It Is Well With My Soul

In troublesome times, whether it be a physical trial, a financial crisis, an accident, disease, or another difficult circumstance, Christians often quote this verse to try and bring some comfort, "All things work together for good..." If it is not given in genuine spirit filled concern or received with genuine spirit filled humility, it can come across as a trite cliche. Of course that would never be one's intention.

As is so often the case some people rip verses out of context or ignore the surrounding verses completely and come up with a misunderstanding of the proper interpretation or application of the verse altogether. This is one case where it really pays to keep reading. The above quote is part of Romans 8:28. Lets take a look at both verse 28and part of 29 and see if there is not deeper truth that will help us understand this verse better.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son..." Rom 8:28-29A

All things work together for good in order that we might be conformed to the image of Christ. There are a lot of ways that we can be Christlike. One that stands out in my mind is that we have a passionate desire to do the will of God, as did Jesus. When he was in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me." Some may argue the proper interpretation of that phrase. Was Jesus afraid to die? Was he asking the Father to let him out of the impending crucifixion? Its not my purpose to discuss this here because of the subsequent dialogue. In Luke 22:42 Jesus goes on to say, "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."

Jesus was absolutely determined to live according to the will of the Father. He came to earth as a man in order to fulfill the Father's will. He was sinlessly obedient to the Father's commandments all his life in order to fulfill the Father's will. 

I might goes as far as to say that we are never more in the image of Jesus Christ than when we are fulfilling the Father's will.

In our church we sing a wonderful hymn titled, "It Is Well." The story behind this hymn is repeated often in our churches. It is a wonderful and convicting story of Horatio Spafford and his wife Anna. As the story is normally told, with Horatio delayed in America Anna and their four daughters were on a trans-Atlantic voyage to Europe when their ship sank. Anna survived but their four daughters tragically perished. Horatio set sail for Europe to get his wife. When his ship reached the area of the Atlantic where it was thought Anna's ship went down Horatio penned the words to the famous hymn, "It is Well."

Often the story stops there and no other details are offered. Please allow me to give you a few more details surrounding the story of the Spaffords. Prior to the shipwreck Horatio and Anna's four year old son Horatio Jr. died from Scarlet Fever. They lost nearly all their fortune due to the Great Chicago Fire. After the loss of their son and four daughters God gave them three more children. They named another son Horatio but he too died at four years of age with Scarlet Fever. Talk about tragedy. These events would have destroyed most people, but not the Spaffords. They moved to Jerusalem and started a ministry to the poor and orphaned children.

Can you imagine after all they had been through and they desired to serve God. Out of such tragedy they still desired to do the will of the Father more than anything else. They truly were the image of Christ.

Great Opportunity

I just wanted to let you know of a unique opportunity to help a "starving artist." My son, JB, is trying to raise funds for his debut album through a program called Kickstarter. This program allows people to promise a donation to help the cause. The money is only collected when the full amount of the project has been raised. There are varying rewards for varying sized donations. You can go to the link below and read up as well as listen to a very short video clip to gain a better understanding of how it works.

Here is the link, just copy and paste in your browser:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2114277219/sketches-a-new-classical-guitar-album

As a father I am extremely proud (and biased) of JB's gifted classical guitar playing. He has worked extremely hard and long to get to this point in his career. I can promise the CD will be a very good one. Hope you take the time to check out the project. If nothing else, share the link on your social media sites to help the cause! Than you.

Breaking News

Breaking News: There is a definite and aggressive spirit in this world that is trying to take you captive! This spirit wants to dominate every area of your life. This spirit wants to cause you to think with a worldly mindset and not a spiritual one.

Think about this. Most people live with the basic premise that the world revolves around them. I think I can prove it to a degree. When things go wrong financially how do you initially react? "O man, what am I going to do?" "How am I going to fix this?" "This really upsets ME." You see when problems or crises arise it reveals our true character. It reveals our truest thoughts. Life is about us.

Egocentric living (ME as the center of the universe) is the first opening a person gives to this spirit that is trying to capture him.

The Bible repeatedly tells us to be more concerned for others than ourselves. A few references will suffice. This principle is one of the foundational principles of the faith.

Php 2:4 - Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Romans 15:1  - We who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves.
1 Cor 10:33 - Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Second, the Bible teaches us that God is to have the preeminence in all things. 

Col 1:18 - That in all things he might have the preeminence.

Everything we do should be about Christ and his glory.

Col 3:17 - And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

In the King James version the word "spoil" is a military term meaning to take captive. When a conquering army won a battle they would "spoil" the defeated enemy, many times taking all their wealth and making them slaves. That is exactly the intent of this spirit in the world today. This spirit wants to make you its slave doing its bidding. Take a look a round and observe how many people you know who are addicted to something. It could be pleasure, substance, power, material possessions, TV, etc. Addictions are everywhere and come in all shapes and sizes! These addictions prevent man from allowing God to have preeminence in his life. 

The way this spirit gains inroads into a person's life is through his mind. We must practice biblical thinking in order to not be taken captive. Jesus was our example while he was on the earth. He fought off the spirit by keeping his mind focused on scripture and the words of His father.

Php 2:5 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...

We need to have the mind of Christ in order to have a biblical mindset.