Encounter Christian Campus Ministry Daily Devotions 2020

April 11 by Ptr. Jair Paul Abarca

Good day everyone, just so you know we are still on the 5th day of the lockdown here in Dagupan and it already feels like a very long time. Well, given that situation, I've heard rumors that city government will lift the lockdown by Monday or Tuesday – not for sure by now.

Just this morning, I already seen jeepneys on the street and seems like Dagupan City is already back on its feet. Not so true on most of the cities in the country. I've heard that, back in my place in Visayas, they've just started the lockdown a few days ago!

I pray that wherever you are right now, GOD IS STILL GOOD TO YOU AND THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU!

This is my encouragement, my challenge and my urge to you brothers and sisters that whatever comes our way – GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! And in Him all things work together for our good!

He is not good in a sense that everything will go smoothly as we hoped it would be, but He is good because He knows perfectly well what he has in stored for us by the end of the day. – or in our case by the end of this pandemic.
Sometimes, we have to go through circumstances that we don't understand, knowing that all things work together for our good.

Here is a remarkable promise: "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28)
You may know that you're loved by God, but are you persuaded? Between the head and the heart, God desires to do His work in you...!

""But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives..." (see Job 19:25), Job said when he was tested and tried on all sides. Illness, grief, pain, suffering, spiritual attacks...and to top it all off, his wife was no help when, in her depression, she counseled him to "curse God and die."

Job was encouraged neither by his circumstances nor his loved ones. And even his friends reproached him saying that if all of this had happened to him, it was surely because he had sinned against God...

But Job knew! He knew that his Savior lives and would rise up and take a stand for him. He knew that God would silence the enemy of his soul, the enemy of his family, the enemy of his health, the enemy that seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy.
I encourage you to hold firmly to this promise: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." (see Romans 16:20) Have confidence! Your situation is temporary. God has already foreseen a way out.

You know in Whom you have believed: the all-powerful God, the Creator of the universe, the Lord of Hosts, the Good Shepherd, the Alpha and Omega...also known as the Lord God, the One Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8)

So be persuaded as well that you're in His hand and that in Him, all things work together for your good!

>>>>>>>>>>Life Group Discussion Questions:
1. Share something about this:  What is usually our first response when things doesn't go as we planned, or things did not go the way we want it?

2. When the news of the pandemic hits our country and the government issued the ECQ, which part of your life was greatly or is currently affected? How?
3. How can you fully persuade others to trust that in God all things work together for good?