Brian Delamont talks with co-hosts Heather and Keane about how God often works through difficult circumstances to transform us: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16).
- "He's in control, and He is good. He leads us into this opportunity to have difficulties and trials become part of the transformation that He longs for us to experience in order to become all that He intends."
- "We've been given this amazing gift of the Holy Spirit, the glory of God in us, to move us towards transformation."
- 2 Corinthians 3:18-4:1
- "Transformation means difficulty, and difficulty can mean transformation, if we choose to let it work in us the way God intends it to."
- Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
- "It's not a matter of instant change. There is no experience in the Christian life that will reproduce His image in a moment. It is a process, not a crisis."
- "You and I are not fully transformed the moment we decide to act on Jesus' invitation to become His apprentices. It's this ongoing process."
- 2 Corinthians 4:6-10
- "Spiritual growth and transformation doesn't mean we have fewer and fewer challenges. It means that when the challenges come, when I'm hard pressed, for example, my response is that it's more like Jesus. There's the fruit of the Spirit."
- "Am I suffering because I'm doing things that are contrary to God's best design for my life, or am I suffering because I'm doing things that are going to reveal His greater glory?"
- 2 Corinthians 4:15-18
- "In the transformation process we don't run to difficulties, or foolishly seek out persecution or ridicule. This is not the life Jesus modeled for us at all [...] Suffering itself is not the purpose. If that were the case then God would be tremendously cruel."
- "God has good outcomes for us in mind: Our transformation through difficulties, our growth in joy, perseverance, character, hope, and in being refined to reveal the glory of God."
- 2 Corinthians 3:2-6
- "Our sufferings, our difficulties do more than transform us as individuals. They can transform our friends and our family, our community, as we share and journey through these experiences together."
- "It's not instant happiness [...] it's walking with God through these difficult times. And we know the difficulties are actually a given if we follow Jesus."
- "In walking through these difficulties that transformation becomes so much more visible. It reveals the genuine power of the gospel in the midst of my difficulties, in the midst of our suffering together. And yet in these challenges, we do not lose heart."
- "God is in control. He is sovereign. He sees you, and He is also running the universe in the way He wants it run – in a good way, ultimately, because God is not just sovereign, He is good. And we can rest in that so that we do not lose heart."
- Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller
November Reflection: What do You want to transform in my life right now as I face this difficulty?
What's changing our lives:
- Keane: Sticker door
- Heather: Functional strength training
- Brian: Having a rare, non-cancerous tumor
Weekly Spotlight: Asunción Christian Academy
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Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
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