And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God, and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28 (Life Application Study Bible)
Jesus Tells Us…Make friends with the problems in your life. Yes, that’s right. And don’t forget to thank Me for them either. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But I can use every single problem to teach you something. Just as a sculptor chisels away bits of rough stone to reveal a beautiful masterpiece, I can use your problems to chip away rough bits of stubbornness, pride, and selfishness, to reveal My masterpiece, you! It’s your choice. You can keep your problems all to yourself, so that they grow and become stumbling blocks that trip you up. Or, you can make friends with your problems by introducing them to Me and letting Me make them part of My plan.
Jesus Concludes…I may not take your problems away, but I will make something good come out of them.
Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 Study Notes
Footnotes Romans 8:28; God works in all things, not just isolated incidents, for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us will be pleasant, and we do not have to call pain good. Even though evil pervades our fallen world, God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range benefit. Note that God does not work only to make us happy but to fulfill his purposes. Note also that this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God, and are called by him, that is, those the Holy Spirit convinces and enables to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set. They trust in God, not in life’s treasures, they find their security in heavenly priorities, not earthly ones. Their faith in God does not waiver in pain and persecution, because they know God is with them.
Passage 1 Corinthians 1:23-24; 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Footnotes 1 Corinthians 1:22-24; Many Jews considered the Good News of Jesus Christ to be foolish, because they thought the Messiah would be a conquering King, accompanied by signs and miracles. Jesus had not restored David’s throne as they had expected. Besides, he was executed as a criminal, and how could a criminal be a savior? Greeks, too, considered the gospel foolish. They did not believe in a bodily resurrection, they did not see in Jesus the powerful characteristics of their mythological gods, and they thought no reputable person would be crucified. To them, death was defeat, not victory.
The Good News of Jesus Christ still sounds foolish to many. Our society worships power, influence, and wealth. Jesus came as a humble, poor servant, and he offers entrance into the kingdom, to those who humbly come to him in faith, not to those who are wise, mighty, powerful, influential, or who try to earn salvation through good deeds. The Christian faith looks foolish to the world, but knowing Christ personally, is the greatest wisdom anyone can have.
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
THE WORLD…we see history
Buddha Circa 563-483 B.C.
In Sri Lanka, where approximately 70 percent of the population
is Buddhist, Monks pray at a giant statue of a reclining Buddha.
He was born in India to wealth and power, as Prince Siddhartha Gautama. A short time later, a visiting seer predicted that Siddhartha would become either a Chakravartin (“universal monarch”) or a fully enlightened being, who would lead others to spiritual awakening. His father, Kind Suddhodana, wanted him to follow in his footsteps, and so to keep him on the secular track, he confined the prince to the palace and a life of luxury and ease, surrounded by beauty and every kind of sensual pleasure. Siddhartha grew up, married and had a son. Yet thirsting for knowledge of the world around him, he eventually sneaked out of the palace and saw for the first time a sick person, a geriatric, and a corpse. This encounter with human misery shook Siddhartha, and when he learned that even royalty could not escape disease, decay and death, he abandoned palace life and determined to find an end to suffering. For six years he pursued a course of harsh asceticism. When these extremes led nowhere, Siddhartha set upon a Middle Way, between indulgence and self-denial, and began to examine his own mind through the practice of meditation. One night, at age 35, in the village of Bodh Gaya, he sat In contemplation under a tree and resolved to remain there until he found the fundamental cause of suffering, and a way to transcend it.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became a Buddha, or “awakened one,” discovering within himself an ever-present basis of compassion and equanimity. During the remaining 45 years of his life, Gautama Buddha traveled throughout norther India, proclaiming the existence of inherent wisdom, compassion and basic goodness in every human being, and teaching meditation as a means to awaken this potential. His ideas spread throughout Asia, and today they exert a growing influence in the West as well. Many of the Buddha’s discoveries about the inner working of the mind are being confirmed by neuroscientists, and mindfulness meditation is now used by hospitals, schools, prisons and even athletic teams to alleviate stress, promote healing, and to enhance performance and creativity.