** For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. ** Romans 1:17
The Book of Romans has always been a tough book for me. It is one of the books of the Bible that leave me thinking….I think I have missed a ton of what this book is trying to say to me!!
I am currently on a mission to read it ten times over the next few months in hopes that it will deepen my understanding of it.
** The just shall live by faith**….
Faith in what?
A few things come to mind…
Faith…that what we believe about salvation and eternity because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is true. No matter what the world throws at us. No matter how we feel about our salvation or current spiritual state. Our faith –belief and trust– says there is just no other clear path to Heaven except through Jesus.
Faith…that God means what He says.
What He says about us… we are loved. We are accepted. We are forgiven. We are His children. We are called to a higher calling. We are not condemned. We are free. We are the sons and daughters of God, adopted into his family. We are his heirs, joint-heirs with Christ.
Faith…(belief and trust)….about what He says about this life on earth…we believe that **all things work together for good**…all things. ..especially the bad days…even on the worse days…the days that we are at our cancer treatments…the day we are standing over the grave of a loved one…the day our world collapses…the day we sign our divorce papers….the day we are in financial ruin…the day ….when life doesn’t turn out as a fairy tale. Faith….
Faith…to believe God’s promises…that He will supply all of our needs…That He has forgiven ALL of our sins…That He will always be with us, no matter what. He never abandons His children, not under any circumstances. …That nothing will ever separate us from His love, nothing….
Faith…to live abundantly….filled with His peace, love and acceptance. To live happy inside ourselves, being ourselves, respecting that the Lord made us unique, with our own gifts and talents. And that we can test the boundaries of our faith every day. Testing it and forcing it to grow. Challenging ourselves to live outside of our comfort zone and in the arms of the Lord. That is where we will ‘see’ Him and learn more of Him. When things get rough. The place where it looks impossible to overcome or get past the problem. When we feel like we are hanging onto the cliff ledge and God steps in to show us more of His power, mercy and grace.
Faith should be our happy place.
**I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ** Galatians 2:20