Today’s Prayer
Father, I come before you on behalf of my brothers and sister in Christ everywhere to thank you for Your mercy and grace. So many times You bless us and we just gloss over the blessing as if it is owed to us. Thank You for making each of us that has accepted Jesus as The Lord of life, a vessel to be used by you the way that You see fit. Thank you for the privilege, in the matchless name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
GOD DID NOT CREATE SUFFERING
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Here’s the faulty logic many people follow: “God is the author of all things. Evil, pain, and suffering is ‘something,’ so God is the author of evil, suffering, and pain.” That’s not the right argument. Here’s the argument: God made everything, and He made it perfect. When God finished, God rested. God said, “It is good.” He made man. He made man perfect, but He made man perfectly free. That is, He gave man a choice.
Why did God give man a choice? Because God wanted something from man that is unique, special, wonderful, and glorious. He wanted man’s love. He wants you to love Him. That’s the highest good—to love God and to love one another, for God is love. Now, why didn’t God just force us to love Him? Well, forced love is a contradiction in terms. There’s no such thing as forced love. Love must choose. For lovers to choose to love, they must be able to choose not to love, or else it’s forced love, and it’s not love at all. So, God has given us a choice. Answer the following questions:
- How do you express your love for God?
- Have you ever blamed a hard situation on God? Reflect on that situation and how you might view it differently now.
Quote of the Day
Every person has fallen at some time in his life – most, many times. Peter’s steps in denying Christ have since been traced by every human foot. Anyone can understand how he could have slept in the garden, when he should have watched and prayed. Most of us feel an almost unconscious sympathy for him. But there is something in Peter’s life that is much greater than his sin. It is his repentance. We all too easily relate to Peter in his weakness, but few of us grasp the wonder of his change. Sinful Peter is one man, and repentant Peter another. That is the real lesson in his life. ~Henry Drummond~
WITH HOPE AND FAITH
REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY