Running To Win on Oneplace.com

As believers mature in the faith, they come to realize that salvation is not so much a result of our seeking God as it is the result of God choosing us first. If God had not done this, none of us would ever have chosen Him.

God works in the lives of His people to bring about good even when what’s happening is bad. Through the eye of faith, we who know Him can be sure that a better day is coming, and we can live triumphantly no matter what comes our way.

“All things work together for good to them who love God…” does this include tragedy and disasters? Here are some ways God uses life’s rough spots to fashion in us the character He desires to see.

Only a Christian can be certain that all of life is heading toward a future glory. That’s why believers know that all things, even the bad things, work together for good for those who love God. 

Christians get socked by life’s reversals like anyone else. But there’s a crucial difference. Believers know they have a permanent home where no foreclosure is possible… and where all suffering will end. But we never groan alone during trials.

As believers, we long to be free of the limitations and pains of this body. Suffering is a lot easier to bear when we have hope for a future day when all suffering will cease. That’s the hope Paul speaks of in the marvelous eighth chapter of Romans.

It’s tough to be optimistic when slogging through hard times. Some try to grin and bear it; others crack under the pressure. But Christians can have a different perspective: awaiting a future glory that makes our present suffering infinitesimal in comparison.

“The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then… joint heirs with Christ.” Romans 8 gives believers the riches of heaven despite being unworthy sinners. God invites us into the throne room to partake of His bounty.

Think life’s tough for you? Just wait. Think you’ve always gotten the short end of life’s stick? Just wait. As a member of the body of Christ, your inheritance is earning interest right now in the bank of heaven. One day:  you’ll make a withdrawal.

From Romans 8 we learn that the Holy Spirit bestows Christians with the desire for intimacy with God. In fact, even the desire to call Him “daddy.” Can you call God “Papa”? 

An heir—that’s exactly what you are as a child of God. You’re an heir to a fortune, and didn’t know it. In Romans, we read: “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, joint heirs with Christ.”    

Many people try to satisfy themselves with things that only make finding satisfaction more elusive. But the believer in Christ has a new life with new desires. Here are more reasons why Christians are indeed “Children of an Awesome God.” 

As believers in Christ, we have a future beyond the reach of the bill collector, beyond the reach of our failures and sins, a future safe in the hands of God. He guarantees that for believers, there is no condemnation in the life to come.  

Where is your security found?  If you know Christ, your bank deposits are safe, really safe, where “moth and rust cannot corrupt.”  That bank is not of this world, and, as a child of God, neither are you.  Here is a Bible passage listing more blessings than we can ever count.  

The challenge for the New Year is “get involved.” That’s what Esther did at a crucial point in the history of the Jewish people. She got involved at great personal risk, as must we to face the daunting challenges that lie ahead.