THE JOB FACTOR
INTRODUCTION:
Now I know to some or most of your this is “Christianity 101” but stay with me this morning! I think I have something that will bless you if you are struggling anywhere in your walk with God! When I say “STRUGGLING” I don’t mean “STRUGGLING” in the way that you’re losing out with God, I mean “STRUGGLING” in the way that many Christians do with their lives at one time or another!
Recently I was thinking & praying about my “FAITH!” I want my “FAITH” to be alive in me greater than ever before! So with this in mind I began to ponder on the properties of “FAITH!” I began to think about what it is that makes “FAITH” pop in our lives, that makes “FAITH” come alive! “FAITH” is something that we cannot afford to live without! It is one of the easiest things about Christianity but yet at the same time it is one of the hardest more daunting aspects of our Christian Walk and Existence!
Heb. 11:6 tells us that
“...without FAITH it is impossible to please God.”
So we know that “FAITH” is a no-brain-er when it comes to relationship with God! So what is it that is so “DISTURBINGLY DIFFICULT” to so many? Well in two words it’s easy: it’s the “HUMAN FACTOR!” It is the flesh we live in that is the biggest factor in our walk with God! Now you can blame the enemy of your soul, and rightly so give the devil his due, but, there is a “HUMAN FACTOR” that has to be taken in account within ourselves & our walk with God!
Hebrews 11 is known as the “FAITH CHAPTER!” It is that passage that shows us how “FAITH” was a part of the lives of “HEROES OF THE FAITH” & “HEROES OF FAITH!” Two separate things! Heb. 11:1-2 is a passage that we all know for certain but it bears repeating!
“FAITH is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”
This passage is not a “DEFINITION” of “FAITH” but a “DESCRIPTION” of “FAITH” By no means do I mean to imply that our walk of “FAITH” is easy in any way, shape or form! IT IS NOT! But, it is “DOABLE!”
I Cor. 10:13 tells us...
“No temptation is overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is FAITHFUL, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond that you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape for you, that you may be able to bear it.”
We need to remember this passage of scripture when the temptation, & everybody has them, becomes so extreme to our thinking that we cannot take in another minute that “GOD’S PROMISE” is that He “WILL NOT ALLOW” the temptation to over take you so that you fall!
He did it with Job! I believe that God knew that Job had it in him, because God put it there! God knew that Job could withstand more than the average man because God knew that Job had tapped into something dynamic in his “FAITH!” Something that not everybody had at that time or even in this time! Although there are some, you this morning can be one of those “SOMEBODIES” who have tapped into that...“JOB FACTOR!”
Job understood something about “FAITH” whether he put it into the words that actually described what he did & said on that fateful moment when he spoke in so eloquently & powerfully in Job 13:15...
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
One translation says, “...yet, will I wait on Him.” The word “WAIT” implies not only trust but to “SERVE!”
There are “3” things are happening in this simple little, yet so profound passage! “3” things that I think have gone largely unnoticed but needs be applied to & for your lives this morning! I believe that these “3” things will help revolutionize your way of thinking and your “WALK OF FAITH!”
These “3” things are, what I believe, Job used whether he realized it or not. He tapped into these things almost subconsciously. How did he do that?
His “APTITUDE” defined his “ATTITUDE” which in turn determined his “ALTITUDE!”
I. APTITUDE!
We read in Heb. 11:6...
“...without FAITH it is impossible to please God!”
Folk, “FAITH” is already a part of us, but we have to tap into it in a “SUPERNATURAL” way in order to accomplish what it is that God wants for us!
Webster’s Dictionary defines “APTITUDE”
“an inclination, a tendency, a natural ability, general suitability”
How do I know or think that? First of all the only thing that God didn’t give us in the creation was “SALVATION!” There was no need for it because there wasn’t anything to “SAVE” until the fall of man!
Secondly, scripture tells us so!
Romans 12:3 tells us...
“...think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of FAITH.”
When you need it you’ve got to dig down deep grabbing that “FAITH” God has given you & taking that “FAITH”, God has given you, understanding God has “GIVEN IT” to you, to “HELP” you overcome through His Name!
“APTITUDE” means you have an “inclination, a tendency, a natural ability, general suitability!” Folk, it is there for the using! Just like a baby walking! He takes little “BABY STEPS” till he’s “RUNNING!” “FAITH” is the same way & “FAITH” when not used becomes “ATROPHIED!”
When I broke my leg I didn’t use my right leg muscles for #9 months. When they took the cast off I began to cry, not only out of excitement but, out of disappointment as I looked at my leg seeing what had been a healthy leg muscle now looked like the leg of a 100 year old man! But, I began to use it & it took some time but it finally began to be as strong as it was the day of the accident!
Unused “FAITH” is the same way! But remember that “FAITH” is in your “DNA!” Job had an “inclination, a tendency, a natural ability, general suitability!”
II. ATTITUDE!
First, let me tell you that God is big on “ATTITUDE!” Your “ATTITUDE” says more about you than you may realize! Your “ATTITUDE” is on your tongue, your face, your countenance, your eyes, it’s all over you! “ATTITUDE” is sometimes the first thing another notices or sees about you! I work hard on my “ATTITUDE” but many times I fail myself & God!
Webster’s Dictionary again defines the “JOB FACTOR” of “ATTITUDE” as such... “a mental position with regard to a fact or state, a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state”
Job had a “MENTAL POSITION” & a “FEELING or EMOTION” toward what he knew to be a “FACT!” He knew without a doubt that his “FAITH” was secure in his God! With that in mind he was able to face the most difficult situations that a man could ever face! It seems as thought Job faced every humanly insurmountable odd that a man could face, but he faced it with “FAITH” in God!
Folk, our “ATTITUDE” needs to be the same as Job’s today! We face humanly insurmountable odds that without God “FAITH” in God & couple that with the “JOB FACTOR” then without a doubt “VICTORY” is assured us that “FAITH” in God!
Philippians 2:5 says...
“Let this MIND be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...”
You already have an “APTITUDE” so let your “ATTITUDE OF FAITH” show forth! You can do it this morning! You can do it everyday! If Job could do it then you can do it!
III. ALTITUDE!
Your “ATTITUDE” will always determine your “ALTITUDE!” You can soar with “EAGLES” or you can scrounge with “TURKEYS!” Don’t get me wrong! The “EAGLE & TURKEY” are both beautiful birds but one tastes better than the other! I’ve eaten a lot of “TURKEYS” but never ate an “EAGLE!”
A “TURKEY” can fly for a little ways but an “EAGLE” will soar seemingly forever as the sky is the only limit for a “EAGLE!”
In the Aviation community it is a well known fact that “ATTITUDE affects your ALTITUDE!” The same thing applies to us as Christians! Our “ATTITUDE affects our ALTITUDE!”
Webster’s Dictionary again give us definition:
“Great Height, high level, vertical distance, an elevated region”
Habakkuk 3:19 says...
“The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet. And He will make me walk on my HIGH HILLS!”
David the Psalmist says in Psalm 18:33...
“He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on HIGH PLACES!”
Not only does your “ATTITUDE affect your ALTITUDE” your “ATTITUDE affects your FAITH!”
When your “ATTITUDE” is poor then your “FAITH” will always suffer!
Proverbs 23:7 says...
“For as a man thinks in his heart so is he.”
Proverbs 18:21 says...
“Life and death are in the power of the tongue...”
Everything about your tongue reveals your “ATTITUDE” which reflects in your “ALTITUDE!”
Closing!
