Tuesday's Musical Notes - "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper/Phil Collins)

Thank you! Спасибо!  Merci!  Danke!  Dziękuję!  Mersi!  Terima kasih!  Дякую!  Obrigado!  Thank you! (with a United Kingdom flair!)

The above greetings represent the top ten countries that have viewed Tuesday's Musical Notes since its inception in May 2012.  (Check out the archives to the right of the screen to see if your favorite song has traipsed down the pathway to Notesland!)  This November has been dedicated to showing our appreciation for your continued support and readership each week.  For the past three weeks we have revisited the beginnings of Tuesday's Musical Notes by reprinting (with a few tweaks) blogs that were a part of a weekly email sent to friends and family as a means of encouragement.  Since the last Tuesday of May in 2012, Tuesday's Musical Notes, the blog, has been seen by thousands of music lovers and truth seekers around the world.  It is with incredible gratitude that we say Thank You!!!  

On this last Tuesday of November 2017, we once again venture into the not so far away place that was 2012. (Wasn't the world supposed to end?  2012 - Movie trailer) 

Welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!   Добро пожаловать!   Bienvenue aux notes musicales de mardi!!!   Willkommen zum Dienstag es Musical Notes!    Zapraszamy do nut wtorek!   Dekwa pou mizikal Madi a laprès   Selamat datang ke Nota-nota muzik Selasa!!   Ласкаво просимо у вівторок музичні ноти!!!   Bem-vindo às notas musicais de terça-feira!   Welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!  (British accent if you please!)

  

Time for a Tuesday Musical tune up.....here's the notes!

Cultural revolutions come in cycles.  At times it seems that cultural norms change at a slow pace, while at other times, there is a difficulty in keeping up with the briskness of change.   As we look at the current cultural landscape, it is easy to see that we may very well be in the midst of one of those brisk periods now.    

Sometimes these adjustments to the norm are good, and sometimes......yikes!!  It seemed that the 1980's displayed many of the indicators of a similar culture change.  This was a time when you could just about get by with wearing any kind of clothing or hairdo.  Boundaries were in place only to be passed completely through.  Oh, the 80's...

One of the defining matrons of that time and style was a girl who just wanted to have fun.  She featured family members and professional wrestlers in her music videos and won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1985.  Her first album, She's So Unusual, has been rated 6x platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), with sales of over 6 million worldwide.  Her newest album, 2016's Detour, debuted at #29 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. You read that right...a Country album...maybe the world is ending...

 Looking at her entire body of music, it is easy to see Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors".

"True Colors" - title track from the September 15th, 1986 album by Cyndi Lauper

"True Colors" was the last #1 hit for Cyndi Lauper.  The song has resonated with people all over the world and was the impetus for the True Colors Fund, a humanitarian effort to eradicate homelessness among LGBT youth. (Shouldn't homelessness be eradicated for everyone?...a topic for another time perhaps...) The foundation and song spawned 2 tours featuring Cyndi Lauper in 2007 and 2008.   "True Colors" also proved so popular that it was covered by Phil Collins in 1998 for inclusion on his greatest hits compilation.

"True Colors" - by Phil Collins from the 1998 album ...Hits

On any given Sunday in America, many people will gather together for worship.  Unfortunately, only about half of the people who are listed on those church's membership rolls are in attendance.   "I see your true colors.."  

I was watching a television news show the other day and was glad to hear about the hosts' beliefs regarding Jesus.  When the Biblical passage John 3:16 came up, they couldn't quote it.  "I see your true colors...."   

Please don't think that I am judging these folks.  I am one of them,  but so are you.  Each day of our lives we are faced with decisions.  Whether we realize it or not, people all around us, some we don't even know, watch us as we make those decisions.  They see what we decide and our motivations for making the decision.  "I see your true colors....."

Paul's letter of encouragement to the Corinthian church explains it much better than I can.  2 Corinthians 3 English Standard Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel   Look closely at verse 18, 

“And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

The key phrases in this passage for me are  "transformed" and "one degree of glory to another".   

dictionary.com defines transformed as, "to change in condition, nature, or character, to convert."  I have yet to see someone at the point of their salvation transformed immediately into a person with the character of Jesus.  Yes, we all make mistakes.  The difficulty arises when we ask forgiveness for those mistakes and then continue to repeat them, and by doing so we don't embrace the next degree of glory through repentance. 

What is the next degree of glory to which Paul refers?  I think it is that next step of transformation that we take when we truly repent of the sin in our lives and embrace the grace and love of God instead of the despair and hatred of this world.  Some would call this spiritual maturity.  It is our opportunity to show our "true colors".  It is our opportunity to show who we want to be in Christ.  It is us becoming one step closer to the image of Jesus that we so deeply desire.  This kind of lifestyle will definitely get the attention of those around us.  "see your true colors shining through..."

In the book, Dug Down Deep, author Joshua Harris has some interesting quotes regarding Christians showing their "true colors".  He states,  

" If we don't love what Jesus loves, if we don't want to be like Him, then maybe we've never met Him".  (Does Jesus love homeless LGBT teenagers? this topic is not in the book, but I digress...again perhaps another time...)

He goes on to say, 

"The way we live proves the reality of our salvation."  (Ouch!!!  Я не могу.  Aïe!!!   Autsch!  Ojej!   Ouch laprès  Ouch!!!   Ой!  Ai!!!   Ouch!!! (is it time for tea?)

Both of these statements made me wince the first time I read them.  We have often times heard that our true character comes out when we think no one is watching.  I'm not sure that I buy that.  I think our true character is a conglomerate of how we are all the time.  Every day of our lives is an opportunity for us to show Christ, yet so many days of my life, Christ is not seen.  We can't do the work of transformation by ourselves and praise God, we are not supposed to.  Holy Spirit is the only being that can transform.  God, acting in the person of the Holy Spirit, renews us daily,  forgives us forever, and emboldens us to fight the flesh at every turn.  Our part, be renewed, be forgiven, and be bold about proclaiming the Gospel or when faced with temptation. 

There are so many "good" things that compete for our time, money, and energy.  But God wants "great" things for us.  He wants that "next degree of glory" life that we can have if we invest in our relationship with Him.    The power of Holy Spirit enables us to choose the "great" things of God and move to that next degree.    The choice is always ours.  "You with the sad eyes, don't be discouraged, oh, I realize it's hard to take courage in a world full of people you can lose sight of it all and the darkness inside you

can make you feel so small...But I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you, so don't be afraid, to let them show.......Your true colors......true colors shining through....."  Through Holy Spirit's transforming power, your true colors are more radiant than a rainbow...

"From the Inside Out" from the July 2, 2006, album Mighty To Save by Hillsong Live

'Til Tuesday

Serving HIM by serving You,
Randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Thank You" (Led Zeppelin)

Welcome to Tuesday!  It is the Tuesday before one of the best days of the year!!!  The only way today could be better is if it WERE Thanksgiving!  But alas, Thursday has that one all sewn up.  You can read about that more in today's Notes which were originally brought to you free of charge via email on November 22, 2011.  My how the time goes by.  So here, with an assist from one of the greatest bands in all of musicdom, is the reimagination of Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Thank You"   Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I hope you were taught the story of the Pilgrims.  They endured many setbacks in their attempt to have religious freedom by coming to the New World.  It was only through God's providence and some help from local natives that they survived.  Their observance of thanks is the example that we use for the celebration in which we partake at this time of the year.  

We remember the landing at Plymouth and the Indians.  We try to visualize the first meal and the praise that was lifted up by these weary travelers.  But it wasn't until the United States was in the middle of it's greatest conflict that we recognized the need to be grateful as a nation. 

243 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth and after having viewed the battlefield at Gettysburg,  President Lincoln realized the depravity of man and committed his life to Christ. 

He delivered his famous Gettysburg address 155 years ago this past Sunday.  

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

One of his first proclamations as a believer was to make Thanksgiving an official federal holiday in 1863.  Please take a moment and read the Thanksgiving Proclamation here:  

by the President of the United States of America

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the field of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than theretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony wherof I have herunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

A. Lincoln

Oh, that Presidents and politicians would speak and write that way today...they have forgotten that poetry communicates effectively.  It certainly did for one band 1969.  

   If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
when mountains crumble to the sea, there would still be you and me.

Kind woman, I give you my all, Kind woman, nothing more.

Little drops of rain whisper of the pain, tears of loves lost in the days gone by.
Our love is strong, with you there is no wrong,
together we shall go until we die. My, my, my.
Inspiration's what you are to me, inspiration, look... see.

And so today, my world it smiles, your hand in mine, we walk the miles,
Thanks to you it will be done, for you to me are the only one.
Happiness, no more be sad, happiness....I'm glad.
If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
If the mountains should crumble to the sea, there would still be you and me.

The poetic sense of the above lyric sounds as if it may have come from the Song of Solomon.  While it does express a "Whole Lotta Love", I think it best we "Ramble On" to the video:

"Thank You" by Led Zeppelin from the 1969 album Led Zeppelin II

"Thank You" was included on the #1 album, Led Zeppelin II, which was released in 1969, with other hits, "Whole Lotta Love" and "Ramble On".  Many attribute the release of Led Zeppelin II  as being the beginnings of heavy metal.  Yup!  The origins of metal featured the combination of a Vox 12 string guitar played by Jimmy Page and a Hammond organ played by John Paul Jones.  Some concerts for Led Zeppelin at this time were known to last over 4 hours.  Talk about getting your money's worth!

The first Led Zeppelin song written completely by lead singer Robert Plant, "Thank You" never made it to Billboard's Hot 100.    It did, however, make it as high as #8 on Billboards' Hot Rock Tracks Chart in 1995 after Duran Duran recorded a version of it for the Zeppelin tribute album, Encomium.  

"Thank You" interview with Duran Duran

"Thank You" by Duran Duran from the 1995 album Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin

During this season of Thanksgiving, we are often encouraged to reflect and evaluate those things for which we can be grateful.  This is a great exercise, and I encourage you to do just that in your times alone with God this week.  With each passing year, it seems that I become more grateful.  Perhaps this is something you experience as well. I think with the passing of time, we tend to take less and less for granted.  However, with this sense of gratitude can come revelations of the ways we overlook the very ones for which we are grateful.

At this point in history, it seems it is easier than ever to stay connected with those people to whom we have a relationship, yet it also seems that those relationships weaken due to the "distractions" that so easily compete for our time.  We text instead of truly talk, we skype instead of truly speaking, we email instead of using the letter writing skills that so many of us were taught in school as an art form.  Some would say this is progress.  Again as I get older, I wonder.  What price are we paying for this kind of progress? 

Try this exercise as you celebrate Thanksgiving.  Ask those who come into your home for the day to surrender their smartphone, smartwatch, tablet or any other electrical device they have on their person, to a box which you will hide until they depart.  See what happens.  Take the opportunity to invest in each other without the normal distractions that may separate you.  You may find you have much more than what you anticipated for which to be thankful.  

I am thankful for the relationships that God has given me yet, I use a lack of time and resources as excuses for not cultivating those God-given relationships in which I am blessed to have.  Please forgive me.  I am grateful that God has allowed me to live as long as I have, yet, I use a tired body and worn out knees as excuses for not obtaining new relationships that the Holy Spirit prompts me to start.  Please forgive me.  I am appreciative of all of the memories that I have yet, I use life's frustrations and regrets of the past as excuses for not dreaming the big dreams that God has planned for me.  Please forgive me.  Most of all, I am thankful for you, the people that I count as brothers and sisters in Christ and the fact that time and again, you DO forgive me.  For that forgiveness from you and the ultimate forgiveness we have in our Savior Jesus, I can gratefully say  "Thank You"!!

“I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;” I Corinthians 1:4-5 King James Version of The Bible/ English Standard Version of the Bible/ The Message Paraphrase of the Bible parallel

Thanks for reading Tuesday's Musical Notes, as often as you can!  Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Serving Him by serving You,
randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Africa" (Toto)

Welcome to Tuesday and Tuesday's Musical Notes!  Thank you for joining us as we traipse down the pathways of memories and music.  We are using November to further say thanks for clicking us onto your computer each month by featuring Notes that have been around for awhile but are new to the blogosphere.  Thank you for your continued support.  We hope you enjoy!  Here's a tweaked out version of Tuesday's Musical Notes from February 2012!!!

It's Tuesday Auntie Em.....have you seen my dog?

Despite popular thought, you don't necessarily have to have a string of monstrous #1 hits to be successful in the music business.  You don't have to score 6 Grammy's to be considered accomplished in the music industry.  Despite what we sometimes hear on the radio, all you really have to have to be musically successful is talent. There are thousands of incredibly talented people that populate New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Branson.  Some of them support themselves with jobs that are not music oriented to make ends meet, while many get there start by being background instrumentalists or vocalists.  Every once a while one of these musicians will get a reputation for being the best at what they do in the background.  It is at that point that they can quit their "day job" and work their passion.  Such is the life of a studio musician.  Here for your consideration is a list of some of the best session musicians ever in the business: 

Top 10 Session Musicians and Studio Bands - toptenz.net - By Evan Andrews - July 1, 2011

Chances are the names David Paich, Steve Lukather, David Hungate, Bobby Kimball, Steve Porcaro, and Jeff Porcaro, do not ring a bell.  But if you were to have conversations with artists such as the late Michael Jackson, Don Henley (Eagles), Hank Williams Jr., and bands such as Selah and Yes (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Changes"), they can certainly tell you that their music wouldn't be as good without the guys who make up the band.....

Toto.

The band members of Toto have been performing together as a group since 1976.  Their first album, Toto, was certified 2 times platinum in the United States and included the hit, "Hold The Line".  From that point on, the band either toured in support of their albums or they were individually playing on someone else's record, like David Paich, Steve Lukather, and Porcaro brothers did on Michael Jackson's smash album Thriller, which coincidentally was released the same year as a hit single by the collaborative Toto...what is that?  Is it drums echoing in the night?

"Africa" by Toto - from the 1982 album Toto IV
One of the attractions of the Bible is that is filled with great stories.  Some of them include characters that we learn about in Sunday School groups or Vacation Bible School.  These great legends of the Bible come to life as we read of their leadership or heroism in the face of difficult situations.  But there is always more to the story if you take the time to dig into the Word, which we continually encourage you to do here in Notes land.  A great place to start is at biblegateway.com

  

People who have names we find challenging to pronounce many times are the foundation for the stories of the Bible.  They serve in the background of the narrative and usually are overshadowed by great heroes of the faith, but these background characters are no less important.  God uses many of these people in miraculous ways to see His plan fulfilled.  

Do you remember reading about Bezalel or Aholiab?  They were the artisans that God filled with His Spirit to build the tabernacle for the Children of Israel. (Exodus 31 English Standard Version of the Bible/The Message Paraphrase of the Bible/New International Version of the Bible parallel)  What about Matthias and Joseph Barsabbas?  These were the men that the 11 remaining apostles of Jesus considered when replacing Judas Iscariot. (Acts of the Apostles chapter 1:15-26 ESV/The Message/NIV )  Have you ever contemplated Baruch's role in the telling of God's story through the scriptures?  He was the scribe that Jeremiah used to write down the prophecies that Jeremiah was proclaiming. (Jeremiah 36 ESV/The Message/NIV) These are just a few examples of the many people throughout the Bible that are considered "minor" players in the Biblical narrative but are considered "major" players in the eyes of God.  They fulfilled their purpose in God's plan by utilizing what God gifted them with and lead them to do.  Can that statement be said for me? Or for that matter you?

We all have a responsibility to spread the Gospel as followers of Christ.  Some responsibilities are like that of the great leader Moses, while others are to be a supporting role like Bezalel and Aholiab.  Much like the studio musicians who play on the musical "star's" albums, we each have to find that specific thing that we do that supports the overall effort.  

What is that for you?  What can you do that only you can do?   When you find the answer to those questions, embrace Colossians 3:23-24 which says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23-24 English Standard Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/New International Version of the Bible parallel) 

So what will you do?  Will you choose to use your God-given skills, gifts, and talents for the glory of God, will you choose to say with Joshua, "as for me and my house we will serve the Lord"?  Let me encourage you today to find ways you can serve God through His church. Boldly say..... " I know that I must do what's right, sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti". 

'Til Tuesday

Serving HIM by serving You,
randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Nowhere Man" (The Beatles)

Welcome to November, a month of giving thanks.  Here at Tuesday's Musical Notes, we celebrate with those who use this month to communicate those things in their life in which they are the most grateful.  As a way of saying "thank you" to the readers who join us each week for music and merriment,  we will feature for the next 4 weeks Tuesday's Musical Notes from the past that were a precursor of the blog you know and love today.  So sit back and enjoy as we turn the clock back and say thank you for making Tuesday's Musical Notes your favorite blog!  

It's Tuesday and time for today's notes!!!!!  Are you ready?

The Packers win the Super Bowl!!!  Sock It To Me!!  The United States no longer on the gold standard.....   Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis.....    Richard Nixon elected President......   Elvis is back!!!!  A Yellow Submarine is launched.  All in one year....1968.

 Trailer for the 1968 movie, The Yellow Submarine 

In 1968, the British Invasion was seen to be in its waning moments.  The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, Petula Clark, The Dave Clark Five and, of course, The Beatles had been topping the American music charts for over 5 years and American musical tastes were beginning to change as they so often do.  Sensing this shift, the Beatles, who were under a three-movie contract with United Artists, decided to explore a different way of celebrating their music.  Featuring a host of Beatles songs and under the production/direction of George Dunning, The Yellow Submarine was launched.  

I will never forget the first time I saw this film.   In the early 1970's it was broadcast on television as a Saturday matinee.  I saw it one afternoon while spending time with my Aunt Carolyn.  I was totally mesmerized as the Blue Meanies were eradicating the music of the people of Pepperland.  I didn't get most of the jokes, but the animation was like nothing I had seen from Bugs or Scooby.  I later learned that Psychedelic was the term most applied by adults while my initial reaction was that it was so weird it was cool.  I was somewhat familiar with the music that appeared on the soundtrack as my mother was a closet American Bandstand watcher.    The Yellow Submarine soundtrack wound up being a collection of songs by The Beatles.  There was one song from Yellow Submarine that for some reason stuck with me... "Nowhere Man".  

"Nowhere Man" by The Beatles from the British release of the 1965 album Rubber Soul and the 1966 United States release of Yesterday and Today

Having previously peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Nowhere Man"  was prominently featured in The Yellow Submarine as the Beatles encountered Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph. D., an eccentric being who quickly discovers that all of the knowledge that he had procured was nothing unless you have others in which to share it.   A compassionate Ringo agrees to allow Jeremy to accompany the band in an effort to help the boys from Liverpool defeat the Blue Meanies, which they eventually do with "All You Need Is Love" providing the musical backdrop.

While not a psychedelic adventure under the water in a submarine, many people engage in an annual excursion of reading the entire Bible in a year.  This is an exercise that takes discipline and effort.  But the rewards are incredible as you read the miraculous stories of the Bible.  Tuesday's Musical Notes highly encourages you to make the effort, find the translation or paraphrase that you like and jump in with both feet as you read the histories, poetry, tragedies, and victories that are cataloged in the book that is the most revered by Christians all over the world.  Most smartphones feature free Bible apps with a myriad of reading plans and other options for an annual outing with God's Word. And you will probably read passages that you recognize from favorite songs.   Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Turn, Turn, Turn"

As you read its 66 books, 1189 chapters, and 31,273 verses it is sure that you will come to the conclusion that this is a book that could have only been assembled by God.  It is the best selling book in the world and oddly enough the most stolen as Bibles placed in hotel rooms by Gideons International and other services usually go missing, and some Bibles, due to the expense of their cover treatment, are targets for shoplifters.  

I am currently reading through the Bible in a year.  This year's preferred translation is the English Standard Version.   The reading plan I have chosen is a chronological one that is easily accessed through an app on my smartphone, provided by YouVersion.  As you take on this challenge yourself, you may find that some books wind up being tedious reading, but if you make the effort, there are insights to be gained, actions to be applied, and examples to be followed.  One such book that is difficult for most modern readers is the Book of Job...who in some ways could be considered... the original Nowhere Man.  

In most Bibles, you find the book of Job with the poetic literature of Psalms, Proverbs, and Solomon's Song.  Historically, however, most scholars believe that the story of Job would have occurred sometime in the period of the patriarchs (Abraham, Issac, Jacob, etc).  There was an Eliphaz that was a son of Esau as well as one of Job's friends.  A grandson of Esau was Teman.  Eliphaz, again Job's friend,  is also described as a Temanite.  Some scholars conclude that the story of Job happened in the land of Edom, while the Israelites were in Egypt.  While all of this is personally fascinating, I don't think this is necessarily what we are to get from Job.

While Job is never left by himself in a land of nothingness, the bulk of his story is one of seeming despair.  I wonder sometimes if he would have rather been alone than to be constantly "counseled" by the friends that he had.  Even his wife piles on by exclaiming that he should curse God and die.  That is a hopeless perspective at the very least.  Job seems to be a challenging  book for people to wrap their hearts and minds around, but I think the book of Job answers the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Job is an example of one who is seemingly a person with a very moral character and at the height of life, his faith is challenged.  Though he questions why he is going through this troublesome time, he never denies God.  Just exactly how does Job continue in his faith?

I am not a theologian, but I think that Job is a book that we can all relate to in some way.  Chances are, you know someone who is in a season of despair in their life through no fault of their own, or maybe you have been there yourself.  That "Nowhere Man" feeling is just about to get the best of you when the Spirit of the Living God reminds you that you are God's precious creation and are of incredible value.  This impression is not given to you by any friend or relation, but by daily working out your salvation as the scripture says in Philipians 2:12-18 English Standard Version of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible/The Message Paraphrase of the Bible parallel. 

My strongest relationships are with people in which I invest the most time and effort.  In recent years, I have discovered that my salvation is something that I have to invest time and effort into on a daily basis.  It is not based on what I do to develop the relationship, but what He has already done to establish our relationship.   It is very difficult to have a growing relationship with someone with whom you spend no time.  I think this is the way that Job was able to sustain the attacks of Satan and eventually be restored for his faithfulness.  He had a growing relationship with God that was evident.  

So friend, how is your relationship with Jesus?  Have you intentionally spent time in His Word and communicated with Him through His Spirit today?  As we read through the Bible together, let me challenge you to be consistent with how you work out your relationship with Jesus.  While I certainly don't get the blue ribbon in applying Philipians 2:12-18, I do have a few things that might work for you.  If I can help please let me know.  Most importantly, as adopted children of God, there should never be a time where we feel that we are  "a real Nowhere Man....sitting in his Nowhereland".

'Til Tuesday....

Serving HIM by serving You,
randy