Matthew 16:24 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny

himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up

his cross and follow Me [ [a] cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in

living and, if need be, in dying, also]

Romans 8:28 New King James Version

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to

those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 AMPC

28 We are assured and know that [ [a] God being a partner in their labor] all things work

together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are

called according to [His] design and purpose.

Romans 8:28 TPT

So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for

good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.

Romans 8:28 - The Message

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside

helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our

praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He

knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps

us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of

love for God is worked into something good.

It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls

his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in

control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen

were completely controlled by people.

To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty,

or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our

circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our

unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation.

We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will

never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness

comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult

circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so

chooses.

Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today.

We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just

don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very

impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned

more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as

if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as

just another one of the workers.

The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will

be free to do His work through us.

God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us.

He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His

part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.

1 John 4:17 New King James Version

The Consummation of Love

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of

judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

Luke 6:35-36 The Message

35-36 “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll

never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives

toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind;

you be kind.