-- Romans 8:28-29
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.



"God's Embroidery"
When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and  look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was.

As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee." 

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

++ Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?"

He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."

I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?"

The Father seems to tell me, "'My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

-- P. Daniel. 
+*+*+*+*+*+*+

-- Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

-- Psalms 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

-- Jeremiah 29:11-13; 33:3
11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

++ 33:3 Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'



"The Violin"
 
 Alone and so silent
 This lost violin without a bow
 That no one has touched
 And no one even knows
 
 Trapped in a deaf world
 I was locked in my case
 Too quiet to hear
 The tears crying on my face
 
 Until one love morning
 My world was opened wide
 Angels from Heaven shouted
 While silence ran to hide
 
 God's hands reached deep
 And lifted my soul and sin
 He cradled me in His arms
 Placing my heart to His chin
 
 The comfort I felt
 Was like never before
 I knew He was the love
 I'd been waiting for
 
 He said,"My dear violin
 I'll make you mine
 And touch your soul
 With music divine"
 
 He took a bloody cross
 And made it into a bow
 To strike across my soul
 To reveal the scars below
 
 For only His cross
 Can make this violin cry
 When the sins of my past
 Remember to lie
 
 For with each painful stroke
 Across the bridge of my soul
 The blood from His bow
 Washed my heart completely whole
 
 Now this violin
 Forever will play
 Melodies of Heaven
 And dreams of eternal days
 
 For the sweetest song
 I shall ever sing
 Is when Your peace
 Caresses my strings

 -- Darren Maybee

+*+*+*+*+*+*+

-- Romans 5:1-2, 8
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
++ 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

-- Psalms 33:3-4
3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. 4 For the Word of the LORD is right and true; He is faithful in all He does.


-- Romans 8:28 - Note:
God works in "everything" -- not just isolated incidents -- for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill His purpose. Note also that this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called by Him, that is, those whom the Holy Spirit convinces to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set. They trust in God, not in worldly treasures; their security is in heaven, not on earth. Their faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution because they know God is with them.

-- Romans 8:29 - Note:
God's ultimate goal for us is to make us like Christ (1Jn 3:2). As we become more and more like Him, we discover our true selves, the persons we were created to be. How can we become like Christ? By reading and heeding the Word, by studying His life on earth through the Gospels, by spending time in prayer, by being filled with His Spirit, and by doing His work in the world.

-- Life Application Bible
+*+*+*+*+*+*+

-- Romans 8:26-30
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
++ 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined, he also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.

-- Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

-- 2 Timothy 1:9-10
9 Who has saved us and called us to a holy life -- not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

-- Ephesians 3:10-12
10 God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was His eternal plan, which He carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence.

-- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

-- Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God

+*+*+*+*+*+*+

++ The will of God will never take you to where
the grace of God will not protect you.



-- Ephesians 1 (Christians' Position In Christ).
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

(God lovingly adopts us):
4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will -- 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-- to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

11 In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise of His glory.

(Giving thanks for the faithful Christians):
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, 20 which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.



-- Isaiah 55:8-11 (God's Wisdom & Will).
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is My Word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

-- Zechariah 4:6
... 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'
says the LORD Almighty.

-- John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.

-- Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

-- 1 Peter 3:17
It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

-- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Be joyful always; 17 Pray continually; ++ 18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.