Jewels From Jesus

Latest Jewel from Jesus

From Trials to Transformation

“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)

God has ways of taking the pain, the hardship, our past sins and overall yuck and using it for our ultimate good. That is if we will surrender ourselves to Him in love. If we agree to be His and go His way, all those things that the devil tried to use to destroy us, God will transform into keys that unlock His kingdom to us and to those around us.  

The key that unlocks it all is love for God. What does that mean? Many people believe that love is a perpetual good feeling towards someone or something. The problem with this definition of love is that our feelings are not continuous. They can change often and dramatically. Some days I feel great about the people in my life. Other days I want to strangle them. We can be this way with God as well. When things are going well, we acknowledge that He’s good. But this isn’t as easy to do when our plans fall apart. We can’t rely on our feelings to drive our love for God.

What did Jesus say about loving Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John14:15) If we love Him, we will trust Him and honor Him as God enough to obey what He says. We can resolve to act loving toward Him regardless of how we feel or how much we understand what He is doing in our lives. There have been many times that I did not understand His work. In fact, it is usually not until we are through something that we can look back and see how He has worked through it. In the middle, we have to simply trust. We must believe that His Word is true and that this too will work for our good as we surrender to His purposes and lovingly obey.

If we continue in Romans 8, we start to get a clearer view of what our good is, according to God. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30) The good that He is after is to make us more like Jesus. I strongly believe that you are not here by accident. If you are reading these words, He is tugging at your heart and calling you to Himself. You are justified by the blood of Jesus. As He transforms your life, you will begin to look more like Him. Your loving obedience conforms your life to the image of His sacrifice. But just like Jesus didn’t stay dead, we are raised to life with Him in the image of His resurrection glory.

So, take heart, dear ones. This is where we are, and this is where we are going. We can embrace this new resurrected life and walk in it today by the power of His Spirit within us. We can know it powerfully, though in part now. We will know it fully when we transition into eternity or when Jesus returns to the earth. But as we submit to His workings and His transformative power through all the things that work for our good, we will live as powerful lovers of Jesus and reach the end with confidence. The Apostle John said it best. “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17)

My Testimony

For many years, my job was to homeschool my children. During this time, I spent many hours pouring into them without receiving monetary pay. We lived with very little and trusted God to provide for basically everything. We even came close to losing our house in that season. However, it was out of that experience that I learned to truly trust Jesus and not just talk about trusting Him. Time and time again, He proved Himself faithful and came through just in the nick of time. He gave me a clear sense of peace during that time that is still with me today. He also produced compassion for others who struggle financially. Though I would not wish for anyone to struggle in that way, I know that I would not be who I am today without having gone through that time.

How has God taken your trials and used them to transform your life? I want to hear your testimonies of God’s goodness and love in the midst of hardship. Is there something you are in the middle of right now? I want to pray that God uses this time of discipline to make you more like Jesus and to produce, as it says in Hebrews 12:11, “a harvest of righteousness and peace” in your life.