Saturday, November 7, 2015

People Don't Need A Judge, They Need Jesus


 
“We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” —Romans 8:28
 
“The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, “I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that.” All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.” CHAMBERS
 
Has anyone ever shared Romans 8:28 with you when you were facing difficulties in life?  Like it is balm for your wounded heart.  But we must be careful in sharing the Word with people are in the midst of a physical or relational crisis.  Tossing a verse at someone can be an uncaring  act.  What the people need is compassion and intercession and we toss them a spiritual “bone” as it were.  That is not to say that we should not share scripture.  The Word reflects God’s heart and His character.  We need to encourage one another with the Word.  But we must go a step beyond that and care about the pain they are facing.  Dr. John Maxwell said “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” 
 
We can approach people in two ways.  Like Job’s friends who told him to confess his sin, because surely God would not allow these problem into his life, or like the good Samaritan  who did not ask why the man was in the condition he was in, but went the extra mile to bring comfort and healing.  People don't need you to be a judge, they need you to be Jesus.  God allows us to face difficulty but not without the possibility of enduring that difficulty.  Rick Warren said “God never wastes a hurt”.  Not let me toss a verse at you!  (2 Corinthians 1:3-6)  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.” Think about it.   ELGIN
 
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
 
Charley Elgin

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