My Three Favorite Perspectives
There are many struggles we commonly share in our sin-cursed, self-focused, and satanically-permeated world.
A few that stand out to me are guilt, discouragement, anxiety, and fear. Have you felt the sting of these crushing blows in your life lately? They can be incessant and oppressive.
The good news about our faith is God! He always has an adequate provision simply because He is the God of “all things” (Mark 10:27) who “can do all things” (Job 42:2) and causes “all things to work together for good” (Romans 8:28) and for His glory (Romans 11:36).
Here are three of my favorite truths that always provide a clear perspective when life throws me a curveball.
Your past is completely forgiven! God said this through John: "The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Your present is completely empowered! God said this through Peter: “His divine power has granted to you everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).
Your future is completely guaranteed! God said this through the Hebrews writer: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19).
Each one of those perspectives is given a lot of additional support and nuance in Scripture. My overall point is to emphasize the tremendous all-sufficient resources God has given you and me to deal with all the challenging struggles we face, big or small.
Are you ready for the icing on the cake, or better yet, the Chick-fil-A sauce on your nuggets and waffle fries? This is what God communicates about the tremendous resources we have been freely given in Christ: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
Does it get any better than that? “All things” for whatever hard things we experience. What a loving and lavishly gracious God we serve!!!
Now let’s consider how we can respond to our "all things" God by following Paul’s example: “I do all things for the sake of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:23).
Pastor Jeff