All Things

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. Roman 8:28
For we know that ALL things work together for them that love Him, a familiar verse, right? Then why does this not seem to be true for everyone? I have heard it said that no matter what we set out to do, a lot of times it just doesn’t seem to work toward anything good for us? I ask you this question…do we REALLY LOVE HIM? We can’t expect the verse to apply to us just because it sounds good and it is encouraging. We have to look at the verse as a whole. Do we really Love God? I am reading a book by Francis Chan that asked that question and then he proceeded to question if maybe we just LOVE what HE does and we just might not even love Him at all.
This promise is only for those who love God and are called by Him; those whom the Holy Spirit convinces to receive Christ…have you been convinced? This verse is for those whose minds have been transformed, those who have a new perspective, a new way of thinking. If your treasure is in worldly things, this is not for you. If your security is in earth and not heaven, this is not for you. This is for those whose faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution…why? Because we know God is with us.
The second part of the verse says that this is to them that are called according to His purpose. It is important for the activation of this verse in our lives that we know that we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ--that we are children of the Most High, that we have acknowledged that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that we have repented of our sins and believe that Christ died on the cross to save us from the pit of hell. If we know this to be true in our lives, then we can have the confidence that even if we don’t see the good or can’t understand how something negative may be working for our good…It is good because God said it is.
God loves us, not because of what we have or who we have become…HE just loves us. Can we truly say the same thing, that we love Him just because HE is God? This means that if HE never did anything for us, would we still love Him or does what HE does for us have us believe we love Him? Francis Chan said, “That we tend to act like a kid with God who can say to their parents, I don’t love you and don’t want to be with you but will you give me my allowance.” Deep isn’t it?
The Bible says our hearts are deceitfully wicked. I know it hurts to look at the wickedness of our hearts and be willing to be honest about where we are regarding loving God, BUT we need to see how we treat God sometimes so we can have a reality check and get a grip! Do you spend time with Him? How often do you think about Him throughout the day? Is HE a priority or do you fit Him into your day where you can? Are you living according to His Word? Do you get excited about Him? Do you stand in AWE of Him? How much time do you spend praising and worshipping Him?
We are not capable of loving God on our own, by our own power; it is His grace that allows us to love Him. Does anyone besides me need more grace to love God the way HE longs to be loved? Let’s ask God to give us a desire for more love for Him, knowing that this stretching in love for God will have us live radically for Him because there will be nothing we won’t do for Him.

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