Good morning, beloved,
I think it is always good to go back to what I know to be true. I’m looking at this little turtle over here and thinking, I bet the water was nice, but the solid footing is even better. 🙂 Romans 8 is a very well known passage but don’t pass over it, okay? Read it with me and let’s ask God to teach us.
27And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.(A)
28We are assured and know that [[a]God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
29For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was [b]aware and [c]loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.
First, I’m spending some time thanking God for.. 27And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.(A) Just think about that conversation for a moment..on our behalf. All the time. I love that. He knows us, He loves us, He sent His Spirit for us and then He has His Spirit working constantly on our behalf. What a great and wonderful mystery! Since He knows my heart…sigh…
Second, this idea of God being a partner in our plans/labors..I love that..it’s a good image to carry with me today. To hold onto…all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. I think it is so important to remember the life of suffering cut out for the servants of God. We need to keep our eyes focused on the cross to remember the life of our Savior. He did not lead a pain-free life. Nor will we. Yet as the Reformation Study Bible says…”The purpose of God guarantees “good” for His people. For them this is not necessarily ease and quiet, but being like Christ (vv. 17–23, 29). God’s providence rules in such a way as to ensure everything that happens to us is working for our ultimate good.”
Third, I’m being shaped into the image of His Son by all of my circumstances. How amazing is that? 29For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was [b]aware and [c]loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren. I love that imagery as well.
May I finish with this today?
16Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.
17For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],
18Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.
Pray on, friends…
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