<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br></div>Correction: &nbsp;Yesterday, I inadvertently skipped the actual verse, ‘Romans 8;28’ and instead quoted you Romans 8;29 by mistake, (although I identified it as Romans 8;28, in truth it was really verse 29). &nbsp;Please excuse my error. &nbsp;Today, I will go back and base today’s devotion upon the ‘correct’ verse 28. &nbsp;If you are keeping a file of&nbsp;these daily devotions, please correct yesterday’s VotD, change it from 8/28 to what it should be, 8/29.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>Romans 8;28 (actual)</div><div><br></div><div><b>28. &nbsp;We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Most of us have memorized a few Bible verses in our life time. &nbsp;Today’s verse is known&nbsp; by heart by many of us. &nbsp;It is a profound passage and deserves more attention than a single ‘reasonably short’&nbsp;devotion can provide.</div><div><br></div><div><span>The first most obvious questions are: ‘ Does this verse then suggest that in some things God is </span><u>not</u><span>&nbsp;working for good for unloving unbelievers?’ &nbsp;Or, <i>‘</i>’If God is holy and just, if God is <i>“good,”</i>&nbsp;then why&nbsp;does this verse imply&nbsp;that God works bad or evil for <i>“those”</i>&nbsp;who do not love Him?’ &nbsp;Or, ‘Why does a good God allow evil in this world?’</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The short&nbsp;answer to all these questions is: &nbsp;Good and evil must&nbsp;be understood in this text&nbsp;from both&nbsp;the perspectives of humans as well as from God’s perspective. &nbsp;Many of the things which Believers endure are thought of as ‘bad, or evil’ because they are painful, or cause sorrow and grief. &nbsp;But, not everything which is painful is bad, consider childbirth. &nbsp;Physical death itself for the Believer should not be thought of as bad. &nbsp;It is the door to Paradise for us. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Our real problem in labeling some things ‘good’ and other things ‘bad,’ is that we are not in the place of God.&nbsp;We have no right to make such declarations. &nbsp;We do not view <i>“everything” </i>&nbsp;from God’s perspective, yet, we pass judgement and say&nbsp;some things are&nbsp;<i>‘good’,&nbsp; </i>(which from God’s perspective are not good). &nbsp;We likewise declare other <i>“things” ‘</i>bad’ (which God knows are truly good). &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>For humans to speak to one another saying, “You’d better sit down,&nbsp;I have some ‘bad’ news for you,”</span></div><div><span>is evidence of our prideful, arrogant, ignorance of the truth, and how God is working. &nbsp;It is once again the old sin of Satan, putting oneself into the place of God. &nbsp;God forgive us!&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Humility and wisdom demand we refrain from such judgements. &nbsp;Comfort, ease, wealth, and acclaim, can and do serve to insulate many sinners from their need to repent. &nbsp;These humanly ‘good’ things can be spiritual pain killers covering up our inner evil and our&nbsp;greater need for painful change and for&nbsp;God.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Having briefly addressed the first questions, let us go on to an even&nbsp;more important question: ‘Do I love God?’</span></div><div><span>Answer from a human perspective, ‘No, certainly not perfectly as I ought to.’ &nbsp;But, from God’s perspective, the answer is: ‘Yes, in Christ, our love for the Father <u>is</u>&nbsp;perfect.’ &nbsp;More than that, it is divine love,</span></div><div><span><i>“Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” </i>(Romans 5;5) &nbsp;This divine love of God is given into us in our baptism into Christ as we</span><span>&nbsp;receive&nbsp;of the gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism. &nbsp;<i>“We love because God first loved us.” &nbsp;</i>(1 John 4;19)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The final and most important question is: &nbsp;‘What does it mean, to be, <i>“called according to His purpose”?</i></span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span>Answer: ‘The purpose of God’s call to us,&nbsp;is that we ‘believe in Jesus AND&nbsp;be fruitful.’</span></div><div><span><i>“Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ &nbsp;Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” &nbsp;</i>(John 6;28&amp;29)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><i>“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear&nbsp;fruit &nbsp; and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he may give it to you. &nbsp;This I command you, to love one another.” &nbsp;</i>(John 15;16&amp;17)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><i>“For he has made known to us&nbsp;in&nbsp;all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set&nbsp;forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” &nbsp;</i>(Ephesians 1;9)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><i>“For those whom he knew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.” &nbsp;</i>(Romans 8;28), [Yesterday’s ‘Verse of the Day’]</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><i>“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” </i>(Leviticus 19;2)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>To claim to be a Believer and to claim to <i>“love God,” </i>while we hate our neighbor is to be deceived. &nbsp;Do not expect anything <i>“good.” </i>(see, 1 John 4;20)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Loving God and participating in His purpose, is to be humble, broken-hearted, contrite, believing, and by faith,&nbsp;obedient to the Father’s will:</span><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span>loving&nbsp;God, our neighbor, AND our enemy</span><span>. &nbsp;These things we are and do as we by faith&nbsp;abide and observe, </span><i>“The Law of the Spirit of Life <u>in Christ Jesus.”</u></i></div><div><i><u><br></u></i></div><div><i><u>Loving God and doing His will cannot be done in&nbsp;the power of forgiven flesh. &nbsp;It can only be done through the&nbsp;</u></i><u>Law of the Spirit of Life, <b>in </b>Christ Jesus.</u><span>&nbsp; We can&nbsp;</span><span>rightly understand this only as a meta-physical joining of ourselves into&nbsp;</span><span>Jesus and He into us, so that it is really and truly, God at work in us, willing and doing. &nbsp;(see, Philippians 2;13) &nbsp;We claim no credit, all glory goes to God for whatever good works we do.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, deliver us from trying to ‘make rational&nbsp;sense’ of the mystical, miraculous, oneness of Christ with us&nbsp;His Bride the Church. &nbsp;Your truth surpasses human understanding. &nbsp;It can only be received by faith. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><i><u></u></i></span></div><div><span>(Please meditate upon Galatians 2;20)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we, broken-hearted, contrite, forgiven, indwelt, believing children, are His.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Correction:  Yesterday, I inadvertently skipped the actual verse, ‘Romans 8;28’ and instead quoted you Romans 8;29 by mistake, (although I identified it as Romans 8;28, in truth it was really verse 29).  Please excuse my error.  Today, I will go back and base today’s devotion upon the ‘correct’ verse 28.  If you are keeping a file of these daily devotions, please correct yesterday’s VotD, change it from 8/28 to what it should be, 8/29. 
Romans 8;28 (actual)
28.  We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.
Most of us have memorized a few Bible verses in our life time.  Today’s verse is known  by heart by many of us.  It is a profound passage and deserves more attention than a single ‘reasonably short’ devotion can provide.
The first most obvious questions are: ‘ Does this verse then suggest that in some things God is not working for good for unloving unbelievers?’  Or, ‘’If God is holy and just, if God is “good,” then why does this verse imply that God works bad or evil for “those” who do not love Him?’  Or, ‘Why does a good God allow evil in this world?’
The short answer to all these questions is:  Good and evil must be understood in this text from both the perspectives of humans as well as from God’s perspective.  Many of the things which Believers endure are thought of as ‘bad, or evil’ because they are painful, or cause sorrow and grief.  But, not everything which is painful is bad, consider childbirth.  Physical death itself for the Believer should not be thought of as bad.  It is the door to Paradise for us.  
Our real problem in labeling some things ‘good’ and other things ‘bad,’ is that we are not in the place of God. We have no right to make such declarations.  We do not view “everything”  from God’s perspective, yet, we pass judgement and say some things are ‘good’,  (which from God’s perspective are not good).  We likewise declare other “things” ‘bad’ (which God knows are truly good).   
For humans to speak to one another saying, “You’d better sit down, I have some ‘bad’ news for you,”is evidence of our prideful, arrogant, ignorance of the truth, and how God is working.  It is once again the old sin of Satan, putting oneself into the place of God.  God forgive us!   
Humility and wisdom demand we refrain from such judgements.  Comfort, ease, wealth, and acclaim, can and do serve to insulate many sinners from their need to repent.  These humanly ‘good’ things can be spiritual pain killers covering up our inner evil and our greater need for painful change and for God.
Having briefly addressed the first questions, let us go on to an even more important question: ‘Do I love God?’Answer from a human perspective, ‘No, certainly not perfectly as I ought to.’  But, from God’s perspective, the answer is: ‘Yes, in Christ, our love for the Father is perfect.’  More than that, it is divine love,“Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5;5)  This divine love of God is given into us in our baptism into Christ as we receive of the gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism.  “We love because God first loved us.”  (1 John 4;19)
The final and most important question is:  ‘What does it mean, to be, “called according to His purpose”?
Answer: ‘The purpose of God’s call to us, is that we ‘believe in Jesus AND be fruitful.’“Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’  Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”  (John 6;28&29)
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit   and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he may give it to you.  This I command you, to love one another.”  (John 15;16&17)
“For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”  (Ephesians 1;9)
“For those whom he knew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.”  (Romans 8;28), [Yesterday’s ‘Verse of the Day’]
“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19;2)
To claim to be a Believer and to claim to “love God,” while we hate our neighbor is to be deceived.  Do not expect anything “good.” (see, 1 John 4;20)
Loving God and participating in His purpose, is to be humble, broken-hearted, contrite, believing, and by faith, obedient to the Father’s will:  loving God, our neighbor, AND our enemy.  These things we are and do as we by faith abide and observe, “The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.”
Loving God and doing His will cannot be done in the power of forgiven flesh.  It can only be done through the Law of the Spirit of Life, in Christ Jesus.  We can rightly understand this only as a meta-physical joining of ourselves into Jesus and He into us, so that it is really and truly, God at work in us, willing and doing.  (see, Philippians 2;13)  We claim no credit, all glory goes to God for whatever good works we do.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, deliver us from trying to ‘make rational sense’ of the mystical, miraculous, oneness of Christ with us His Bride the Church.  Your truth surpasses human understanding.  It can only be received by faith.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.(Please meditate upon Galatians 2;20)
Love,Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we, broken-hearted, contrite, forgiven, indwelt, believing children, are His.”




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