““Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”” Romans 4:7-8 NIV
Today is Romans 4.
Blessed is also Happy in the Greek!
Happy- “Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good” (Webster’s 1828)
God has done great things for us! When we come to Jesus accepting His salvation, our sins are forgiven and covered. God does not count our sins against us any more!
The punishment we deserve we do not receive. Jesus took that upon Himself. We are given a blessed life— the life that Jesus gives us. We possess His goodness. We know that He is good to us and all that He does is good. Even when we experience troubles, we can experience His happiness.
““Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”” Romans 4:7-8 NIV
Today is Romans 4.
Blessed is also Happy in the Greek!
Happy- “Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good” (Webster’s 1828)
God has done great things for us! When we come to Jesus accepting His salvation, our sins are forgiven and covered. God does not count our sins against us any more!
The punishment we deserve we do not receive. Jesus took that upon Himself. We are given a blessed life— the life of Jesus. We possess His goodness. We know that He is good to us and all that He does is good. Even when we experience troubles, we can experience His happiness.
“What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”” Romans 4:3 NIV
Today is Romans 4.
Abraham was living an ordinary life. He was working his job and living close to his family. Then one day God spoke to Him. He told Him to “Go.” God then spoke to him a promise.
Abraham did something extraordinary. He believed! He believed the Word of God. He believed the Promises were true. Out of that belief, he acted — he obeyed. When Abraham believed God “credited to him as righteousness.” Righteousness is “Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary) It is right standing with God.
When Abraham listened to what God was saying and believed God. He was in right standing with God. He entered a relationship with God that came through his faith.
It wasn’t all the good things that Abraham did that established this relationship of right standing with God. It was when he simply believed.
God blessed Abraham for his faith and God made him a blessing. Many years later, Jesus was born out of his lineage. This alone was a miracle for a man whose wife had been unable to have a child.
God is speaking to us today. He desires for us to take Him at His Word and believe what He says. Jesus came as the living Word (expression of God) that proclaims to us God’s desire for relationship. We too can believe. Our belief in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross and then raising from the dead places us in right standing. It makes us righteous.
Relationship with God does not start with our good deeds. It starts with our faith in His Word that we hear.
“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,” Romans 3:21-22 NIV
Today is Romans 3
We are all deeper in sin than any of us could ever imagine. When we finally see our condition, we should be very concerned. There is nothing we can do that will fix our sin problem.
The Jews of Pauls time thought that if they could work and work at it, they could become righteous and have the purity it takes to stand rightly before God. They had the attitude of “I’ll do it myself.” But none of us can “do it” on our own. Righteousness only comes through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. When we believe in Jesus and receive what He did for us on the cross, we are brought into right standing with God.
Jesus is God’s solution for everyone’s sin!
A few months ago my husband came across this video. It perfectly illustrates how we cannot clean ourselves up on our own. Only God is able to do the heart transformation we need to make us right — righteous.
Will we call our to Him? Will we accept through faith His great gift?
“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” Romans 2:7-8 NIV
Our actions are a reflection of what is in our hearts. If our hearts are polluted by preoccupation with ourselves, we will be “self-seeking.” If our hearts are polluted by embracing the lies of the enemy, our hearts are polluted by rejection of the truth and following evil. But if our hearts are seeking God’s approval, our hearts are full of the desire to glorify Him. If our hearts desire to reflect His character to those around us, our hearts are full of desiring to honor Him.
What I am seeking reflects what is truly in my heart. Seeking God and His ways brings great reward to our lives — “eternal life!” Seeking after “self” will lead us in paths of death, darkness, and destruction — “wrath and fury.”
We need to ask ourselves: What am I experiencing in my life? Does it reflect what I am seeking?
If I am seeking God first, He assures me that I will find Him and experience Him — life!
“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” Romans 2:7-8 NIV
Our actions are a reflection of what is in our hearts. If our hearts are polluted by preoccupation with ourselves, we will be “self-seeking.” If our hearts are polluted by embracing the lies of the enemy, our hearts are polluted by rejection of the truth and following evil. But if our hearts are seeking God’s approval, our hearts are full of the desire to glorify Him. If our hearts desire to reflect His character to those around us, our hearts are full of desiring to honor Him.
What I am seeking reflects what is truly in my heart. Seeking God and His ways brings great reward to our lives — “eternal life!” Seeking after “self” will lead us in paths of death, darkness, and destruction — “wrath and fury.”
We need to ask ourselves: What am I experiencing in my life? Does it reflect what I am seeking?
If I am seeking God first, He assures me that I will find Him and experience Him — life!
“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” Romans 2:7-8 NIV
Our actions are a reflection of what is in our hearts. If our hearts are polluted by preoccupation with ourselves, we will be “self-seeking.” If our hearts are polluted by embracing the lies of the enemy, our hearts are polluted by rejection of the truth and following evil. But if our hearts are seeking God’s approval, our hearts are full of the desire to glorify Him. If our hearts desire to reflect His character to those around us, our hearts are full of desiring to honor Him.
What I am seeking reflects what is truly in my heart. Seeking God and His ways brings great reward to our lives — “eternal life!” Seeking after “self” will lead us in paths of death, darkness, and destruction — “wrath and fury.”
We need to ask ourselves: What am I experiencing in my life? Does it reflect what I am seeking?
If I am seeking God first, He assures me that I will find Him and experience Him — life!
“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” Romans 2:4 NIV
“’Cause He is good, and He is God What I earned, it’s not what I got And He is just yet also kind What I deserve, it’s not what I find What more could I say about Him? My God is love” – Chris Renzema “God is Love”
You and I are all lawbreakers/ sinners. It’s what is in us, our nature. We all need to recognize that sin has been our practice. What we deserve is punishment. BUT God!
Through Jesus we see the “riches of His (God’s) Kindness.” Kindness is defined as “Act of good will; beneficence; any act of benevolence which promotes the happiness or welfare of others.” Webster’s 1828.
God’s plans for us are good! He works in our circumstances to prosper and benefit us – which is love. He promotes our happiness – enjoyment of good – when our happiness is found in Him.
I love the song I quoted above. The phrase I quoted always sticks out to me. In Jesus, I don’t get what I deserve. God’s kindness is rich towards me. It is abundant and overflowing!
May we truly see what God has done for us! Then we will love Him all the more!
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,” Romans 1:18 NIV
Today we read Romans 1.
God hates sin! But why? How could a God whose very nature is to love hate anything? The answer is pretty simple: Sin destroys the ones God loves. At the beginning with Adam and Eve, sin destroyed God’s connection to all of us and introduced death into our world.
God is perfect. He is perfect in love, goodness, doing what is right (righteousness), etc… His perfection has no sin within it. This means the consequences of our sin has to be separation from Him. Sin cannot live in Him. We experience death in our sin, because He is life. When God is not present within our lives, we are walking in “godlessness.” Our actions are “wicked” which is our departure from following His ways. His perfection means we cannot be united to Him in our imperfection or sin. His “wrath” is His “justifiable abhorrence” (Webster’s 1828) to sin. He cannot, in His great love and goodness, embrace the things that brings destruction— our sins…
Sin is a choice. It is not an uncontrollable impulse… I know because I have experienced it. For years, I wanted to do things my way. I chose to… I heard the Word of God at church and read it on occasion. But I chose not to obey. This lead to much anxiety, depression, anger, bitterness, etc.
But thankfully God wants us to live free! This is why He has given us the opportunity to know Him.
“since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” Romans 1:19 NIV
God is making Himself plain to us! He has given us all we need to know Him! He doesn’t want the truth of His Word to be suppressed in our lives by our ignoring it or cherry picking it.
May we embrace the truth of God’s Word and obey it fully so we can live as we are meant to live — in a deep relationship with God.
“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”” Romans 1:17 NIV
(Today we read Romans 1)
Sin divides. It separates. It keeps us from what we were meant to be all along, closely connected to God in an intimate relationship with Him. The gospel – Good News – is we do not have to live separated any more. Jesus made the way for us by paying the penalty for our sins on the cross.
The restoration of our relationship with God through Jesus and His gift of salvation is only the beginning! We receive what Jesus has done for us as a gift by faith. It isn’t anything we have done. He cleanses us from sin. We are made right with God. Connection is restored! BUT we were meant for more! This relationship we have with God is a daily living “by faith.” As we live connected to Him, our relationship is meant to grow!
Faith is trusting in God. It is placing our confidence in Him. It is believing what He says. Living by faith is a day in day out relationship of hearing God speak to us through His Word, listening to it – paying attention to it, and doing what He says. All of this is for our good. Because God is good, all He does is good, and His plans for us are good. In fact He is a work in our lives working ALL things for our good! (Psalm 119:68, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28)
A life of faith is a life living connected to God. It is like a baby in the womb. That baby is connected to her mom by the umbilical cord. Everything the baby needs is provided. The baby doesn’t have to second guess or worry about what will happen next. That baby is connected to her mom. We don’t have to worry or second guess. The power of the Gospel has connected us to God. The more we know Him and grow in our relationship with Him the more our faith will grow. We will rest in calm assurance that our God holds us closely to Him, and we can live our lives believing and trusting Him — We can live by faith!
Your Love 