Skip to main content

Thursday... Could all of this have the opposite of its intended effect? Could it?


Thursday... Could all of this have the opposite of its intended effect? Could it?

If you read in the Book of Acts in the New Testament of the Bible you will see how Paul the Apostle wanted to go to the city of Rome to share the good news of Christ. But you will also see that he went as a prisoner. They wanted to stop him. That was their intention.

In one of the letters that Paul wrote while a prisoner he said in Philippians 1:12 - 14 (MSG), "I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I'm in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they've learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah."

Maybe the same could be said of us during this time of pandemic. Could all of this have the opposite of its intended effect? That is where God comes in. He works all things out for His good. And He knows what He is doing. Let's not waste this opportunity to show how God works. 

Earlier in verses 9 -11, Paul says, "So this is my prayer; that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God." 

Now that is the way to have the opposite of its intended effect, isn't it? Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friday... So what is it that you really fear?

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT), "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Friday... So what is it that you really fear? Yes, fear holds us back. It seems to take hold of us so that we can't even really enjoy living. Now I have found that one of the best ways to handle fear is to solve the problem of what we fear. Let's say that death is what we really fear. Everyday we wake up afraid to get up because we are afraid to do anything because we are afraid to die. And that is so understandable. Now I have found the solution to fearing death. I have through faith taken care of my fear to die. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT) says, "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 22 (CEV) says, "Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us." Death was not God's plan. Adam was created for an eternal life but he and his partner, Eve blew it and sin a...
Post a Comment
Read more