"Worldly Vision"

 "Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit." (Ecclesiastes 4:4 KJV)

  "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:26-28 NLT)

 FYI, I was planning on doing another message on verse three, as it was rather short, and I thought it was deserving of a little follow up; but this verse we have before us today pretty much sums up what I was going to share, making it more about the real reason we keep our eyes on Jesus. Besides that, after the three messages I heard yesterday, I feel that I said enough, most of us know already that life is precious and deserves a chance to live out the purpose God has given!

 This touches on the results of what happens when those things go wrong, when life happens to take on the look of pain and suffering; sadness is portrayed in misery and unfair circumstances. All these things are not the end result, but while they are happening, life feels as though it has ended! 

 If you don't know what this means, good for you, you haven't lived through something yet that knocks you off your feet and makes you envious of the people who have everything working right in their lives; feeling as though you have been cheated, or worse, that God is judging you and has taken you to the woodshed. 

 First of all, if you are a child of God, He loves you more than you love yourself! He knows what is best for you, because He knows your ending and what you will go through all of your life. He knows all that will hurt you, cause you serious pain, and even knows the sufferings that will be involved in your life. Having known all of that, He still has His hand upon your life, holding you and making you into the complete person you are meant to be. 

 We sometimes feel crushed by certain things, which are incredibly bad and horrific; those things are not good, no matter who might say that they are, they just aren't, and they severely hurt! Look at Job, who had everything taken from him, within an hour or so; one thing after another, all his livestock, his servants, and all of his children, all killed in the same house! 

 Did Job think that all of that was good? Absolutely not! He tore his clothes and covered himself with ashes; and then he praised God, who gives and takes away, knowing full well everything belongs to God, not to him. It wasn't good, not in the slightest. But God works all things, together, for the good! Yes, we might not get the reason why certain things happen, but God knows all things, and He makes it all work towards the good!

 Think about David, as he stayed behind from battle, not good; as he slept with a friend's wife, even though he was one of his mighty men, not good; as he had that man killed, to cover up what he did, because she was with child; not good, again. But God made a way, taking all that was bad, and He made it good! This Book we are in right now, is a result of that bad situation, made good...      

"For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And haven chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?" (Romans 8:29-32 NLT)