Day 7/5 – Experiencing Deliverance

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Experiencing Deliverance
Day One Hundred Eighty-six

“As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was living. So he asked them the hour when he began to mend, and they said to him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live’; and he himself believed, and all his household.” John 4:51-53

Your faith has to have a basis. When you commit either to the unseen or a future promise, you must have a good reason for doing so; otherwise it is nothing more than wishful thinking. Personal experience plays a strategic role in the Christian life. The nobleman knew that Jesus was his Savior because he experienced the promised deliverance. When Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe,” He was not rebuking, but stating a fact. You must have your own encounter with God that attests to the validity of the Scriptural promises upon which your faith is based. Evidence of Christ’s work in your life, therefore, is foundational to faith. If you don’t experience change, you will question the work of God in your life.

The person who grows up in a Christian home, coming to faith early in life and thus never remembering a time when he has not loved Jesus, must have some basis other than the faith of his parents in order to believe. The experience of Saul of Tarsus, being converted on the road to Damascus, produced assurance that provided an anchor during times of trials. Each of the Patriarchs personally met God. Isaac followed God, not because of his father Abraham, but because he personally met God.

Obviously experience has limits. Jesus is not the Savior because you experienced His salvation. Rather, you experienced His salvation because He is the Savior. Nevertheless, His touch on your life forms the foundation by which you trust His leadership in your life.

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Job 30-31 Acts 13:26-52 (New King James Version)

Job 30-31
Job’s Wealth Now Poverty
30
“But now they mock at me, men [a]younger than I,
Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2
Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me?
Their vigor has perished.
3
They are gaunt from want and famine,
Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,
4
Who pluck [b]mallow by the bushes,
And broom tree roots for their food.
5
They were driven out from among men,
They shouted at them as at a thief.
6
They had to live in the clefts of the [c]valleys,
In [d]caves of the earth and the rocks.
7
Among the bushes they brayed,
Under the nettles they nestled.
8
They were sons of fools,
Yes, sons of vile men;
They were scourged from the land.
9
“And now I am their taunting song;
Yes, I am their byword.
10
They abhor me, they keep far from me;
They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11
Because He has loosed [e]my bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off restraint before me.
12
At my right hand the rabble arises;
They push away my feet,
And they raise against me their ways of destruction.
13
They break up my path,
They promote my calamity;
They have no helper.
14
They come as broad breakers;
Under the ruinous storm they roll along.
15
Terrors are turned upon me;
They pursue my honor as the wind,
And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16
“And now my soul is poured out because of my plight;
The days of affliction take hold of me.
17
My bones are pierced in me at night,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18
By great force my garment is disfigured;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19
He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20
“I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.
21
But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
22
You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You spoil my success.
23
For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house appointed for all living.
24
“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins,
If they cry out when He destroys it.
25
Have I not wept for him who was in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26
But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
27
[f]My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest;
Days of affliction confront me.
28
I go about mourning, but not in the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29
I am a brother of jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30
My skin grows black and falls from me;
My bones burn with fever.
31
My harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the voice of those who weep.
Job Defends His Righteousness
31
“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
Why then should I [g]look upon a young woman?
2
For what is the allotment of God from above,
And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3
Is it not destruction for the wicked,
And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4
Does He not see my ways,
And count all my steps?
5
“If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
6
[h]Let me be weighed on honest scales,
That God may know my integrity.
7
If my step has turned from the way,
Or my heart walked after my eyes,
Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
8
Then let me sow, and another eat;
Yes, let my harvest be [i]rooted out.
9
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10
Then let my wife grind for another,
And let others bow down over her.
11
For that would be wickedness;
Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.
12
For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
And would root out all my increase.
13
“If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant
When they complained against me,
14
What then shall I do when God rises up?
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
15
Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
16
“If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17
Or eaten my morsel by myself,
So that the fatherless could not eat of it
18
(But from my youth I reared him as a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided [j]the widow);
19
If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor man without covering;
20
If his [k]heart has not blessed me,
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21
If I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
When I saw I had help in the gate;
22
Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,
Let my arm be torn from the socket.
23
For destruction from God is a terror to me,
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.
24
“If I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;
25
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much;
26
If I have observed the [l]sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
27
So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
28
This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.
29
“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
Or lifted myself up when evil found him
30
(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for a curse on his [m]soul);
31
If the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’
32
(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,
For I have opened my doors to the [n]traveler);
33
If I have covered my transgressions as[o] Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
34
Because I feared the great multitude,
And dreaded the contempt of families,
So that I kept silence
And did not go out of the door—
35
Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my mark.
Oh, that the Almighty would answer me,
That my [p]Prosecutor had written a book!
36
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
And bind it on me like a crown;
37
I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him.
38
“If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39
If I have eaten its [q]fruit without money,
Or caused its owners to lose their lives;
40
Then let thistles grow instead of wheat,
And weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Footnotes:
• Job 30:1 Lit. of fewer days
• Job 30:4 A plant of the salty marshes
• Job 30:6 wadis
• Job 30:6 Lit. holes
• Job 30:11 So with MT, Syr., Tg.; LXX, Vg. His
• Job 30:27 I seethe inside
• Job 31:1 look intently or gaze
• Job 31:6 Lit. Let Him weigh me
• Job 31:8 uprooted
• Job 31:18 Lit. her
• Job 31:20 Lit. loins
• Job 31:26 Lit. light
• Job 31:30 Or life
• Job 31:32 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT road
• Job 31:33 Or as men do
• Job 31:35 Lit. Accuser
• Job 31:39 Lit. strength

Acts 13:26-52
26 “Men and brethren, sons of the [a]family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the [b]word of this salvation has been sent. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. 28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. 29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. 32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. 33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’
34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to [c]corruption, He has spoken thus:
‘I will give you the sure [d]mercies of David.’
35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm:
‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
36 “For David, after he had served [e]his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and [f]saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised up [g]saw no corruption. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:
41
‘Behold, you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”
Blessing and Conflict at Antioch
42 [h]So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us:
‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Footnotes:
• Acts 13:26 stock
• Acts 13:26 message
• Acts 13:34 the state of decay
• Acts 13:34 blessings
• Acts 13:36 in his
• Acts 13:36 underwent decay
• Acts 13:37 underwent no decay
• Acts 13:42 Or And when they went out of the synagogue of the Jews; NU And when they went out, they begged