God Uses Evil To...

*All credit for these words and verses from my Pastor*
A few weeks ago at church our Pastor talked about the word compatibilism.


Compatibilism, sometimes called soft determinism, is a theological term that deals with the topics of free will and predestination.
Another way to describe this definition is: everything is determined and ordained by God.

A verse that shows God's great plan for our lives is Genesis 50:19-20. After being sold into slavery by his brothers and then put into prison Joseph told his brothers,

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

God uses evil to...
I. To chasten God's people
So that his Spirit may be saved but his flesh destroyed.
1st Corinthians 5:1-5 says,
³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,^[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.


II. To fashion God's people
For my power is made perfect in weakness.
2nd Corinthians 12:7 say,
⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

III. To glorify God
He did this to make known the riches of his glory.
Romans 9:22-23 says,
²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—

III. The end of evil
The last enemy that he shall abolish is death.
1st Corinthians 15:24-26 says,
24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Why this meant so much to me was because I knew it was true. That everything really is according to God's good plan for you. And even though it looks like the evilest of evil, it's God's plan for you. It's all to prosper you too. Isn't that awesome?!






So much this week I've been  reminded of how great God is. Last year I went through a tough thing, changing churches after being at my original church for all I can remember. I felt like we were doing everything wrong changing churches. Even that very hard time for me, he had a plan. Over the year we've been going to my new church, it's been so awesome. My walk with God has grown so much over the time that we started going here. I've done so much with my church. And I'm so thankful that God's got my life in his hands. Because if he didn't I would've stayed at my old church and I maybe wouldn't be the person I am now.






What I'm saying guys is, let God have your life. Like the song Take my Life and Let it Be. Give your  life to God. He's in control. He's got a plan. Trust in him and know that's he's got it all in his hands. Because he does.






I apologize AGAIN for not posting a lot. It's been busy around here (still not an excuse) and I just don't have a lot of inspiration. So even though this post might be a little rough, I hope you understand it.






Thanks for reading.
bouncing in to say bye,
                                   bernie