Meant for Good (and other devotionals)

Meant for Good

"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."

—Genesis 50:20

Aren't you glad the word oops is not in God's vocabulary? God is sovereign, which simply means that God is in control. He doesn't make mistakes. He does what He wants when He wants with whom He wants in any way He wants.

That could be a little frightening if we didn't know that God is also good. The things that He allows into our lives are for our benefit and for the benefit of others.

Joseph understood that. And one cannot read the story of Joseph without thinking of 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." All things work together—not just the so-called good things. Joseph summed that up in his way when he told his brothers who had betrayed him, "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" (Genesis 50:20).

As you get a little bit older, some of the things you thought were good may end up being bad, and some of the things you thought were bad may end up being good. And then, sometimes good things are just good things and bad things are bad things.

God helps us sort it all out. And with the passing of time, you look at things a little more objectively and a little bit differently. There are things that God allows in life that don't make sense. But I believe that ultimately in my life, all things will work together for good. That may not be fully realized until I get to heaven. But until then, I am willing to live by that promise.

~Greg Laurie~

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1 Thessalonians 4:14

Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.

Let us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise," is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They "sleep in Jesus," but their souls are before the throne of God, praising Him day and night in His temple, singing hallelujahs to Him who washed them from their sins in His blood. The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass. But what is this sleep? The idea connected with sleep is "rest," and that is the thought which the Spirit of God would convey to us. Sleep makes each night a Sabbath for the day. Sleep shuts fast the door of the soul, and bids all intruders tarry for a while, that the life within may enter its summer garden of ease. The toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on its mother's breast. Oh! happy they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. Their quiet repose shall never be broken until God shall rouse them to give them their full reward. Guarded by angel watchers, curtained by eternal mysteries, they sleep on, the heritors of glory, till the fulness of time shall bring the fulness of redemption. What an awaking shall be theirs! They were laid in their last resting place, weary and worn, but such they shall not rise. They went to their rest with the furrowed brow, and the wasted features, but they wake up in beauty and glory. The shrivelled seed, so destitute of form and comeliness, rises from the dust a beauteous flower. The winter of the grave gives way to the spring of redemption and the summer of glory. Blessed is death, since it, through the divine power, disrobes us of this work-day garment, to clothe us with the wedding garment of incorruption. Blessed are those who "sleep in Jesus."

~Charles Spurgen~

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2 Chronicles 32:31

Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

Hezekiah was growing so inwardly great, and priding himself so much upon the favour of God, that self-righteousness crept in, and through his carnal security, the grace of God was for a time, in its more active operations, withdrawn. Here is quite enough to account with the Babylonians; for if the grace of God should leave the best Christian, there is enough of sin in his heart to make him the worst of transgressors. If left to yourselves, you who are warmest for Christ would cool down like Laodicea into sickening lukewarmness: you who are sound in the faith would be white with the leprosy of false doctrine; you who now walk before the Lord in excellency and integrity would reel to and fro, and stagger with a drunkenness of evil passion. Like the moon, we borrow our light; bright as we are when grace shines on us, we are darkness itself when the Sun of Righteousness withdraws Himself. Therefore let us cry to God never to leave us. "Lord, take not thy Holy Spirit from us! Withdraw not from us Thine indwelling grace! Hast Thou not said, 'I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day'? Lord, keep us everywhere. Keep us when in the valley, that we murmur not against Thy humbling hand; keep us when on the mountain, that we wax not giddy through being lifted up; keep us in youth, when our passions are strong; keep us in old age, when becoming conceited of our wisdom, we may therefore prove greater fools than the young and giddy; keep us when we come to die, lest, at the very last, we should deny Thee! Keep us living, keep us dying, keep us labouring, keep us suffering, keep us fighting, keep us resting, keep us everywhere, for everywhere we need Thee, O our God!"

~Charles Spurgeon~

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Simply Obey

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The Bible is not primarily a book to be explained; it is first and foremost a book to be believed and obeyed. Whether you understand it or not, when God says it, you just simply obey it.

And don't substitute human reasoning for obedience. So many times we like to tell God how He ought to do things. I can imagine those early disciples when Saul was making havoc of the church and hauling Christians off to prison and death. I imagine there were many praying, “Oh, God, do something about Saul. Strike him dead.” But God didn't want to strike him dead. God struck him alive! And aren't you glad He did?

ACTION POINT:
Isn't it strange how God works? You see, our ways and God's ways are so different. This is when we have to say, “I will trust You and obey.”

~Adrian Rogers~

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The Vital Sign of Hunger for God's Word

It is not unusual for someone who becomes physically sick to lose their appetite.  In fact, when a person is deathly ill, the doctor will often pull loved ones aside and say, "Try to get them to eat something.  If they're going to recover, they have to eat."

The same is true when someone is sick spiritually.  They lose their appetite for spiritual things.  They lose their appetite for the Word of God.  In fact, when you see a believer who has lost his or her hunger for God's Word, it is a sure sign that person needs to be revived.

At least three times in Psalm 119, the psalmist tells us that one of the ways God will revive you when you are spiritually weak is through His Word.

In verse 25 he says,

My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.

In verse 107 he says,

I am afflicted very much; revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.

And then in verse 154 he says it again,

Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word.

If you are going to be revived, it will be in large part according to or through the Word of God.  In fact, what the psalmist is literally saying is, "Give me life.  Revive me through Your Word."  The more you feed on God's Word, the more you hunger for it.

So a critical vital sign of the spiritual life is a hunger, an appetite, for God's Word.  There is a renewed hunger for spiritual truth when you are revived.  As you feed upon His Word, it will give you more life, it will give you more strength, and it will give you spiritual vitality.

~Bayless Conley~