Sunday, June 30th 2013 By: Michael Whitt Romans 8:28 “All things work together for the good to those who love God; to those who are the called according to His purpose." "That verse is in the context of suffering; suffering of believers because they have committed their lives to follow a Christ whom the culture at that time, and even in our own day, did not want. And so to follow Christ would put you in cross[fires] with the culture, and it’s why Jesus said “If you want to follow me, let them deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me”. So when you go through suffering for Christ’s sake, how in the world can you find the courage to stand? And how can you find the courage to take the gospel to those that have never heard, knowing it’s going to cost you or your family in doing so? Because God works all things together for good. That teaching, brought to its incredible, logical deduction, ought to make us courageous for the gospel. Because no matter what we face, no matter what the enemy throws against us, God already has purpose to turn it around for our good. It ought to give us courage to stand. And it gives us comfort when everything goes wrong. Not comfortable, but comfort…. And I think as we go through life, we began to figure out one of two things happens in our relationship with God when we go through trials. Either the Word, either God will inform our circumstances and we will find comfort and strength and grow in that crisis, or our circumstances will change our view of God. And a person’s faith can wilt, can alter, can fall, and for some, it can show that they never had real faith in Him to begin with. And so the reason I’ve taken so long to go through this, is because I want us to be strengthened, not if trials come, but when they come, and their usually sooner than you and I ever think. And so when we look at Romans 8:28, we looked at the providence of God that brings us incredible comfort and strength and I hope no matter what we’re going through, God’s going to turn it around in the end for good. Yes, the enemy has me in his cross[fires]. He is working in a variety of different fashions to overwhelm my faith, and all it’s done is drive me closer to King Jesus. And God’s working together for good not only in me, but when I get to the end of God’s plan for my life; it’s going to be good. And how do we know that? Well that’s what we’ve been picking up on; the plan of God. Romans 8:28, the backing of that is 29 and 30. The reasons all things work together for good is because God has a good purpose prepared for believers. Alright? And this is the Unbreakable Chain of Salvation."
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 17:35:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015