Monday, December 18, 2017

No Matter What Happens To Us .. God's Glory Can Shine Through Us



We know that all things work together for good to those who love God… —Romans 8:28

{CHAMBERS} “It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. […] To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. […] Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. […] We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers. The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. […] God wants to use us as He used His own Son.”

{ELGIN} When most Christians hear or read Romans 8:28, I think that they think it is about their personal good.  If I do this, then God will do that.  God wants me to be happy.  He wants me to be comfortable.  He wants me to be blessed!  We are already blessed (Ephesians 1:3) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”  We have the fruit of the Spirit – (Galatians 5: 22-23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” All blessings that are ours in spite of what is going on around us in that natural.  So … what good is it that God brings about … I think it is His glory.  The chief end of man is to glorify God.  We do that with our lives.  (2 Corinthians 4:7-10) “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”  No matter what we may experience in this life of ours .. God can and will use it for His glory.  So often we translate God’s blessing us into some earthly benefit … health .. wealth … relationships … what if God’s blessing is the supernatural ability to persevere through faith so … no matter what happens to us …. God’s glory will shine through us. But your confidence in God must be based upon faith and not your circumstances. Is it?

No comments: