will. Which, by the way,
is not very difficult to do. It only
takes a commitment on your part to learn and then do (with responsibility), and
stick with it for the rest of your life.
God is not a genie and life is not going to be a free
ride. Have reasonable expectations and
open up your eyes to life's realities.
God has given you many tools for making a living. The wishes and miracles of fools are not
among them.
But fools saturate this earth and they look far too
much for the luck of life to get them through.
Those who pursue their spiritual life, will soon
discover that God becomes that extra ingredient (that others do not have),
which will enter your life and cause solutions that you could otherwise never
attain.
'Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great
and mighty things.'
But, you have to make the commitment and stick with
it. The spiritual life is a long-term
contract, not a weekend convenience.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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