And We Know

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. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:28-29 (NKJV)

I hope you are visiting our new website: GodNAmerica.com. We are making changes and adding material. We’re still pretty new at this but we’re progressing. We are planning to have an App for you smart devices before long. It will notify you when we upload a new podcast and blogs. I’ll keep you posted for when it comes and how to download it.

One of my favorite podcasts is entitled, “And We Know” from Romans 8:28. I like it because the host is a godly man who is a patriot. He is praying and fighting for the soul of America, not with weapons of mass destruction but with words of truth. He inspires me to try to have a hand in the work that needs to be done. I would encourage you to listen to his podcast sessions on Rumble or at his site, andweknow.com.

Today I want to run with sentiment of Romans 8:28 – where all things work together for good. . .

I read the story of Earle Dickson who was the cotton buyer for the Johnson and Johnson Co. back in the 1920's. He was out on the road quite a bit, and worried about the welfare of his wife while he was away. Apparently his wife, Josephine was very accident prone. It seemed like she was either cutting or burning herself almost every day.

When Earle was home, he would take the dressings and rolls of surgical tape that his company made and carefully bandage her wounds. However, the 3-inch wide rolls of surgical tape and large bandages available in the 1920's, required two hands to apply them properly. He was sure that Josephine wouldn't be able to do that by herself.

One day, he had an idea. He cut part of a 3-inch wide roll of surgical tape into 1"-wide strips and laid them on a kitchen counter, sticky side up. Then he put some small squares of gauze in the middle of each one, leaving sticky tape showing on both ends. Should Josephine injure herself while he was gone, all she had to do was to take one of those strips and apply it to her injury herself. Earle's idea worked so well that he began to leave these self-applying bandages every time he left town.

Sometime later, at a party, Josephine mentioned Earle's idea to the company president, James Johnson. He liked the idea, and in 1924 when he added Band Aids to their product line, their company's sales increased by 50%. Ever since then, Band Aids have been one of Johnson and Johnson's major products.

Many inventions that have simplified our lives today would never have been invented if there had not first been a problem that needed to be solved. And I'm convinced the same thing has happened in the spiritual realm, too.

Sometimes we can make the most of bad situations and things work out for good. Sometimes God does that. In fact, this is what Paul is saying in Romans 8:28-29 let’s read the text again and make a few observations that I think apply today.

"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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son... "

I. We have the Security of God’s Promise – 8:28

Familiar text

A. We can misuse this verse – “If you become a Christian, your troubles will be over. God will work all things for good in your life.”

B. No assurance that only good and pleasant things will come if we follow God.

• Paul was a dedicated follower of Jesus but look at the difficulties he had – 2 Corinthians 12 (thorn in flesh);

• Job – blameless and upright before God – tests

• James – WHEN trials come

• Jesus - John 16:33 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

1. Romans 8:28 will make sense – ONLY to those who love God and is called to his purpose. We must learn to TRUST the promise.

2. Note what 8:28 does not say – God works out everything for everybody; or he works out all things for good immediately; or the way we think they should be done;