A Further Look at Peace

Last week we took a look at the last name of Jesus mentioned in Isaiah 9:6. Next month I plan on getting back to my monthly columns, but I thought this idea of the Prince of Peace something we need to sit on for a spell. Peace is a commodity that is hard to come by. Even as Christ followers we struggle with anxiety and worry, just like many people. If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, then why do we, who call Him our Savior, have such a hard time finding peace?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Finding peace is directly related to knowing the Prince of Peace; Jesus. It isn’t just a head nod to whether Jesus was a real, historical figure, but an understanding and acceptance of why He came to earth and what He did while He was here. Even that understanding can be on an intellectual level rather than a heart level. Truth faith is committing ourselves to what God says in His word, the Bible, about who Christ is, who the Holy Spirit is, and our part in the faith process.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

— Romans 5:1-2 (NASB 1995)

Once we have that relationship with our Prince of Peace we begin to grow in our walk with Him. As we read His word our understanding of His movement in our lives and our responsibilities to Him become more clear. However, we are still walking in this world, daily affected by our flesh and all of its struggles and appetites. Peace comes more easily as we walk by the Spirit rather than the flesh.

“16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ”

— Galatians 5:16-17 (NASB 1995)

What is it, then, that destroys our peace? What keeps us from having that peace from Prince of Peace? Why do we so often strive when we are facing difficulty, rather than just having the peace that passes all understanding. Let’s look at a few thoughts.

1 - Anxiety

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

“No amount of regretting can change the past, and no amount of worrying can change the future.”

— Roy T. Bennett - The Light in the Heart

“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

— Corrie Ten Boom

Here is an interesting article from Psychology Today on the difference between worry and anxiety. For this post today we are going to look at the two as one. Certainly worry can lead to anxiety, and it would be rare to have anxiety without some sort of worry.

Obviously anxiety/worry can take away our peace. If we live life in the realm of the “what if’s” we will never know the beauty of a life of peace or contentment. God’s word is very specific about worry and anxiety. Our great Creator knew we would struggle with this, so He gave us tools to use when we are in the anxious state. We’ll look at those next week, but for now, this is what the Bible says about worry and anxiety.

““For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”

— Matthew 6:25-29 (NASB 1995)

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

— Philippians 4:6 (NASB 1995)

2 - Unresolved Emotions

Image by Grae Dickason from Pixabay

You might wonder what I mean by unresolved emotions. I am referring to emotions that have come about due to difficult circumstances or relationships. Anger, sadness, or fear when left to fester will consume us and take away our peace.

Emotions are God’s gift to us. They give us the ability to live a full and productive life. Fear enables us to keep ourselves secure and away from harm. Sadness allows us to see that which is really important to us. Desire motivates us to do things. Anger itself can be a useful emotion if it moves us to take good action like lobbying for change or protecting someone who is being harmed. However, these emotions can also be the pathway for anxiety, bitterness, addiction, and wrath. What does the Bible say about our emotions?

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?”

— Psalm 27:1 (NASB 1995)

“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.”

— Psalm 42:5 (NASB 1995)

“You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

— Psalm 145:16 (NASB 1995)

“Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

— Ephesians 4:26 (NASB 1995)

God knows our emotions better than we know them ourselves and we were created with them to use them as a way to worship and draw closer to Him. Allowing those emotions to take over will take away our peace and cause further problems. Counseling offices are full with people who are trying to figure out how to manage their run away emotions.

3 - Pride

Image by Daniel Borker from Pixabay

How does pride get in the way of having God’s perfect peace? What does the Bible say?

“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.”

— Proverbs 16:8 (NASB 1995)

That one verse sums up God’s opinion on pride. The Bible is actually full of examples of men whose very kingdom’s fell due to their pride. Let’s not forget Satan, our enemy whose pride led to his being banished from heaven. See Ezekiel 28:13-19. Pride is the exact opposite of humility and humility is essential in our relationship with God.

Peace in our lives requires dependence on the Prince of Peace. Dependence requires a humble heart.

Next week I will share with you ways to combat these three thieves of peace. I hope you will come back again.

Have a great weekend!

A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events - Part 2: The Necessity of Misfortune

Last week I introduced you to A Series of Unfortunate Events, a book series by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) that has also been made into a movie with Jim Carey, and a Netflix series with Neil Patrick Harris. The series follows three orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who are trying to find out why their parents died in a fire, while at the same time trying to find a guardian who will love and care for them. The inheritance of their future fortune marks them easy prey for villains wanting their money, specifically Count Olaf.

I made the comparison that often we are like the orphaned Baudelaire’s experiencing one tragedy after another. Misfortune is, as the word’s meaning defines, unfortunate. The word fortunate is defined as - “bringing some good thing, not foreseen as certain; receiving some unexpected good.” Misfortune is defined simply as, “an unhappy situation.” When we call someone unfortunate we are saying they are “marked or accompanied by misfortune.” (Definitions from Webster’s Online Dictionary.)

All of us experience misfortune, but we don’t necessarily see everyone as unfortunate, where every day seems to be a struggle and hope is as elusive as an early morning mist. In fact, when a tragedy happens we will often say, “You were very fortunate. It could have been so much worse.” While this is true, it isn’t always the best thing to say.

If you have been following me for a while, you have probably heard me say that struggles and difficulty are not always all bad. We’ve all heard stories or watched a Hallmark movie, where something beautiful has come out of a terrible situation. In my own life I have seen the hand of God extend mercy in situations where the outcome of people’s choices could have been total tragedy.

Last week I discussed the necessity of Jesus’ departure from earth, so the Holy Spirit could come. Without the Helper’s constant guidance and revelation of God’s word we would be lost. Thus the need to recognize, not all tragedies and difficulties are truly unfortunate. With the Holy Spirit’s help we can recognize four key things about our difficulties.

1 - Allowed by God.

Image by José Manuel de Laá from Pixabay

If you believe what the Bible says about God’s characteristics then you must acknowledge His sovereignty. If God is sovereign, all things that come into our lives are sifted through His fingers. We have the book of Job as one for instance of God allowing great difficulty into one man’s life. But, even after all the tragedy, Job knew God was good and sovereign.

“He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.””

— Job 1:22 (NASB 1995)

“9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

— Job 2:9-10 (NASB 1995)

I can still remember a sermon I heard a few years ago when we were going through an especially hard time. The preacher made two points:

1 - God is sovereign and God loves you.

2 - When you are going through something hard refer back to point number 1.

It sounds pretty simple, but in reality it is. Our Almighty God is not trying to trick us, or manipulate us. He is completely straight forward. His holiness is pure. His goodness is everlasting. His mercies are new every morning. Most importantly, He loves us. Plain and simple.

2 - For our benefit.

Image by Melk Hagelslag from Pixabay

Most of us want things that are beneficial for us whether healthy food and exercise, a place to get away and rest, peace of mind and loving, nurturing relationships. God wants things that are beneficial for us as well. The difference is that as the author of all creation He has a far better grasp of what we truly need.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

— Romans 8:28 (NASB 1995)

Notice in the verse it says that God causes ALL things to work together for good. It isn’t only the happy, joyful, peaceful things that work for our good, it includes the mind numbing, tragic and ugly parts of life. How can this be the case? Because it is God who is doing the working for the good. We are hardly capable of getting ourselves out of bed in the morning, how is it we are going to know the deep needs of our own selves? We think we do…happiness, peace, no longing, no fear, no confrontation…but we are unwilling to go to the One who knows us inside out.

3 - Meant for God reliance.

A trapeze artist knows the importance of being in excellent shape physically, and mentally. They know their muscles must be strong and their minds must not be distracted by the difficulties of life. In addition, they are completely reliant on their equipment. A broken wire, or rusty chain must be repaired or replaced. How do they know these things? By being taught by others who went before.

When we encounter unfortunate events it is the perfect opportunity to check our relationship with God. Are we maintaining our connection with Him. Are we keeping short accounts on our sin? Are we spending time in His word? Are we searching for scripture and advice on how to get through our difficulties by His strength and with His grace?

I don’t care what the commercials are telling you…be all you can be. I don’t care what the social media influencers are preaching…you are strong, you got this, you are woman hear you roar…most messages that come from a source outside of God Himself, while encouraging are not going to keep you sane when the bottom falls out of your world.

“5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.”

— Proverbs 3:5-8 (NASB 1995)

“6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

— 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB 1995)

“63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

— John 6:63 (NASB 1995)

“8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.”

— Psalm 118:8 (NASB 1995)

“10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”

— Isaiah 41:10 (NASB 1995)

We are meant to be God dependent, not independent.

4 - Renewal: God’s best outcome.

Image by AC works Co., Ltd. from Pixabay

Coming through a series of unfortunate events is the perfect time for God to build something new in you. As you practice abiding in Him and relying on Him He will begin to weed that garden that He is cultivating in you. It may be that the misfortunes are actually His way of pulling the weeds of pride, self-centeredness and bitterness from your soul. Let Him be about His work for this will have the best outcome. You will come through your difficulties with a deeper, new found faith and knowledge, not only of who you are, but more importantly of who God is.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

— Romans 12:2 (NASB 1995)

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

— 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NASB 1995)

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”

— Titus 3:5 (NASB 1995)

I want to encourage you to remember, you are not alone in your difficulty. There is a loving, omnipotent God working through your series of (un)fortunate events.

When Darkness Comes - Part 7: Revealing our True Hearts

I have been doing a series on the darkness as it pertains to times of struggle in our lives. The last two posts revolved around truth; the truth we know about God and the truth we know about ourselves as seen in the Word of God. We cannot, however, have truth and not acknowledge the feelings and emotions that God created us with. As we saw last time, we often put on False Faces, so that we can cope and pretend the truth has penetrated our hearts, but in reality it hasn’t. I have been sharing my own experience with you, because through my own walk in the dark, I have learned that truth must be wrestled with before it can become a part of our inner being.

Image by Herbert Aust from Pixabay

God knows our delicate frame and also knows He gave us a mind that can think, reason and question. However, we must remember our minds were meant to be in communion with Him. The longer we let our minds dwell on what is false, hopeless and destructive, the less we will be able to recognize His truth. When we are walking in the darkness, there is no doubt, the Unseen Enemy will try to manipulate that shadowed path to his advantage. That is precisely why it is so important to stand on the God’s truth, but not just stand, we have to wrestle with it and allow Him to pierce our souls with it.

He has done that with me. Even as I type this, tears come to my eyes, because I realize, as an Almighty being, He owes me nothing. He has no reason to gift me His time or attention. He does so, because He chooses to. The incredible, lavish fact is, He chooses to do this, even when I am at my lowest, ranting about how unfair life is or how hard things are, or questioning impatiently when will this darkness end.

In order to get to this point of allowing God to pierce us, we must acknowledge our feelings, as ugly as they can be. Feelings are often tied to experiences, both good and bad. In my heart I have a room. Inside, there are shelves full of experiences, mostly those with other people. Most of these are bad experiences. When I feel bad, I unlock that room and I go inside, closing the door behind me. It isn’t a comfortable room, filled with fairy lights and comfy, overstuffed furniture. It’s more like an old attic, full of cobwebs, dark corners and lots of junk. I find a place on the hard floor and I start reviewing all that junk…all those times I yelled at my kids; all the angry words between my husband and I; all those feelings of never measuring up…of not being enough…of being invisible.

Image by József Kincse from Pixabay

Most of us have something like my attic room, where we revisit things that happened or didn’t happen. These are part of emotional make up of who we are and God is patient with us. He allows us those moments, but He doesn’t want us to stay there. Eventually, it would be nice if I could hand that key over to Him and walk away. I haven’t done that yet, but I am getting closer.

I am going to share an except from my journal, when I was revealing my true heart to God. I share these things, not to make you feel sorry for me or to make you think how hard I have had it, but I hope by being vulnerable with you, you will choose to be vulnerable with God.

“I guess what it comes down to, Lord, is I am sad that I am invisible. I know there are lots of people struggling with far worse things than feeling invisible. There are wives whose husbands are unfaithful; there are children whose caretakers are abusive; there are elderly men and women fading like an old photograph with no one to visit or care about their needs, or desires. There are people who have felt the pain of divorce, the death of a child or spouse...and here I am feeling sad...that I feel invisible.

But I would not be a healthy person if I did not acknowledge I am sad, and it hurts. It hurts to be forgotten; to have a face that is unmemorable; to have no voice except one that is deemed naggy, bitchy or emotional. I am only acknowledged when I mess up. I am only texted or called when someone wants something...””

— Amy's journal from 5/23/21

Image by Vojtěch Kučera from Pixabay

There are several things I want you to notice. I am acknowledging my feelings. I am unloading. I have remembered God’s truth about Himself and about me, and now I am letting Him know how I feel. My intellect knows what is true…I am not invisible. I have a family who does love me. I have friends…but the acknowledgement of feelings is so important in healing and in allowing God to bring His word into the deep places of our hearts. I go on to make this very point in my journal.

“Lord, I am venting. I know what Your word says. I am not invisible. Your word says You knew me before I was born. You know my thoughts from afar. There is no place I can go to get away from You. I am not invisible to You. (Psalm 139)”

— Amy's journal from 5/23/21

The other thing I want you to notice is that I recognize I am not alone in suffering. There are many who are suffering; many who have it far worse than I do, but that does not diminish my feelings or my need to lay those feelings at His feet. This is a process.

The next step follows: I recognize that some of my struggle is a result of sin, and the work of the Unseen Enemy.

“Lord, I ask Your forgiveness that I struggle with these feelings over and over. I should be mature enough to be so over it, but right now I am not. I am weak.

I ask for Your protection. I know my enemy would like to devour me, my family, but he cannot. Renew my mind, because I cannot. I choose to lean in to You; in to your comfort, mercy and grace; into Your sufferings. I embrace it all and I call on Your name...the name of Jesus, knowing He is the Great Warrior Prince and He will rescue me.”

— Amy's Journal - 5/23/21

Finally, I acknowledge the power and supremacy of the Almighty One.

“Thank you for You hem me in behind and before; that You are my rear guard; that You hold my hand and walk with me through every single valley. You are the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. You alone are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

— Amy's Journal - 5/23/31

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Don’ be afraid to let God peer into the deepest places of your heart. Allowing Him access to those attic rooms will eventually bring about true renewal and cleansing. Wrestle with God’s truth. Tell Him how you really feel as you maneuver the darkness of your path. Let Him pierce you deep and He will bring you to new understanding and heights of His love.

Next time we will look at another piece of this refining process as we continue our journey in the darkness. I hope you are able to join me. Thank you for all your support and I pray God will become more real to you today than He ever has before.

When Darkness Comes - Part 3: Darkness Gone Bad

The last two weeks I have taken you through the first few verses of Genesis 1 and saw how God created the world, including darkness and light. We learned that darkness wasn’t evil. Darkness was the absence of light and to God there was no difference between darkness and light. When God separated the light from the darkness He did it with our benefit and the earth’s well being, in mind. He created the lights in the heavens including the sun, moon and stars, as ways to separate the seasons and to differentiate day from night. Day was made for work and night was made for rest.

When did darkness become bad? When did we start making the association that darkness wasn’t good and wasn’t for good people? When did darkness become associated with sin and evil? I want to show you a progression that took place. In order to understand this we need to go back to Genesis. If you regularly follow my Faith posts, you know I went over the passage in Genesis 3 when I did the series on Our Unseen Enemy. We need to look at this again. We can never look at God’s word too often.

“1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!
5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.”

— Genesis 3:1-7 (NASB)

In the series on Satan, we learned that he was enamored with his own beauty. He became prideful and wanted to usurp the throne of God in heaven and take over. The first step in the darkness becoming bad was the choice of a created being to look within, rather than looking to God.

Step 1 - Self-Reliance

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

It all started with Satan’s choice to look at his own beauty and his obsession with it. He forgot about who God was and that God had created him, not the other way around. The very same thing happened when Satan went to Eve. He got her to focus, not on all the beauty she had in the garden; not on the husband and companion God provided for her; and certainly not on the God who had made her. Satan tempted Eve to look within herself and see just what she was lacking.

Step 2 - Misery Loves Company

Image by karosieben from Pixabay

The next step in the progression towards darkness becoming bad was Satan’s desire to take others down with him. What fun would it be to rebel all by his onesie? He gladly found others among the angels willing to follow him. In the same way, Eve was not content to be the only one to bite into the forbidden fruit. She had to tempt her husband to make the same mistake. Once this choice was made, there was no going back, for either Satan or Adam and Eve.

Step 3 - Anger and Shame

Image by Thomas Wolter from Pixabay

Our study reveals two prominent emotions: anger and shame. Satan’s response to not getting his way in heaven was anger and hatred. Satan wasn’t just angry, he became violent.

“15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;””

— Ezekiel 28:15-17 (ESV)

Adam and Eve, on the other hand, felt shame. Look again at Genesis 3:7:

Image by Сергей Корчанов from Pixabay

“7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.”

— Genesis 3:7 (NASB)

This was the final step in the progression of darkness becoming associated with all that is bad. The eyes of Adam and Eve were open. Before this happened we can assume, to them, there was no difference between darkness and light, other than that it represented a time change. Darkness wasn’t bad, scary or evil, but the sin of rebelling against God through disobedience suddenly made them want to hide. Darkness became a covering for sin and sinful actions.

In addition to this, even though their eyes were opened, Adam and Eve’s minds became dark. They no longer had the light of God, or the fellowship of His presence. They were banished, just as Satan was banished from heaven.

“22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”

— Genesis 3:22-24 (NASB)

I want to leave you with this idea; darkness is still God’s. Satan does not own it. He did not create it. Yes, he dwells in it and makes the world believe it is his domain, but God is still hovering over the darkness and He can see everything, we can’t.

Next week we will look at where God is in the darkness. Thanks for following along. Have a great day!

No Condemnation

I’ve been mulling over what I should focus on in my life as a Christian. There are so many areas where I need to improve or, as I talked about last week, have some discipline. The unfortunate reality is, we can talk all we want about making changes, doing better, being better, but if we don’t actually do it, then where are we? We find ourselves like that noisy gong or clanging cymbal mentioned in I Corinthians 13.

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

— I Corinthians 13:1 (NASB)

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

Right now, I feel as though God is impressing on me, once again, the importance of prayer. A few weeks ago I had a devastating dream about my younger daughter. In the dream she had died, yet I could see her and it was like she was talking to me. She told me she had cancer and she hadn’t wanted anyone to know. She wanted to die alone, so no one would be grieving over her as she died. It was devastating. I woke up and kept reassuring myself, it was only a dream. Unfortunately, the reality is, many young people we know are not following after Christ. They have bought into the lord of this age and the lies he spins. It was from the despair I felt over the aloneness of my girl that I realized we are losing many of our kids, because we have become overwhelmed with life. At least I have.

Image by Rob van der Meijden from Pixabay

I don’t even like to admit this, but I am a failure at prayer. I’m not talking about the daily conversations we have with God; the prayers of thanks, the whispers of panic, the lifting our hands in the air because we don’t know how to pray, prayers. The type of prayer I am talking about is the down on our knees, face in the carpet prayers. I fail at the real spiritual battle prayers. These are the kind of prayers that we need to be praying.

We live in a world where we don’t want to make waves. We talk about kindness, acceptance and love. We want to give and receive acceptance and tolerance. As Christians we have become milk toast; soggy, damp and unappealing. Think about what it is that draws men to Christ. It comes from a heart desperate for meaning and one that recognizes there is a darkness within, wanting to swallow us up, from the inside out. The call of Christ is heard by those who realize there is nothing else, and no one else, who can give life and life more abundantly.

Image by reneebigelow from Pixabay

What then, is it going to take to get me to pray for the people who need His salvation, as desperately as the one who realizes their need to finally give their lives over to Christ?

Over the next few weeks I want to take a look at Romans chapter 8. I feel this ties into, not only the idea of prayer, but the need for discipline discussed last week. I will approach this study in a similar fashion to my Mulling It Over series, as that is what we will be doing as we look more closely at the chapter.

To see the entire text just click on this link to BibleGateway. com, Romans 8 (I will be using the New American Standard version of the text for most of the discussion).

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

— Romans 8:1 (NASB)

Out of the entirety of the Bible, this is perhaps one of my favorite verses. There are many other verses I love, such as John 3:16 - salvation in a nut shell, Philippians 4:6-8 - promises against anxiety, Jeremiah 29:11 - His plans are for my welfare, and many, many others. However, this verse is so declarative about my relationship and place in Christ, that when the gnawing feeling of being “less than” returns, I quote this verse and am immediately reminded of my place in Him.

In order for us to getting a running start at this verse and this passage, we need to back up and take a look at some of the verses in chapter 7.

“14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

— Romans 7:14-25 (NASB)

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It is as if the Apostle Paul was walking a mile or two in my shoes. Obviously, this is applicable to all of us as human beings. We wage war in our flesh. We want to do what is right or good or even good for us, yet our flesh is unwilling and battles against all that is good. I concur with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

Those two verses really sum up how I feel. I want to pray. I want to do what is good. I want to be healthier. I want to eat better. I want to exercise more. I want to be the best wife I can. I want to be the best mom and grandma I can. I want to be the best Christian I can! BUT, I regularly, miserably fail. That leads us to Chapter 8.

I find, what really gets me derailed from successfully having self-control, and being disciplined is the condemnation I feel when I don’t succeed. I messed up, oh well, guess I’ll just eat that bag of chips. It’s too hard to pray, so I guess I won’t even try. Where does that lead? You got it, down a trail of guilt. Guilt often spirals out of control until we no longer even want to do the things that are right or good.

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However, that guilt is not coming from our Lord. Verse 1 of chapter 8 makes that clear. It says there is NO condemnation. Yes, we are convicted by the Holy Spirit when we sin. That voice does not condemn, it reminds and renews. The condemning voice of the enemy discourages and limits. Remember that. Jesus will remind us of what is right and He will give us hope. The enemy will never give us hope. He will always leave us feeling that we lack, and that is precisely why we fail.

We think that we are in this alone. We think that it is in our strength that we are supposed to do all those things that require discipline and self-control, but self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, not something we conjure up out of our own abilities. We fail, because we do not go to Him for the strength and ability to do the things He wants us to do.

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We will dig deeper into Romans 8 next week, but until then, memorize Romans 8:1 and use it like a sword, every time the enemy make you feel hopeless, lacking and like a failure, because if you are in Jesus you are not condemned.