| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Steadfast and immovable” Our Bible verse for today: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Trust God in the middle of it all” The last two devotional messages have been a little heavy, and maybe even dark. They were about the steadily declining levels of church attendance in America, along with the diminished influence of the church in American society. But God is sovereign over everything that’s going on in our nation and in the world. In the middle of everything, He is still working miracles and bringing about blessings. Romans 8:28 assures us that good things are happening, even if we’re having trouble seeing them. (Let me be quick to point out that although the verse says all things work together “for” good, it does not say that all things “are” good, because obviously, many things are not good. What this does mean is that in the middle of all the bad things that are happening, God is at work bringing good things out of the bad.) Is an increasing percentage of our population unreceptive to the Good News about Jesus? Yes. And yet, people continue to come to faith in Him every day (we had two teenagers in our church come to faith and present themselves for baptism just last week). Is overall church membership declining too? Yes. Any yet, people do continue to join churches (we’ve had new members recently). Do many professing Christians in our land seem to be sleepwalking through life spiritually? Yes. But many others are on fire for Jesus and actively on-mission with Him in communities all across the country. The truth is that God is actively at work in the middle of all the tough stuff, and He is bringing good things out of it for those who love and honor Him. We just need to pay attention and look for the good in the middle of the bad. I’ve cited just a few examples. If you think about it, I’m sure you could come up with many more. And I encourage you to do that. Spend some time this morning allowing the Holy Spirit to bring to your awareness some of the many ways God has recently brought something good out of a bad situation. Then give Him praise for it. One of the reasons we can be steadfast and immoveable in the midst of a broken, bleeding, hurting, and chaotic world is precisely because God is good and He is at work bringing good out of bad. God bless, Pastor Jim |
| Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. |
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Oak Hill Baptist Church 