I not only reread The Promise, but I highlighted it heavily both times through. This encouraging book illuminates one of the most often quoted promises in the Bible—Romans 8:28.

Author Robert Morgan has divided this book into two parts. Beginning with a word-by-word study of Romans 8:28, he makes profound applications for our lives—and especially for our trials.

In the second part of the book, the author pulls from parallel passages and the lives of biblical characters to show how this incredible promise is echoed throughout the pages of Scripture. You will find God’s promise to work all for your good and His glory underscored all throughout your Bible.

Below are a few of my highlights from this book: (more…)

Have you ever thought of your trial as a stewardship from God? It is. And when stewarded properly, God will use your trial to give you some of His greatest gifts.

God has given us an incredible, amazing resource with which to steward our trials. It’s called grace.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.—2 Corinthians 12:9

If we will receive the grace which God offers during difficult seasons, we can steward our trials in a way that results in unimaginable blessings.

So how do we steward our trial with the grace of God?

1. Trust God’s ways.

Faith trusts God, even when it can’t trace Him. Anyone can trust when we see how circumstances are working together for good. But when we can’t see, when it looks as if nothing good could come of our circumstances, this is when true faith is developed. (more…)

In part 1 of this post, we saw that God does some of His greatest works in our lives through suffering, and we began looking at a list of seven reasons for adversity.

For a quick recap, here are the first three:

1. The glory of God
2. The growth of His servant
3. The fulfillment of God’s will

4. The focusing of priorities

During suffering, realities of life change our perspective on priorities. Suddenly, the trivial and petty things that used to mean so much to us, mean almost nothing. Through these times, God refocuses our vision and realigns our priorities with His.

Through a ministry characterized by constant adversity and suffering, Paul’s greatest desire reflected the most important priorities: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). (more…)

Without hesitation, I can say that God has done His greatest works in my life through seasons of adversity. Sometimes, however, in moments of introspection we wonder, Why all the suffering?

I truly believe that God does far more through suffering than we see at first glance, and perhaps we will never know all the reasons and all the good that He brings through it. But, through His Word,  He makes some of His purposes clear to us. In this two-part post, I’d like to highlight seven reasons for adversity:

1. The glory of God

All of life is to be lived for this purpose. Even in adversity, God desires to be glorified. In fact, it is in these times that we can often best reflect His glory by responding in faith and trust.

“But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified” (1 Peter 4:13-14). (more…)

The title of this book caught my eye while I was walking past a bookstore in the airport this summer. I purchased a copy for myself and also sent one to three of my spiritual mentors, asking them to read it and mark anything they felt should be underscored in my heart and life. Reading the book and getting their feedback was a tremendous help to me.

Leading on Empty reminds us that, as spiritual leaders, we must periodically refill our own tanks to be able to continue to give to others. Our determination to live with an eternal purpose and make every moment count for the Lord can too easily shift into a stress addiction, where we are driven forward by fleshly momentum.

This book charts a course to overcome stress addiction and burnout, and it also provides wise counsel for avoiding such dangers. It encourages readers to live with eternal values in mind, but to do so from a tank that is regularly replenished by God’s Spirit and to set their course through wise, purposeful choices.