{"id":5925,"date":"2022-06-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5925"},"modified":"2022-05-03T20:21:38","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T01:21:38","slug":"but-god-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5925","title":{"rendered":"But God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It Is Good to Be Thankful: Appreciation makes the world a better place..<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some words look insignificant, yet have great meaning. Although \u201cbut\u201d is primarily a conjunction which connects two sentences or clauses, its use implies that everything following it will either contrast or contradict everything before. Looking closer, we find that little words can mean a lot.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Hughes was an American statesman who served in many government offices. When he was Secretary of State in the 1920s, he had to attend many foreign conferences where he would need an interpreter for each language spoken. He gave his interpreters strict instructions to only give him the gist of what was being said, not a word-for-word interpretation. However, Hughes told them that whenever a speaker used the word \u201cbut\u201d he wanted an exact interpretation of each word that followed it. He knew that what followed the word \u201cbut\u201d in a sentence was of utmost importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you put the word \u201cbut\u201d with God, it is POWERFUL!!!! When we read the Bible God wants us to focus on what comes after the \u201cbut\u201d not before, because what comes after usually shows God\u2019s power and might. I like looking for the phrase \u201cbut God\u201d in the Bible. Here are a couple of examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ephesians 2:1-3 goes into great detail describing how we were dead in our sins, disobedient, gratifying the cravings of our flesh, following wrong desires, and deserving of wrath. We are all dirty rotten sinners, but notice the next two verses. \u201cBut God,<\/strong> who is rich in mercy and has great love for us, has made us alive with Christ by His grace and raised us up to sit with Christ in heavenly places.\u201d Too many of us want to focus on what we were, not on what God has done for us and who we are now in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years after Joseph\u2019s brothers sold him into slavery, they were reunited. The brothers were afraid he would try to get revenge but Joseph said, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. You intended to harm me, but God<\/strong> intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done\u201d (Genesis 50:19).  The New Testament account says Joseph\u2019s brothers were \u201cmoved with envy and sold Joseph into Egypt but God <\/strong>was with him\u201d (Acts 7:9-10). When people do bad things that affect us, God can turn it all around because He is with us, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satan likes to bombard us with negative thoughts but God <\/strong>has other things in mind. Satan wants us to feel like what we\u2019ve done is unforgivable but God<\/strong> forgives us (1 John 1:9). Satan wants us to think no one loves us but God<\/strong> loves us (John 3:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often have to remind myself that what I think or feel might not be accurate. Sometimes I feel alone but God<\/strong> says He will never leave or forsake me (Hebrews 23:5). I\u2019m thankful for every \u201cbut God\u201d <\/strong>thought that comes to mind because the world wants to fill me with discouragement but God<\/strong> wants to fill me with joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord..<\/em>.\u201d ~ Psalms 92:1 (KJV)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It Is Good to Be Thankful: Appreciation makes the world a better place… Some words look insignificant, yet have great meaning. Although \u201cbut\u201d is primarily a conjunction which connects two sentences or clauses, its use implies that everything following it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}