February 29, 2024 AND NOT ONLY THIS
Romans 5:1-5 “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but also we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Faith is believing. Believe is an over-used word: to truly believe means we act on what we say we believe. If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came to earth and died for our sins, and was raised from the dead and ascended back to the Father, then we have been born again and we have been adopted into the family of God. Faith is the fundamental tenant of Christianity. It is no small thing to say that we believe, that we have faith, that the Bible is the word of God. God has given many awesome promises to His people-the question is, do we receive His promises as being for us? If we do, wow! Just to name a few of His promises for you and I: our sins are forgiven; we have been made new creations with new hearts, new natures and new minds; we have been given the Holy Spirit to live in us; we have received spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit; we are members of the body of Christ; we have a hope and a future; He renews us; He comforts us; He leads us; we are destined for heaven; we are overcomers in Him; we have peace—and the list goes on. The result of having faith in God is that we are justified with God-made right and forgiven of all sins; and that we have peace with God. We do not yet fully understand the grace of God in which we stand-we have just been introduced to this grace; there is much more to come and much more to discover just how awesome this grace is. It gets even better. Not only do we celebrate and exult in the magnificent promises of God, we can also exult even in our tribulations. I admit that sometime seems like a stretch in the midst of some trials I have faced. However, to exult in trials can be and should be a reality for us. The key is to understand that the trials we face produce a good work in us-even though it is painful. We do not rejoice over the pain of the trial, but the outcome of the trial-and that takes faith. The essential truth we must understand is that we cannot live this Christian life by our best effort; we can live in the ways of God ONLY when we live out of the new person that has been created in His image. His love has been poured into our hearts; now, out of our new hearts we live. Living out of our new hearts, our responses, our spirts, our attitudes and our thoughts are life-giving and they reflect the character of God. HE is living IN US-so let His life flow out of this flesh and blood.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Blessings, Buddy
Romans 5:1-5 “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but also we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Faith is believing. Believe is an over-used word: to truly believe means we act on what we say we believe. If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came to earth and died for our sins, and was raised from the dead and ascended back to the Father, then we have been born again and we have been adopted into the family of God. Faith is the fundamental tenant of Christianity. It is no small thing to say that we believe, that we have faith, that the Bible is the word of God. God has given many awesome promises to His people-the question is, do we receive His promises as being for us? If we do, wow! Just to name a few of His promises for you and I: our sins are forgiven; we have been made new creations with new hearts, new natures and new minds; we have been given the Holy Spirit to live in us; we have received spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit; we are members of the body of Christ; we have a hope and a future; He renews us; He comforts us; He leads us; we are destined for heaven; we are overcomers in Him; we have peace—and the list goes on. The result of having faith in God is that we are justified with God-made right and forgiven of all sins; and that we have peace with God. We do not yet fully understand the grace of God in which we stand-we have just been introduced to this grace; there is much more to come and much more to discover just how awesome this grace is. It gets even better. Not only do we celebrate and exult in the magnificent promises of God, we can also exult even in our tribulations. I admit that sometime seems like a stretch in the midst of some trials I have faced. However, to exult in trials can be and should be a reality for us. The key is to understand that the trials we face produce a good work in us-even though it is painful. We do not rejoice over the pain of the trial, but the outcome of the trial-and that takes faith. The essential truth we must understand is that we cannot live this Christian life by our best effort; we can live in the ways of God ONLY when we live out of the new person that has been created in His image. His love has been poured into our hearts; now, out of our new hearts we live. Living out of our new hearts, our responses, our spirts, our attitudes and our thoughts are life-giving and they reflect the character of God. HE is living IN US-so let His life flow out of this flesh and blood.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Blessings, Buddy
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