{ Repost: "The facts of the matter" }

Most of us are surprised to learn that the “good” that “God works for those who love him” does not refer to or personal comfort, but to our inward transformation into the likeness of Christ (verse 29). 

 Listen to Vernon Grounds on this:

“If we are exempt from disease, if our bodies are never stabbed by pain, if we always have money in our pockets or reserve in the bank, if we live in modern homes and enjoy the latest luxuries, if we can dress well and take long vacations at the seashore…that we consider good. Unfortunately we find ourselves victimized by a materialistic civilization, and despite our Christian faith we subtly equate comfort and goodness. In the same way we tend to equate success with goodness…And yet such equations are a million miles removed from Paul’s conception of the good, changes what ought to be a soft pillow for our hearts into a hard problem for our heads.” 

Do you believe at your very core that God, in his sovereignty arranges the circumstances in your life to chisel you into the image of Christ?