Forgive Our Sin and Heal Our Broken Land!

Job 12:23 "He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again."

All the striving of the nations are but a wave by His hand, He raises one up and He brings down another. When there are wars and conflicts it is God who decides the outcome. It is God who increases a nations and it is He who diminishes the nations. We must not think, however, that this is an arbitrary activity designed by the whim of God (As portrayed by the Greek writers of old, Homer and Virgil in the Iliad the Odyssey and the Aeneid.  These books malign the nature of the true God by making the mythical gods appear petty and arbitrary). Our God has very specific criteria for those He raises up and those He uses for a good versus an evil purpose (and this applies to the individual as well as on the national level). What is the criteria that God uses to raise a nation up or to bring them down low, to bless them or to bring on them a curse? We can find the answer to that in the book of Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV 1 "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." The lifting up of the nations is not speculative nor is it on a whim; we are clearly told in Gods word, in the book of the law that those who keep His commandments and listen closely to His word to keep it will be lifted up above all other nations and will enjoy the blessing of the Lord on their land. As you read through the first half of chapter twenty eight of Deuteronomy then you will see all the great blessings that will follow. This is encouragement for us to follow in His ways and to keep His commandments. We should pray for our nation that God would magnify His law again that we would be a people who would please Him and walk in His ways, that is the way to be lifted up above other nations. It is not a secret nor is it complicated, walk in his ways and you will be blessed.

Contrariwise, we have the other side of the spectrum where a nation is broken down and becomes cursed. Deuteronomy 28:15 KJV "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:" As you read through the remaining verses of Deuteronomy twenty eight you will see how a nation is brought down low, it is by disregarding His commandments and not listening to His words. This is the deplorable state of many nations today and therefore the entire earth is in a terrible state making the godly to long for the millennium, a reign of peace. Those of us who believe Gods word are moved to pray for our nation that God would bring a revival that will make His Word honorable again; that we would please Him with godly judgments and godly laws to govern us. The primary example is walking in his ten commandments and keeping His judgments and statutes but also that all our laws that govern us civily would be laws that bring Him pleasure and not displeasure.

O' God, forgive our sin and heal our broken land! 

The Finest of the Wheat and Honey That Satisfies!

Psalms 81:16

"He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."

This is what the Lord would have done if His people had listened to His voice. Implied here, of course, is complete obedience to His voice not just that they would hear it; the indication that one is listening to God is obedience to what He has said. If they had listened to His counsel He would have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and while this was certainly applicable to the original hearers of this verse what we want to gather is what does it mean for us today? It simply means that if we would hearken to His word He would feed us with the finest of His word, the bread of life. Obedience is the key element to the finest of the wheat, or good doctrine. There is such a thing as inferior wheat, the finest of the wheat implies that wheat is graded from fine to poor; obedience produces the finest wheat. Our spiritual standing and well being is dependent upon what we feed on.

I have often considered fellow believers who are content to feed upon the inferior wheat of Gods word (Teachers and leaders who are teaching a mixed message and others who omit part of the full counsel of God) and wondered, "How can they be content with an inferior word?" We want to be those who desire the finest of the wheat, the best of Gods Word and if we are to partake of this finest wheat then we must obey and walk in His counsels. The opposite of this is what the children of Israel actually experienced because of disobedience and we see this in verse twelve: Psa 81:12 KJV "So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels." They forfeited the finest of the wheat, His doctrine, for their own counsels (mans counsels are infinitely less than the counsel of the Lord contained in His word).

Then the Lord takes it to the next level when He says "And with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee" Honey speaks of revelation (Jonathan's eyes were opened when he ate the honey in the book of 1 Samuel). God gives revelation to those who are obedient to His word but notice this, it is not just revelation but it is revelation that satisfies our spirit. It brings joy and contentment to the heart and causes one to be greatly satisfied. This is a wonderful promise indeed but all of this was sacrificed because they did not hearken to the Almighty nor did they obey His voice. What a tragedy that we should hold to our own ways, that we should miss this blessing because of some part of our rebellious nature. Man is horribly insecure, he strives to fight and protect what is his own but Oh that we would freely give up what the Lord requires of us knowing that if we hearken to Him He will give us the finest of the wheat and the honey that satisfies. May God quicken these verses to us and give us a fresh zeal to obey, not as one who is coerced into doing what is right or else they are punished but as one who knows, who really knows the benefit of simple obedience, the finest of the wheat and to be satisfied by the honey from the rock.

Life, Favor and His Visitation - This Sums Everything Up

Job 10:12

"Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit."

"Thou hast granted me life..." Although we see life all around us, life itself is intangeable. Life is spiritual and it is what allows these vessels we are housed in to move and live and breathe. Take away life and there is just a dead container. Life produces awareness, thought processes, decisions are made because of life; it is obvious that a corpse has none of these because a corpse though it is real it has not life (the spark within). Therefore, what we observe as real and tangeable is not life but rather the result of life. The scriptures say this: Act 17:28 KJV "For in him we live, and move, and have our being..." We live and move and have our being; it does not even mention the body just the spirit and soul "Our being". Life comes from the breath of God, even the wicked who blaspheme His name owe their life to him. One who is born without life is considered still born, something happened that a vessel was born without life, a tragic reality. Life is something that is deposited by God into the vessel being birthed and it is not an organic act it is a spiritual act.

Then there is something every bit as important as life itself, it s Gods favor or loving kindness. In fact David said it is better than life itself: Psa 63:3 KJV "Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee." This is certainly true because we can have our being, the spark of life and yet without His favor and loving kindness we can be miserable in life. It is His favor Job acknowledges because at one time he walked in the light of Gods countenance in favor and blessing. All of that has been apparently removed (at least from Jobs perspective) and yet, in reality, it has not left him at all because God is actually putting Job into a posture which will release Gods blessing as never before. It is what we are within and without (how we think and how we behave) that determine His favor on our lives. If we please Him we enjoy life, displease Him and it is death. And so God is, through this trial, altering how Job thinks and acts so He can pour out His loving kindness in ways He never could before.

"...And thy visitation hath preserved my spirit." I want to say something about Gods visitation; sometimes He comes to us as the latter rain and we blossom and grow under the light of His countenance as He shines upon us. But lest we forget the entire picture God is visiting Job right now; he is in the midst of Gods visitation here in this trial. I know that is not what Job is referring to, he is referring to the blessing of God and yet God is still visiting him all the same. We need to be careful in this area to not attribute to Satan what is actually Gods working. Evil circumstances do not mean God is not in it! I have know His visitation to bring great light and I have known His visitation to bring great darkness (and we are not talking about His visitation to the wicked but to those He loves and seeks to perfect). We have reviewed this verse before and we will not doubt interject it again but we must always bear in mind God visits with darkness as well as light (But the outcome will be good if your are His child):

Isa 50:10-11 KJV 10 "Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow."

Has God visited you in darkness and in sorrow? Remember what Job said; "His visitation hath preserved my spirit" We must always fall upon Romans 8:28 - "All things work together for good..." In life and in death, in joy and in sorrow Gods visitation touches something in us and that work will ultimately preserve us in some way and so there is no need to be overcome, God is on our side.

Who Has Hardened Himself Against Him (God Almighty) and Prospered?

Job 9:4

"He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?"

Here is a wonderful description of God; He is wise in heart, He is in fact wisdom personified. We find a resume of wisdom in the Proverbs, especially in chapter one, eight and nine. He also is mighty in strength, His chief power is exercised through His word (Hebrews tells us with it He created the worlds and with it He destroys His enemies, Revelations reveals a sharp two edged sword proceeds from His mouth to destroy His enemies). And so this really is a wonderful description of God who is wise in heart and His mouth speaks from that wise heart (for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; if the heart is full of wisdom then the lips are wise). We should add at this point other aspects to His nature that govern Him, if there is a being who is all knowing and all powerful then you certainly want Him to possess other qualities that would make Him temperate in the use of that wisdom and power.

God has those qualities and we see them identified for us in Exo 34:5-8 KJV "5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped." The mythical gods of antiquity possess wisdom and power but they are not temperate; they lack qualities such as mercy, graciousness, longsuffering, goodness, truth and above all the ability to forgive iniquity. These are very aspects of The Lord God's nature, He is more than wonderful and we are very fortunate to have Him as our God.

Who opposes Him and prospers? No one can stand toe to toe with God, although many make their boast while here on earth (It is just like a boaster to speak great words when they feel they are a safe distance from danger) but when they stand before the Almighty they will shake and quiver like a leaf before a fierce storm. No one can oppose Him and prosper; Psalm 2 says He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh at them; the Lord will have them in derision. There is another way men oppose Him and that is by living contrary to His commandments. Deuteronomy 28 governs the whole of life; if one keeps His commands then they prosper but if they turn their back on Him and walk contrary to His ways then they are cursed. We should seek Him diligently and walk fearfully before Him because none can oppose Him and prosper.

The Storm, The Darkness, The Fire Will End Then There Will Be Joy!

Job 8:21 - "Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing."

This is the result of those who please God; though they suffer, though they have valleys and dark trials they are going to be filled with laughter and rejoicing. This is reminiscent of Psa 126:1-6 "1 A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. 3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. 4 Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. 5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

This is exactly why we should try not to be overly downcast when we suffer; suffering has its purpose and it has its work to do in our lives (God has not promised we would always have sunshine, He promised our end would be good if we please Him). For those who remember Him and strive to please Him (even in the midst of their weakness from their trial) they will always rise from the ashes and will worship Him again in strength and blessing. We should avoid forming harmful opinions and casting off restraint when it seems all is lost in a trial because everything eventually turns good for the righteous, everything rights itself again and God upholds them and turns again their captivity. This is going to be the way with Job as well; he will see better days, the sunshine and blessing of God will again rise upon this man.

Do you suffer yet again, are you again in a valley? Hold fast to your character, retain your integrity and God will bring you out! In despair you will be tempted to complain against the one who seeks to do you good, do not do it, resist the temptation because it will lead to casting off restraint and wicked works which will turn His favor permanently. The secret is to allow yourself the permission to say: "Come what may I know He does only wondrous things; blessed be His name" Lean on what we all know about the character of God, He is just, He is upright, he does not punish the righteous and He deeply loves humanity. At the end of every storm, when darkness comes to the end or the fire is finally extinguished the end of the righteous is always laughter and joy!

MY HEAVENLY FATHER WATCHES OVER ME

I trust in God wherever I may be,

Upon the land, or on the rolling sea,

For come what may, from day to day,

My heav’nly Father watches over me.

Refrain:

I trust in God, I know He cares for me;

On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea;

Though billows roll, He keeps my soul;

My heav’nly Father watches over me.

He makes the rose an object of His care,

He guides the eagle through the pathless air,

And surely He remembers me;

My heav’nly Father watches over me.

I trust in God, for, in the lion’s den,

On battlefield, or in the prison pen,

Through praise or blame, through flood or flame,

My heav’nly Father watches over me.

The valley may be dark, the shadows deep,

But, oh, the Shepherd guards His lonely sheep;

And through the gloom He’ll lead me home,

My heav’nly Father watches over me.

Love Righteousness and Hate Iniquity

Thomas Walsh, a revivalist preacher in Ireland during the 1700's said this: "How can I consider myself one of His children and yet continue in sin (paraphrased)." Surely the greatest proof of our redemption and reclamation is a love for righteousness and a hatred for sin. At the end of the day it all boils down to this; some will strive against sin because at the core of their being, where the Godhead is seated, they love righteousness and hate iniquity. Perhaps they may struggle with the Adamic nature which is destined to rise up against holiness, however, their heart cleaves to what is right and therefore they will strive until holiness is achieved and the old man is put down. We can illustrate this using the law of the clean and unclean animal from Leviticus. The clean animal had a divided hoof which speaks of having a separated walk, being separated from this world and separated unto God. This very same truth is carried into the New Testament when Apostle Paul speak in Romans 12:2 to be separated from the world and "Transformed" by the renewing of our mind (this happens as we are separated unto God, when our affections turn to Him).

The problem that can exist at times is that for some their love for what is wrong exceeds what their conscience "KNOWs" is right; they are tormented when they do wrong because they recognize it is wrong but they still crave it. Even after their redemption it still remains important to them to be able to do those things that are wrong and yet they know it is wrong and they should not desire it. There can only be two possible outcomes in this instance, they will either meet with God have sin broken and emerge victorious or they will eventually be overcome by that thing they crave and be dragged out of the kingdom becoming twice dead. They do now participate in those things but suffer continually under a guilty conscience (Paul identifies this frustrating condition in Romans 7).

What every believer in this situation of torment really needs is a mighty meeting with God whereby they have a dramatic conversion in their heart where Christ becomes their true Lord and they turn their backs on sin. Certainly, they will still be tempted and yes they will still have an Adamic nature to struggle against but they will be more successful because now they are striving against sin and not seeking to protect it. The apostle Paul talked about with his mind wanting to serve the laws of God (obedience to Christ) and yet with his flesh wanting to serve sin; he said (paraphrased), if I want to serve God in my spirit and my flesh wants to do wrong then it is no longer me but sin working in me. He highlights for us and even personifies sin as a force that works within us to pull us in the wrong direction but if our spirit hates sin, is repulsed by it then we will resist. This is the meeting of God, an encounter whereby Christ is put within our hearts in His rightful place and sin is as a result put in its!

Some truths to contemplate in association with this theme to stir up our pure minds:

Psalm 45 - He loved righteousness and hated iniquity and it produced an anointing!
Isaiah 7 - Butter (abundance of the Word) and honey (Revelation) shall he eat that he may know how to choose the good and refuse the evil
1 Sam 5 - The death of Dagon in Philistine Temple (head and hands removed), destroying idols in the heart through a revelation of the Ark of God, the literal presence of God.

This thought occurred to me; do I need something broken in me to successfully strive against sin or do I need something built up in me. In other words, is it a decrease in one area (a love for sin) that I need or is it a increase in another (love for righteousness and the zeal to pursue it)? God only knows the measure of the two we all need. Let's begin to pray, "Oh, Lord, you know me, all of me, what is it that I really need?"

"Oh That I might Have My Request!"

Job 6:8  "Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!"

Job is about to make a request in the verses that follow this one that he thinks he means (that God would cut him off, basically he is asking God to take his life). It is a request that is borne from his present circumstances and even though it seems right now it is not the right prayer. We understand completely why he feels it is the right prayer (anguish and suffering birthed it) but it could not be more inappropriate in light of what God intends to do in him and through him. There are prayers we will pray throughout our lifetime that we should get down on our face before God and thank Him that He did not answer. I remember a pastor telling me once that when he was younger he prayed earnestly for God to take him down a certain course (before he was a pastor) and he began to get frustrated with God because it was not coming to pass; it was a path after his own hearts desire for his future. He confessed later that he thanked God earnestly that He did not answer those prayers because otherwise he would have never met his wife, never had the family he has and would have in all probability not been in the ministry today. It would have taken him on another course altogether.

I preached a message some time ago on "Jesus' Unanswered Prayer"; I think the title caused people to pause for a moment and ask themselves, "Wait, Jesus had an unanswered prayer; is that possible?" But, not only was it possible, it happened. It was a prayer that was borne out of His anguish as a man and yet to answer that prayer would mean missing the Fathers will for His life and so, He realizing that, ended His prayer with "Never the less, not my will but thine." We are, of course, talking about His prayer in the garden when he sweat drops of blood. His soul was in anguish and He prayed that if it were possible that the cup would pass from Him. Yet we all know, this was the very reason he was born into the world, to drink that cup. The Father could not answer that prayer (and it must have been emotionally painful to the Father to know He could not answer this request of His beloved Son).

Now, let's bring this into modern times, into our own lives. Do we know the absolute will of God for our lives? No, in most cases we have an idea of His will and we sense a direction but we do not usually know specifics and so we pray many times based on our perceived needs. But may we always find the grace and presence of mind to say at the end of our prayers, some of which will be borne out of anguish, never the less not my will but thine be done!

Science Vs Faith - Hold Fast (Grip Tightly) That Which is Good!

1 Thess 5:21 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

The scriptures encourage us to prove all things and to hold fast (grasp tightly) to that which is good. The point is that once something is identified as good you stop questioning and grasp onto it. Today there is a mentality which says "Question Everything" and so question they do, they question God, authority in general, even the laws of physics are being questioned. While I wholeheartedly encourage healthy questions, there can be a questioning which is rebelliousness in nature, it is vexing to the soul and which borders on blasphemy. Mankind has come to the place where good answers exist and yet they are so caught up in the spirit of questioning everything that they are in fact unable to see what is right in front of them, that which is good. I will define good as that which is wholesome for us and brings peace and tranquility to us and those around us (i.e. Accepting Gods free gift of His Son to atone for our sins brings salvation which produces peace and tranquility to us; His Spirit transforms our lives and makes us better human beings which brings peace and tranquility to others). The idea of being on a quest for knowledge is that when one finds what is good that they hold fast to it otherwise you become one who gropes in darkness unable to see light in anything. There is a curse that God puts upon the rebellious who are not really lovers of the truth or lovers of what is good but rather they crave to break into some secret knowledge, some holy grail something new and fantastic (that really does not exist and so their quest is in vain), we read of them in the scriptures:

2 Timothy 3:1-6 "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, note 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

The last verse sums it up best: "Ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth"; this is a curse and it is very real. While we are indebted to some of the great scientific minds of the past generations for their discoveries in the areas of medicine, astronomy, physics, ect...still there is one fatal flaw in science; it is that faith (a major component of life) does not mix well in the scientific mind. Science and faith do not mix well, you will come to the point where you must choose one or the other. How, for instance, does science deal with what men of faith accept such as the parting of the Red Sea and Jesus walking on the water, healing the sick or raising the dead. For that matter how does science handle the resurrection itself? It seeks to come up with some plausible explanation or else they dismiss it all together when in fact miracles are not plausible (that is why they are miracles). Science feels the need to dress things up and explain everything when in fact there are things that are inexplicable. This is rooted in the feeling that man can discover everything and can, given enough time, explain everything. We have scientist who are believers so do not misunderstand what I am saying, I am not putting down scientists or even science itself since I acknowledge we need both (one of the greatest men I have ever know was a chemical scientist). What I am saying is that somewhere along the line one must win out over the other and once the truth is discovered whether or not it agrees with science it is in fact the truth and we would find the greater peace to hold fast to it.

The Benefits of Obeying His Word

The Chain of Sin Broken!

Romans 6:17

"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." 

Here is a very important truth and it is a truth which is critical in breaking the inherited curse of sin that we are all subject to; obeying the word of truth (Gods Word) causes the curse which compels us to sin to be broken and releases the blessings of God in its place. We have the great teaching in Deuteronomy 28 which lists all the blessings of God that come upon those who are obedient and Chapter 29 which lists the curses of disobedience (all of us fit in one or the other category). As we walk with God and we seek to have the chains of sin broken it behooves us to keep His commandments, for it is in striving to keep His commandments that the chains are broken. The blessings come almost automatically upon us when we obey the word of God, the commandments of God. We also have Peter who speaks of the cleansing power of obeying the truth (again, His Word): 1Peter 1:22 "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit..." 

We must, with all effort, cry out as David cried out: Psalm 119:1-5 "1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. 3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. 4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. 5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!"

"O' that my ways were directed to keep thy Word that sin could be broken in me!"

The Words of Job Were Used to Strengthen His Fellow Man

Not only do we have the testimony of the Lord concerning Job in chapter 1 and 2 as well as the accusation of the adversary against him, we also have in chapter 4 the testimony of his friend (Eliphaz) who speaks of his reputation before the trial and we learn that Job was a man who used his words to strengthen the weak and to build people up!

Job 4:3

"Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands."

Eliphaz is testifying of his observations of Job and so in spite of the fact that he is ripping him to shreds with his words you can see he knows Job himself used his words for instruction and to build others up. This was Jobs reputation. God has respect for those who use their words to build people up. Eliphaz is not following the example of Job. It is true that for some days they remained silent comforting Job over his suffering but now they are going to buffet him with their words. Mankind is too fond of his opinions at times; he does not even make an attempt to restrain his words because he is too busy giving freely of his opinions. He is convinced people need to hear what he has to say; he can, at times feel as though his words are too important to restrain but the truth is that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar did not have the word of the Lord, did not speak for him and were making Jobs trial more painful with their free opinions and philosophies. The older I get the less I am impressed with my own opinions and pray Lord, let me get it right and have the restraint to not have to speak if I am going to get it wrong or make the situation worse by my words. It really is a deep flaw in mans character to feel they have to speak and everyone would be wise to listen. There are those whose words carry such weight that you would do well to listen and the scriptures do tell us that there are those who speak for God but these dear ones exemplify meekness and do not force themselves on others or put themselves forth as the anointed ones. Jas 1:19-20 KJV 19 "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Pro 15:23 "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!" Isa 50:4 "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." Lets be like Job and use our words to instruct in kindness and to strengthen the weak hands.

Job 4:4

"Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees."

Eliphaz said Job, you have given encouragement to him that was falling and with your words you strengthened those who were weak; this is the kind of reputation Job had among his friends. We will be known for what we used our tongue for? Was it for good or was it for evil. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and we see that in Jobs mouth was the law of kindness, he was a man who used his words to encourage and strengthen those who needed a bit of help. Job made a difference in peoples lives with his words; we might rephrase what Eliphaz said this way: "You have upheld and strengthened him that was ready to fall by the words you spoke to him". His friends knew he was capable of strengthening the weak with his words, this was his reputation and Eliphaz knew this about Job. Are we using our words to strengthen a weak brother or sister or are we the type that will swoop down on the weak like a vulture and criticize them for their weakness. I have seen in the Church of Jesus Christ those who will verbally kick a man while he is down, who sees a person with a weakness and instead of coming into strengthen them will say such things as "I knew they would not make it" or "It was only a matter of time". I know there are those whose hearts are not drawn to obedience but to disobedience and they can be hypocritical in their walk. God has His ways of dealing with them as we see illustrated in Oba 1:4 KJV "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle (pretending to be overcomers), and though thou set thy nest among the stars (pretending to be saints), thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD." but there are men and women who do love the Lord and yet because of a weakness in their lives have trouble staying on the path. They need much encouragement from the mature saints, they need to be strengthened by others until they get their feet under them and can stand on their own. Lets ask God for words that will uphold people, words that even when we are not aware of it helps people. I have benefited myself over the many decades with people whom God used to strengthen me and they do not even know it. May this type of help exude from us and when we know a brother or sister needs help lets be the one who strengthens them with our words and upholds them.