There are no "accidents" to you and me when we belong to God's family. What about cancer? What about "unavoidable distresses"?
When we have become a child of God by trusting Jesus Christ's precious sacrifice for us "In His own body on the tree, He paid the penalty...to set me free" (see 1 Peter 2:24)...we're in the family of God. We immediately have a Father Who not only loves us dearly ...but a PERFECT Father who is able and does control the things that shape our lives.
And going on to 1 Pet. 2:25, we see the Father is like a shepherd, who CARES for His sheep (John 10:10 "I am the Good Shepherd-the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.") He calls us by name and then He leads us out. vs. 3. This Shepherd is the perfect Father pic for us.
Maybe you didn't have a good father who was able to care for you. God blessed me with a daddy who was a wonderful example of a father who cared. Yet our earthly fathers are limited in how much they can control the situations around us. When we know the Omnipotent Father CARES and is in CONTROL, we can enjoy life. May we become more like little children "who don't have a care in the world" because they know their parents are responsible. How much more for us, knowing our Father cares and is in control!
This leads to my favorite verses again...Romans 8:28 and 29, "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. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren." and I can't stop there "Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" and who can stop there, when verse 32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?
How can we not rejoice and be glad, knowing He is in control....or is He in control? ...and though He IS in control, He has allowed us the choice to fit into His plan for our lives by yielding control.
When we have become a child of God by trusting Jesus Christ's precious sacrifice for us "In His own body on the tree, He paid the penalty...to set me free" (see 1 Peter 2:24)...we're in the family of God. We immediately have a Father Who not only loves us dearly ...but a PERFECT Father who is able and does control the things that shape our lives.
And going on to 1 Pet. 2:25, we see the Father is like a shepherd, who CARES for His sheep (John 10:10 "I am the Good Shepherd-the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.") He calls us by name and then He leads us out. vs. 3. This Shepherd is the perfect Father pic for us.
Maybe you didn't have a good father who was able to care for you. God blessed me with a daddy who was a wonderful example of a father who cared. Yet our earthly fathers are limited in how much they can control the situations around us. When we know the Omnipotent Father CARES and is in CONTROL, we can enjoy life. May we become more like little children "who don't have a care in the world" because they know their parents are responsible. How much more for us, knowing our Father cares and is in control!
This leads to my favorite verses again...Romans 8:28 and 29, "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. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren." and I can't stop there "Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" and who can stop there, when verse 32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?
How can we not rejoice and be glad, knowing He is in control....or is He in control? ...and though He IS in control, He has allowed us the choice to fit into His plan for our lives by yielding control.
just a few more wonderful verses from that chapter in the New Living Version... Rom 8:35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?
ReplyDeleteRom 8:36 (Even the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep."
Rom 8:37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Rom 8:38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away.
Rom 8:39 Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.