Job questions the day he was bornEliphaz accuses JobBildad accuses JobZophar accuses JobJob defends himself

What happens to our ministry when we don’t protect or guard it is:

1.) We ruin the ministry from us toward our peers

“If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the

sand of the seas – no wonder my words have been impetuous. The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my

spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.” – Job 6:2-4

“Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of

my soul.” – Job 7:11

What happens to our ministry when we don’t protect or guard it is:

1.) We ruin the ministry from us toward our peers 2.) We ruin the ministry from our peers toward us

“What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, that you examine him every

morning and test him every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of

men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my

offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

– Job 7:17-21

What happens to our ministry when we don’t protect or guard it is:

1.) We ruin the ministry from us toward our peers 2.) We ruin the ministry from our peers toward us

3.) We ruin the ministry that Jesus is doing in us

4.) We want nothing to do with the ministry

5.) We get tired of God altogether

How do we protect/guard our ministry?

1.) Listen before we speak

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become

angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” –

James 1:19-21

How do we protect/guard our ministry?

1.) Listen before we speak

2.) Differentiate: Questions to God vs. Questioning God

“Do not test the Lord your God” – Deuteronomy 6:16

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your

fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.” – Hebrews 3:7-9

How do we protect/guard our ministry?

1.) Listen before we speak

2.) Differentiate: Questions to God vs. Questioning God

3.) Be ministered to

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the

word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets

what he look s like. But the man that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard,

but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” – James 1:22-25

How do we protect/guard our ministry?

1.) Listen before we speak

2.) Differentiate: Questions to God vs. Questioning God

3.) Be ministered to

4.) Quit keeping score

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but

rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given

you” – Romans 12:3

“What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is

no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned

away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” – Romans 3:9-12

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” – Romans 3:22

How do we protect/guard our ministry?

1.) Listen before we speak

2.) Differentiate: Questions to God vs. Questioning God

3.) Be ministered to

4.) Keep God; Quit keeping score

5.) Choose life

“Now choose life, so that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the

Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac

and Jacob.” – Deuteronomy 20:19-20