COMPREHENDING THE BENEFICIAL MIX OF ADVERSITY

COMPREHENDING THE BENEFICIAL MIX OF ADVERSITY

Monday, July 10, 2017

Matthew [NLT] 16:21-24 21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him[k] for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Mk.8:27-38]

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

  Depending on our life view adversity may be beneficial, or not. To further understand please consider the following sent to me by Sharon in response to yesterday DT, ADVERSITY SHOULD INCREASE ASSURANCE.

  A visiting Pastor was attending a men’s breakfast at a church in farm and ranch country.  He
asked one of the impressive older farmers in attendance to say grace that morning.  After all were seated, the older farmer began------

  “Lord, I hate buttermilk.”
  The Pastor opened one eye and wondered to himself where this was going. Then the farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I hate lard.”
  Now the Pastor was worried.  However without missing a beat, the farmer prayed on, “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for raw white flour.”
  Just as the Pastor was ready to stand and stop everything, the farmer continued,  “But Lord, when you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em up, I do love fresh biscuits.  So Lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you are sayin' to us, we just need to relax and wait ‘till  You are done mixin’, and probably it will be somethin' even better than biscuits.

Amen."

  Now reading and considering Joseph’s story recorded in Genesis: After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.

  So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.

  But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them. (Gen.chapter 50)

Nuff said?

EBB4