This is something that Sister Liz did for the church bulletin a while back that I felt compelled to post.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, "I will be with him in trouble""[/i] (Psalm 91:15). It doesn"t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. "In[/i][/b] all these things we are more than conquerors"" [/i](Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are "super-victors" in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God.
"Shall tribulation . . .?" Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be " whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness " it is not able to "separate us from the love of Christ." Never allow tribulations or the "cares of this world" to separate you from remembering that God loves you (Matthew 13:22).
"Shall . . . distress . . .?" Can God"s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?
I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.[/i]
Psalm 7:17[/i]
There is a mystery, an aura about the living God that is designed to force us to trust Him, even when we cannot figure Him out (which is most of the time). . .
The mystery is purposeful, because His overall plan is profound. . . . His plan is not designed to make us comfortable; it"s designed to make us more like Christ, to conform us to His will. . . .
In this life, we have focus choices. We can focus on ourselves, we can focus on our circumstances, we can focus on other people, or we can focus on God. When you think biblically you focus first on God. Regardless of what you want, regardless of the circumstances you"re under, regardless of what others say or think, regardless of how you feel, God and God alone is working out His great plan. And in the final tally, it will be fabulous!
[/i]
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Out of the Wreck I Rise
