This year God has promised us resounding Victory. But for you to experience resounding Victory, you should have the right attitude:
Romans 8:28 is the foundation stone of the workings of your destiny. Here are 5 great truths about this promise:
1. It is a definite promise. It says, “And we know….” (Rom. 8:28).
What you know is important. Paul is saying that we know that every aspect of our lives is in the hand of God, and will be finally used by God not only to manifest His glory, but to work out our own ultimate blessing.
We can know that God is completely in control of our lives. But we can’t know the details and what He is up to.
God does not let you into the day-to-day experience.
The Bible says that we can know that all things work together for good according to God’s plan (Rom. 8:28).
The more you know about what God has said in His Word about your future, the better you can prepare for whatever comes up in your future.
Here is the truth: In most churches today, ignorance has been legitimized. But the truth is that it is what you know that is going to make a difference in your life.
Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall MAKE you free” (Jn. 8:32).
2. It is a divine promise. “We know that God works…” (Rom. 8:28).
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28, NIV).
We know that it is God that is involved in all of these. When the God of the universe tells you saying, “This is what I want you to know: I am for you, I am with you, I am working behind the scene for your own good.”
You can fully trust that promise because God fulfils all His promises. “For ALL the promises of God in Him (Christ) are yea, and in Him (Christ) Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20).
3. It is a definite promise. And we know that “in all things….” (Rom. 8:28). For instance, God is not saying that it is good for you to break your leg. Rather, this verse is saying that God uses whatever you encounter in life to produce what He knows to be the very best for you. Please understand that I am not saying that every bad thing is good.
All I am saying is that God understands what is going on and He takes whatever happens to you in this world, and He weaves it together into a plan that is for your good and for His glory.
4. It is a dynamic promise. God is working all things together for your good (Rom. 8:28). Here is what happens:
God takes the various things that happen to you, works on all together to produce an effect that is far greater than the effects of the sum of the individual components. It is God that causes the synergism to happen. He is the one stirring the mix.
5. It is a defined promise. All things work together for the absolute good of anyone that loves Him (Rom. 8:28). However, this promise does not apply absolutely to everyone. There are conditions that must be met before this promise can work for you.
Notice that the verse says, “…to those who (1) love God, and to those that are (2) called according to His purpose…”
a) Those who love God. These are those Born-Again believers who obey His instructions to the letter. Romans 8:28 which is a motivation for the New Year is for those that love God.
God said, “Know therefore, that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations…” (Deut. 7:9).
“The Lord preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked will He destroy” (Ps. 145:20).
“…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
God knows whether you love Him or not. “But if any man love(s) God, the same is known of Him” (1 Cor. 8:3).
Those that love God shall receive the crown of life.
James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.”
b. Those who are called according to His purpose. God calls us to Himself. You are here today because God has called you to Himself. Once you love God, He will call you to Himself.
God has a purpose for your life. A question you need to ask yourself is this: Have I come up to the level where I could be called a lover of God?
Here is the truth: The incidents in your life are not co-incidental. God is up to something. He is using your setbacks to advance your spiritual maturity to a place where you could never have reached without them.
Are there examples in the Bible of people that went through terrible times and God used what they went through for their own good? O Yes!
And Job said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
Even though Job did not understand what God was doing in his life, He understood the sovereignty of God and he said, “…He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
Why did Job say that? Job said that because he knew that God is faithful no matter what.
2. What about Joseph?
Joseph was thrown into a dry cistern by his brothers. Later his brothers sold him as a slave to the Midianite traders. In Egypt, the Midianite traders sold him to Potiphar.
Due to the false accusations against him by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph was thrown into prison for 2 years.
Finally, he was summoned by Pharaoh to interpret his dreams, and when Joseph gave the correct interpretation, he was released from prison and promoted to serve as the number 2 man in the whole of Egypt.
When Joseph eventually met with his brothers, they were terrified thinking that Joseph will now revenge, but look at what Joseph said to them, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen. 50:20).
No matter what was happening to Joseph, God was working behind the scene on his behalf for his own good.
What God did for Job and for Joseph He will do for you. In the midst of all the difficulties that the Jews were going through,
God said, “For I know the thoughts (plans) that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an EXPECTED end” (Jer. 29:11).
When all the tough things are going on in your life, you may not understand it but you can know with certainty that God is at work, making all things to work together for your good.
3. The most impressive example of this is what happened to Jesus.
“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23).
“For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28).
Here it looks as if Jesus was a victim. But it also looks like Jesus was not a victim. The truth is that God the Father was involved in this by determining it to happen.
Here is the truth: God the Father took the most absolute evil that Satan could ever device and turned it to the greatest conceivable blessing that He could ever offer to fallen mankind – eternal salvation from sin.
God the Father wanted to take all that difficulty that Jesus went through and bring it to a place where it will bring glory to His name. Having meditated on these things, I came up with the conclusions that:
God said, “…for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth My counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it” (Isa. 46:9-11).
Question for you: Are you going to trust God this year for whatever you need?
2. I am determined to be grateful. Because when you count your blessings, and name them one by one, it will surprise you what the Lord has done. God wants to bless us. Yes!
That is one thing that comes clear from Romans 8:28, because He worketh all things together for good. So, if He wants to bless us, let us be calm trusting Him to do to as He has promised.
Conclusion: God is good. God is faithful. God can be trusted. You may not know what is going on but God is doing something behind the scene. You may not understand what is happening to you, but it is part of His plan. At the end of it all, you will discover that all things have worked together for your own good.
Watch out for the Good News from the Pulpit.
- Your friend, I. I. MADUBUNYI (Head Pastor)
No comments:
Post a Comment