Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”
Our Bible verse for today: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Trust that God is sovereign over your circumstances.”
When we speak of the sovereignty of God we mean that God is the King and Supreme Ruler of the entire universe. Not only did He create all there is, but He rules over all there is.
Beyond that, He has power over all there is. Nothing occurs at any time or in any place, anywhere in the universe, that is beyond the power of God to control if He so chooses. In Ephesians 1:11 Paul writes, “(He) works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will …” In other words God either directly causes it (His direct will), or He chooses to allow it (His permissive will), for His own purposes and according to His divine will.
God rules and reigns over the universe. He is sovereign.
Throughout history, and across the denominational spectrum, there are and have been differences in understanding regarding exactly how God’s sovereignty operates in our individual lives. The general consensus among conservative theologians (and this is my personal belief as well) is that God chooses to exercise His sovereignty over our lives in conjunction with human responsibility. In other words, God works in partnership with us. He does His part and we have to do our part; and if we are in synch with Him, then it is His will that prevails in our lives.
What does all of that have to do with our theme of “perseverance”? Simply this: The best place for any of us to ever be is right in the center of God’s will. So do your best to understand and obey His will, and then stick to it regardless of the circumstances.
Remember, God is sovereign. He can orchestrate events in your life as necessary to achieve His purposes. If for your part you genuinely desire to simply know God’s will and to be obedient to it, and then you actually take the steps necessary to be obedient to His will as you understand it, you can relax and trust Him to act in your best interest according to His will. This is what Paul meant when he wrote in Romans 1:17 “The righteous will live by faith.”
In his own life Paul relinquished all of his own desires and all of his own plans in exchange for being obedient to the will of God as best as he could. Paul trusted that God would honor that effort on his part, and since He is sovereign, since He rules and reigns over the affairs of men and nations, He can be trusted to “work out everything in agreement with the decision of His will.”
The bottom line here for us is to trust God and live by faith. He is sovereign. Do your best to understand His will and to be obedient to it, and then trust Him.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 