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.

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. ~Romans 8:28 1

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. ~Romans 8:28 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son ~Romans 8:29 1

Now if we are children [of God], then we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. ~Romans 8:17 2

To get to the glory, you have to go through the grit and the grime of life, which includes suffering suffering that God uses to conform us into image of Jesus Christ but suffering nonetheless. 3

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ~Romans 8:18 4

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ~II Corinthians 4:16-18 5

Surviving Suffering Redemptively 1. I ve got to resolve in my mind ahead of time that God is at work in my suffering. 6

Surviving Suffering Redemptively 1. I ve got to resolve in my mind ahead of time that God is at work in my suffering. Today, before suffering hits tomorrow, I ve got to pre-determine that God is in control. 6

Surviving Suffering Redemptively 2. When suffering comes my way, I ve got to draw upon what my mind has already resolved. 7

Surviving Suffering Redemptively 2. When suffering comes my way, I ve got to draw upon what my mind has already resolved. Resolved: God lovingly and graciously uses suffering to forge holiness in my character, creating Christ-likeness in me right now and grinding me for greater glory in the age to come. 7

Surviving Suffering Redemptively 3. In the heat of suffering, I ve got to focus my gaze on the glory to come. 8

Surviving Suffering Redemptively 3. In the heat of suffering, I ve got to focus my gaze on the glory to come. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ~Romans 8:19 Apokaradokia: The stance of one scaning the horizon with head thrust forward, intently searching the distance for the first signs of the breaking dawn. 8

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ~Romans 8:20-22 9

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. ~Romans 8:23-25 10

Like creation, the Christian is to scan the horizon, looking for the daybreak of glory the full payment of our redemption not just the deposit. 11

Like creation, the Christian is to scan the horizon, looking for the daybreak of glory the full payment of our redemption not just the deposit. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. ~C.S. Lewis 11

When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. ~Luke 21:28 (KJV) 12

When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. ~Luke 21:28 (KJV) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ~Romans 12:12 12

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God s will. ~Romans 8:26-28 13

Prayer is the divine in us appealing to the Divine above us. ~C.H. Dodd 14

Prayer is the divine in us appealing to the Divine above us. ~C.H. Dodd The World s Greatest Prayer: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Our prayers are really His prayers; He speaks to himself through us. ~C.S. Lewis 14

My Personal Prayer Team When I pray, Father and Spirit are strategizing how to turn the circumstances of my life, both good and bad, into that which will produce the greatest good in me. 15

My Personal Prayer Team When I pray, Father and Spirit are strategizing how to turn the circumstances of my life, both good and bad, into that which will produce the greatest good in me. For that reason, there s no such thing for a child of God as ineffective prayer. 15

Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ~Romans 8:34 16

Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ~Romans 8:34 Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. ~Hebrews 7:24-25 16

My Personal Prayer Team Father, Son and Holy Spirit are actively engaged on my behalf at this very moment, and they won t stop until they see that the Father s perfect plan is fully worked out in me both in time and for all eternity. 17