.gif)
Rom 8:28 NLT And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.
This morning we continue by continuing to discuss Paul: his life and his teachings. Yesterday we looked at the remarkably challenging things Paul faced in his lifetime. What Paul endured could have easily broken the average person's spirit. If he lived today and he faced all the things he faced, the common trend would be to recommend Paul to a therapist. However, Paul did not rely on a therapist, but rather on the greatest counselor - the Holy Spirit Himself. But even with the insight, wisdom, guidance, and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it is no question that Paul required a Warrior Spirit to handle all the adversity he endured and especially to remain upbeat and positive along the way. Not only did Paul allow God to encourage him as he lived his life, but he was a conduit of encouragement everywhere he went. In spite of the difficulties he faced Paul was determined to be a blessing to others and he was. Paul is the epitome of not allowing your 'external' to dictate your 'internal;' and of not allowing the enemy to steal your joy.
In Paul's letter to the believers in Rome he gives us some insight to what kept him going. we looked at the passage where he said: "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us" (8:37). The traditional King James Version reads: "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." The phrase "more than conquerors" is often quoted, but many believers don't understand the context. Both the King James and New Living translations use the words "all these things." The obvious question is: what are the things Paul is referring to? The answer is found back in the 35th verse, where Paul said: "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?" The "all these things" are: trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, and threats of death. One translation says "IN" all these things, and the other translation says "DESPITE" all these things, but the message is basically the same.
As believers we may face challenges, but we can rest assured that God will equip, enable, and empower us to not only endure them, but to overcome them, by faith!
Paul set the stage for this conversation - about the challenges we may face as believers and the reality that even in spite of the challenges that we can have overwhelming victory in Christ - with the following statement:
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them" (v.28).
Now, don't misunderstand this to mean that God does all the bad things; we have an enemy that is more than proficient all coming up against us. No, while God may not literally cause the challenges to happen, He can definitely cause them to work together for our good. In other words, He can use what the enemy meant as bad things, and get good out of them.
So what does this mean to you? It means that God can find good, even in the worst situations, and help you to bring that good to the forefront of your focus so that you can have internal peace, a positive outlook, and great expectations for the future.
Father, I thank You for blessing me to develop a Warrior Spirit that is resilient, persistent, and unwaveringly positive. I know that You can see to it that all things - even challenging things - work together for my good and I trust that You will. Even when facing difficult situations and even when I am not sure what good can come out of it, I will look to You and I will be led of Your Spirit to find the good in the bad. I will not allow my external to dictate my internal. I live my life from the inside out and my inside is full of Joy and Peace, because it is filled by Your Spirit. I have a positive outlook and great expectations for the future! In Jesus' name.
This morning we continue by continuing to discuss Paul: his life and his teachings. Yesterday we looked at the remarkably challenging things Paul faced in his lifetime. What Paul endured could have easily broken the average person's spirit. If he lived today and he faced all the things he faced, the common trend would be to recommend Paul to a therapist. However, Paul did not rely on a therapist, but rather on the greatest counselor - the Holy Spirit Himself. But even with the insight, wisdom, guidance, and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it is no question that Paul required a Warrior Spirit to handle all the adversity he endured and especially to remain upbeat and positive along the way. Not only did Paul allow God to encourage him as he lived his life, but he was a conduit of encouragement everywhere he went. In spite of the difficulties he faced Paul was determined to be a blessing to others and he was. Paul is the epitome of not allowing your 'external' to dictate your 'internal;' and of not allowing the enemy to steal your joy.
In Paul's letter to the believers in Rome he gives us some insight to what kept him going. we looked at the passage where he said: "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us" (8:37). The traditional King James Version reads: "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." The phrase "more than conquerors" is often quoted, but many believers don't understand the context. Both the King James and New Living translations use the words "all these things." The obvious question is: what are the things Paul is referring to? The answer is found back in the 35th verse, where Paul said: "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?" The "all these things" are: trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, and threats of death. One translation says "IN" all these things, and the other translation says "DESPITE" all these things, but the message is basically the same.
As believers we may face challenges, but we can rest assured that God will equip, enable, and empower us to not only endure them, but to overcome them, by faith!
Paul set the stage for this conversation - about the challenges we may face as believers and the reality that even in spite of the challenges that we can have overwhelming victory in Christ - with the following statement:
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them" (v.28).
Now, don't misunderstand this to mean that God does all the bad things; we have an enemy that is more than proficient all coming up against us. No, while God may not literally cause the challenges to happen, He can definitely cause them to work together for our good. In other words, He can use what the enemy meant as bad things, and get good out of them.
So what does this mean to you? It means that God can find good, even in the worst situations, and help you to bring that good to the forefront of your focus so that you can have internal peace, a positive outlook, and great expectations for the future.
Father, I thank You for blessing me to develop a Warrior Spirit that is resilient, persistent, and unwaveringly positive. I know that You can see to it that all things - even challenging things - work together for my good and I trust that You will. Even when facing difficult situations and even when I am not sure what good can come out of it, I will look to You and I will be led of Your Spirit to find the good in the bad. I will not allow my external to dictate my internal. I live my life from the inside out and my inside is full of Joy and Peace, because it is filled by Your Spirit. I have a positive outlook and great expectations for the future! In Jesus' name.
No comments:
Post a Comment