I Love You!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to to me. But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!" (Revelation 22:8-9)

Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God... not even the good things of life. 

In this past Sunday's sermon Pastor Sam noted that the "neither-nor" list in Romans 8 is one that contains extremes. Yes, there are demonic forces that would seek to turn our eyes from God. But there is also the risk that encounters with angels might turn our focus from God. We might be just as distracted by future hopes as we are by present pains. But, we are assured that the love of God is eternally existent and eternally available. He is Love, His love never ends, and He loves us.

Is there some bad thing that has seized all your attention?
Is there some good thing that has captured your heart?
Today I pray that we will turn our gaze away from circumstances, the bad and the good, and that we will bask in the incredible love of God.

Have we been chasing after the good things of life, instead of resting in the love of God?

Lovers, Inseparable.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? (Romans 8:35)

Martyrdom. It is a word that we don't hear much in the United States of America, but martyrdom still occurs. There are many countries in our world where professing faith in Jesus Christ will cost you your life.

In Sunday's sermon Pastor Sam noted that the apostle Paul, when writing the letter to the Christians in Rome, had experienced six of the seven challenges listed in Romans 8:35-- all except "the sword". However, the day eventually came when Paul was beheaded for his faith. Our pastor shared with us that Paul was not fearful or sad; rather, he boldly proclaimed his readiness to be "poured out as a drink offering" (see Second Timothy 4:6). Paul was a man who had experienced the love of God through his relationship with Jesus. It is a love that, once a person embraces it, they won't let go... not even if you threaten them with death.

Jesus, our Lord and Christ, thank You for loving us with an everlasting love.

The Real Graduate.

As it is written: "For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Romans 8:36)

All day long my dishonor is before me and my humiliation has overwhelmed me, because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant. Our hearts have not turned back, and our steps have not deviated from Your way. (Psalm 44:15-18)

As we continue our Lenten meditations on the love of God, let us take time today to consider Pastor Sam's point concerning "kindergarten theology"-- that is, the belief that life's circumstances are always indicators of whether we are in good standing with God. As an example, our pastor shared a summary of the book of Job. In that book, most of the chapters are accounts of Job's friends insisting that Job must have done something wrong in order to have been the recipient of countless hardships. But God made it clear from the outset that Job's trials came not because of Job's sins, but because of Job's faithfulness. Satan, through the use of pain, was attempting to make Job turn away from worshiping God.

Regrettably, kindergarten theology is alive and well today. Many a Christian has opted to walk away from God when times get tough. They withhold His tithe. They stop praising Him. Or, worse, they assume that they must have engaged in some action that broke their relationship with God.

In Romans 8:36, the apostle Paul pulls a quotation from Psalm 44:22. In that psalm, we read of a situation similar to Job's: in a context of adoration and authentic worship of God, God's people encounter persecution and sufferings. Fortunately, the psalm is filled with worship even as the suffering is acknowledged. Kindergarten theology is nowhere to be found.

I encourage all of us to read Psalm 44 today. Reading the psalm will give us a better sense of why Paul quoted from it. Knowing the psalm will bring us a reassurance that we are not alone in our sufferings.

In the worst of day-to-day circumstances, we are known and loved by our great God.

Be encouraged today.

Love Life.

In yesterday's sermon, Pastor Sam continued the series Lenten Meditations on the Love of God. Let's begin our week of reflections by taking time to read the eighth chapter of Romans.

Romans 8 (New International Version)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.