ICS Daily Devotions
Blessed to be a Blessing
Job 1:3,9-10 (NKJV) Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East…. So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Satan testified that GOD blessed the work of Job’s hand and his possessions had increased in the land. And God built a HEDGE around Job, his family and all his possessions.
One of the lessons that we can learn from Job, is his acknowledgment that all the GOOD THINGS that he had possessed was from God. He acknowledged that God was the source of all his material possessions.
Job proved to be a good steward of God’s money. Job used this money to rescue the needy, he cared for the handicapped and the dying, and he brought orphans into his home. He did all of this without tax exemptions or government assistance. He did it out of his love for people with the money that God had blessed him. A lot of good can be done with money and resources to bless and help the poor. In fact, God loves the poor and needy as He preached the Gospel to the poor first! Jesus ministered to the poor and shared the Gospel with them.
The wonderful thing about Job was that he did not cling to his wealth but rather allowed the wealth that God had given him flow through him to bless others. Job was a distributor of his wealth rather than a hoarder of the wealth given to him by God. Therefore, Job had a great testimony in that God saw him as a man of integrity despite his magnificent wealth! Job shunned evil and did good.
Likewise, ICS has done a lot of good work with the money that God has entrusted us with. Money is not evil but value-neutral. We need money to fund the Gospel and good works. It is the love of money and the worship of money that is evil! It is the love of money that has pierced many people with sorrow.
God is happy when we have more than enough as a child of the living God. God has never intended for us to live in lack and poverty. This was revealed in His creation of the garden of Eden where there was absolutely no lack. God is a God who gives and He gave us His best in Jesus Christ because He loves us.
Psalm 35:27 (NKJV) Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
Sermon Series: Job and I
