Fist Pumps and Cheers



Prayer: Once in royal David’s city,
      Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby,
      In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
     Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor and mean and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

Read: Romans 8:31–39
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans 8:31-39/

Think about It: The descendants of Jesus on deck this week are Abraham and Isaac. In their story we find an example of faithful righteousness in the midst of a difficult challenge from God. Our passage from Romans  for today expounds on that very idea with words that inspire hope and enthusiasm for the faith. Paul’s words in these verses almost make you want to clap, shake hands, and do a few fist pumps. We win! We win! We win! If God is for us, who can possibly stand against us? No one.

Verse 33b sums it up with one short sentence. “It is God who justifies.” Suddenly all of the pressure is off of our shoulders. We do not have to win our own righteousness. That is God’s work. Any attempt made on our part to self-justify is a waste of time for it is baseless. Because of our   sinful propensity, we don’t have the credibility for self-justification. Only God is holy enough to bring that about for us. Abraham’s belief that God would raise his son back from death looked like faith in God’s eyes and He called that righteousness. When God looks upon His children, those who believe in Jesus, He sees the righteousness won by Jesus on the cross. His blood brings about our holiness. Our efforts to earn that      designation as righteous fall away as useless, for Christ is the only One who can make that happen for us.

So, who can stand up and condemn us? No one. Not our past. Not our enemies. Not the devil. Not ourselves. What God declares righteous is righteous. Doesn’t that just make you want to shake a few hands and cheer a little?

Prayer: And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heav’n above;
And He leads His children on,
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor, lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by
Shall we see Him, but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high.
Then like stars His children, crowned,
All in white, His praise will sound!
Once in Royal David's City  . . . LSB 376 (Public Domain)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more