50 Days to More: Day Four

50 Days to More

A Seven Week Campaign to Begin 2018

Week 1: Knowing the True Source of all Increase in Your Life

Day Four (1/10/18): The Story of Job
Recommended Reading: Job 1:1-12

The story of Job may be one of the most inspiring and encouraging bible stories, especially in the area of increase. Job was a man who had it all and lost it all (You can read about Job’s loss in detail in Job Chapter 1). To summarize, Job suffered many attacks including the loss of his servants, sheep, camels, children, health, and a healthy relationship with his wife. God allowed Job to go through this not because he was an evil man who was being punished, but because he was a righteous man who was being tested. God identified Job as a man who “fears God and turns away from evil (Job 1:8).” The Lord was confident Job would never turn from him and curse his name, no matter what the enemy took away from him.  

His story is indeed tragic, but it doesn’t end with tragedy. It’s probably safe to say that Job suffered more loss than anyone else in the world ever has...but his loss was only temporary.

Job was unaware of the fact that God allowed Satan to take everything away from him. In Job’s time, it was believed that only the wicked would suffer such great loss. Since everyone (including Job’s family and friends) witnessed what Job was going through, the only conclusion was that Job was a wicked man.

This is where Satan’s deception comes into play. Although Job knew he was a righteous man, he proclaims over and over that God’s wrath is upon him and that God is punishing him. Satan failed in his attempt of making Job curse God, but he did cause Job to believe that his blessings were evil and that God was the one to take them all away. He bought into the lie that more is evil and that God did not want Job to prosper.

However, Job stayed true to God and never lost his faith. While his friends and even his own wife encouraged him to curse God, he never did. Soon enough, God proved all of them wrong and rewarded Job for the faithfulness he showed in such a trying time. In fact, God restored everything that Job had lost, and then some. Because of how tightly he clung to the God’s truth, he had even more at the end than he had in the beginning!

This amazing story teaches us that God is the God of double-fold blessing. He rewards his children who believe what their Father says even more than they could imagine!

As you continue with your day, remember that whatever Satan tries to steal from you, God will restore. If we believe that God is true to his Word and stand unshakable in our faith, he always gives more!

“And The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters.” Job 42:12–13 (ESV)

Compiled by Christine Thompson
Taken from the Sermon Series “7 Steps to One Thousand Times More”
By Pastor Timothy Coats
Family First Church - Spring Hill, Florida