Good - Romans 8:28

          "And we know that all things work together for good to those who
           love God, to those who are the called according His purpose."

  This is one of those verses Christians do love to quote. However, there are 'requirements' for having this operational in your life are:  know, love God, called. Simple. Maybe not so much. Paul is sending this letter to the church in Rome, a place he has yet to visit and he wants to provide as much teaching and encouragement as possible. Chapter 8 is full of so many Christian principles that if you are an underline-r, you will probably be underlining most of the 39 verses. There is a feast of discovery in this book about who we are when we make Jesus our Lord.

  After talking about what the Law can't do in chapter 7, Paul begins to talk about what is available to those who make Jesus Lord. And he begin with a powerful statement in the first verse when he said that there is now NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and that there is sonship through the spirit. Then right after talking about all things working to our good, he tells us that if God be for us, who can be against us, and ends this chapter with another powerful statement that nothing will separate us from God. God can work for us, work things to our good but only when we believe and act on this. It is our knowledge and our willingness to act that can demonstrates our love, our trust.

  I am aware of the discussion, some years ago, about 'what do we do when bad things happen to good people'. How do we handle these issues? Actually Job provides us an example of what we can do - trust in the One who has the answers. Since we live in a fallen world, bad things will happen - I don't think we are immune. How we react when bad things happen demonstrates our level of trust and reliance on the Lord. I've always believed that even in the darkest places, our behavior, our attitude will demonstrate and witness.

 Romans 12:21 tells us that we need to overcome evil with good. And if good resides in God alone, Jesus speaking in Matthew 19:17, then as we abide in Him we will be sharing the good. One of the things we need to keep in mind is timing. Our timing is not necessarily God's timing but He is promising us that as we love Him and allow Him to work in our situation, that good will occur. But do remember that it is His definition of good.

  We all like to quote this verse and many of us stand on it for our own lives. We know we are the called when we make Jesus Lord and we are fulfilling the requirements through our love. Thus... all things WILL work to the good according to His purpose.