Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe explains that no matter what you've gone through, God's power and plans are bigger.
God is able to take the broken pieces of your life and turn something good out of them. I want to guarantee you that. I want you to know that. That God will squeeze good out of every single thing in your life that's done wrong to you. That's the promise of God. He works all things to the good of those that love him.
I welcome you to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Now, Mark, Romans eight, of course, is a powerful chapter for believers when it comes to understanding just who we are in Christ and the access we have to God. Today, you're going to help us understand how we can live as more than just survivors..
Wayne, we live in a world where there's a lot of bad things that happen trauma, abuse, violence, difficulty, disappointment. And oftentimes people wonder, why is God doing this to me? So I want to be clear that God is not the author of anything evil, but God can take what was meant for evil and turn it around for the good and for his purposes. God has a way of being able to redeem even the bad that's done to us. And so this message is going to just give you
a glimpse into that. So be encouraged. Even your bad experiences, God can squeeze good out of them.
Let's learn together from Romans chapter eight the message more than survivors.
If you're taking notes today, I want you to pull out your pen. I want you to write down the first truth that helps you become more than just a survivor. Number one, I want you to understand and acknowledge and grasp the fact that if God is the pilot of your life, if he's flying the plane, that there is nothing that is random. There is nothing that is random. It tells us in the beginning of verse 28, and we know that in all things, in what all things, God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose. I want to say, first of all, that if you understand that God is the sovereign God of the universe, sovereign means that he holds power and control over all things. Then you understand that nothing that happens in life is random, and that God has the ability to take whatever happens in your life, good and bad, and ultimately orchestrate the pieces so that it turns out for your good and his glory. You say, pastor, does that mean that God
is making tragedy happen in my life? Does that mean that God allows or is causing evil to happen in my life? I want you to understand the difference. God is never the author of evil. It is never God's will. Some people blame God for things that he never desired. God is never the author of evil. Tragedy happens. Sickness happens.
Abuse happens. Divorce happens. Accidents happen. Death happens. God is not the author of any of those things, but God can take those things and organize them in such a way that he brings good out of them, even though he's not the author of them. Are you tracking with me? God did not create a broken, fallen world. God created a pristine, powerful, perfect world. But he put something imperfect in that world, and that is human beings. He put us in this world, and he gave us the ability
to choose. We have chosen wrong many times. God didn't make the world the way it is. We made the world the way it is, and God has given us the power to choose. And in our choices, we've pretty much messed up this world pretty bad. God is the redeemer of what we have. We have messed up and so we live in a broken, difficult, dysfunction fallen world. Tragedy happens. Injustice happens. Abuse happens. Violence happens. It seems like random acts of tragedy that happen against humanity happen
against your life, your relative, your family. And here's what the Word of God says. God says all things in God Work together for our good. If God is in control for those that love him, that means that no matter what's happened in your life, no matter what you've been through, no matter how hard it's been, no matter how tragic it's been, God didn't create it in your life,
but God can rescue it in your life. God has the ability to take all of the brokenness and fallenness and tragedy and craziness that's happened in your life, and God is able to orchestrate the pieces so that ultimately it is for your good and for his glory. Praise God for how he does that in our life. In fact, the word that's used here, where it says, and we know that in all things God works, that were the word works in the Greek is the word synagro, which
is where we get the word synergy from. That when multiple pieces are working together, they have a compounded impact on something. And so God is able to synergize the pieces of our life and turn them around for our good. A great story that illustrates this is the story of Joseph. You remember Joseph's story. He was the young man that we called Joseph with the coat of many colors. Joseph grew up in a super dysfunctional home. His father had two wives. He had a bunch of stepbrothers. On top
of that, his his father had several concubines. So he had multiple brothers and sisters. There was a lot of jealousy, dysfunction, brokenness, chaos in his house. Joseph's mother had two sons. It was him and Benjamin. His brothers were jealous of him. They hated him. That jealousy grew so much so that one day they decided that they would get rid of Joseph completely. And so his very own brothers took him, and they sold him as a piece of property into
slavery so they would never see him again. They told the father that a wild animal had killed their son. Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, ended up miles and miles away from where he lived, working as a slave. The woman of the house tried to take advantage of him. When he rebuffed her advances, he ended up in prison. So now Joseph is in a dark prison far away from home. In a desperate, dark moment of his life.
And yet God is able to take the circumstances, the abuse, the betrayal, the injustice done against them and God steps into that, gives Joseph a dream, elevates Joseph to a place of incredible power. So much so that his family, who begins to starve to death in another part of the country, Joseph is able to rescue them from their salvation. So Joseph, even though bad was done to him, he turned around and saw that God used it for the good. And.
Genesis chapter 50 says this you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. There are some of you right now who have gone through very, very dark moments in your life and you wonder, why did it happen to me? Some of you have experienced tragedy, brokenness, chapters in your life that you wish you could erase from your life because you just wonder why? Why on earth did I have to go through this? And you
may not understand exactly why. You may not understand exactly the purpose right now. But you can be confident of this, that nothing is random, that God is able to take the broken pieces of your life and turn something good out of them. I want to guarantee you that. I want you to know that that nothing that bad has happened to you will go to waste, that God will squeeze good out of every single thing in your life that's been that's done wrong to you. That's the promise
of God. He works all things to the good of those that love him. So those that love him and those that are called according to his purpose. And then he goes on to say, not only that, he goes on to say, for those God foreknew. In other words, those that God knew beforehand, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. The Bible tells us that God knew you before you knew him, that God was aware of you when you were in
your mother's womb. That before you ever prayed a prayer, God already knew your story, your personality, your heart. He foreknew you. And not only did God foreknew you know you, but God also predestined you. In other words, to be. To be predestined. Is that God in advance chose you. He knew you. And in advance God chose you. I know some people that say I found God. Let me tell you. I understand what you mean. But first of all, God was never lost. I think you and I were lost,
but God was never lost. You didn't find God. God found you. But let me be clear about this. None of us pursued God first. God always is the pursuer of us first. None of us on our own power, chased after God. God has always the one that initiated. God has always been the one that, first of all reached out to us. That first of all awakened us. That first of all convicted us, that first of all loved us, that first of all touched us, that showed
us grace. God is the initiator. There is no person here that was broken and fallen and sinful and said, in my sinfulness and brokenness, I decided to chase after God. No, it was God who first of all called you. God, first of all, reached out to you. God is the initiator in this relationship. We are the responders to God's initiation. And so, although you may have responded to God, God is one that called us. God is the one that sought after us. God is the one that reached out
to us. So most of us, in our worst moment, God knew who you were. Knew how you would be your worst, darkest chapter. God still knew you and predestined you and chose you. For what purpose? He chose us so that we would be conformed to the image of His Son. It tells us he foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed to the image of His son, that he may be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ was the first born. We are the adopted
brothers and sisters. It is our mission and goal to grow up and to be like the character that Jesus has. That's what God is doing in our lives.
This message continues in just a moment. You're listening to Mark Jobe on Bold Steps. A lesson titled More Than Survivors. I just want to remind you that all of these daily lessons can be found on our main website. Bold steps plus on our social media pages, you can join
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And then he goes on to say that those he predestined, he also called, and those he called, he also justified and those he justified, he also glorified. I want you to hear me well. God has chosen you. You didn't choose God. God chose you. Reach out to you. responded to God. Then God called you to salvation. He awakened you to himself. He showed you Jesus. And when you responded to God, he justified you. Which means that your past is washed and cleansed. It's completely done with. He
justified you before God and then he glorified you. As long as you think that you are the one that chose God. As long as you think that you are the one that made your way to God. As long as you think that you have the power to save yourself, that it's on. That's based on your works of choosing God, your penance, your good works, anything of yourself to be made right with God. As long as you think that you will live a life of a lot of anxiety, a lot of strife, and you will never understand fully
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not us reaching out to God. Salvation is God reaching out to us. When we were lost, when we were broken, when we were far. And us simply responding to this magnificent, powerful, loving God that is chased after us, pursued us, gone after us with all that he has so that we can encounter him. That's salvation, and it's an anchor to those that believe. Secondly, not only does he teach us that nothing is random. I don't believe the fact that
you're here today at 51st and Keeler. Listening to this message is random. In fact, I believe that God loves you enough to bring you at the right time to hear the right message. I don't believe the people you're sitting next to are random. I don't believe that your life is a series of coincidence. I believe that God is sovereign. I believe that God has gone to a lot of work to get you, get some of you to the place that you are right now. Some of you had to be broken. Some of you had to
experience loss. Some of you had to go to the bottom, bottom of life's barrel before you looked up at heaven. But you're here today because life is not random. Because God has been chasing after you in his divine love. Thank God for his persistence. The second thing that we learn from this passage is not only is that nothing is random, but we also learn that we have full access. Verse 31 says, what then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can
be against us? Who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? What does it mean? It means that some people look at how difficult life is, how challenging life is, how bad things happen to their life, and they believe that God is against them. They start thinking that somehow the God of the universe is not on their side, but that God somehow is against them, that God's favor is opposing them.
And what the Apostle Paul is trying to tell us is that you have it all wrong. God is actually for you, not against you. God is actually on your side, not on the opposite side. If bad things happen to you in life, it's not that God has orchestrated those things, but God has the power to turn them around. And you need to understand it needs to be an anchor truth in your life that God is for you and not against you. If God is for us, then who
can be against us? And he says, God is so much for you that even when you were far broken, angry, some of us hateful, having no God consciousness. God took the most precious thing that he could ever have his only son begotten of the father, God Himself. And he said, I will sacrifice the most important thing so I can gain you. When you were broken and down and out and far, not seeking after, not chasing after him. When
when you were at your lowest. God saw you at your lowest and said, I will give what is holy, what is powerful, what is beautiful, what is strong, what is blameless. And I will sacrifice the greatest thing that I have to gain you, even though I've known you since the beginning. I know who you are and how you are. I've seen you at your worst. But yet I love you. And he paid the highest price that anybody could pay to gain you. God is for us,
not against us. And then he says this. And if God gave his only son the greatest thing he could ever give, to try to reach out to you and pay for your sin and and be able to redeem us, what makes us think that if he gave the most the highest price that he had, that he will not also give us everything else so that we can succeed in life? Notice what it says. He did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also, along with him, graciously give
us all things? I believe that a lot of people have been raised with an image of God that is a distorted image of God. We've been raised. Some of us have been raised with the image of an angry God who's obsessed with your sins. And I think that a lot of religion that I've encountered is about sin management.
And you have this idea that God, up in his heavenly place, is looking at your life, tracking your life, especially to catch you doing something wrong so he can say one more sin underlying, one more sin under selfishness, one more sin under lust that God is looking at you, trying to track your sins, calculating your sins, keeping track of your sins. That God's main obsession is your sins. And so religion that doesn't understand the gospel, even religion
and Christianity becomes a sin management religion. I want you to be very clear about this. What Jesus says and what this passage tells us, what the Bible says, is that you and I can never, ever, ever, ever in our entire existence, do enough good, pray enough prayers, do enough penance, try to try to go to enough holy places to get rid of our sin. There is nothing that you and I can do on this earth. Pilgrimages, prayers, giving, charity work that will make up for the sin that
you and I have. That's exactly why we need a Savior that can pay it in full. Because you and I cannot pay for our sin. You and I cannot manage our sin. That's why Jesus came. Listen, if you don't understand that, you don't understand the gospel. Stop trying to micromanage your sin.
And that is a reason for celebration. You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. A message titled More Than Survivors. We'll continue with part two of this empowering lesson when we return for tomorrow's edition of Bold Steps. But before then, we hope you'll take some time to check out the various resources, even opportunities we have available on our website at Bold Steps. Org, including this month's new selection of our Bold Step gift. And Mark is going to tell us more about it.
You know, recent studies have shown that nearly half of all adults report not having a meaningful conversation weighing in their daily lives. That's pretty startling, I guess, but it's one of those things that motivated our guest today to write her book, doctor Heather Holloman. In the six conversations, you talk about four mindsets that are essential for meaningful conversations. Can you walk us through those four mindsets?
Yes, and thank you for having me on this program. In order to have a warm connection with someone, you need to be curious. Believe the best about them, express concern, and share your life. They seem really simple, but most people are deficient in one of those categories.
That is good. Yeah, so this is some of the elements needed to have a meaningful conversation, which in your book, obviously you talk about how conversation is the bridge way to really communicate our faith.
That's right. And I got really excited about the power of having a warm connection. Once you know how to deeply connect with someone. Evangelism is never going to feel like a sales pitch or an awkward pivot in the conversation. Good point. So I was really delighted to read the social science research, and also how Scripture has always really supports all of that. We've learned this is ancient wisdom literature.
I love it, Heather, because so many people, when they think about evangelism, they think of a sales pitch or I have to do a mini lecture. And most people it intimidates. But to have a healthy conversation that naturally goes to those important places of spirituality, I think, lowers the barrier of fear and allows us to more naturally engage.
Thank you, Heather, for writing this book. This, I think, is going to be a great resource for people that are seeking to bridge the gap of meaningful conversations with their loved ones.
Thank you.
Well, to give and request your copy of this special Bold Step gift, just visit Bold steps.org or give us a call at 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639 or give online as always at boldsystems.org. And you can also request your copy of the six conversations and give your gift of any amount by writing to us. Just address your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten.
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bold partner, just visit our website. And again, that's bold steps. I'm Wayne Shepherd. We'll see you again tomorrow for the conclusion of our message on becoming more than survivors. That's Wednesday right here on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.