Called to Preach–Pastor Arnie

My Life Verse
Romans 8:28

by Pastor Arnie

“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.”

I am so grateful for my dearest friend and Prayer Partner for several years, for giving me this wonderful privilege and opportunity to be a part of this God honouring website. May the Lord be always glorified, His Word magnified, and His people edified in all these things we are writing and doing! It is also a great joy for me to impart to you the things that God has blessed me with, and that you might listen and have “ears to hear.” May the TRUE LIGHT shine in and through us in these ministries!

I was about 18 years old when I heard this verse preached at one of our special Sundays at church. It was also the time when I just answered the call from the Lord to become a pastor. A guest speaker was invited to our church, and I was sitting in the front row of the pews, as I was a member of the choir. I heard the message very clearly that it penetrated my heart. It was a simple message, but it remains here until today, and I decided to keep it as my life verse. I share it with the prayer that it may bless your heart as well. To God be the glory!

GOOD THINGS WORK for OUR GOOD

 From the start of Creation, until the end of Revelation, we can see that God created and did good things for us, and for His glory! The light was good; the day; the night; the moon and the stars; the firmament or sky; the earth; the plants and trees; the fish; the birds; the animals…Genesis 1:4; 10; 12; 18; 21;25…and after creating man in His own image, He said that everything He created was very good! Genesis 1:31. Oh! God is good, and His mercy endureth forever! Psalms 136:1 Thank you Lord!

The man after God’s own heart, King David, has written so many things about the goodness of God, and for doing good things for His people! “…no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11; “Yeah, the Lord shall give that which is good…” Psalm 85:12 “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me Thy statutes.” Psalm 119:68.

James, the half-brother of Jesus in the flesh wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness,  neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

We should always be grateful, because God works all good things for our good, because He is a good God! Trust Him!

EVEN BAD THINGS WORK for OUR GOOD

In the book of Beginnings, Genesis, we read the biography of one of the most faithful men of God who experienced so many “bad” things in life starting at the age of 17! His name is Joseph Genesis 37-50; Hated and envied and sold into slavery by his brothers Genesis 37:4, 5, 11, 28; thrown into a dungeon for being accused of a crime he did not commit Genesis 39:20, 41:14; forgotten by a friend Genesis 40:23; but he never complained, believing that, “…ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good…” Praise the Lord!

Another wonderful man of God who trusted the Lord in “bad” situations is Job: He lost his children and all his possessions Job 1:14-2:22; He lost his health Job 2:7-8; He lost the love of his wife Job 2:9…but Job answered her, “…shall we receive good at the hand of God, and not evil…?” Job 2:10, then here comes his miserable comforters—his friends, who doubted his integrity and even accused him of being a hypocrite of which Job answered, “But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10, and indeed the Lord knows, and He blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning, and gave him twice as much as he had before, and he died, being old and full of days, Job 42:10, 12, 17.

AN ILLUSTRATION

A Cruise ship full of rich people is in the middle of the ocean, when they heard a shout and a splash! Many of them went to see what is happening and then they saw a beautiful lady in the water, gasping for breath trying to survive from drowning. All of them were shocked by the scene, but all of a sudden, they heard another splash, and saw a young guy beside the lady also struggling to swim and shouted, “rope!” Yes! Both of them were saved!

The father of the lady was overjoyed and offered a reward to the guy who saved his daughter, but the gentleman angrily refused. So, the father decided to let him marry his beautiful daughter. But it made the “saviour” angrier! The father asked the man, “You refuse the One million dollar reward, and even the piece of land I am offering to you. And you refused to marry my beautiful daughter. What are you looking for then?” The man replied, “I am not looking for money! I am not looking for land! And I am not even looking for a wife! What I am looking for, is the man who pushed me into the sea!!!”

I find this story funny, but there is a beautiful lesson we can learn from it: Sometimes, our bad situation can be one’s salvation! Amen!

IN CONCLUSION

Friend, trust the LORD in all circumstances of your life! He will never fail you if you trust Him! There are no accidents with God! Our disappointments are His appointments. Our accidents and coincidences are His incidents. The song says,

“So when you don’t understand

When you don’t see His plan

When you can’t trace His hand

Trust His Heart

He alone is faithful and true!”

He loves you and gave His only begotten Son to save you. You can love Him back, and be confident that He works all things for good…for you, because you love HIM! It is His promise, and He can keep that promise if you Trust Him with all your heart. Why not come to Him while it is not yet too late! I did, and until now, I, and my dear friend Cathy, and everyone who trusts and loves God, can testify that He is GOOD! Amen!