December 9 – Absolutely Amazing!!!!
By Audrey Bauman
Romans 8: 31 – 39 (NLT)
“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Aren’t these the most amazing verses? What could ever be better than this! Once I am a child of God, NOTHING CAN SEPARATE ME FROM HIM AND HIS CARE.
Maybe one of you is wondering if you are God’s child. You’d love to say that those verses belong to you, but you’re not sure. There are a couple of verses that show us the way to become God’s child. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) Confession just means admitting you fall short of God’s standard of perfection, and asking His forgiveness. This doesn’t mean you have to go to a priest or some other religious leader; it’s a personal confession between you and God. Looking ahead in Romans, there are some other clear verses about becoming a child of God. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10: 9 - 10 ) Again it’s a personal decision. When you realize “in your heart” that Jesus’ death and resurrection are true, and you are willing to say so, then you are a child of God. Here are Jesus’ own words. "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5: 24)
For people who think that being a Christian means that they will only experience good things, these verses speak to that mistaken idea. “Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us”. (verses 35 – 37) It can’t be any clearer than that. Horrible things can happen to us, but that doesn’t separate us from God’s love and purpose for our lives.
Yet when difficult things happen in life, I find Romans 8 one of the most comforting parts of the Bible. It declares that I am not alone in trying to live in a way that shows God’s love to my family, friends and the people I meet. I have His Spirit living within me helping me to align my life with God’s plans for me. I am so reassured that nothing can separate me from God’s love. This chapter in Romans states what Christianity is all about. This is truth. And from that I receive the stability I need when I’m scared and worried.
I’d encourage you to underline many of the verses in this chapter in your Bible if you haven’t already. When you start to doubt if God really cares about you, read the verses we read today. It would even be good to copy them and post them somewhere in your house where you can see them. Just soak those words in and think about them a lot. This is the rock you build your life on, and the motivation to get up each day and ask God to guide you through your day. It’s the reason for living.
Our song for today is God Really Loves Us by Maverick City Music (Crowder, Dante Bowe)