Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Romans 4:23-25,
“23 The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Understand:
What tremendous news! It leaves us both humbled and full of inexpressible joy. Think about this…as God “credited” Abraham’s faith “for righteousness”; He does the same for us. Abraham believed in the “God who gives life to the dead”(v.17) and so do we.
And why is this possible? Because Christ has risen! Death has been defeated; it no longer has mastery over us. By our faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross–the righteousness we would never be able to attain by any effort of our own–God has freely given to us as a gift. All He has asked is that we believe in Him, put our faith in Him.
The result is that “our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die.” “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:54-57)” It’s gone! Death does not have the final victory! That’s why Paul wrote “Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Cor 15:57)” Yes, victory over death and the grave has been won through our Lord, who died and rose and is coming again.
Death doesn’t have the final victory!
Apply:
When I think of the beauty of the gospel, I’m so humbled. If Christ had not revealed Himself to me, my life would have been so different. I know without a doubt that Patty and I would not be together; we would have divorced and moved on. Our youngest, Aaron, would not be here. I wouldn’t have my daughter and son-in-law. I wouldn’t have seven grandkids. The gospel kept us together…it’s the reason our kids got plugged into a youth group; it’s why they walk with Jesus today. Thanks be to God! The death of our marriage didn’t happen. No…instead, God moved to draw us toward Him. There is so much that never would have happened had it not been for the gospel in our lives.
So what about you? How has the gospel impacted your life? What, by the grace of God, has been made alive in your life because of the Gospel?
Take some time now and think about the many different ways these magnificent truths have impacted your life.
*From what you have just read and considered: What is a personal implication/application for your life today?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.
Inspiration and insight for the devotionals came from the following books: Reading Romans with John Stott; The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World (The Bible Speaks Today Series), Stott, John; Romans (The NIV Application Commentary Book 6) Moo, Douglas J.; Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey (Encountering Biblical Studies) Moo, Douglas J.; Believers Bible Commentary; The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, with the New International Version, Romans through Galatians; NIV Application Study Bible. The Pursuit of God, Tozer, A.W.