Tag Archives: Romans 8:37

Nothing is impossible with God

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You’ve heard it so many times before:

 

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

We are more than conquerors. (Romans 8:37)

Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

 

These are all promises of God but how are we to apply them?  Because we believe in God and put our faith in him, are we assured that all our prayers will be answered according to our desires? That everything we want to achieve will be accomplished according to our plans?

 

Not our plans.

God’s plans.

 

The message of Luke 1 is that “Nothing is impossible with God.” Elizabeth was barren and she and Zechariah were quite old. But an angel of the Lord appeared and promised they would have a son who was to be dedicated to God. And it happened exactly as it was foretold. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, foretelling that even though she was a virgin, she would bear a son through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that her son’s kingdom would never end. And it happened exactly as it was foretold. Both births were humanly impossible, yet nothing is impossible with God.

 

Nothing is impossible with God because his plans are invincible. He is Almighty God who made everything from nothing. He is the author of wisdom and understanding, the creator of life itself. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He knew you before you were born. His power and love know no limits. He speaks and light appears. His son Jesus, The Light of the World, shines into the darkness of our troubles and illumines our path so we know how to walk in the path of peace, the very way to live our lives. He redeems our broken, lost, and hopeless lives with his great mercy and amazing grace. You can bear up under your difficulties because he will strengthen you with his strength and grace. Nothing is impossible with him!

 

Is this the God to whom you pray? When we pray the will of God for ourselves and others, we pray with the confidence that nothing is impossible for God when it comes to carrying out his good and perfect plan which far exceeds our own.

 

God has a good and perfect plan for you, better than you can imagine. Though circumstances look to be hopeless through your eyes, nothing can impede God’s perfect plan for those who seek him with their whole heart and trust him fully. (Jeremiah 29:11-13) It may not be the plan you foresee or even think you desire. The things we desire seem great to us, but sometimes they are like making mud pies in the street when God intends for us something immeasurably more grand. Nothing is impossible with God who loves you. You can turn over your daily to-do list and your very life ambitions to the God of all possibilities who loves you and will complete his perfect plan for you, if you let him.

 

Let your focus today be on the God for whom nothing is impossible.

 

Well done!

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Well done, good and faithful servant! Matthew 25:23

 

We all long to be praised even if sometimes we are embarrassed. Deep inside we long for a life of faith that is lived well.

 

But we get side tracked. Our attention turns to the bills, the never-ending chores, the constant demands on our time. Just keeping our head above water seems like a challenge. Where do we find time or energy to do more? Fortunately, the answer is not found in doing more but in doing whatever we do well:

 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Colossians 3:23

 

What His Word really says is that we should enjoy His presence in everything we do. Enjoy Him when you get dressed, when you brush your teeth. Let your joy over His goodness spill over the way you work; let it overflow onto those you encounter. Be purposeful in your interactions with His love, truth and grace in mind. Rest in His presence that restores you, not in recreation that leaves you ‘wrecked.’ Remember also, sometimes the answer to living a life of faith and honor is in doing nothing, but in waiting on God:

 

Wait on the Lord. Psalm 27:14

 

Be honest, waiting is a hassle! We wait for the coffee to brew, we wait for the end of the day, we wait for our paycheck to come, we wait and wait for the answer to prayers. We hate waiting. But in waiting, we stop tapping our toes impatiently and start to silently bow our heads. Waiting makes us humble and draws us closer to the God who lifts us up, the God we so desperately need. We are eager to press forward with our own plans and efforts. But waiting on God’s timing and providence ultimately reveals more of who He is. We sometimes think we can wait no longer, but we can, because:

 

We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

 

It doesn’t seem that way. Life beats us up just as Jesus said it would. Maybe you sometimes feel more defeated and enslaved by suffering than victorious over it. Me too. I wish I could tell you the secret to making suffering end right now. But it won’t. You don’t want to hear it, but the truth is, the immense weight of suffering we feel now will appear light compared to the glory of God that will be revealed through it and in fact produced by it. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

 

Believe it, not because it’s easy, but because it’s true. Even though pain shouts at us, God speaks loudly through His whisper of grace and peace. So, let’s cast our anxieties aside and focus on the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living:

 

Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Philippians 4:8

 

And rest in peace, good and faithful servant.

 

 

Quench not the Spirit

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Quench not the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19

 

Today we often think of the word ‘quench’ as meaning to satisfy a thirst. Throughout the bible it means to extinguish a flame or fire, to put out a lamp or light, or to suppress the truth.

 

Jesus promised the gift of His Spirit to be our comforter, helper and guide. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8), to live a life that testifies to the whole world that Jesus is indeed Lord and Savior. This same power equips us to live victorious lives (Romans 8:37). To remain in Christ is to remain in His Spirit. And yet, in the context of how we should remain focused and alert in troubled times comes this warning: Quench not the Spirit.

 

Ephesians 4:30 warns: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Quenching and grieving the Spirit are inexplicably intertwined. We quench the Spirit and the Spirit grieves. We quench and grieve the Holy Spirit both when we are fixated only on what the Spirit does for us personally and also when we ignore the Spirit. John MacArthur points out that when we sensationalize the Spirit’s power in us we “reduce the Holy Spirit to some sort of divine genie, who does only things that are seen, felt or heard.” Ignoring the spiritual power within us, we quench the true sanctifying work of the Spirit.

 

We also quench the Spirit by ignoring Him. Turning away from the Spirit’s power to transform and sanctify our lives, we substitute other false helps for the authentic power that God alone offers. MacArthur continues: “They substitute human wisdom…as the path to solving spiritual problems. They reject the only true power, the only genuine problem solver, the Holy Spirit, who alone can heal the sins of our lives, and make us holy.”

 

Perhaps the trap we face is not so much that we seek out the help of others, but that we do so to the abandonment of God’s all-sufficient Spirit in us. If all our woes can be solved by therapists, educators, and scientists, do we really need the Spirit of the Living God?

 

We quench the Spirit of God when we listen to everyone except Him. We douse the flame of God that burns within us and extinguish His power. Paul asks in Galatians 3:3 if we are so foolish as to having begun in the Spirit, to finish with our own efforts to become ‘better’! Do we think that the powerful Spirit of God who convicted us of sin and led us to repentance cannot also be trusted with the rest of our lives?

 

When we abandon our only source of real hope, we incapacitate our ability to live well, free despite our circumstances. We invite devastation upon our lives and quench the Holy Spirit’s power in us. Instead, let’s ask to be filled daily with the Spirit’s power to live a life of testimony to the world that the our hope is in Jesus alone.

 

 

From test to testimony

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Today’s test is tomorrow’s testimony.

 

Disappointment. It comes around frequently, doesn’t it? Disappointment in self, in others, maybe even in God if we are honest with ourselves. When things don’t go our way, when people behave badly, when we are robbed of our possessions, our health, our time, and our joy, we face disappointment.

 

Yet, if you change just one letter, you might be able to see your disappointment as His Appointment. What might HIS appointment look like? It might draw our attention away from the temporary problem to the long-term solutions He intends for you. It might cause you to reverse some steps and take a different, less stressful path. His appointment always is ready to bring you peace in the middle of a storm and discernment when you need real wisdom. His appointment causes us to look at the broad strokes of the picture, not just the detailed brush marks. Most disappointments, when taken in perspective are not nearly as large as they first seem. Yet other disappointments seem to color our whole life. How do we respond to those overarching hurts?

 

Do you remember the moving line from the Facing the Giants film? Filled with repeated disappointment in not being pregnant, the coach’s wife stopped in the parking lot and with tears in her eyes looked to the heavens, saying, “And still I will praise you.” To me it was more powerful than any of the advertising lines they included in the promos. While her level of disappointment might not match your looming disappointments, it reminds me of the power of a testimony of faithfulness and praise in the midst of pain and sorrow . . . An honest expression of faith that endures even when it doesn’t feel like enduring. It speaks to others.

 

“Only God can turn a MESS into a MESSAGE, a TEST into a TESTIMONY, a TRIAL into a TRIUMPH, and a VICTIM into a VICTORY.” Why not let HIM take charge of your disappointment and show you His Appointment for you today?!

 

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

 

The battle for the mind

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We’ve talked in previous posts how all of life is a battle for the mind. Every day we are challenged to focus on what is trying to control our mind: past regrets, poor self-image, misled teaching, pain and suffering. Hopefully, rather than these, is the Word of God which offers hope and equips us to overcome our circumstances. The following story (from Facebook) gives testimony to the power to fight and win the battle for the mind.

Last month, former Hillsong worshipper Darlene Zschech (“Shout to the Lord”) wrote her fans with news that she started to lose her hair as she began chemo treatments for breast cancer. In a new blog post Zschech updates fans again while undergoing her third round of chemotherapy proclaiming that she is keeping her “MIND focused” on God’s word.

In her latest blog Zschech rejoices in the fact that she is almost through with treatments. “Praise God I have reached my halfway point,” she wrote. Adding, “This entire journey has truly been a mind game. Keeping my MIND focused on all God says, instead of how I am feeling, which is becoming a little fragile at times.”

She goes on to list a few scriptures that help her through her emotional time, including these two:
“2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
“Romans 8:37 – Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

As a note to all of us, she comments how encouraging messages from others FUELS her soul, a common observation of all cancer patients, I suspect.

The successful songwriter is remaining hopeful and says that God has been with her every step of the way and His word has really been a lamp unto her feet. “Again and again, God’s word trumps our adversities. It’s His nature to heal and to rescue. Never forget that. It’s all based on His great love for us – not on anything we have done.”
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How about you? What trials are you facing that present a battle for your mind? What circumstances challenge you to maintain focused on what helps, not just what hurts? Beyond cancer, other circumstances cause us to struggle with right thinking: relationship stress, chronic pain, physical disease, financial and work pressures, sorrow and grief, and so much more.

But there is HOPE. Paul writes that we are more than conquerors. How can this be? Because we focus on that which brings hope more than our feelings. Encouragement from others fuels us. God’s Word does also, on an even grander scale. Focus on what helps, not what hurts. Win the battle for your mind.