It’s
All-Good!
Scriptures: 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 (Keep on reading to verse 39). Romans 8:28 - 39
Truth: We are
going to experience all types of hardships but good is going to use every
experience of our life for His Glory.
In the recent news, we have
seen mass killings, unjust killings, children being killed on the streets of
Chicago, Government Shutdown, Financial structure crumble, Stock Market taking
a dive, war and rumors of wars, massive job lay offs and so on.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:6-14
You will hear of wars
and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must
happen, but the end is still to come.
7 Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in
various places.
8 All these are the
beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed
over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations
because of me.
10 At that time many will
turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
11 and many false prophets
will appear and deceive many people.
12 Because of the increase
of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13 but the one who stands
firm to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the
kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and
then the end will come.
All these things were
foretold in the Scriptures. In the past, I preached a series called “Be on
Guard”. There were four sermons in this
series:
1. Be Careful!
-
2. Watch the Signs
3. Be on Alert
4. Stand Guard! – 1 Corinthians 16:13 – Jesus is a night watchman over our
souls. When you are on Guard, you
"detect, deter, observe and report".
Often time you have to patrol your area to determine if there any
threats in your life.
As Believers, we will encounter
trials and tribulations in life. Yeshua, Jesus declared that we will encounter
pain for His name sake.
We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God
(Acts 14:22).
I posted on Face Book what I heard from the spirit of the Lord:
"It's a time for change".
When everything change in your life, it's time for you to
change.
If your health change, change your activities.
If your finance change, change your lifestyle.
If people change in your life, change your relationships.
If your environment change, change your location.
Change is coming! Some good and some bad. But it will be a
change worth while to mature the saints in the body of Christ.
It's All Good!
Often times we us Romans 8:28 out of context; everything is
working for my good. That’s not what the Scripture say. All (Colossians 1:15) things are working out
for the furtherance and completion of God’s design and our destiny.
Have you ever been through hard times? While you were going
through the storm, it did not seem that your predicament / situation was going
to get better.
That was only half of the story.
But after the storm is
over and when you make it through, you look back and give God the praise
because he worked it out for your good.
After the storm, you are able to discern the complete picture and God's
revelation in your life.
If it had not been for that situation, I would of wreck myself.
If it had not been for that hurt ache, I wouldn’t know how to
deal with this current pain.
If it wasn’t for that break up, I would of married the wrong
person.
If it weren’t for my Xs, I would know how to treat my current
blessing.
It’s all-good.
The Apostle Paul said, “I consider that our present sufferings
are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed. For the creation
was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one
who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its
bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of
God" (Romans 8:18- 21).
Don’t minimize your sufferings because your future reward will
outweigh all present sufferings. It’s all-good.
The Apostle Paul life included beatings, imprisonment,
shipwrecks, assassination attempts and chronic illness. But he counted all joy for the sake of the
Kingdom.
An Olympic athlete will endure years of eight-hour practice
sessions and much discipline and pain for the goal of winning a gold
medal. Our life here on earth may consist of many
difficulties and challenges but the end result will make them seem worthwhile.
That’s why I can say, It’s all-good.
There’s
painful progress in Jesus
· James 1:2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Have
you been through all types of trials?
· Matthew
24:9 - You will be hated and persecuted
for Jesus
· Matthew
10:22 – All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end
will be saved.
· 2 Timothy
3:12 - In fact, everyone who wants to
live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
· Matthew
5:11 - 12– Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the sane
way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
