Corby Stephens

Job 41:11
When we lose something important to us, or someone important to us, we feel the absence. We feel the need to be repaid for what we once had and are now missing. At the same time, when we receive something from someone else, either as a gift or because we were selfish and took it from them, we feel the need to repay them. We feel the need to give back in the form of thanks, service, or repayment. Job felt ripped off. He felt that God had taken from him, and that God owed him something. As has become abundantly clear, this perception was in error. God didn’t take away anything that wasn’t His already. God didn’t owe Job anything. Everything and every one we have in our lives isn’t really ours. It’s all on loan. It has been given to us to take care of, to watch over, and it all belongs to God. The reality is that God has given to us. We owe Him. When we have the right perspective we will deeply feel the need to give back, to thank, to serve, and to repay a debt that can never really be repaid. Not only does everything we have belong to Him, we belong to Him. If you are in Christ you have been purchased by God with the blood of Jesus. You are not your own. You are His. God takes care of His stuff. He puts His name on it. he makes it presentable and sends it out into the world and says, “Look what I can do!” The next time you experience loss, take a moment and do a reality check. Are you mad at God because He took something from you, or are you thankful that you belong to Him?

 Malachi 3
I remember a particular job that I had for a grand total of two weeks. I was capable of doing the job. It was a hard job, but not impossible. I didn’t get fired, I quit. Why did I quit? Because my boss didn’t communicate what was expected of me both in performance and scheduling. I did the best I could with the information I had, but it got to the point where I was being condemned for not doing things I didn’t know I was supposed to do, and didn’t show up when I was supposed to show up because no one told me to. In Malachi 3 there is something similar going on. “How have we robbed you? How have we spoken against you?” The people were ignorant. The difference between my situation and theirs was that they had God’s word and the prophets telling them exactly what was expected of them, and they chose to at best ignore it, at worst pervert it. We have the word. We have great Bible teachers. We have Christian bookstores, radio, television, and internet. We are without excuse. Get into God’s word. Get God’s word into you. Get into the world and show them what it looks like when someone has the word and the Spirit of God in them.

 Revelation 21
Just as there has been confusion over Satan and Hell there has been an equal amount of confusion over Heaven. When the believer dies, do they go to Heaven or Heaven? What? Is Heaven streets of gold and pearly gates? No, it isn’t. That’s the New Jerusalem. When talking about the afterlife, Heaven is that dimension where God dwells. When a believer dies they go to be with the Lord in Heaven, but they don’t go to the place with streets of gold and pearly gates. That place doesn’t exist yet. It won’t be around until after the new heavens and new earth are created. The New Jerusalem is the place Jesus went to prepare for us. It is where our reward is. It is a place we will go after we are physically resurrected. Just as Satan, his crew, and those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life will spend eternity separated from God in the lake of fire forever and ever, so we will spend eternity with God in the New Jerusalem where there is no temple, no place we have to go and meet with God because He is the temple. It’s going to be an amazing thing to behold. Where will you be?

Job 40:2-5
The atheist says, “I know there is no God.” This isn’t because of any scientific evidence or proof. It’s because he looks at the history of religion in the world and sees all the harm it has brought. No question that that is the case. Religion has don’t it’s fair share of harm in this world. What the atheist misses is the fact that his religion caused more deaths in the 20th century than all the deaths resulting from other religions for all of time before that. The atheist says, “I know there is no God” because he looks at the Bible and sees absurdity in the supernatural and miracles. He thinks that because they sound so out-of-the-ordinary that it is impossible for such things to happen. Therefore, they didn’t happen. Yet his own humanistic and materialistic view propose even more incredible sounding things like the big bang and life coming about by chance, random processes. They take it on faith and believe it as fact. The time will come when they will get it. They will try to contend with the Almighty and they will fail miserably. They need to come to the point that Job did and recognize their own smallness compared to God’s infiniteness. Then they will be wise and have knowledge. 

Malachi 2:7-9
I have nothing against reading. Reading is a great thing. After all, God’s word is in written form. I think God inspires people two write books and commentaries for the benefit of His people. I’ve got some ideas for some books I might write. At the same time it’s easy for pastors and teachers to get caught up in one of two things. (a) There is a ministerial subculture of reading the latest thing from the hottest-for-the-moment guy. It’s almost like a bunch of ladies watching their “stories” on TV. They talk about it amongst themselves, then they share them from the pulpit an inordinate amount of time. Again, reading stuff like this isn’t a bad thing. But when it’s done to the extreme it can be unhealthy. (2) Pastors and teachers can want to build their church and satisfy their congregation, so they slowly depart from solid Biblical materials and mix in the feel-good prosperity stuff, or the secular stuff. In either case they have ceased being messengers of the Lord of hosts. People should want to come to you because you know God, you hear from God, and the instruction you give when asked comes from Him. Be on guard as to who your influences are and God will use you to impact the lives of others for Him. 

Revelation 20:10
There is a tragic misunderstanding that has existed for centuries concerning Satan and Hell. Where it came from I don’t know but it has been perpetuated in everything from classical art to Warner Bros. cartoon. The misunderstanding is this; Satan is not in charge of Hell, nor are demons guards in Hell. Jesus Himself says that Hell was created for the Devil and his angels. Satan is going to be a prisoner in Hell right along with the beast, the false prophet, and everyone who has rejected Jesus as Lord. There is no hierarchy, there is not “staff”, and there is no escape. Satan would like us to think that he’s going to be in charge, but that just isn’t the case. It’s yet another subtle deception and desperate attempt by the devil to be lord over something. He may be free for now but a time is coming when he will meet his final destiny, as we all will. He has no choice in the matter. There is no redemption for him. We do have a choice in the matter. Jesus died and rose again to redeem us. That is the whole point of the Bible from beginning to end. What are we going to do with that redemption? Are we going to keep it to ourselves or are we going to share it with others before it’s too late?

Job 39
have you ever wondered why certain animals do the things they do? The simple answer is that God made them that way. God programmed animals to behave in certain ways. He has a plan. He has a purpose. These things are they way they are because this is the way He made them. And no one is in any position to say, “God, you did it in a stupid way. I would have done it way better.” Yet this is what people say. This is what Job was saying. This is what people say about God’s plan of salvation through Jesus. They say that it’s a stupid things to do to sacrifice one’s own Son. They say Jesus was dumb for not seeing what was coming. When we question the motivations of the Creator and Judge of the Universe we put ourselves in the position of judge over Him. That just isn’t how it’s supposed to be. It’s one thing to be curious and wonder why God does what He does and why He does things a certain way. It’s another to want to know why and then to evaluate if the answer is good enough or not. Perhaps the most humble thing anyone can say is, “I don’t know.” This is where God was trying to get Job. Perhaps the best thing to add to that is, “I don’t know, and I trust you, God.”

 Malachi 1:4
Some people have decided, for no really good reason other than they just want to, to fight against God. They have decided that they are going to live in defiance of God. They are going to stick it to Him and live life on their own terms. They build up and build up and build up, only to have it torn down by the Lord. They can’t win. They won’t win. They take one step forward and two steps back. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The purpose behind God tearing down isn’t to see them destroyed. Rather, it is to see them repent. If they do repent they will be received as the long lost son. If they don’t they will continue to be seen as the enemy of God. God doesn’t want to break us and leave us that way. He wants to break us and then rebuild us. If you know someone who is like this keep praying for them, that they may be broken, that they may repent, and be rebuilt and renewed in God’s love. 

Revelation 17:14
Back in Genesis 11 the world had one language and one desire; to defy God and do things their own way. God Himself said that those people would be able to do anything they put their mind to. This is why He confused their language. That, and to get them to obey His command to split up and go all of the planet making babies. When you look at history it is amazing the things people have done. Architecturally, scientifically, creatively, morally, we have done some amazing things. Some of them seem impossible to the point of absurdity, yet they happened. The holocaust, 9/11, building a space station, the music of Mozart, causing light to travel slower than normal, some crazy stuff that had one tried to predict, they would have sounded insane. Yet here in Revelation, we read about mankind deciding to make conventional-style war against Jesus. The world has already been waging academic, philosophical, and religious war against Jesus. Now they are going to try and physically go to war with Him. Just as the world has failed in other areas to bring Jesus down, so they will be unsuccessful in this way as well. The war isn’t just against Jesus but against those who are with Him. If you are in Christ then that’s you too. You are called, chosen, and faithful. If you are in Christ you are at peace with God. If not, you are at war with Him. I’m sorry to tell you this but you will lose. But the good news is that it isn’t too late to switch sides. All you have to do is pledge allegiance to the Lamb.

Have you ever taken a multiple choice test? Changes are you have. The tests go something like this.

2 + 2 = (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, or (d) 4. 

Sometimes there is an “(e) all or none of the above” but for the moment those aren’t an option. There is only one right answer to this question and it is (d) 4. The other answers are great numbers but they are they are the wrong answers to the question. So far I can’t imagine that anyone would have any trouble with what I’m saying. Just wait, trouble is coming.  Read the rest of this entry »

Job 38:21
For many chapters Job has been saying that God has been acting unjustly, that he is in the right, and God has not answered him. All of that is over. God now turns the tables and asks Job a few questions. You gotta love a God who talks a little smack. At the same time, God doesn’t do it to humiliate. God isn’t saying, “You are such an idiot. Sit down and shut up.” While God is trying to put Job in his proper place, He isn’t doing it in such a way that Job is going to feel distant and rejected by God. God is a good Father and isn’t provoking Job to wrath (see Ephesians 6). When kids hit about 12 or 13 they suddenly become omniscient (they know everything). It becomes necessary from time to time to remind them where they are in terms of wisdom and knowledge. We must be careful not to do this in such a way that puts a wall up between us and them. It isn’t always easy. I can imagine that God was holding back here. We, as children of God need this reminder from time to time of where we are. We, as parents need to remind our children where they are. Let’s learn from the Lord and pass both the lesson, and the manner in which the lesson was taught, to our kids. 

Zechariah 13:9
If metal could talk and you asked it about the process it went through in order to become as strong or as pure as it is, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a pleasant thing to hear about. First there is the process of being heated to a predetermined temperature. Once that temperature is reached it has to be carefully maintained. It can’t get too hot nor too cool, otherwise the process of purification is ruined. As the material is cooked impurities float to the top and must be removed. For the metal, if it had feelings, it would be a long, hot, uncomfortable, unpleasant experience. the way that you know the silver is done is when you can look into the pot and see your own reflection. That’s what God does with us. After we have been refined and tested God calls us His people, and we proudly call Him our God. 

Revelation 16:4-7
To the casual reader, this might sound very harsh. Turning all the fresh water into blood so that there is nothing to drink. Yet this, with everything else in the book, is exactly what the world apart from Jesus deserves. It amazes me that, on the one hand, there are those who will say that God is too harsh, that He is over the top and unfair in His judgments and punishments. Then there are those on the other hand who will say that God lets evil run rampant, that there is too much injustice in the world, that He doesn’t care, and that He is unfair for not doing something about all of this. In the end (literally) it isn’t us who decides what is fair or not, or if the timing of the justice is right or not, it is God. This is the consummation of of 6,000 years of patiently waiting through all of mankind’s evil toward God and one another. This is the time God determined and the way in which he determined to express His justice and judgment. The fact is that God was patient. The fact is that God could have erased all of this and done whatever He wanted. But He made a promise. He made a covenant. This is His plan. God’s plans are always good, and nothing ever goes wrong in them.