Wednesday the 4th

Romans 12: ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

 

 

Love God, and love your neighbor. This is how Christ lived His life. He hung on the cross as the ultimate show of love for this world. I love the way Paul breaks it down. He comes out reminding us to live in hope, not just get by in hope, but to be joyful in hope. He is not urging us to be ho hum….or oh yeah, I will try and be hopeful today….we are encouraged to be joyful, from the Greek word elpis, meaning (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation or confidence: - faith, hope. To wait in pleasure! To expect in pleasure, to live with the confidence that God is a promise keeper, and He will provide. That is living a joyful life! Next we are reminded that it will not always be a walk in the park, for we are to be patient in affliction, but that is really not a surprise is it? People always ask why does life have to be so hard, why to I have to sacrifice, why do these things happen to me….first I would say, if we think that our lives are rough, let’s talk to the man that was murdered for love, let’s compare our tough times to the times of a man who was pursued, persecuted, and killed, Yes our times might be tough, but if Christ could live with patience through His trials, it should bring us comfort in ours. We must remember that the tough times will pass, they are but a season, and they do serve a purpose, like the fires of the silversmith, these tough times will purify us, and bring us closer to the Lord. Most importantly be faithful in prayer.  This is sooooo important, Never quit talking to the Lord, don’t assume that He knows what troubles you have…..of course He knows! He wants to hear from you! Always set aside some time to pray, talk with God, let Him know what is on your mind, let Him know that no matter the difficulty, He is still leading the way for you! Pray, pray, pray! Paul goes right in to the need to share, bless, rejoice with others……I find it no surprise that right after Paul writes about how your life might be trying, he goes right in to, but what can you do for other people. The two laws are love God and Love your neighbor, we are third on the list! Yes your life might be tough from time to time, but get out there and help others. The best way to get past your problems, is to help others get past theirs! Paul finishes up with don’t be proud…..my brother has a saying “you know, the problem with being better than everyone else is sometime people call you pretentious” ……Pride will bring you down every time. From Genesis, to Psalms, to the Gospels, and almost every epistle, we can read how time and time again pride has been at the center of people’s demise. As much as we might hate to admit it, we just are not as important as we think we are.  Here again if we use Jesus as the example, we can see that there is no room for pride. If the Son of God, the One who has been in existence since it all started, the One who has been given the authority to forgive sins, walked this earth without being proud, then it is clear that we have some work to do in that area. Do not be stuck on yourself, be stuck on others. Live for God, and live for those around you. God will take care of where you are going. Give of yourself freely, and often. Be joyful, patient, and faithful. Live as Christ did, loving God, and your brothers, and sisters.

 

God Bless,

Brian