I’ve heard people say, “Well, look what God
did to Job!” What did God do to Job? He built a
hedge around him and blessed him with abundance.
At the end of the book of James, the
Word says that God was full of pity and mercy
in His dealings with Job.

For years now, we’ve read about Job and
have blamed God for Job’s situation, thinking
that God commissioned Satan to attack Job.
That’s not true! In Job 1, Satan came to God
and said, “Put your hand against Job, and he
will curse you.” He tried to get God to do it,
but God would not. He said, “Behold [look and
see], he is in your power.” Job was already in
Satan’s power by letting that hedge fall from
around him. He quit acting in faith, began
operating in fear, and that protective hedge fell.
Then he was vulnerable to Satan’s attack. The
sacrifices he made were not made in faith. The
Word says he made the same ones continually
(Job 1:5). He lost everything he had. Job didn’t
have the written Word of God to act on like you
and I do today. He said, “That which I have so
greatly feared has come upon me” (Job 3:25).

Then he began by trial and error to figure a
way to get back his faith again. He tried crying
about it, he tried cutting and hurting himself,
he sat down in the ashes—none of this did him
any good at all. Satan sent him some very religious
men, and they certainly didn’t help him!
They were the ones that said God had done it.
God Himself told these men, however, that
they had not spoken of Him rightly.

But the very moment Job moved back in
faith by praying for those men, he moved
back on the Word of God and God replaced
double everything he had lost. When Job
began operating in faith once again, his
deliverance was instantaneous.

We need to preach this instead of identifying
with Job’s sickness and failure. People say,
“Well, I’m just like poor old Job.” We’ll, if
you’re going to be like Job, then you will have
to get healed and delivered. Job wasn’t poor
either—he was the richest man in the East
when this began and then God doubled that!
All God has ever done and all He has ever said
has been deliverance, freedom and power for
His people.

I refuse to believe that my heavenly Father
would hurt me, even though I may not know
all the circumstances. It may look as
though He is behind it, but I refuse to fall for
that. I know He sent His Son to die for me, so
I’m not going to hesitate for one moment and
give Satan the opportunity to move in on me.

Trouble-preaching—being trouble-centered
and trouble-minded instead of being victoryminded—
will give Satan just the moment’s hesitation
he needs to defeat you.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Psalm 41:1-2

KJV—Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth:
and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of
his enemies.

AMP—Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied)
is he who considers the weak and the poor;
the Lord will deliver him in the time of evil
and trouble. The Lord will protect him and
keep him alive; he shall be called blessed in
the land; and You will not deliver him to the
will of his enemies.

Psalm 109:30-31

KJV—I will greatly praise the Lord with my
mouth.... For he shall stand at the right hand
of the poor, to save him from those that
condemn his soul.

AMP—I will give great praise and thanks to
the Lord with my mouth.... For He will stand at
the right hand of the poor and needy, to save
him from those who condemn his life.

Moffatt—I will give thanks aloud to the
Eternal...for he supports a helpless man, to
save him from his persecutors.

Isaiah 25:4

KJV—For thou hast been a strength to the
poor, a strength to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the
heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as
a storm against the wall.

AMP—For You have been a stronghold for
the poor, a stronghold for the needy in his
distress, a shelter from the storm, a shade from
the heat; for the blast of the ruthless ones is
like a rainstorm against a wall.

NIV—You have been a refuge for the poor, a
refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter
from the storm and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm
driving against a wall.

NAS—For You have been a defense for
the helpless, a defense for the needy in his
distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from
the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a
rain storm against a wall.

Isaiah 40:28-29

KJV—The Lord...giveth power to the faint; and
to them that have no might he increaseth
strength.

AMP—The Lord...gives power to the faint
and weary, and to him who has no might He
increases strength [causing it to multiply and
making it abound].

Moffatt—The Eternal...never faints, never is
weary, his insight is unsearchable; into the
weary he puts power, and adds new strength
to the weak.

NIV—The Lord...gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Daniel 10:18-19

KJV—There came again and touched me
one like the appearance of a man, and he
strengthened me, and said, O man greatly
beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be
strong, yea, be strong. And when he had
spoken unto me, I was strengthened.

AMP—There touched me again one whose
appearance was like that of a man, and he
strengthened me. And he said, O man greatly
beloved, fear not! Peace be to you! Be strong,
yes, be strong. And when he had spoken to
me, I was strengthened.

Moffatt—One in the likeness of a man again
touched me and strengthened me, saying, “O
man greatly loved by God, fear not; all good
be yours; be strong, be brave.” At his words I
gained strength.

NIV—Again the one who looked like a man
touched me and gave me strength. “Do not
be afraid, O man highly esteemed,” he said.
“Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he
spoke to me, I was strengthened.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries