I RECALL the day of turning in my Christian life; it is funny how such things stick with you. I remember the time and the place as if it were yesterday, though it occurred nearly 50 years ago. The Bible verse is the key; it is the trigger to that moment. Today’s mediation brought that incident back to mind.
I DON’T really know how this turning point occurred, it was merely in the context of a conversation I was having with an older gentlemen that I was working with at the time, who I really did not know all that well. What does stick out in my memory like some kind of “snap-shot” is that moment attached to the verse of Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” There is more I can recall to this incident, but it is enough say that somehow this verse struck a cord within and changed everything in my life from that day on. I can’t express all that came to my mind in that moment, maybe I’ll try later on sometime, but my Pastor mentioned once in a sermon that one cannot get through to Romans 8 without passing through Romans 7 first, at which I wanted to jump up and say “Amen’! But we Presbyterian’s don’t do such things. (Probably should though.)
BUT, my pastor was so right! Romans 8 is so precious, containing such rich truth and promises; but it is all the more a treasure for one having gone through the struggles of Romans 7 first. When we learn the desperate need of the “old man” (vv24) – “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” – it makes the moment most significant when we get to the place where we can say as Paul says, “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord” (vv25). Then, we rejoice when our heart responds in true understanding to the welcoming words of 8:1, and all that follows in that wondrous 8th chapter of Romans, especially as it closes with those enduring words that there is absolutely nothing that can “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
THINKING on this, we often speak of being a needy people, but do we really know how deep our need really is? I fear that in this ATM society, where we are surrounded by so much material blessings our sense of need does not always run that true or all that deep. Lately however, this reality may be altering somewhat. Many people are suffering some very real need and stress in the current economic and social climate, and a sense of personal powerlessness is a growing factor. But physical suffering and spiritual suffering are two different things, yet joined together like two sides of a coin. We need to be careful that we don’t get distracted as to the true root cause of our restlessness, fear, and discontent. It is in times like these, with events that may get even more severe, that our true nature, our particular heart and mindset will be revealed for what it really is.
WELL with that I commend you to today’s meditation on Roman’s 7&8, another offering from Miles Stanford, None But the Hungry Heart.
In the wondrous blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15 & Job 2:10
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POWERLESS RECIPIENTS
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37)
The world, the flesh, and the devil say, Be powerful. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit say, Be powerless “for My strength is made perfect in [your] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
“There would be little harm in trying to imitate Christ if such an endeavor did not hide from us what our Lord really desires; and so keep us back from ‘life more abundant.’ Christ has come Himself into our hearts to dwell there, and what He wants is to live His life in us, as the Apostle Paul says, ‘For to me to live is Christ.’ Christ was the very source and mainspring of all he was and did. What a wonderful thing this is! We would be driven to despair if Christ had simply left us an example to follow or imitate, for we have no power within ourselves to do it. We must have a new source; a new spring of action, and Christ Himself wants to be just that for us.” -E.C.H.
“The man in Romans Seven is occupied with himself, and his disappointment and anguish spring from his inability to find in self the good which he loves. The man of Romans Eight has learned there is no good to be found in self. It is only in Christ; and his song of triumph results from the joy of having found out that he is ‘complete in Him.'” -H.A.I.
“I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me” (Philippians 4:13, Amplified).
