Not Settling for What Is
Theme for the Week: Under Construction—Romans 7-8
James W. Kennedy (Ohio pastor)
Monday, September 10, 2001
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
Bonus Reading: Romans 8:19-27
A sign recently appeared on the route I jog announcing that a large estate near us would be subdivided for the building of 18 new homes. The proposal seemed preposterous. There was a big lake, lots of trees, and a twisting drive that already swallowed most of the property. Everyone I know who saw the sign concluded it was crazy to try to build 18 homes on that land. We could see no way. But we weren't looking with an architect's eye.
The architect knew he didn't have to settle for what was there. What made the land valuable to him wasn't its current condition but what could be done with it. The architect envisioned and evaluated the land without the limitations of its current conditions. He didn't settle for the "what is" but planned for what could be.
The same is true of God as he looks at us. He considers our value in the light of what he plans to make us rather than on the basis of what we are. God is not limited by current conditions; therefore, our value is not fixed by what is or has been true of us.
Our sins and weaknesses don't thwart God's plans for our development and thus do not depreciate our worth.
Bryan Chapell in The Promises of Grace My Response:
One aspect of "what is" that God could change about me is .
Thought to Apply:
What really matters is what happens in us, not to us.
James W. Kennedy (Ohio pastor)
Adapted from: The Promises of Grace (Baker, 2001)
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
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