Roman Graduation
I was reminded as I was talking with a friend the other day, he was have a rough day to say the least. And the Lord reminded me of encouragement I received from my good buddy Brad several years back. I have always loved the book of Romans. I think it is because of the level that Paul is writing from, he is so raw and real in that book of the Bible. I have always clung to Romans 7, versus 14-21. Paul is writing about our sinful nature, and how we do really try to do what is right, but we always seem to do what is wrong. That sums up most of my existence.
As I was sharing this with Brad, he challenged my thinking. He made the point about how we can tend to park ourselves on things in the Bible, and we don't read on to see where the passages are going. God had a plan when he used the lives of the writers of the Word.
So here was the point... I was embracing Romans 7 as a life verse, which is great, however... that chapter is Paul's writing about living in the flesh... the muck, what life is and will continue to be like when we let sin dictate our days... we easily give in to what feels good, the next thing that comes our way.
Well... my friend told me that I should decide whether I wanted to embrace Romans 7 or Romans 8. I needed to graduate to Romans 8... and make that my life verse... because it truly speaks about life as we live in the spirit of Christ. And claim victory in the Cross. Like I have said, I will continue to fall short as long as I live on this dirty rock called earth... but I can fight, and I can take courage in my King. We who know Jesus Christ have already won! (This is a great message on that topic by the way... we have victory!) So the freedom comes in a life described in Romans chapter 8. Go here to see both chapters, read them and see which one you choose to embrace.
The BIG point I want to make is that we... I... must remember that God is still speaking today, and he uses His Word, the Bible. So as we... I... read, we should ask God to reveal the whole story... "what do you want to teach me Lord", "how does this relate to my life". And my new favorite prayer... "Lord, surprise me today".
Still chilling in the crucible,
Dan
As I was sharing this with Brad, he challenged my thinking. He made the point about how we can tend to park ourselves on things in the Bible, and we don't read on to see where the passages are going. God had a plan when he used the lives of the writers of the Word.
So here was the point... I was embracing Romans 7 as a life verse, which is great, however... that chapter is Paul's writing about living in the flesh... the muck, what life is and will continue to be like when we let sin dictate our days... we easily give in to what feels good, the next thing that comes our way.
Well... my friend told me that I should decide whether I wanted to embrace Romans 7 or Romans 8. I needed to graduate to Romans 8... and make that my life verse... because it truly speaks about life as we live in the spirit of Christ. And claim victory in the Cross. Like I have said, I will continue to fall short as long as I live on this dirty rock called earth... but I can fight, and I can take courage in my King. We who know Jesus Christ have already won! (This is a great message on that topic by the way... we have victory!) So the freedom comes in a life described in Romans chapter 8. Go here to see both chapters, read them and see which one you choose to embrace.
The BIG point I want to make is that we... I... must remember that God is still speaking today, and he uses His Word, the Bible. So as we... I... read, we should ask God to reveal the whole story... "what do you want to teach me Lord", "how does this relate to my life". And my new favorite prayer... "Lord, surprise me today".
Still chilling in the crucible,
Dan
posted by Dan at 9:51 PM
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