The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Romans 5-8
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 4: Christ’s Church: God’s People Advance the Kingdom
Background Information: Romans 5-8
Death came to the many through the sin of the one. Life from the one, now comes to the many. The reality that through the sin of Adam all were made guilty and through the obedience of Jesus we are made righteous is difficult to comprehend but possible to apprehend. To comprehend is to understand something, to apprehend means to take hold of something and make it your own. Thankfully we do not have to fully understand the mystery of the gospel in order to be saved by it. We have accurate (true) and adequate (enough) knowledge to be saved. We can obey the gospel and be set from sin; we do not have to live under its iron grip any longer. The same grace that brought us peace with God, now empowers our obedience to God. We were on sin’s death row, condemned before God, now we are fully pardoned, set free from sin and death. Can you fully get your mind around all this amazing truth? Of course not, we will spend the rest of time and eternity marveling at the wonders of the gospel. Can you know enough to be saved? Of course, you can and we will spend the rest of time and eternity being grateful for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Or at least, we should spend our time being grateful. Gratitude for the gospel is a reflex that must be trained and continually practiced. When you read that nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus does it stir your heart or is it mere words on a page? If your heart is not stirred, then don’t go to guilt, go to training. Train your heart and mind towards gratitude for the gospel. You do this by thinking about all these wonderful and complex things. You do this by simply telling God “Thank you” over and over. You do this by remembering Christ on the cross, dying there for your sins. You do this by how you navigate life’s troubles and challenges. As we see life’s troubles as coming from the hand of God then everything in our lives can help train us in gratitude. Trouble rightly understood brings endurance, endurance brings Christlike character, character builds hope, and this gospel hope will never disappoint but will one day be fully experienced. Train to hope, but don’t try to train alone. God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower this hopeful training. What we cannot fully understand we can more fully apprehend and make our own as we train our hearts and minds towards gratitude for God’s great gift of the gospel.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Uyghurs who are scattered all over the world – that they would encounter followers of Jesus and the Word of God where they are.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.