Love and Faith

"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" (Rom. 8:28). It really is that simple. There is a faith that absolutely anchors the soul to Jesus, and holds under any and all circumstances. That faith is based in the irrefutable reality that "God is love," and that he loves you completely (I Jn. 4:8). And since God IS love, he is love ALL THE TIME! It is unquestionable that he never changes, and so it is unquestionable that he loves you at all times (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8; Jas. 1:17). My friend, that to me is such good news that I just don't quite know how to express it, other than PRAISE GOD!! The beauty of this truth is that we can totally and fully trust that in very adverse circumstances, and extremely difficult and painful times, God is loving us and trying to work something better for us in our lives. It is he who is in total control of all things that happen in our lives, and in the whole world for that matter, at all times (Psm. 62:11; Psm. 105:7; Rom. 13:1; Eph. 1:11). So it is evident that nothing can happen to us unless it happens to us by and through his love for us. This is why the apostle Paul could conclude "that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38,39).

It truly is a win-win thing as long as we are those "who love God, [and are] the called according to his purpose." And that equation is a simple one, given that we "love righteousness and hate iniquity," as Jesus does (Heb. 1:9). We prove that we love righteousness and hate iniquity by refusing to allow anything contrary to God's love and peace to reside in our heart (Prov. 4:23; Tit. 2:14; I Jn. 3:3). And it is when we are really squeezed that we have the greatest opportunity to prove our love for God in truth, by letting the fire of the holy Ghost purge our hearts and spirits of anything and everything that would be a hindrance to God's love being seen and felt through us purely. That is where it's at my friend, glorifying God by getting our fleshly nature out of the way and letting him "work in [us] both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Rom. 6:6; Philip. 2:13). That is how the refinement, development, and perfecting of God's love is accomplished in us; and that is most profoundly effected in us through difficulties and hardships. And that developed and perfected love of God in us is indeed the "good" that "all things work together" for us, and that is in fact "his purpose" to which we are called. So all that is left is the knowledge and faith of the truth that, "If God be for us, who [or what] can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). Amen.