Posts that reference the book of Job

STT: Seas

Study Tip Tuesday Water Water Everywhere Seas title graphic

“You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” – Psalm 89:9

Throughout Scripture, seas and oceans represent more than vast bodies of water—they embody both chaos and divine control, danger and deliverance. By understanding how God interacts with the seas, we gain profound insights into His sovereignty, power, and redemptive purposes.

The Red Sea: Waters of Deliverance and Judgment

The Red Sea crossing stands as one of the most dramatic sea narratives in Scripture, revealing God’s dual purpose through water:

Deliverance

God parted the waters to create a path of escape for His people: “The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” (Exodus 14:21)
Israel passed through on dry ground, experiencing God’s protection within what should have been a place of death (Exodus 14:22)
This deliverance became a defining moment in Israel’s identity, repeatedly referenced throughout Scripture as evidence of God’s faithfulness (Psalm 106:9-11, Isaiah 51:10)

Judgment

The same waters that delivered Israel destroyed Pharaoh’s army: “The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen” (Exodus 14:28)
This dual function established a pattern seen throughout Scripture: the same divine action brings both salvation and judgment depending on one’s relationship with God

The Sea of Galilee: Waters of Ministry and Miracles

This freshwater lake (actually a sea by biblical definition) features prominently in Jesus’ ministry:

Jesus called His first disciples from among fishermen on these shores (Matthew 4:18-22)
Many of His teachings occurred near or on these waters, including parables from boats (Mark 4:1-2)
Jesus demonstrated His authority over creation by calming the stormy sea (Mark 4:35-41)
He revealed His divine nature by walking on these waters (Matthew 14:22-33)
The Sea of Galilee became the backdrop for the miraculous catch of fish, both early in His ministry (Luke 5:1-11) and after His resurrection (John 21:1-14)

The Mediterranean Sea: Waters of Mission and Providence

The “Great Sea” of biblical times played a crucial role in the spread of the gospel:

Paul’s missionary journeys frequently involved Mediterranean Sea travel (Acts 13-28)
His shipwreck experience demonstrated God’s providential care even amid maritime disaster (Acts 27:13-44)
The Mediterranean connected the early church communities, allowing for the spread of letters and teachings

Seas as Symbol of Chaos and Evil

In ancient Near Eastern thought, seas represented primordial chaos, which God’s creative power ordered (Genesis 1:2, 6-10)
The prophets used sea imagery to represent hostile nations and forces opposing God’s people (Isaiah 17:12-13)
Daniel’s vision depicts beasts rising from the sea, symbolizing threatening empires (Daniel 7:2-3)
The beast of Revelation emerges from the sea, representing anti-God political power (Revelation 13:1)

Seas as Display of Divine Power

God’s control over the seas demonstrates His sovereignty: “The sea is his, for he made it” (Psalm 95:5)
Jesus’ authority over stormy waters revealed His divine nature to the disciples: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41)
God sets boundaries for the seas, showing His ordering of creation: “I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther'” (Job 38:10-11)

The Promise of No More Sea

Revelation’s vision of the new creation declares, “the sea was no more” (Revelation 21:1)
This symbolizes the end of chaos, separation, danger, and all that threatens God’s people
The absence of sea represents the complete victory of divine order over chaos

When you encounter seas and oceans in your Bible reading, consider:

Theological significance: How does this passage reveal God’s power over chaos and evil?
Narrative purpose: How does the sea function in this story—as barrier, instrument of judgment, or setting for divine revelation?
Symbolic meaning: What might the sea represent in this context—chaos, nations, separation, or danger?
New Testament connections: How does Jesus’ interaction with the sea fulfill or transform Old Testament sea imagery?

Seas in Scripture remind us that what appears most threatening and uncontrollable to us remains fully under God’s sovereign command. The waters that seem ready to overwhelm us can become, in His hands, the very means of our deliverance.

4 Keys to Faith

By Paula Wiseman

Last week, we discussed how to tackle life’s biggest problems through prayer, drawing on the power and presence of God in our daily lives. This week, let’s dive into the foundations of our spiritual journey: faith. Faith is the cornerstone of our relationship with God, and today we’ll explore four keys to faith that can help us build and strengthen our faith.

Faith begins with trusting God’s Promises

The first of our keys to faith is trusting God’s promises. The Bible is filled with assurances of God’s love, provision, and faithfulness. Consider Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

God’s promises are steadfast and true, even when our circumstances suggest otherwise. Abraham’s story in Genesis 15 is a powerful example. Despite his old age and Sarah’s barrenness, Abraham believed God’s promise of numerous descendants. His unwavering trust is a model for us.

We need to read and meditate on God’s promises in Scripture regularly. (We can’t trust them if we don’t know what they are.) Let those sink into your heart and mind. This key to faith will go a long way to reinforcing our trust in Him.

Obedience is the tangible expression of our faith

Obedience is a tangible expression of our faith. James 2:26 tells us, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Our actions should reflect our trust in God and His commandments.

Noah’s story in Genesis 6-9 illustrates this beautifully. Despite never having seen rain, Noah built the ark in obedience to God’s command. His faith was demonstrated through his actions.

Take some inventory of your life. Where are the areas where you can align your actions more closely with God’s Word? Take small steps of obedience and watch how your faith grows.

Rely on the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is our helper, guiding us into all truth and strengthening our faith. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit, including faithfulness. The Spirit empowers us to live out our faith in practical ways.

The early church in Acts relied heavily on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Acts 4:31 records that after they prayed, “the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Their reliance on the Spirit fueled their boldness and faith.

We tend to trudge along carrying an increasingly heavy burden in a barely discernible direction, determined to do it ourselves like we have to prove to God we can do it. That’s not faith. It may be pride, stubbornness, or even insanity, but it’s not faith.

Like so many things in our walk with Christ, the Holy Spirit is key to our faith. Cultivate a habit of seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance through prayer and listening. Invite Him to strengthen your faith and lead you daily.

Persevere Through Trials

Faith is often forged in the fires of adversity. James 1:2-3 encourages us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

Job’s story is a profound example of perseverance. Despite losing everything, he declared, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). His unwavering faith amidst suffering is an inspiration.

Reflect on past trials and how God has been faithful through them. Use those experiences to bolster your faith in current or future challenges. Start a notebook to record these events or track them in your planner.

Faith is a journey, not a destination. It grows and deepens as we walk with God, trust His promises, obey His commands, rely on the Holy Spirit, and persevere through life’s trials. Embrace these keys to faith and watch how your relationship with God transforms.

Abundance

By Paula Wiseman

Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 1 Kings 18:41

You’re probably familiar with the story. Israel had endured three and a half years with no rain. Elijah met the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel and God demonstrated the He alone was God. Then Elijah says, “There is the sound of abundance of rain.”

The dictionary defines abundance as plenty, having an ample amount. Theologically, I think it goes beyond that. The abundance of rain meant that not only were the immediate needs in Israel met, but they didn’t have to worry about the future. They could plant crops. The livestock would survive. The pressure was off.

Rain isn’t all that is abundant.

‘The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.’ Numbers 14:18a
God’s mercy is abundant. That means not only does He forgive our sins, but we don’t have to live in fear

He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress. Job 37:23b
He is abundant in justice. We don’t despair at unfairness and inequity. Wrongs will be made right.

In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. Psalm 72:7
God brings peace not only in our hearts and relationship, but we are no longer His enemies through Christ. We don’t have to question where we stand with Him.

O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. Psalm 130:7
We are redeemed from sin, but God continues to work turning our failures into something He can use for His glory. We don’t have to worry.

Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. Jeremiah 33:6
His truth is vast in scope and relevance. It does not expire.

I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Jonah 4:2b
Lovingkindness is God’s covenant love. He doesn’t rescind it because of what we do. It is steadfast and secure.

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17
We receive an abundance of grace through the work of Christ. That grace covers–completely covers–our sins and shortcomings. It doesn’t run out. There is no fine print.

To recap:

Mercy, justice, peace, redemption, truth, lovingkindness, and grace. Not just to meet today’s needs, but tomorrow’s, the next day’s, and so on. We don’t have to wonder if that one thing we did can be forgiven. We don’t have to be concerned about whether the promises still apply. God has dealt, currently deals, and will continue to deal with us out of His abundance.

Sound Mind Theology: Blaming

By Paula Wiseman

Since the Fall, we have struggled not only with the content of our thoughts but the process as well. Yes, even the very way we size up situations and apply knowledge and experience to them is tainted by sin. In other words, we are constantly plagued by fallacies and cognitive distortions. So in our series on sound mind theology, we’ve touched on three interrelated distortions — minimizing, maximizing, and disqualifying. We discussed the fallacies of fairness and control. Last week, we got personal with two cognitive distortions, labelling and personalization. Today, we’ll finish up the series with blaming.

Blaming, as a cognitive distortion, is when we assign guilt or responsibility to someone else for our emotional responses. “I don’t want to have lunch with her. She makes me feel guilty about what I eat.” “He makes me so angry with his dumb comments.” Blaming may make us feel better temporarily. We may even feel like we’re protecting ourselves by avoiding a difficult situation.

The Roots of Blaming

Human beings have been blaming each other and other things since the very beginning. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. They both blamed God. And that shifting was passed down to their sons. Cain’s jealousy of his brother, Abel, resulted in murder. What was the root of the jealousy? Blaming someone else rather than admitting his own failure to be obedient. All of these examples from the early chapters of Genesis expose the basis of blaming. We don’t want to admit responsibility for our shortcomings, our failures, our sins.

The Spiritual Side of Blaming

Blaming God puts us in an antagonistic relationship with Him. We resent His correction. We mistrust Him. We ascribe questionable motives to God’s actions. (This is exactly what happened in the Garden.) These attitudes are wholly ungodly and require repentance.

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded? Job 9:4

The writer of Hebrews calls out the deceitfulness of sin.

[B]ut exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13

Taking Responsibility

From our examples above, quality of lunch and comments aside, we have the power to determine how we respond. It isn’t “she makes me feel guilty.” It’s I (choose to) feel guilty.” And it’s actually not “he makes me angry.” It’s “I get angry.”

If we get in the habit of blaming others, we don’t see where we are wrong. We may ignore the Holy Spirit’s efforts to correct us. If it persists, we can grow hard-hearted toward God.

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13

As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” Psalm 41:4

Furthermore, if we see someone else as the cause of our distress, on whatever level, we cannot, will not love them the way God has called us to love others.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 1 Peter 1:22

Going Forward

All of the fallacies and cognitive distortions we’ve looked at prevent us from living a life of obedience, service, and love. But they are also deeply ingrained in us. It takes humility to ask God to show them to you and diligence to reshape them. But we have a great mission ahead of us, and our minds need to be fully engaged.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13

Sound Mind Theology: Minimizing, Maximizing, and Disqualifying

By Paula Wiseman

Minimizing is downplaying the positives.

It may be through comparing it to someone else’s positives. It may be through finding the negatives. Maybe something like this. Someone compliments your dessert. “Oh, I just threw it together.” You get a good grade. “Oh, the test was probably just easy.” You reach a goal. “Oh, I shouldn’t have taken so long to get here.” Or “I set the bar too low.” Or “Other people did it better than I did.”

Minimizing manifests in our spiritual life as failing to see and appreciate the good things God has done and is doing. It fails to give Him the glory due His name. Further, it is a slander to God to accuse Him of being anything less than good or to attribute anything less than perfection to His motives and actions.

Maximizing is inflating the negatives.

The flip side of minimizing is maximizing. It is doomsaying. It is finding the worst in everything, expecting the worst outcomes, or representing situations worse than they really are. “Now everything is ruined.” “This is the worst day ever.” Or “I messed everything up.” Or “I am a complete failure.” It’s a disingenuous representation of the circumstances.

This translates as a lack of faith. We see worst-case scenarios that are beyond God’s intervention. We believe God won’t answer our prayers or He won’t step in when we need Him to. It discounts His goodness and His sovereignty.

Disqualifying is acknowledging the positives but discounting them.

It is finding the black cloud around every silver lining. You can hear it in a “yes, but.” Sure, God saved us, but He has other, more important children. Or He saved me, but He can’t or won’t use me. Yes, God calls us His own, but He says that to all believers. He has prepared a home for us in eternity, but right now, He makes us struggle. He answers our prayers, but usually not the way you want. His presence never leaves us, but you never feel it.

It’s no surprise that it manifests in our spiritual life as unthankfulness. We are perpetually dissatisfied as we find something wrong inside every blessing. It also leads to us putting words in God’s mouth and attributing false motives to His actions. That kind of brazen presumption is a form of blasphemy.

How do we combat these distortions?

All of these distortions are rooted in pride, in a desire to have others pay attention to us, even if it’s negative attention. It is an attempt to manipulate someone else’s emotions to elicit a desired response. Basically, we want people to acknowledge us and do what we want.

So the first step is to recognize these thought patterns. Be bold enough to ask God to search out your heart and mind and reveal their contents. (Psalm 139:23-24).

The second step is to repent. All of the ways these distortions express themselves are sinful.

The third step is to replace the distortions with the truth. Check Ephesians 2:1-10 to get a concise description of what God has done for us in Christ. We were incurably depraved. Jesus did all the work. We receive all the spiritual blessings because of His grace. His love for us is amazing. There’s no room for maximizing or minimizing.

Yes, bad things happen. But good things also happen. And all things come from the hand of a sovereign God who loves us beyond our understanding. Adopt Job’s philosophy: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)

All of the things, positive and negative of all degrees are used by God to make us more like Christ. See the ultimate goal rather than disqualify what God is doing. Mary put it very simply: [F]or he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Luke 1:49

Just so we’re clear, I’m not a counselor. I read, research, and study, and I have some life experience. I am not attempting to diagnose anything, but rather help us evaluate how we think based on Scripture.

Key Ingredients for Growth: Light

By Paula Wiseman

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

We’re looking at the things a plant must have in order to grow — like good dirt, water, light and protection — and thinking about how that applies to us. We started off with the good, rich dirt and how our church can be that nurturing environment. But if the dirt isn’t regularly infused with water, that is the word of God, we will dry out very quickly. That’s not all we need. If the rich dirt is well-watered but shaded, the plant will lose strength and die. We need light for growth.

As we think through these, it’s important to remember that this is an analogy and won’t have a one-to-one correspondence between picture and reality, and we are likely to see a lot of overlap. The point still stands that there are some critical things that we need to grow as believers.

The theme of light is woven throughout Scripture. It is associated with God, His presence, and His glory. Certainly we have no life without God. He first formed Adam. Job 33:4 affirms this. So as we saw with water, we cannot grow until we are first made alive, and God is ultimately and solely responsible for giving us life.

Light is also used symbolically and metaphorically in Scripture and those ideas are the ones we will draw from for our study.

Light is understanding
In the opening chapter of the book of Ephesians, Paul mentions that he prays regularly for the church there, and this is what he prays: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power Ephesians 1:17-19

In other words, Paul prays that God would help the believers in Ephesus understand:

The HOPE that comes with being called to salvation in Christ Jesus
The RICHES and GLORY of the inheritance the believers will receive.
The EXCEEDING GREATNESS of God’s power working on our behalf, transforming us to be more like Christ

As those realities sink in, as they take hold of our hearts and our minds, the only response is a deeper commitment to live for Christ, that is to live in obedience and honor Him in everything. That light then shines into the darkness around us.

Light is righteousness
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7

We must live a different, distinct lifestyle from the rest of the world. Our conversation, our conduct, our compassion, our discipline, our work ethic, our generosity, our patience must set us apart from the standards of the culture. We must be distinguished by the active good that we do more than the evil we oppose. (And I’m not saying don’t oppose evil. Of course we oppose evil. But if the only thing the body of Christ is known for is what we are against, we have a problem. We are not communicating the love of Jesus.)

As we continue to live a life that honors Jesus, that imitates Him, we will grow.

Next week we’ll look at one more necessary thing – protection.