God meant it for good!

God meant it for good ~ by Jon Walker

"You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result." (Genesis 50:20 NIV)

Joseph's life was anything but peaceful. It was complicated by youthful folly, broken dreams, and the mean-spirited actions of others. Sold into slavery by jealous brothers. Thrown into prison on false charges. Yet he remained a man remarkable for his lack of bitterness or regret, always seeing God as the "Great Engineer" behind even the worst of circumstances.

In a final confrontation with his brothers, he graciously noted, "You meant it for bad; God meant it for good."

The theology packed in that statement is astounding. "God meant it for good" means:

You can accept the past ! No sin, no action, no choice on your part is too big for God to handle, or too big to be worked for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Just ask Joseph! Better yet, ask his fearful and famished brothers, who were forced to rely on him for survival.

You can embrace the present ! There's no need to play the "what if?" game. The past is gone, and no energy you expend will ever change it. The future is in God's omnipotent hands, so you're free to focus on the present. Your job is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, trusting him to forgive the past and transform the future. Martyred missionary Jim Eliot once wrote, "Wherever you are, be all there... not living in the past and not fantasizing about the future. God wants you in the present because that's where his grace will flow."

You can look expectantly toward the future! ... Walking in the Spirit, you can live life to the fullest, unafraid of making mistakes and unconcerned that you may stumble into some terrible circumstance that takes you out of God's control. Even when things appear to be terrible, you can trust that God is working out some divine plan through you.

So what?
· No matter how bad things get... God is still able to bring good out of it. Today, thank God that nothing (no disaster, no delay) is bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly.

· Thank God and let go . Thank God that he is sovereign over your past, your present, and your future. Give God the circumstances, disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins from your past. Give God your current situation, your disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins of today. Praise God that he can work anything in your future for godly good, that you can walk in confidence that there is nothing anyone can do to you, or anything you can do that will be beyond the reach of God's grace and redemption.

· Look for God's hand . Walking by faith means you see God's hand even in the most difficult of circumstances. You trust his ability and his willingness to transform the bad into godly good. God is not limited by people's motives. In other words, it doesn't matter why someone hurt you, God still can transform a deliberate, mean-spirited situation into something for his good.

· What will you allow God to change? There it is: some situation, or event, or person in your life that, as far as you can tell, was "meant for bad." How do you think God meant it for good? Ask God what he wants you to do with this situation (event or person). When he answers, do it. We're praying for you now. © 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.

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You've been OBSERVED!

Do not conform...

Do not conform... be TRANSFORMED ~ Romans 12:2

8 Weeks

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Psalm 139:12-14
…even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

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only one word can describe this = humbling

We'll keep you posted! ~ J. & Ashley
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*** After posting this my "brotha in baldness", Pastor Rick Rohlin, sent his own sonogram. You see, he and his wife have adopted 2 beautiful boys (Zachary & Jason)! ENJOY!!!

Ephesians 1:4-6 (NLT)
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

Transforming Soldier

Transforming Soldier
There you are my child,
how transformed you are.
You came to me a casualty,
a victim of my war.
Now you leave from here,
while never leaving me.

How transformed you are,
a soldier on my side.
Missionary you leave here,
a leader in my war.
Transforming casualties by the hundreds,
transforming just like you.

Live in your faith of me,
their old lives will be their gun.
They'll shoot at you,
just to stop you soldier.
But I shall be your shield,
faith firing unto them

There you are my child,
look at all you've done.
Over all these years,
my transforming soldier.
You helped me on the way,
winning many to my side.

Now child, your time has come,
so say good bye to war.
I'm calling you home now child,
your reward shall be so great.
No man shall ever know,
how true you were to me.

-JLR-
3/28/07

You've Been OBSERVED!

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