Romans chapter 5

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog. For a little bit I've found myself stuck in a sort of rut that I couldn't seem to get out of. I was wondering why I wasn't feeling a closeness to God that I had felt before. For one, I was dwelling on my sin and feeling hopeless and for another, I wasn't reading God's Word as though it was food I needed greater than physical food. I had no hunger for the Word, no thirst for that endless fountain of living water.

Recently, I have finished reading through all of the gospels and the book of Acts. Now I am reading through Romans. Today in particular, in fact just a few minutes ago, I read Romans chapter 5. If you want encouragement, Romans chapter 5 is a great place for it.

Before reading on any farther, I'd love it if you would read Romans chapter 5. It won't take too long. If you have no Bible near by, BibleGateway.com works great!

Now right off the bat, in verse one, you get some encouragement!

Romans 5:1 - "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"

Now a verse that starts with Therefore means that there was important information to keep in mind written beforehand. Lets look at verses 4:23-25:

Romans 4:23-25 - "Now not for [Abraham's] sake only was it written that it (being his Faith) was credited to him (as Righteousness), but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

I just love the added insight that that gives. The Bible wasn't originally written with the chapter breaks where they're at now, so sometimes people break into a chapter without realizing there is good info in surrounding text.

Now, I am not going to go verse by verse through the whole chapter, however, I would encourage you to look through it on your own and let the Holy Spirit speak to you in a way I never could. However, I do want to look at a few more. Verses 3-5 say:

Romans 5:3-5 - "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

So now, even the trials we go through should be looked at in a positive way knowing that it brings hope and hope doesn't disappoint.

Now I'm going to skip ahead to what really impacted me in a new way, even though I've heard it plenty of times. When I was younger, I used to wish that I could take the place of Adam in the garden and choose not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I like to think that I would be able to resist that temptation. It seems so easy to point at Adam and say how horrible he is. Then I looked at Romans 5. When it talks about God's love being demonstrated towards us in Christ's death on the cross, which also brings us salvation, it also goes on to say in verse 17:

Romans 5:17 - "For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

and verse 19:

Romans 5:19 - "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."

As a born-again believer, I have been justified (God declared me righteous through the blood of Jesus) and am now free from sin. Whereas before being saved, all I could do was sin. I was totally depraved until the Holy Spirit of God began a work in me (which He will be faithful to complete!). This means I am no longer a slave to sin and can now live for God; so, going back to what I was talking about with Adam... I now have the righteousness he had before sin entered mankind. I am able to say no to temptation, yet do I? Sometimes. Not all the time. So essentially, I make the same mistakes. I sin just like Adam committed that first sin.

So why do I say all this. For one, I really want you to read through Romans chapter 5 and absorb the truth in it! It's rich! I also want to encourage you to evaluate where you stand with God right now. If you are not saved from the wrath of God by the blood of His son, Jesus, please talk to me about it sometime. Also pray to God that He will save you from your sins. For those reading who are saved, just look at your life and what you need to change to grow closer to God. Embrace the free gift of Grace and press on toward the prize!

I am certainly not perfect. I have my many flaws in many areas, but God's grace is greater still and I am free to live for Him, my Creator, Savior, and Lord of all. May God richly bless you as you pursue His Living Word!

Day 1: A seed planted and so much more...

God has been working in my life a lot lately. I don't really know where to begin. For those of you reading this, this will be like my journal, so it may be kind of private, but I think people can learn from other people's mistakes and grow from other people's lessons. I will also be able to look back on this and learn from my own mistakes and triumphs.

Through Campus Crusade Bootcamp, God has laid it on my heart to be sharing the gospel more. For everyone I do not share the Gospel with, it's like I'm saying that they're not important to me or that I am too selfish to show them how to be saved. It's hard for me to grasp sometimes that those people who do not come to Christ are going to Hell... how is it that we can just ignore them and walk by them without telling them what life is all about and that there is a reason worth living?

With this in mind, I decided to FINALLY take a step of faith. It was certainly difficult. For me, conversations often start on facebook... lately they have been happening more and more in terms of valuable conversations.

Last night, I used one of the Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) freshman survey forms and brought up the idea of it to one of my friends to see if he was interested in taking it. He said he would in exchange for help on a homework question which I was happy to help with. I then went through 20 questions of the survey with him. I found out he is a Catholic, who does not go to church while here at Tech and he is 75% sure he is going to Heaven. I know with an answer like that, then he is not sure what he believes (as well as I could also tell by answers to other questions). I proceeded to continue asking him all the questions and he seemed pretty open about them which I am grateful to God for. I had been praying that the Lord would soften his heart and prepare him to hear what I had to say. I then told him about the 4 spiritual laws booklet that I wanted to share with him the next time we could meet in person which was today. At 11 o'clock AM, we dove right into it and after reading the whole thing, it shows a prayer at the end about recieving Christ as your Savior. I asked him if it expressed the desire of his heart. He looked at me very strangely and said: "I guess...". Well, I told him he should pray it then, either with or without those words as long as he meant it. He looked at it for a bit in silence as though praying and then said ok. I finished it up with him.

In the end of that conversation, it didn't seem to really sink down into him. He didn't seem to really show any change and didn't really believe me. However, it is my duty to explain the gospel clearly, which I did and God needs to do the changing of his heart. I invited him to TNT which stands for CCC's Thursday Night Thing: our large group meeting. He said he would think about it and didn't shun me at all for what I believed by any means. I guess I tell you all of this to say that Eric needs prayer. That is his name. I will continue to pray for him and bug him about going to TNT. I think he really needs body evangelism by seeing the work of God through fellow believers who truly believe and act on that they believe.

This brings me to a side. I am SO thankful for my CCC friends! If it were not for them, I would be living a luke-warm Christian life like I had been during all of high school. A lukewarm Christian life is useless to God. If we are comfortable, we are doing something WRONG! We need to be persecuted. Through persecution, our true colors show. People can see a taste of what Christ did on the cross for us by our suffering for Him. So, my Campus Crusade friends have really helped me grow closer to God and I enjoy continuing that growth as well as the opportunity to get to know them better and at deeper levels.

Sometimes I think I take it too far. I truly enjoy their friendships but I usually want to hang out so much with people that they get sick of me bugging them about it when they're truly busy. I'm busy too, but I just slack off on my homework too much (at least recently). I want to help them to grow and I want to learn from them, but I am not always good at seeing subtle hints that tell me to lay off and they get frustrated. I understand this and it's something I need to pray about.

I really enjoy social get-togethers, especially small group things. Large group things are great if there are small groups within the large groups as well. I'm a moderately introverted person and I'm also reflective. I do really enjoy hanging out with people though, I just don't like it when things become so shallow. 2nd Timothey 2:16 says: "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly." This verse has really been speaking to me lately as I look back at all the times I talk about useless things that may be sort of fun at the time, but in the end when I am held accountable before God, will I have done something of real worth? In my high school, I believe that was just the problem. Everyone indulged in godless chatter about unimportant things and never anything serious. Their sarcasm and pride were the reasons I never grew. If I could go back, I would try to change that, but I've moved on now and cannot go back.

I still live at home so I still see my high school friends at church. I would like to tell them these things, but they wouldn't take it the right way. I'd try to show them that God has truly been working in me and I'm not saying it to be prideful and "Holier than though" attitude... just the opposite. I would want to tell them this because I care about them and they need to start living out their faith.

Well this certainly is a long one, but I suppose that is good for a first post and I had a lot to say that was nice to write down. If anyone reads this and makes it all the way through, congratulations! haha. I need to start working on my World Cultures.

Please keep me in your prayers if you can remember that God will continue using me and that I won't ever turn my back on him and live a shallow "comfortable" life.


Some cool verses for thought:
II Tim 2:19
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

Micah 7: 7-10
⁷ But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.

⁸ Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be my light.

⁹ Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the LORD's wrath,
until he pleads my case
and establishes my right.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.

¹⁰ Then my enemy will see it
and will be covered with shame,
she who said to me,
"Where is the LORD your God?"
My eyes will see her downfall;
even now she will be trampled underfoot
like mire in the streets.