In Challenging Times, God’s Hand Still Offers Freedom Through Jesus (341) – March 14 2026

For those who love the Lord [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed], what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for them. This is what 1 Corinthians 2:9 speaks about. The believer in Jesus can rest in peace and joy, but also know they have a hope and a future.

This contrasted with the lack of hope and a future for those who decide to reject Christ, not believe or accept Him, and foolishly and rashly utter things they do not understand (Job 42:3). While being blinded by the devil (2 Corinthians 4:4), they have the ability to receive Christ as Lord but some carry on as they are on the broad path, deceived by their own futile understanding lacking divine Wisdom. Such is the peril of those trusting in their own personal beliefs that contradict the Truth of the Word of our Almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

This program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): Job 42:1-6; Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 53:1-3; Psalm 1:1-2; Romans 8:5-9; Jeremiah 29:11; Proverbs 19:20-21; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Psalm 40:5; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; Psalm 34:18.

Pastor Marc teaches this this week.

Transcript

(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.)

And a very good day, this is Pastor Marc Whelan with Touch of God. And today I asked the Lord, what do you want to tell your people? And I heard the words, hope and a future. And of course, this comes from chapter 29 of Jeremiah, but he wants to encourage you today.

I believe that you do have a hope and a future if you love him. And we’ll go through some scriptures today that will reinforce that you have a hope and a future in the Lord if you love him, because he certainly loves you regardless of how you feel about him and regardless of if you have taken Jesus as your Lord and savior or not. So before we start the program today, I just wanted to pray for you.

Father, in the name of your son, Jesus, I lift up this precious soul to you today. Lord, they have many things going on in their life, and maybe they are perplexed. Lord, maybe they are not sure what to do, bewildered.

Maybe they have trouble of different kinds. Maybe their health issues. Maybe they don’t have a clear path in front of them.

Lord, you have a clear path in front of them. You have a path in front of them if they love you. And Lord, today, I just thank you for showing us how simple it is to engage with you, to receive you, to seek you with all of our heart.

Read your word, understand the truth, and be set free and begin to see clearly the path in front of us that you have divinely placed, that your word lights up ahead of us, that your word lights up through a lamp unto our feet. And we thank you, Lord, for revealing this to your people, to your creation today, and to your children. In the name of Jesus, amen.

So we’re going to start off in the book of Job chapter 42, and we’re going to cover verses 1 through 6, and this is the Amplified Classic Edition. Now, you’ll remember the book of Job, where Job is somewhat complaining to the Lord. Job’s friends don’t do anything to help much.

Towards the end of the book, the Lord starts to respond to Job. The Lord corrects Job and puts Job to the test with certain questions. And Job 42 is Job’s response to what the Lord told him.

And so chapter 42 of Job verse 1 says, Then Job said to the Lord, I know that you can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of yours can be restrained or thwarted. Verse 3, You said to me, Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel by words without knowledge? Therefore I now see I have rashly uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me which I did not know. Before we go further to verse 4, let’s see here in verse 3, it says, You said to me, So Job is saying, Lord, you said to me, Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel by words without knowledge? So Job, previous to chapter 42, was darkening and obscuring counsel.

That means he was obscuring the counsel of the Lord by words without knowledge. So it’s possible to speak without knowledge, knowledge of the truth, that is. And then verse 3 continues, Therefore, Job says, Therefore I now see I have rashly uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me which I did not know.

So here we see that Job realizes that his ignorance, he was rashly uttering complaints through words without knowledge, and he did not understand the truth. He did not understand the nature of the Lord. He did not trust in the Lord wholeheartedly, because when push came to shove and Satan was attacking Job with various means, including boils on his skin, there was a point where Job could no longer contain his frustration of the Lord, and he started blaming God.

But in verse 3 here of Job 42, it was Job’s lack of understanding. So therefore he concluded in ignorance certain things, and those were not knowledge. He was darkening and obscuring counsel by words without knowledge.

So he said, I have rashly uttered. And sometimes we can be very rash, and we can be quick to speak and slow to hear, where we ought to be slow to speak and quick to hear. There are scriptures about that too.

We should be reading the Word. We should be seeking the Lord before rashly responding to someone sometimes, especially when it’s a big decision. So Job is confessing here in verse 3 that he did not understand things too wonderful for him.

He did not understand the wonderful things, the gifts of the Lord, the blessings of the Lord. He did not know them. And why didn’t he know them? Presumably, if he had spent more time with the Lord, he would know more about the Lord.

And so obviously he had not had enough time in a relationship with the Father. Verse 4, I had virtually said to you what you have said to me. So this is Job saying, Lord, I had virtually said to you what you just said to me.

Here I beseech you, and I will speak. I would demand of you, and you declare to me. So this was the audacity of Job, where he was telling the Lord, here I beseech you, and I will speak, and I would demand of you, and you declare to me.

Well, the Lord ended up basically saying that back to Job. Verse 5, I had heard of you only by the hearing of the ear, but now my spiritual eye sees you. So it is possible to conclude things about situations in your life based on our senses, but we’re not at that point seeking the Lord or discerning by the Spirit.

So we’re taking things at face value, what we see with our naked eyes, what we hear that someone says about someone, and we’re not actually discerning the truth to see if that is the truth based on the Holy Spirit. Verse 6, therefore I loathe my words, and abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. So the realization that Job had really missed the mark in understanding the nature of God and the goodness of God, and realizing that he was incorrect in his understanding, this caused him to loathe himself.

He loathed his words and abhorred himself, and he ended up repenting in dust and ashes. If only the souls that have yet to know the Lord would realize the words they are using are darkening and obscuring counsel. They continue in unbelief, reinforced by the doctrines of devils, reinforced by the traditions of men, reinforced by what someone else says that doesn’t line up with Scripture.

If only they could get to the point where they loathe their own words, abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes, and turn to the Lord, and seek forgiveness, and confess Jesus as Lord, and become saved. This is what we need to pray for, for others to come to the light, to come to the realization that they are not correct in their own understanding, they’re leaning on their own understanding, and they’re not acknowledging the Lord. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 and 6 says as much.

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind, and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. So there’s a reason that the Lord put it on the heart of the person writing Proverbs, Solomon, to write this verse, because obviously our heart and our mind our insight and understanding, our own insight and understanding cannot be trusted, and that is based on what we have grown up to know prior to reading the Word of God, knowing it to be true, and not what we previously knew or thought we knew. Verse 6, in all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

You see here there is a conditional verse here. Verse 6, in all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. So if we do not know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, He’s unable to direct and make straight and plain your paths, and individuals in that situation, they will find their paths continuing to be crooked and full of ups and downs and tight curves, and sometimes these individuals fall off the path into ditches in life, and then some of those people blame God for all the trouble they’re going through, and when it wasn’t God’s fault at all, God is unable to direct our paths if we do not acknowledge Him or have the slightest interest in knowing Him, because He would be forcing our feet on a path we have not agreed to.

In other words, He will be violating our free will, which He will never do. So there is a folly of leaning on our own understanding. It’s absolute folly and vanity, and we’re going to be talking about this in Psalm chapter 1, verse 1 to 2. Verse 1 says, Blessed, happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly, following their advice, their plans and purposes, nor stands submissive and inactive in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down to relax and rest where the scornful and the mockers gather.

So we see here in verse 1 that there is words that talk about the counsel of the ungodly. So this will be counsel that is darkened and obscured from the truth. There’s ungodly counsel that we will listen to and agree with until we come to a knowledge of the truth through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that reveals the truth once we become born again.

Verse 2, But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on his law, the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God, he habitually meditates, ponders and studies by day and by night. So the way to get away from darkened and obscure counsel is to ponder and study the Word of God, the teachings of God by day and by night because that is the truth that will set you free. It will discredit the falsities, the ungodly counsel that you have received over the years prior to coming to Christ and starting to know the truth from Scripture.

Psalm chapter 53, verse 1 to 3, The empty-headed fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt and evil are they, and doing abominable iniquity. There is none who does good.

God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood. Who sought, inquired after, and desperately required God. Every one of them has gone back, backslidden and fallen away.

They have altogether become filthy and corrupt. There is none who does good. No, not one.

So here again, we see the folly of the corrupt, the evil, those who reject Christ, those who have rejected the Word of God, those who are still in the counsel of the ungodly, walking the ways of the world, subject to the characteristics of the devil and the things that he would do. But we see that God is looking down from heaven upon the children of men, upon all creation, to see if there were any who understood, who sought, inquired after, and desperately required God. Every one of them has gone back, backslidden and fallen away.

They have altogether become filthy and corrupt. There is none who does good. No, not one.

Now, obviously, this is Psalm chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. This was spoken about during a period of time for the psalmist. Now, obviously, today there are godly men and women. Obviously, we have all fallen short of the glory of God.

That is a true statement. But there are people who are doing the will of the Lord. But the essence here is knowing that it is folly to reject God, to believe that he doesn’t exist.

And it’s because of the carnal mind that we have. When we are born out of our mother’s womb, we start off with a carnal mind, a mind that is at enmity with God. It is at odds with God.

It is conflicting with God’s ways, understanding, and his holiness. Our mind is at war with God until we renew it. Romans chapter 12, verse 2 says from the apostle Paul, it says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So that means we have to be transformed away from having carnality into renewal, into a renewed mind, so that we now think the way God thinks with his ways, his nature. And we know the truth. So we know what God believes, we know his understanding, and we do not follow our own anymore.

Romans chapter 8, verses 5 to 9. It says, for those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires, set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh. But those who are according to the spirit and are controlled by the desires of the spirit, set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit. Verse 6. Now the mind of the flesh, which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit, is death, death that compromises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter.

But the mind of the Holy Spirit is life and soul peace, both now and forever. Verse 7. That is because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s law. Indeed, it cannot.

Interesting here in verse 7, it says that it’s impossible for a carnal mind to submit itself to God’s law. It’s absolutely impossible. By the word cannot there at the very end of verse 7. So even if someone who was an unbeliever desired for their mind to be submitted to God’s law, they would have a very hard time until they truly gave their life to the Lord and confessed Jesus as Lord to then become born again, to become a new creation where God brings about a change of heart, a brand new spirit, and the ability for that person to now understand the things of the spirit.

Verse 8. So then those who are living the life of the flesh, catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature, cannot please or satisfy God or be acceptable to Him. But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the spirit, if the Holy Spirit of God really dwells within you, directs and controls you. But if anyone does not possess the Holy Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

He does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God. Our minds are carnal until we get into the Word of God and accept the truth of the Scriptures, updating our carnal understanding to our new understanding, that new understanding being God’s own understanding since it came from His Word, it is Him. But if we do not read the Word, our mind continues to be carnally corrupted with our own opinions and conclusions about life and God Himself.

It all seems logical, so why would we question it? All of our fellow unbelievers also believe much the same as we do as sinners, the unbeliever would say. It is as though we have been counseled by the devil himself. Well, remember, we were born with the same characteristics of our old father, the devil.

John 8, verse 44. And so we don’t need to be taught how to lie. We are in that deep, fallen groove or ditch of life if and until we surrender it to the Lord for Him to transfer us out of the powers of darkness and into His kingdom.

Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil to give you hope in your final outcome. Firstly, you can say that the Lord must love you to care enough to have thoughts and plans for you, plans for welfare and peace.

But also it goes on to say, and not for evil. So that means if anything evil happens to you, God did not plan for that to happen. Remember, God is not controlling everything, every moment of the day.

You have a free will to trust in Him or to trust in the devil. If you’re not one of His, then you still have the devil as your father. And I know this might be strong for some of you to hear, but I do not like withholding the truth from you when it’s the Bible.

Far better you hear the truth and make a choice for Jesus so that you can finally get out of this ditch that you’ve been in for too long, because Jesus paid so preciously with His blood to get you out of there, to get you out of the kingdom of darkness, because God never meant for you to perish. You and I, when we went to that tree in the Garden of Eden, as our ancestors did, Adam and Eve, and ate the fruit of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we obeyed the devil and we didn’t obey God. So now we are suffering the consequences and the repercussions from that event a long time ago.

But Jesus has a way out. The Father so loves you that He gave Jesus to pay the punishment on the cross in your stead, in place of you, for your sin. So the ditch you’re in today is not God’s doing.

But if you love Him and according to His purpose, Romans chapter 8 verse 28 says that He will work all those things that the devil has caused you to be with that ditch for good. He will take all the stuff going on in your life and He will work it out for good for you. So if we do not repent and turn from our sinful ways, turning to God, we make a choice, knowingly or unknowingly, that prevents God from directing our path, partaking in the plans He has to prosper us, to give us a hope and a future.

Proverbs chapter 19 verse 20 to 21. It says, Hear counsel, receive instruction and accept correction that you may be wise in the time to come. Many plans are in a man’s mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand.

See, the plans in a man’s mind are folly. They are vanity. They are not correct.

Many blame God for the way their lives are. If these souls would only seek God, read the Bible, go to a spirit-filled church, go to a Bible study with a friend, to seek out the truth, to cry out for help, the Lord would hear and answer immediately. But too many continue along the path of self-righteousness, having been blinded by the devil, according to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4, but they still possess the ability to have ears to hear and not reject Christ any longer, the one who loves them and died for them.

Psalm chapter 40 verse 5 says, Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which you have done and your thoughts toward us. No one can compare with you. If I should declare and speak of them, there are too many to be numbered.

So the thoughts the Lord has for us, there are too many to be numbered. Someone who thinks about you all day, all night, and never sleeps and still thinks about you, loves you and cares for you greatly. And even while we were yet sinners, the Lord had thoughts for us.

Now that’s something. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 through 11, but on the contrary, as the scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared, made and keeps ready for those who love him, who hold him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying him and gratefully recognizing the benefits he has bestowed. So you see here that those who love him, those who hold him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying him and gratefully recognizing the benefits he has bestowed, are going to inherit and receive the benefits of those things that God has prepared for them beyond all we could imagine, beyond what we have seen and beyond what we have heard.

Verse 10, Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through his Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God, the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny. For what person perceives, knows and understands what passes through a man’s thoughts except the man’s own Spirit within him. And this is not talking about the Holy Spirit because this is a small S, not a capital S. It’s the man’s own Spirit.

See, the man with his own Spirit can only think about the thoughts that are within him, not of the things of the Spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit. Without the Lord, without becoming born again, he would not know or discern the things of the Holy Spirit, the things of God. And the verse continues, verse 11, Just so no one discerns, comes to know and comprehend the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Now we have not received the Spirit that belongs to the world, but the Holy Spirit who is from God. Given to us that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts of divine favor and blessings so freely and lavishly bestowed on us by God. See those words there, of divine favor and blessings so freely and lavishly.

That word lavishly, it’s just an overflowing, it’s just continual bestowment on us by God of beautiful gifts. Verse 13, And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truth with spiritual language to those who possess the Holy Spirit. But the natural non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly, meaningless nonsense to him.

And he is incapable of knowing them, of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them, because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. But the spiritual man tries all things. He examines, investigates, inquires into, questions and discerns all things, yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one.

He can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him. For who has known or understood the mind, the counsels and purposes of the Lord so as to guide and instruct him and give him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ, the Messiah, and do hold the thoughts, feelings, and purposes of his heart. So do you want to find out the plan for your life? To know Christ is the answer, have a relationship with him and the Father, and to do his great commission, to preach the gospel, to the creation of the world, to lay hands on the sick, to cast out devils, to raise the dead, not forgetting to fellowship with each other.

And for those of you in the Firefold Ministry, we have the responsibility of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. And that’s all the works of the ministry, including the casting out of demons. You see, demons are getting away with a lot of stuff in people’s lives because the church is largely afraid to encounter and cancel the assignments of the powers of darkness, which are beneath us in Christ.

The evil is beneath us because we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So what are we afraid of? In the meantime, you and I may have bills to pay. And if the ministry God has given you has not yet been able to support you financially, then you still have some type of tent-making job to be financially sustained.

And if you don’t have one of those today, I pray the Lord provides a job or source of income for you so that you can pay the bills and also still be able to minister while you minister on the streets and in the highways and the byways. Whatever that tent-making job becomes or is, minister to other people that you meet there in person or online. Nonetheless, the Lord does have plans for you.

He has plans for everyone, but it is only those who love Him and thereby desire the Lord for Him to direct their path is He able to reveal and action His plans for them in their lives. We know this because of 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9. So today, where is our mind? Is it carnal? Or are we understanding the truth of the word of God? Are we one of His or we’re still roaming the earth fallen in a fallen nature? So today, seek the Lord with all of your heart. Confess Jesus as Lord.

Make a decision for Him or make a decision to rededicate your life back to the Lord. The Lord has open arms. There’s still time.

Jesus has not yet come back, but He’s coming back soon. There is not much time left and we cannot gamble our life assuming we’ll be alive tomorrow. Tomorrow is not promised.

Tomorrow may not come and we may not reach tomorrow. One of those two things may happen. While we have yet time to make a decision, why not make it today? Because while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Confess Jesus as Lord. Come to Him with all of your heart. Seek Him.

Confess your sins. 1 John chapter 1, verse 9. Confess your sins daily if you have to. Confess to the Lord and He is faithful to forgive your sins.

To cleanse you of all unrighteousness. This unrighteousness is attached to all of the unbelievers because they have not yet been forgiven of their sin. They have not yet been cleansed of their unrighteousness.

So they walk around in guilt of things that they should have done or have done. But you as a born-again believer now, if you’ve given your life,

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