A Double Minded Man

When you think of Moses what character traits come to mind? 

Bold?

Powerful?

Authoritative?

Independent?

Perhaps. 

But do you ever think meek, lowly, timid?

 I only say timid because if you recall when God called him to go lead the descendants of Israel out of bondage he made excuses for himself. 

The excuses he gave made him appear timid.

Moses said unto God, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  God, I’m a nobody in Pharaoh’s eyes.

And Moses further said, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.”  God, they will not believe me. They will not listen to me.

And Moses even further said unto the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”  God, I am not a good ‘speaker’ surely you don’t mean for me to preach.

And he at last said, “O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.”  God, you have the wrong man, send someone else.  “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses.”  Holy, righteous, Godly anger… not the wrath of man, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20)

So when you think of Moses what character traits come to mind?

He was bold, powerful, authoritative, independent and fully dependant on God his Saviour.  When he wasn’t his timidity would reveal itself.

Timid people are easily angered at times when their insecurities and uncertainties are ‘challenged’.  When in a time of weakness, when they are not fully resting in the promises of God, they respond or rather they react in anger.  Moses certainly did.

I remember once when I worked for Canteen Service Company in the vending industry.  I was cleaning out my van at the day’s end and I found in the dumpster where I was putting my waste; I found a raccoon.  It looked scared.  Alone. Timid.  I determined to help it out of the bin so I layered boxes to make a ramp for the little critter to easily climb out.  I thought he would run up and out immediately.   When he didn’t I was a bit surprised, still concerned, and in my ignorance I determined to give him a boost.  That’s when I took a broom and with the wooden handle I attempted to prod the helpless creature.  Helpless, right?! The Coon snarled and lunged and grabbed the broom with a violent jerk.  He nearly yanked it right out of my hand.  I was shocked.  After all I was just trying to help him out.  Couldn’t he see that?

Moses was a man of convictions.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Moses was a man of faith.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry [land]: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

But Moses was a timid person.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing. His timidity only led to anger when he forgot Who was in charge.  Moses was the meekest man on the planet.  Meek is what a timid person becomes when they are fully resting in God our Savior.

The scriptures say, (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) That’s in Numbers 12:3.  The meekest man on the planet, and yet he had an anger problem.

Often it was righteous indignation, but not always.  His anger is what kept him out of the promised land remember.

Dr. David Jerimiah writes in Fruit of the Spirit in his chapter on meekness that Moses

“on occasion he could be glaringly and openly angry. And yet on other occasions he could be compassionate.  The same Moses who in righteous anger broke the tablets and slew the worshippers of the golden calf was the one who faced the anger of God and asked Him not to destroy His people.  In fact, Moses said, ‘If you will forgive their sin- but if not I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written,’ (Exodus 32:32) Here’s a man who could rise in white hot anger against unrighteousness and in the next moment be a compassionate, caring individual willing to put his own life on the line in his love for his people.”

Dr. Jeremiah  says, “Strength and compassion fused together in a beautifully balanced personality- that’s what meekness is.”  And meekness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit Who lives within us believers.  We can be meek, and not timid or angry; we can be meek if we trust fully in the internal abiding Grace of our Jesus.  He who is “meek and lowly in heart” will enable us to reflect His wonderfully powerful meekness. Strength and compassion fused together.

So often I forget Who is in charge; if we run and hide from conflict.  If we forget Who is in charge.  If we hide from the Commander then we will not have this wonderful fruit of His Spirit.  We will be like Dr. Jeckyl who had a bad ‘formula’ and became Mr. Hyde.  We must guard against this tendancy, for "a double-minded man is unstable in ALL his ways." God help us not to be double-minded, increase our faith, and if we are already, help us not to continue in double-mindedness, in doubt.

We must submit in lowly acceptance of our circumstances to the King.

If we do this He will increase and we again will decrease.

“He must increase, WE must decrease!”

Authors Personal Note: I Write these posts with His glory in mind.  To God be the glory in all we do, it must be this way.  He will honor us in due time but it is according to His good will that He does.  Will you consider sharing this post on the social network(s) that you frequent?  To God be the glory! "He must increase, WE must decrease!"

Walk the Line

At work I was on a production line that I haven’t been on for a long, long, long time.  Coming back to this part of the facility for me though was like ‘riding a bike’.  Not much had changed except that maintenance had implemented a few improvements that made it rather easy to get right back into ‘the swing of things’ there.  The night shift operator had told me that things were running well and so I took his word for it; why should I doubt it.  He was right.  Not only was it running well but it was running ‘par excellence’.  (Excuse my transliteration here please ~ I’m not French.)  It was running very, very well.

Since it was my birthday I had already declared the day a ‘No Stress Day’ and so-far so-good, there was very little to get worked up about.  In fact I had already rearranged things to make sure my area was more work-atomically correct (that is my own made-up word ~ it means ‘as little work as possible’.   While I don’t mind hard work I do believe strongly in working smart first.); so I made sure things were ‘work-atomically’ correct or (to use the proper phrase) ergonomically correct and then I began to check over the line to verify that it was indeed running well.  As I said, “it was.”  As I walked through the line, doing a few quality assurance checks, I was recalling something I heard Charles Stanley say over twenty years ago.

Dr. Stanley said that the great men of the Bible were great because they “walked with an awareness that they were walking in the presence of Almighty God.”   As I look back over the years and think about my life, I think that it was this very simple yet profound statement, and the idea that I too was walking in the presence of Almighty God, that has been foundational for any growth and maturity in my Christian life. It had such a big impact on me that in my mind I was “casting down imaginations”, “and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) My heart frequently cried out, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:” I wanted God to “see if there were wicked ways in me,” and I wanted Him to “lead me in the way everlasting.” (From Psalm 139)

I have developed the habit of thinking this way over the years so now, as I daily, in the morning, as I walk along whatever line I happen to be working on I “walk with an awareness that I’m walking in the presence of Almighty God.”  And as I walk back-and-forth sometimes what seems like a hundred times in a day I keep that in mind. That I’m “walking in the presence of Almighty God.”

Not only do I “walk with an awareness that I’m walking in the presence of Almighty God.” But I also “work with an awareness that I’m working in the presence of Almighty God.” When I visit other churches I “worship with awareness that I’m doing it in the presence of Almighty God.” Every morning I try to “wake with an awareness that I’m waking in the presence of Almighty God.”

Sometimes as we walk, work, and worship we become wearied.  We sometimes can begin to worry and wrestle with issues that God told us not to.  And even though His presence is a very real thing as Paul said to the Athenians “For in him we live, and move, and have our being”; even though His presence is very real we forget He is there, we forget He is here.  When we forget we also often begin to whine. (Thou Shalt Not Whine)  When we worry, wrestle, whine and otherwise respond in a ‘worldly’ fashion we are doing it in the presence of Almighty God. Albeit, when we do these things we are not doing them with an awareness of His abiding presence. (If we did we would soon repent.)

Even though we do these things His love for us His believing children is not diminished one iota because of our lack of faith.  He is grieved by our lack of faith but this by no means has any bearing on His love for us.  He wants us, He ‘wishes’ (Boulomai ~ it’s His desire, His wish) for us to have His love, joy and peace and the other six fruit of the Spirit to be an ever abiding part of us.  These things can be only as a result of faith, faith which works and is ‘others’ focused by and because of the love of God that should be flowing through us.  These things can be only as a result of our “walking with an awareness that we are walking in the presence of Almighty God.”

God asks in Isaiah 40, verse 28 “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.”  He understands that we sometimes get weary, but He never does.

Then God says, to Isaiah and to us by inspiration, preservation, and illumination of the Word; He says “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Wait on the LORD. And as you do, “wait with an awareness that you are waiting for and in the presence of Almighty God.”  Know that He will not let you down lower than you can get without enabling you to get back up.  Wait on the LORD. “Wait with an awareness that you are waiting, walking, working, and worshiping in the presence of Almighty God.”  You (rather HE) shall renew your strength; you will mount up with wings as eagles; you will run, and not be weary; and you will walk, and not faint.”

Walk the line. Walk the straight and narrow line. As you walk ask God to do some quality assurance checks in your own heart, mind, and soul.  So you don’t walk too close to the ‘edge’.

“He must increase, WE must decrease!”  

 And ironically when we have this mindset 
He enables us to increase.  
 We “mount up with wings 
as eagles.”

He Must Have Preeminence

There was a man by the name of Diotrephes whose name meant ‘nourished by Zeus’ or foster-child of Zeus.  He professed to be a believer but he also loved the praise of men.  The Apostle John said “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.” (3 John 1:9)

What was Diotrephes reason for not receiving the Apostle and those with him?  John through the Spirit said that he “loveth to have the preeminence.” It was not that John was guilty of some offense, some sin against the Body. 

No doubt if it were John would repent and gladly go before the church and admit his fault.  It wasn’t because of some misunderstanding surrounding John’s actions.  No doubt if it were John would stand before the church and explain the reasoning behind such actions.  

It wasn't any of these things though,

John had a message for the church.

A word of exhortation and comfort.

But the Apostle was not permitted to have a voice in the church. 

Why? 

It was simply that Diotrephes loved to have the preeminence. 

Even if John had made some mistake in the process of parting company he, in the interest of parting amicably, would have gone back to make things right. 

We all have to be careful in our zeal that we

do not take a stance like Diotrephes. 

Notice too that John wrote unto the church.  He wrote, and then they delivered the mail, but the pony express was sent packing.  He said, “Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.”

The word for preeminence that John used here is not actually just 'preeminence', it encompasses the phrase 'loves to have preeminence', it is  philoprōteuōn (φιλοπρωτεύων), and it is a combining of two Greek words ‘philo - to love’ and ‘protos – first or chief’. The word preeminence as used in John’s text means fond of being first, and striving after first place.  The tendency of Diotrephes to strive after first place was the only reason John gave for their poor reception.

In the King James Bible the word preeminence has two other uses, one in the Old Testament in Ecclesiastes where God says that man and beast are both subject to the curse of death brought on because of sin.  Regarding the death of man and beast He says “that a man hath no preeminence above a beast.”

The other use of the word is in Colossians and its Greek meaning is similar to that of the word used in 3^rd John but it’s not the same use of the word. 

Paul in writing to the church there said by the Spirit that he wanted them filled with the knowledge of God’s will in wisdom and all spiritual understanding. (Col. 1:9)  Sometimes others actions and even the things the Lord asks of us do not make much sense without this “knowledge of God’s will in wisdom and all spiritual understanding.”

Then Paul by the Spirit gives them a list. 

I love these lists.

He says I want you…

1)        walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.

2)    being fruitful in every good work.

3)    increasing in the knowledge of God.

4)    Being strengthened with all might.

Not strengthened to strive mind you but “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; according to His glorious power, in the power of the Spirit.

Then he adds one more thing to the list…

5)    Giving thanks unto the Father.

Paul immediately starts another list explaining the why of the what. Because…

v  God hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

v  And God hath delivered us from the power of darkness,

v  And translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:

His dear Son is, that is to say that Jesus is…

1)    the image of the invisible God.

2)    And the ‘firstborn' of every creature.

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

3)    He is before all things.

4)    and by Him all things consist.

5)    He is the head of the body, the church.

6)    He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.

And here Paul brings us to that word again. Preeminence. 

A word that I said was not exactly the same as John’s word but close. 

John used a word that describes striving for or desiring preeminence, loving preeminence. 

The word used here in Colossians is simply

‘protos – first or chief’

without the prefixed ‘philo – to love’. 

What it says is that Jesus Christ alone is First, He holds first place.  

Consider this too: The object of God’s love is us, not His preeminence, not the fact that He is First or Preeminent.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Brethren, listen to me.  Jesus Christ has to be Preeminent in our lives, in our minds, our thought lives, and in our churches.  Don’t allow anyone or anything else to rent space in your head that is for God and God alone.  Diotrephes was trespassing in a place that belonged to God alone.

“that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.” He Must have the Preeminence.  If we do not love God fully and obey Him completely we cannot be Spirit filled and we cannot please God.

“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8)

If we are careful to let Him have His rightful place in our thought life,

if we are mindful to love God

and obey Him being Spirit filled.

He will increase and we will decrease.

“He must increase, WE must decrease!”

WHO IN HELL CARES!?!?!

Often in the world you may overhear people talking.  I do. I overhear people talking all of the time.  I have bionic hearing I think, my kids are amazed at their conversations that I’m able to tune into.  Even in a crowded room I am able to tune into several conversations at the same time; I don’t get how that works but it happens.  Sometimes in conversation I have to apologize to the person I am supposed to be listening to because my spidery senses tuned into a conversation two tables over.

Often in the world we overhear people talking.  Normally it’s about some stupid petty thing that someone else has done.  How it was outrageous and inconsiderate, it was silly and juvenile.  Sometimes it was that someone did something immoral and indecent and then in a defensive tone the person would blurt out… WHO IN HELL CARES?!?  Even sometimes a believer, an offended brother, may ask the question.  They don’t mean it literally of course even though they might believe in a literal hell.

If we ask the question in the most literal sense possible, that is, in a way that our human minds are incapable of conceiving of the true horror of the answer.  Who in hell cares?  The answer is both horrific and simple.  The answer to the question is “Everyone.”  Everyone in hell cares about something.  They will never succumb to the misery so much so that they will be out of their ever-living minds.  They may get to a place where they may not be able to formulate coherent thoughts and all they do is wail and gnash their teeth but there is a reason for it.  They care about something.  Pain has a way of causing you to care.  Pain in the world of the mortal causes us to seek medical attention, to seek relief, but there will be no relief for those in hell.  It’s a terrible thought really… one I certainly will not dwell on for too long or cause you to remain fixed upon for too long.

In the Bible; In Luke 16:19-31 we have Jesus telling of a certain rich man and a certain beggar.  The beggar’s name Jesus says is Lazarus.  If you as a Christian want a burden for souls read this story.  Read it slowly, read it repeatedly, read it thoughtfully, until it burns a conviction into your heart that you must tell people, warn people, of the awfulness of such a place as described in these verses. 

Many may argue that it is just a parable to answer the hypocrisy of the rich and self-righteous Pharisees who were listening.  It makes no difference whether you feel this way or not.  Why?  Because even if it were just that it has some profound things to reveal about the place we call hell.  And everything Jesus taught had a purpose; He never had an idle word.

Jesus said the rich man died, and was buried, and was in torments.  He said the rich man cared pleadingly about his suffering and asked for Lazarus to be allowed to relieve his torments.  But Jesus said in His story that there was a great gulf fixed where none could cross to get in or out of that hopeless place.  The only way in was through the gateway of death if after first having ignored the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Door; the Door that leads to eternal joy and comfort.  Then Jesus said that the rich man expressed concern.  He asked if Lazarus could be resurrected so he could go and preach to his five brothers; “Lest they also come into this place of torment.”

Jesus said in His story that the answer was “No.”

They had Moses and the prophets and that they could, they must, hear them. 

Moses who gave all the “Thou shalt not’s” of the law. Don’t kill or hate. Don’t covet or steal. Don’t lust, or rape, or cheat, or otherwise violate.  Don’t dishonor your mom and dad. 

And the prophets who spoke of coming judgments on sin, a coming Messiah to redeem from sin, a resurrected Savior to show victory over death and sin, and a coming movement called the Church that would prevail against the very gates of hell. 

Jesus said in His story that if they would not listen to the Bible then they wouldn’t believe Lazarus either; even if he had come back from the dead.

If they hear not the Bible then no amount of analogies, good will, kindnesses, or any such like things will persuade them.  They must listen to Moses (The condemnation of the law); and they must listen to the prophets (the promise of justice, hope, and forgiveness given through Jesus Christ).  If they will not accept what the Bible says about these things and Jesus’ solution to our sin's consequences than there is no hope for them.

We need to let go of all our silly stupid self-serving plans and problems and with holy passion seek the lost at any cost.  As you think about the stores well before October making merchandise of people with costumes, and candy, and games, think about the real horror that awaits the unrepentant.  Get busy with compassion and clarity communicating God’s holiness offended, His love demonstrated, and His forgiveness that is available.

We must do this. 

Only the church can do this.

“He must increase, WE must decrease!”

Its imperitive If ever souls will be saved through our witness.  If ever we will reach a single one.

By the way Heaven cares too.  Heaven cares more than you could even imagine.  That's why God sent His Son. 

Jesus said, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever (that's you) believeth in Him, shall not perish, but shall have Everlasting Life."

And that's why "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Luke 15:10 

Share this story by clicking on any of the share links below.  We need to get busy. Time is short!
IF YOU HAVE READ THIS AND YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CONFIDENCE THAT YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN; WOULD YOU GO AND READ "CLOSER TO JESUS"? It is being written with you in mind.

Who's More Loyal?

Loyalty is important.  Very important.  Loyalty to your spouse.  Loyalty to your family. Loyalty to your church; your pastor and fellow believers. And loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and His greater church.  But we have cause possibly to question someone’s loyalty in the book of Acts.  But "who's more loyal?" we feel we need to ask the question.


In the Acts of the Apostles we see in chapter fifteen verses thirty-six through forty-one where Paul suggests "Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do."


Now Barnabas wanted to take with them his nephew John Mark; but now we have a problem. Because Paul "thought not good to take him with them," because he had left off walking with them for a time and returned to Jerusalem. (Acts 13:13) And it tells us...


And the contention was so sharp between them,
 that they departed asunder one from the other:


Barnabas took his nephew Mark and sailed to Cyprus.
And Paul then hooked up with Silas
because the church recommended him.
They followed Paul’s original plan,
"confirming the churches."


So again, "who's more loyal?" Barnabas who incidentally helped Paul greatly when the church was afraid of him early on after his conversion. Always the friend willing to stand up for the underdog. Not willing to see anyone passed by or dismissed. John Mark wanted to return to the work and Barnabas was of a strong mind to allow it.


"Who’s more loyal?" Paul who was so powerfully called of God and empowered.  He suffered so much already for the cause of Christ. Remember Paul was a man. Although his letters the work of the Spirit of God and infallible nevertheless Paul the man was not.  I’m not saying Paul was wrong, I wouldn't dare tread where the Spirit is silent.


"Who’s more loyal?" I personally don't think it's a question of loyalty to one another.  It's a question of loyalty to the Lord and one’s own conscience as directed by the Spirit. Not the "to thine own self be true" mentality but the "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." of Romans 14:15


Now granted we are talking about the Acts of the Apostles here, and not a question of loyalty between believers or toward a pastor or a group of believers, but the same principles that applied to them also apply to us. Hebrews 13:17 says "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account," And that is an imperative statement I believe. Obey. But if it is a question of obeying one’s own conscience or obeying those God has placed over you, and you can't compromise your convictions and conscience, perhaps it's time for a chat. Perhaps you need to give your pastor or elders a call.  You need to be clear on what your conscience is on any hindrance to obedience.


We have an interesting note in 1 Cor. 16:12 regarding pastor Appollos in regards to his superior the Apostle Paul. Paul said "I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time."


Paul didn't rail on him, or question his loyalty, he simply said; he will come when he can.


Perhaps if we can give each other a little more flexibility in our convictions there would be less contentions and more cooperation.  The Spirit of God used Barnabas and Mark, and He used Paul and Silas, and God later brought Paul and John Mark into tender favor once again.


Stay loyal to the Lord, stay loyal to your conscience, and communicate appropriately.


"He must increase, WE must decrease!"

Dance in the Rain

One of my FaceBook Friends late last night posted a picture of two young girls dancing in a puddled street with their hands raised high.  The caption reads "Life Isnt About Waiting for the storm to pass...  It's About Learning to Dance in the Rain."  It reminded me about a thing I call The Matthew Factor.  I think it was Gary Keffer who sings or used to sing a nice song that says "I know the Master of the wind, I know the maker of the rain. He can cause a storm, make the sun shine again..."  Many times, probably all of the time if we could see from God’s perspective, the storms of interpersonal conflict in our lives are no accident.

Have you ever considered this? When Jesus was calling His Apostles to be with Him, to witness His miracles and hear Him teach, He made a selection that invariably caused many a storm among the men.  He chose Peter, James and John, Peter's brother Andrew, and some other very devout, religious, proper Jewish men who were zealous for the law and zealous for their nation Israel.  Then He did something, He made a choice, or rather, if you're worried that my theology be correct, He acted on a choice that was made before the worlds began. He chose one of those despised publicans, a tax collector, who worked for the Romans taking tribute from their own people, many of them thieves overtaxing their Jewish brothers and padding their own purses. He chose Matthew.

Can you imagine the comments from the others? What's he doing here? What is the Master doing? Surely He must know who this man is.  Can you imagine the looks, the glares possibly?

It's The Matthew Factor "I know the Master of the wind, I know the maker of the rain. He can cause a storm, make the sun shine again..."  Many times, probably all of the time if we could see from God’s perspective, the storms of interpersonal conflict in our lives are no accident.  He made the sun shine again by knitting the hearts of these men together and using them mightily to change the world.  Don't forget Matthew wrote one of the four gospels, a gospel that leans heavily on the Old Testament prophecies and spoke to the hearts of the Jewish people.

When you are going through interpersonal conflict remember The Matthew Factor, and remember...

He must increase, WE must decrease! And many times this is accomplished through conflict.

~ Romans 8:28 ~

On August 28^th hurricane Irene swept through the country and on up towards Maine; never actually maintaining her hurricane status into and through our state.  What her winds amounted to here was for most just several days of inconvenience.  We simply lit the house with candles and flashlights but needed to depend on friends for showers and cooking meals.  (We flushed the commode with pool water.)

Praise the Lord we didn’t need any heat. (I will definitely be looking for a deal on a generator before winter.) With a baby in the house I don't want to be without heat.

Some close friends of ours were en route home to Maine from further south and were getting blocked in and detoured from every direction.  They didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger so in a text I said that I would pray and "jokingly" reminded them that the date was 8/28 as in Romans 8:28 and that even this "will work together for their good." 

So often we tritely quote Romans 8:28 which says “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” And we think that it will comfort the troubled and hurting.  Often that alone doesn’t comfort anyone unless it’s considered in the context that it’s written.

Romans 8 also says “the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (verse 26) Often we do not know what to pray for when we ourselves are going through a dark trial and when others are heavy burdened as well.  But thank God that He makes intercession for us!  Now that’s comforting!

Also God does not want His children to be in bondage.  Not in bondage to fear, not in bondage to doubts, not in bondage to anything.   Rom 8:14-16 says “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”

God's Spirit witnesses to us that we belong to Him and (again) He prays with us for us.  We need not be afraid but simply cry out to Him.

In addition we have the further promise that nothing can sever this relationship we have as born-again, adopted children of God.  Paul said Rom 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, (simply put, "nothing")shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

  Also, He said that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:18)  So our unbearable pain is nothing compared with the glory that is "Christ in you":

1st    Placing us into a familial relationship
with God as adopted children.

2nd  Making Intercession with us for us.

(With groanings that cant be uttered.)

3rd   Witnessing with our spirit that
we do in fact belong to God.

4th   Assuring us that nothing will ever,

Ever, ever, ever

seperate us from our Heavenly Father.

5th Preserving us as blameless to
appear in His presence in glory,

that His glory will be revealed in
us at His appearing.

                Are you born-again? Have you been adopted into the family of God through faith in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only remission for your sin?  Have you trusted in Christ alone?  Then you can rest assured that all things will work together for your good even when we do not understand the reasons why we suffer we can know that our suffering does not go unnoticed by Him.

                He has a purpose for what He allows… (I feel unworthy to say so because I have dear friends who have suffered and are suffering way more than I ever yet have.  But, nevertheless, it is true.) According to Rom 8:29 one of His primary purposes is that we be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  He accomplishes this purpose through our pain; through the breaking of the self-life so that the life of Christ can be manifest in us.

                As I already stated, He said that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:18)  So our unbearable pain is nothing compared with the glory that is "Christ in you".

                But it’s important that you maintain your love for the Lord, the promise is to them that love God.  Paul explains (Rom 8:5-8) “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Even in our most difficult times…

“He must increase, and WE must decrease!”

Especially in those times that are most difficult.

“for when I am weak , then am I strong.”

(2 Cor 12:10)

                Hurricane Irene ruined homes, destroyed lives and took lives… none of this is easy, NOT AT ALL EASY!… but we have the comfort and hope of the scriptures to cling to and we have the Spirit of God in our hearts teaching us the scriptures and crying out Abba, Father even when we don’t know what to say and how to pray.