February 11, 2016

PPIL
Romans 8:28,29 NKJV - "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Commentary:

Romans 8:28 has brought some sense to the events that happen in a Christian’s life when they wonder why these things happen.  And it’s usually the sad, difficult, painful kind of events that prompt the need to find meaning.  When we think that “there’s got to be some good reason for this to happen to me,” we find a measure of acceptance and a willingness to be patient while the “meaning” is made clear.
 
Of course, we recognize that the qualifiers at the end of verse 28 are important to our understanding what God is seeking to accomplish.  We are told that we should “love God” and realize we have been called to His purpose, whatever that may be.  But it is that word, “purpose” that brings us to verse 29.
 
Romans 8:29 gives as clear a revealing of what God’s purpose is for every believer’s life: “…be conformed to the image of His Son…”  In other words, God’s purpose for us is that we would be like Jesus!  Everything: good, bad, in-between, all things that happen to us are for the purpose of God to make us more and more like His Son.  That’s God’s plan.  Every blessed joy we encounter and every sad and trying event we have to endure are meant to accomplish that purpose.
 
Does this help you?  It’s a POWERFUL PASSAGE that has had a definite IMPACT on my LIFE!!  I have come to realize that God’s plan for me on this earth is far more than to give me a pleasant existence here!  God is not necessarily interested that I have everything I want to make me happy.  He IS interested in making Himself happy by bringing me through every event in order that He can produce in me an example of who Jesus is.  When I get this clear in my mind and heart then I feel content, even happy, knowing that the situations I face are meant to bring me to live as Jesus would, and thus, give others who observe my life a glimpse of Him. 

Don't let the words "firstborn among many brethren" upset you.  It simply means that Jesus was the "most important" of all God's family.