Good luck and God bless. I have often heard people use expressions like this. Luck and<\/p>\n
blessings are in opposition to each other. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LUCK! Our lives<\/p>\n
are not just a series of random events. It is NOT chaos! Our lives are orchestrated by God<\/p>\n
down to the last detail\u037e everyone’s life, saints and sinners alike. The Devil wants us to think<\/p>\n
that our lives are subject to chance, but that is a lie!<\/p>\n
You may be thinking, well if that’s the case, why do bad things happen to good people and<\/p>\n
good to bad. The problem is perspective. If we look at things from man’s point of view, it<\/p>\n
seems that way. From God’s point of view, things look very different. Someone once said God<\/p>\n
has a microscope and telescope view of us. Think about the man who was crucified next to<\/p>\n
Christ. He had no idea that that day would be the day of his salvation. He had a divine<\/p>\n
appointment to meet Jesus. Perhaps he needed to be brought to his darkest hour before he<\/p>\n
could see The Light. If we could talk to him now, what do you think he would say? \u201cIt was<\/p>\n
lucky for me that I was crucified next to The Christ.\u201d NO, NO! He would say it was the grace<\/p>\n
of God that brought me to that moment\u037e luck had nothing to do with it.<\/p>\n
There is sin in the world, and the effects of sin contaminate everything in our lives.<\/p>\n
Everything, from illness to earthquakes, is the result of man’s sinful nature. It is not, however,<\/p>\n
a cause and effect. If God treated us as our sins deserve, we would all be suffering the pains of<\/p>\n
hell right now. However, God is patient with us, giving us the opportunity to repent.<\/p>\n
In The Lords Prayer we say:<\/p>\n
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,<\/p>\n
may your kingdom come,<\/p>\n
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.<\/p>\n
Give us today our daily bread,<\/p>\n
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.<\/p>\n
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. <\/b><\/span><\/span>Matthew 6:1013<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NET<\/p>\n There is a difference between God orchestrating our lives and God’s perfect will for<\/p>\n mankind. That is why in the Lord’s prayer we pray, thy will be done on earth as it is being<\/p>\n done in heaven. Note: It is being done in heaven, but it takes our prayers for it to be done on<\/p>\n earth. God has given us the privilege of working with Him for His Glory. Also in the Lord’s<\/p>\n prayer it says, give us this day our daily bread, not this year, month or week. Every day we<\/p>\n must trust in Him for our sustenance. Remember, God is faithful even when we are not. Even<\/p>\n though the Israelites rebelled and were unfaithful to Him during their wandering in the desert,<\/p>\n He continued to provided manna and water to them.<\/p>\n Some of you may be thinking, what about Romans 8:28<\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span>: <\/span><\/span>\u201cAnd we know that all<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his<\/p>\n purpose.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>This verse illustrates my point. It means things work for our ultimate good, from<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n God’s point of view, not ours. His perspective is perfect and infinite\u037e ours is not. Parents must<\/p>\n make decisions about the welfare of young children, even though the child often protests<\/p>\n loudly. We mature Christians should be able to trust God’s will for our lives, knowing He<\/p>\n does what is best for us and will bring glory to His name. We needn’t protest loudly. Instead:<\/p>\n \u201c<\/span><\/span>Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that<\/p>\n surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>Philippians<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 4:6,7 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Also, it is important to note the latter part of Romans 8:28 says <\/span><\/span>\u201cfor those who love God,<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n who are called according to his purpose. \u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>If we are not among those who love God, we<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n have the fearful expectation of facing the judgment, where we will be punished as our sins<\/p>\n deserve.<\/p>\n Going on further in Romans 8 we read: <\/span><\/span>\u201cbecause those whom he foreknew he also<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn<\/p>\n among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called\u037e and those he<\/p>\n called, he also justified\u037e and those he justified, he also glorified.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>Romans 8:29,30<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NET <\/span><\/span>So, God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified. That<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n doesn’t sound like luck. That sounds like careful planning.<\/p>\n The book of Ephesians makes similar statements:<\/p>\n \u201cBlessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with very<\/p>\n spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the<\/p>\n foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love. He did<\/p>\n this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the<\/p>\n pleasure of his will \u2013 to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on<\/p>\n us in his dearly loved Son.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>Ephesians 1:46<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NET<\/p>\n Again that doesn’t sound like luck, it is the product of careful planning.<\/p>\n Don’t feel overwhelmed by this\u037e rather, be comforted. God loves His people and cares<\/p>\n about them. He always has their best interest in mind. <\/span><\/span>\u201cTrust in the Lord with all your<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n heart,<\/p>\n and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he<\/p>\n will make your paths straight.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>Proverbs 3:5,6 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand by<\/p>\n casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span>1 Peter 5:6,7 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n To sum up: There is no such thing as luck. God is in charge. Bad things happen because<\/p>\n there is sin in the world. In this life God does NOT treat us as severely as our sins deserve. He<\/p>\n is patient with us, in the hope that we will repent. For those who love God, God works toward<\/p>\n their ultimate good. God loves us, cares about us and wants the best for us. Those who reject<\/p>\n God’s love have only the fearful expectation of eternal punishments. \u201c<\/span><\/span>For if we deliberately<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is<\/p>\n left for us, but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and <\/span><\/span>a fury of fire that will<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n consume God\u2019s enemies<\/i><\/span><\/span>.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/b>Hebrews 10:26,27 <\/span><\/span>NET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Being in the presence of God when we leave this life is unavoidable. Do you want to<\/p>\n receive grace from God, or wrath? It is not about luck\u037e it is about God’s faithfulness.<\/p>\n Psalm 139:110<\/p>\n NET <\/span><\/span>Illustrates this beautifully.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cO Lord, you examine me and know.<\/p>\n You know when I sit down and when I get up\u037e<\/p>\n even from far away you understand my motives.<\/p>\n You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest\u037e<\/p>\n you are aware of everything I do.<\/p>\n Certainly my tongue does not frame a word<\/p>\n without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.<\/p>\n You squeeze me in from behind and in front\u037e<\/p>\n you place your hand on me.<\/p>\n Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension\u037e<\/p>\n it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.<\/p>\n Where can I go to escape your spirit?<\/p>\n Where can I flee to escape your presence?<\/p>\n If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there.<\/p>\n If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.<\/p>\n If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn,<\/p>\n and settle down on the other side of the sea,<\/p>\n even there your hand would guide me,<\/p>\n your right hand would grab hold of me.\u201d<\/p>\n To The Glory Of God<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good luck and God bless. I have often heard people use expressions like this. Luck and blessings are in opposition to each other. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LUCK! Our lives are not just a series of random events. It is NOT chaos! Our lives are orchestrated by God down to the last detail; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":716,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions\/716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jacksonstreetbaptistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}