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 11:33-36,
33 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! 34‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?’ 35‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’ 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”
Understand:
Paul used the word “amen” to conclude his statement. “Amen” is an interesting word. In current usage, the term “amen” has become little more than a ritualized conclusion to prayers. The Hebrew and Greek words for amen appear hundreds of times in the Bible and have several uses. “Amen” is a transliteration of the Hebrew word amen [em’a]. The verb form occurs more than one hundred times in the Old Testament and means “to take care, to be faithful, reliable or established, or to believe someone or something”.
The idea of something that is faithful, reliable, or believable seems to lie behind the use of amen as an exclamation on twenty-five solemn occasions in the Old Testament. Israel said “amen” to join in the praises of God (1 Chr. 16:36, Neh. 8:6, and at the end of each of the first four books of Psalms 41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48).
Paul uses Amen in the same since as the Old Testament writers… he uses it to seal the confession about God that he has just made. Paul confirms that God alone is the possessor of absolute power and absolute wisdom.
In the final analysis, all of us are absolutely dependent on God. He is the source of all things, including ourselves. He is the power that sustains and rules the world that we live in and He works out all things to bring glory to Himself. The all-powerful God deserves our praise. To this, we join Paul in saying “Amen!”
Apply:
*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 Cambridge Bible Commentary, Romans, Best, Ernest. Romans 8-16 For You: For reading, for feeding (God’s Word For You – Romans Series Book 2, Keller, Timothy.