LifeLink Devotions for Friday, August 2, 2024

Today we conclude our study on trusting God’s character in bad circumstances. Our devotions have focused on the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 8:28 which says that all things are working out for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The basis for this study has been the “things” that are working for our good, and we have discovered that the “things” does not primarily refer to the circumstances of life but to the activities of God as expressed by His character in us.

In review, the “things” that are at work for our good are:

1.      The freedom from the sinful nature because of the Spirit of life given to us in Christ

2.      This life is one of righteousness and peace

3.      We have been adopted as children of God and granted all rights as heirs with Christ of all things

4.      This hope we have in our final redemption into a spiritually perfect and eternal body gives us the patience to endure hardship today

Our final point to consider is this: while we patiently wait for that final redemption, God has given us the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit to provide us with strength in our times of weakness.

Romans 8:26-27 “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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

Paul begins this statement with the phrase “In the same way”. He refers to what he has just stated in verses 22-25 where we learned yesterday that we are inwardly groaning for the day when we will be free from the limitations and bondage of this physical existence and we will be given our eternal bodies. When we experience trouble and hardship, we groan for relief, and the ultimate groan is the cry for heaven. The groan for heaven is a groan we know, because we know the outcome of it. The groans for present relief are groans we do not know, because we cannot find answers. But the Holy Spirit groans for us because He does know the answers. In the same way that we groan for what we know will be the ultimate answer – heaven – the Holy Spirit, who searches our hearts and knows the mind of God, groans for the answers to our present situations so that everything works out for good according to God’s purpose.

I hope you find this as helpful and encouraging as I do. In those dark times when answers are hard to find, we can trust the companionship of the Holy Spirit who is at work to bring about good from the heart of God. When words cannot express the depth of our emotions and fears, the Holy Spirit understands our groanings. Do not fear the times of inexpressible confusion. Do not fear the times of unanswered requests. Do not fear the times of limited understanding. The Holy Spirit is never confused. He is never withholding an answer. He is always working to bring us understanding in faith. His time schedule may be different than we desire, but we can trust the outcome to our Sovereign Companion. 

When we understand this fully, we can wholeheartedly proclaim with the Apostle Paul the words of the rest of Romans 8 in this revised and condensed version:

If God is for us, who can be against us? With all these things at work on our behalf we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. I am now convinced that nothing in this world or in my current situation can separate me from the love of God because I am in Christ Jesus my Lord.

May I suggest that you commit that to memory. Or write it on a card and always carry it with you. The next time a situation arises that looks dark, or diminishes your hope in any way, pull it out and read it and be refreshed. God is at work around you through the Holy Spirit in you to produce His good through you. That’s a guarantee!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, August 1, 2024

Even though we have been spiritually adopted as children of God, as we discovered yesterday, the reality is that we still have to endure the hardships of this physical life for a time. Paul understood that when he wrote this next passage of encouragement to us in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8:22-25  “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 as sons, 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 he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Let’s be honest, for most of us the physical hardships, troubles, and trials of life usually overwhelm our spirits and we long for them to be over. Our patience runs thin. We run after the pursuits of the flesh rather than rest in our position as a child of God.

According to Paul, the reason we run out of patience and run into problems is that we have displaced hope. For some reason we have bought into a self-serving spiritual philosophy that seems to guarantee us the fulfillment of the flesh because we have been adopted as children of God. “Give me my inheritance now!” is the cry of the followers of this position. The hope of such people is placed in the fulfillment of life in their current body. But Paul refutes that claim present prosperity by stating that our hope is to be in the ultimate redemption of our current physical bodies when Jesus returns in glory to give us our eternal, spiritually based body. Until then, we groan inwardly as we wait patiently for that to occur.

I like to think of this in terms of a caterpillar, even though the analogy is not perfect. Prior to my salvation, I was just wandering around feeding on any green leaf I could find. I may not have been the nicest creature to look at, but I did my best to combine my colors and my defense systems into an external appearance that could be tolerated. On the inside I was filled with bitterness: just ask the robin that tried to pick me up until I squirted his beak with my juice when he squeezed me too hard. I was afraid of intimacy, because any time someone would get too close I would curl up in a ball and protect myself from harm. Then one day I was moved in my spirit to leave that life behind. I suddenly understood that there was a purpose for my life and that I could be free to fly. I became responsible to put to death the old ways and be transformed into a new being. I spun myself into a grave where death would normally be certain, but where God’s power would transform me. This grave is ugly and hard. I am bound up in it, but I am patiently waiting to be fully released because I know that when I am I will be complete. Inside this shell I groan to be set free. My wings have formed. My spirit is transformed. My will is conformed to that of my creator. Very soon He will energize me to break out of the grave I am in and fly into His arms. Until He does, I wait patiently.

As I said, the analogy is not perfect, for in one sense we have already been set free from our cocoons to serve Jesus Christ in freedom. But in light of what Paul says in today’s Scripture, we are still in a physical cocoon. It limits us. It confines us. It makes us long to be free from its restrictions. But our hope is not in this physical life: it is in the death of this flesh and the resurrection into spiritual eternity. With our hope fixed firmly on that guarantee, we can patiently endure the hardships of our current cocoon. 

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, August 1, 2024

Even though we have been spiritually adopted as children of God, as we discovered yesterday, the reality is that we still have to endure the hardships of this physical life for a time. Paul understood that when he wrote this next passage of encouragement to us in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8:22-25  “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 as sons, 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 he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Let’s be honest, for most of us the physical hardships, troubles, and trials of life usually overwhelm our spirits and we long for them to be over. Our patience runs thin. We run after the pursuits of the flesh rather than rest in our position as a child of God.

According to Paul, the reason we run out of patience and run into problems is that we have displaced hope. For some reason we have bought into a self-serving spiritual philosophy that seems to guarantee us the fulfillment of the flesh because we have been adopted as children of God. “Give me my inheritance now!” is the cry of the followers of this position. The hope of such people is placed in the fulfillment of life in their current body. But Paul refutes that claim present prosperity by stating that our hope is to be in the ultimate redemption of our current physical bodies when Jesus returns in glory to give us our eternal, spiritually based body. Until then, we groan inwardly as we wait patiently for that to occur.

I like to think of this in terms of a caterpillar, even though the analogy is not perfect. Prior to my salvation, I was just wandering around feeding on any green leaf I could find. I may not have been the nicest creature to look at, but I did my best to combine my colors and my defense systems into an external appearance that could be tolerated. On the inside I was filled with bitterness: just ask the robin that tried to pick me up until I squirted his beak with my juice when he squeezed me too hard. I was afraid of intimacy, because any time someone would get too close I would curl up in a ball and protect myself from harm. Then one day I was moved in my spirit to leave that life behind. I suddenly understood that there was a purpose for my life and that I could be free to fly. I became responsible to put to death the old ways and be transformed into a new being. I spun myself into a grave where death would normally be certain, but where God’s power would transform me. This grave is ugly and hard. I am bound up in it, but I am patiently waiting to be fully released because I know that when I am I will be complete. Inside this shell I groan to be set free. My wings have formed. My spirit is transformed. My will is conformed to that of my creator. Very soon He will energize me to break out of the grave I am in and fly into His arms. Until He does, I wait patiently.

As I said, the analogy is not perfect, for in one sense we have already been set free from our cocoons to serve Jesus Christ in freedom. But in light of what Paul says in today’s Scripture, we are still in a physical cocoon. It limits us. It confines us. It makes us long to be free from its restrictions. But our hope is not in this physical life: it is in the death of this flesh and the resurrection into spiritual eternity. With our hope fixed firmly on that guarantee, we can patiently endure the hardships of our current cocoon. 

Pastor John