spiritual warfare, chapter 3 part 2

today i'm linking up with simple moments stick for:

as mentioned in this post, my small group is reading "lord is it warfare?" by kay arthur. this is my continued thoughts and interpretations on chapter 3. 

the second half of the week we focused on Job 1.

I wanted to copy the scripture into the post, but it's a whole chapter, so i'll post the parts that stood out to me the most.

1 in the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was job. this man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

6 one day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan also came with them.

7 the Lord said to satan "where have you come from?" satan answered the lord, "from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it." 

8 then the Lord said to satan, "have you considered my servant job? there is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."

9 "does job fear God for nothing?" satan replied. 

10 "have you put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? you have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flock and herds are spread throughout the land.

11 but now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will curse you to your face."

12 the Lord said to satan, "very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." 

then satan left the presence of the Lord.

{after this lots of horrible things happen to job- his children die and all of his flock and servants are killed}

20 at this, job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. then he fell to the ground in worship 

21and said

"naked i cam form my mother's womb,

and naked i will depart.

the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised"

22in all this, job did not sin by charging god with wrongdoing.

via

there are so many different things that we can learn about satan, and God, from reading this passage. 

satan:

>>is under god's control. {vs 12}

>>has access to earth and to God. he knows what is going on in our lives. {vs 7}

>>roams about the earth looking for someone to tempt {vs7&8}

>>is an accuser {vs 9-11}

God:

>>is in control. {vs 12}

>>protects his people when needed {vs 10, hedge reference- satan couldn't get to job because God had put a hedge around him}

>>doesn't give his people more than they can handle with his help. 

God knew that job wouldn't sin {vs 1&8}, so he felt comfortable with giving job these things to deal with. it's the same with our lives, God gives us things that with his help, he knows we candle handle. can we do it on our own? absolutely not. God puts us in situations where we have to rely on him. he does this so we can grow in our relationship with him and bring him glory, which will bring more people to have a relationship with him.

big points that kay makes in her book:
>>"because God is sovereign and because he limits satan's power, it's understandable that paul can say, 'no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.' (1 cor. 10:13)" p.66
>>"it's interesting that satan is mentioned in the first and last books of the bible. sin has been the habit of his life from the beginning. since his triumph in the garden of eden, he's sought to deceive us, to blind our eyes to the light of the one truth which can free us from his dominion- the gospel of Jesus Christ." p.71

this last point was very convicting to me:
>>"if satan were to stand before the Lord right now, would your character be such that God would boast of you to him? and if satan were to throw down the gauntlet and challenge your motives for serving God, could God pick up that gauntlet in confidence? could he know that in the midst of conflict with the enemy you would not desert the One who had enlisted you to be His soldier?" p.67<<