“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. “ Romans 8:28

Thought

Bad stuff happens in life. Satan has a part to play in the bad stuff. Our own sins and their consequences also play a part. The rebellion against God and the spiritual weakness in those we love bring hurtful things into our life. Sometimes, God even disciplines us to awaken us out of lethargy or to correct some sinful problem in our lives. Yet in all these things, we have an incredible promise: If we love God and are seeking to honor his call in our lives, our Father in heaven will work out all of the things going on in our life for our good.

Prayer

Father, I appreciate your promise to work out all things in my life, both good and bad, for my good. I ask, dear Father, for faith to believe this promise is true during painful and difficult times. I ask for patience, O God, to hang on to my convictions when trying times persist. I believe your promise, dear LORD, and look forward to what you will eventually make of me when you are finished with your work. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used with permission

You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

FURTHER READING

Just How Bad Could it Get?

God Works Things Out for Our Good

Where is God When I Hurt?

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The post Bad Stuff Happens can be found at Thoughts about God.

“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.” Romans 8:28

Is it possible to live a happy and joyful life consistently

…despite the fact things don’t always go the way you expect them to go?

Yes!

I used to be driven by circumstances and situations in life. When things went my way, I was excited and happy but when they didn’t, I would be unhappy. I would feel like the whole world was against me. But then, as I began to meditate more on the Scripture verse above, things began to change in me. I realized that if God truly is for me, nothing can be against me — that if I love God, all things are indeed working out together for my good. Both the good and what seems bad. I was set free from living a roller coaster life. Up today and down tomorrow.

The story of Joseph is a great example of how God can cause all things to work together for good. Even though he was betrayed by his own brothers, he still maintained the joy of the Lord and it all turned out to be an incredible testimony (see Genesis 39-41).

We can rejoice and be happy knowing that all things are working for our good according to the plan of God concerning us. We can experience more happiness in our relationship with God if we will daily remind ourselves that, God loves us, cares about us, and has good plans for us. No matter what we go through in life, He will cause it to work together for our good.

Lord, help me to always remember daily that all things are indeed working together for my good, because I love you. Amen.

By Folasade Oladapo
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• God Works for the Good – by Charles Spurgeon

• All Things Work for Good – by Max Lucado

• What We Do Know? – by Karen Woodard

The post Nothing Can Stand Against You can be found at Thoughts about God.

“We are assured and know that [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.” Romans 8:28 (AMP)

Many of us need to be released from a great burden. The burden I am speaking about is not a huge work load, a full schedule, a pressing need, or a perplexing problem. The burden is our efforts to try and work “all things together for good.”

Our first step in the release of this burden is to acknowledge that God is the only one who can work all things together for good. When we try to work things together for good we fail—pressure replaces peace, striving replaces serenity, exhaustion replaces rest. Those who fail to let God work things for the good will push, manipulate, and try to take control of people and circumstances as they “work” to try and make all things turn out for good in their lives and the lives of those they love.

When we try and work things together for the good they soon go bad. The truth is, we don’t have the power to change circumstances or people for the good…we even lack the wisdom to know what the good looks like in every situation, circumstance, and relationship in life.

We must also understand that when God works all things for the good, He is working according to His good pleasure…He works to please Himself, not to please us. However, if our pleasure is to please Him, then we can rejoice in all He is doing.

If you are trying to work things together for the good at work, release it to God;
If you are trying to work things together for the good at home; release it to God;
If you are trying to work things together for the good in someone’s life, release it God;
If you are trying to work things together for good in your life, release it to God.

Release your self-efforts fully to the Lord, wipe the sweat from your brow, and rest in the assurance that God knows what He is doing, knows how to do it, and knows when to do it in a way that will be according to His perfect design and purpose.

by Roy Lessin
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  I Love You, Jesus A Poem

•  Up from Depression Story 

•  Salvation Explained

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The post God Works for the Good can be found at Thoughts about God.

“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”(Romans 8:28).

When you’re in the midst of great suffering you don’t want people to piously quote the above verse to you. “How can this be good when it feels so bad?” you ask yourself. But what is this verse really talking about? I looked it up in my Bible so I could read it in context.

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, to those who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”

In the Amplified Bible the last phrase reads: “He destined them from the beginning to be molded into the image of His Son and share inwardly His likeness.”

God is interested in our long-range good. For that reason, He is using all things in our lives–the good and the bad–to make us more like Christ. To perfect us. To grow us up. To set us free from self-centeredness so that we will become the beautiful people He created. This is a greater good than temporal blessings. Wouldn’t you agree?

We must beware of a feeling of entitlement, thinking that God owes us a blessing. “I’ve been a good Christian; I’ve worked very hard; I deserve better.” In truth, if it weren’t for Jesus’ death and resurrection, God would owe us judgment. Instead, He offers us mercy. Grace and mercy are His gifts to us. We do not earn them.

Father, I want to believe that you have my best interest at heart, at all times. Help my unbelief. I now surrender all my dreams and ambitions and all my disappointments to you. I want to be more trusting like Jesus was.

By Helen Lescheid
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  Forgiveness is Good for Your Health
•  When Life isn’t Fair
•  Salvation Explained

The post Do all Things Really Work Together for Good? can be found at Thoughts about God.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Recently I got a package notice from the post office. Because I was not expecting a package, I thought, “Oh no, it’s probably a package from some company that I will not want, so I will have to go to the trouble of sending it back …”

Later that day a good friend mentioned to me that I should be getting something in the mail from him. Well, my attitude about the package waiting for me at the post office changed immediately because I now knew who had sent it! I was excited to see what it was, so I went expectantly to the post office as soon as I could. I was delighted to get a set of stainless steel pots for backpacking as a thank you from some friends I had recently taken on a backpacking trip! I fired off a thank you note that night.

Later that evening I had a thought … In life there are many unexpected packages. Some I like and others I don’t. I have come to realize that no matter what comes, God is in control.

Even in moments of bewilderment or despair in the past, when I would have loved to have written, “RETURN TO SENDER”, I have survived and even come to a point of anticipating the future because I chose to focus on the Sender, and on the knowledge that God does love me and really does know and care about my life’s circumstances. Sometimes I have doubted but in those moments I always come back to the cross as the ultimate proof of God’s love. Jesus died for me, he proved his love. The words of Romans 8:28 are profound: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.”

What are the packages you hold today? Can you trust that God does have a plan? The nation of Israel was dealing with the reality of being in captivity, and in Jeremiah 29:11 God reassures them by saying,

“For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

Question: Can you trust Him? What about writing Him a thank you note?

by Mike Woodard
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• Your Life is the Only Bible Some People Read
• Are You Still a Fighter?

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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The post The Package can be found at Thoughts about God.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28

Have you considered: If our lives are free from pain, turmoil and sorrow, we may not come to know God’s faithfulness in such a personal way, like King David did through fears, troubles and afflictions.

Psalm 91:4-6
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.“

By Joshua Lim
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• God’s Love for you
• Did You Know that You are Someone Special?

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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The post God Works Things Out for Our Good can be found at Thoughts about God.

“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.” Romans 8:28

About some things, believers are absolutely sure. We know, for example, that God sits in the controls of the ship while it navigates the rockiest water. We believe that God’s invisible hand is always on us, and that wherever our world may drift, God is steering it.

This reassuring knowledge should prepare us for everything. We look at the raging water, and see the spirit of Jesus walking the waves. We hear a voice saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” (John 6:20)

We know that God is always wise, and so we are confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes. Nothing can occur that God is somehow unaware is happening. We can truthfully say,

“Even if I lose all I have, it is better that I lose it than have it, if God wills it. The worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God wills it.” We can say this because “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

Christians don’t just believe this as a theory, but instead know it as fact. Everything can work for good, such as when dangerous and deadly drugs, mixed in the right proportions, can become a powerful cure. Believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, and that He brings good out of evil, our hearts will be assured. You and I are enabled to calmly meet each trial as it comes. Christians can, in the spirit of true surrender, pray, “Send me what you will, my God, so long as it comes from You. Never has there come an ill portion from Your table to any of Your children.”

Remember that God has servants everywhere, His method is holy, His heart profoundly kind, and His timing is always perfect.

Question: How can you think of examples of how God has used things in your life for good, even when the situation seemed bleak?

By Charles H Spurgeon
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• God is Faithful
• God is Gentle and Humble

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The post God Works for the Good can be found at Thoughts about God.

Today, I fought discouragement because I looked at me – instead of God.

I looked at my circumstances instead of looking at Him. But then, I fixed my gaze on Him and by the time evening fell – discouragement had also fallen away.

Looking at our difficult circumstances can often get us into trouble. When we examine what is going on around us, it is easy to think this is bad, this is messed up, and there is no way this can be resolved. The best attitude we can have is to be grateful God can work in any situation! Nothing is too big or too hard for Him, and we don’t have to face any difficult situation alone.

One of the greatest examples in the Bible of more going on than what is seen in the circumstances of a situation is the story of Joseph. His brothers plotted to murder him, but instead of killing him, they put him in a pit, then decided to sell him to slave traders. You know the rest of the story—he ends up falsely imprisoned for years. Now this is a long string of difficult circumstances. Yet, if you read the story in Genesis from chapter 37 to 50, you will repeatedly read that God’s good hand of favor was on Joseph through it all.

You will also read how God delivered Joseph from prison and promoted him to the second in power in the land of Egypt. At God’s prompting, Joseph wisely stores food and prepares for the coming famine. He reunites with his family, and we see the most beautiful aspect of all in this story that has spanned many years of Joseph’s life. Joseph forgives his brothers. What is most remembered and greatly emphasized from this passage is Joseph’s statement to his brothers in Genesis 50.

Genesis 50:20 “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

Joseph’s story, as with many others in the Bible, demonstrates to us that God is always working in those things we cannot see…yet. God is working in and through bad circumstances…for good.

Take your eyes off the circumstance and look at God because the circumstance can be overwhelming, until you remind yourself again who God is and who you are in Him.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.“

By Kathy Cheek
Used by Permission

From: First Breath of Morning: Where God Waits For You Every Day.

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