There is another great
promise from Romans 8.
Romans 8:31 “If God be
for us, who can be against us?”
This verse reinforces the
truth that nothing can touch me that isn't allowed by the Father for some
purpose. I don’t have to fear anything
or anyone. Nothing can separate me from
the love of God that is mine in Jesus.
Romans 8:38–39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Some more of my favorite
verses concerning the eternal security that is mine in Jesus come from the pen
of the apostle John.
John 10:27–30 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”
And again from the pen of
the apostle Paul.
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ….”
Ephesians 1:12–14 “That we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto
the praise of his glory.”
The Holy Spirit is given to
us the moment we place our faith in God through Jesus. It is through the Holy Spirit that we receive
comfort, encouragement and empowerment.
When we go through hard times and experience the comfort of God’s
Spirit, we are then able to help others through their hard times.
John 14:16–17 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may abide with you for ever; Even
the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 “Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to
comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God.”
Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us….”
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind.”
Another really special
promise to the child of God is that His Spirit within us intercedes before the
Father on our behalf.
Romans 8:26–27 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of
God.”
My heart’s desire is to be
a mighty woman of prayer, but I fall so short.
Sometimes I just don’t know how to adequately express what is in my
heart—but the Holy Spirit knows just exactly how to express it. When I am not sure of the Father’s will in
any given situation, He is; and He knows how to ask according to the Father’s
will.
Another precious truth to
me—God knows all my thoughts and motives and loves me still.
Psalms 139:1–4 “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and
mine uprising, thou understandest my
thought afar off. Thou
compassest my path and my lying down, and art
acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my
tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou
knowest it altogether.”
He is never surprised by our
sin; but because He loves us, He allows us to suffer the consequences of
sin. The writer to the Hebrews explains
it well.
Hebrews 12:6–10 “For whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he
whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all
are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had
fathers of our flesh which corrected
us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live? For they verily for a
few days chastened us after
their own pleasure; but he for our
profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness.”
I guess the bottom line is
that one has to determine if he/she believes that God is who He says He is as
revealed in His word. Once that
determination is made, the rest is simply put—though not simply embraced. If God’s word is true, then we can rest in
His promises; either we believe Him or we don’t. Once we do, He promises to give us
peace. My life verse again comes from
Isaiah.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in
thee.”
Note that again there is a
qualifier—to keep one’s mind “stayed” on our Savior. This thought connects directly to a verse
from the pen of the apostle Paul.
1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
For many years I thought my
life was compartmentalized—one compartment for God, one for family, one for
work, etc. There came a time that I
finally realized that as a Christian, there is only one compartment in my
life—a life lived as unto the Lord.
Everything I do in life falls into that compartment. When I am serving my family, I should be
focused on doing my best to honor God both in word and deed; I should be
thinking about how I am testifying to His love at work in me through the way I
interact with them. When I am at work, I
should have the same type of focus and testimony. When I am making choices about how to use the
resources He has given me, I should be thinking about how I can best glorify
Him in the process. When I am enjoying using
the talents He has given me, I should be striving to honor Him with those
talents. Whether interacting with
friends, neighbors or strangers, my focus should be on reflecting a testimony
of my love for Jesus in all that I do and say.
It’s basically living life recognizing that I am ever and always in His
presence. That truth is much easier to
express than it is to put into practice.
And that brings to mind another very precious promise.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.”
I have determined to find
my rest, sustenance and security in God as gifted to me through Jesus and
continually empowered and provided for by His Holy Spirit. I pray that you will do the same.
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