Wednesday Reading: Romans 7 14-17
 
Key Verse: Romans 7 15
15  For that which I do, I know not. For what I desire, that I do not do; but what I hate, that I do.

Devotion:
We can’t take readings from the book of Romans talking about being of this world without revisiting this section. When the Apostle wrote these words he found himself to be far short of what he should be, even calling himself carnal and sold under sin. We should not have to look too deep within our own lives to see that that is exactly where we are as well. No matter how hard we try to be good, we are still sold under sin. How do we know that? Because what we say and what we do are two different things.

I am not talking about saying that you will do something for someone and then doing (or not doing) it but rather things of the law. No matter how strong we think we may be we will always find some part of our lives that we give into temptation through; it’s not that we want to but rather that we don’t often notice it until after the fact. We are simply not strong enough to keep clear of sin in our lives. That is where our Heavenly Father comes in because He has promised us that He will help us. He has already allowed His Son to die for our sins and He has allowed the Holy Spirit to continually guide us – as long as we are willing to listen.

We may be able to tell others how Christians should be acting and even show them in some cases, but we always fall short of fulfilling the whole Christian life. It is not that we are bad people but that we have been born into a sin nature to start with. That sin nature is impossible to get rid of because we simply cannot do it. But God allowed His Son to die for us so that we will not be held back by that sin nature. So, even though we do give in to sin and break God’s laws, we continue to have Someone looking out for us and are still able to gain God’s forgiveness. Yes, we will sin. Yes we will break God’s laws. Yes He will forgive us. Let’s just try hard not to make a habit of breaking His laws!

Points to Ponder:
Do you try to be a good person?
 
Are you letting God guide you?

Tuesday Reading: Romans 6 11:16
 
Key Verse: Romans 6 16
16  Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to him whom you obey; whether it is of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness.

Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why people have said that you should be dead and alive as a Christian? As you read through the book of Romans you will get to know quite a big difference between our lives as people of this world and our lives as children of God. As long as we continue to live for the things around us we will continue to live a life that is fully influenced by the things around us; as long as our minds are focused on things of this world, we continue to live in this world and continue to give in to the temptations that surround us all.

How then can we escape from these temptations? Have you ever tried to talk to someone who was asleep? You don’t tend to get much out of them and you will soon stop trying to talk to them. If we present ourselves as asleep or dead to our earthly surroundings that do not glorify God, then they too will be faced with no response and will back off. We don’t actually mean that we have to physically die to escape but just to present ourselves as if we were dead; in other words don’t give in to all those temptations.

That in itself is going to be a bit of an impossibility unless we get outside help. Have you ever tried to convince someone that you are asleep when you are not? Unless you are a very good actor then you will not be able to convince anyone because our bodies act very differently when they are actually asleep. That is why we need to be alive in Christ. When we present ourselves as awake and attentive to Christ, He is willing and able to continue teaching us and using us. There is no better person to work for you than one who always comes back for more after completing each task willingly. In doing that for Christ we gain the support, strength and wisdom needed to be dead to the world. Then we are dead to this world and alive in Christ!

Points to Ponder:
Are you seen as alive or dead?

Are you living your life for Christ?

Monday Reading: Romans 5 6-9
 
Key Verse: Romans 5 7
7  For one will with difficulty die for a righteous one, yet perhaps one would even dare to die for a good one.
 
Devotion:
It seems like we hear about people who have died for their country almost every day because of the number of wars going on around the world. For men and women to go and fight in another country for their country, for their friends and for their relatives takes a lot of courage. They do that because they believe that they are doing it for the good of the people back home; I doubt that they would think of any undeserving people when they are fighting on the front line but rather of the people that deserve their protection.

We like to do things for people that we love and respect because it makes us feel better knowing that we are able to do things for them. On the other hand we do not like doing things for people who have no love or respect for us. We quite often have clear views on who we should respect, who we should like and what we should do for them too. That comes from knowing each other in some way and knowing how we can please each other should we wish to.

When we think about what Christ has done for us, we then see a whole new level of love that we can only aspire to reach. For God loved us so much that He allowed His Son to die for us. Jesus willingly gave His own life for us. And the most amazing part is that He gave it up for us whilst we were still deep in sin and did not even know Him! Yes He knew who was going to accept Him and who was going to reject Him, but He still gave His life for each and every one of us so that we would all have the same chance at getting to be saved from our sins. He did not die to save us in our sins but to save us from our sins. We wallow in our sins and cannot find a way out no matter how hard we try; but Christ died so that we would get that helping hand to save us just when we thought there was no hope left. What love!

Points to Ponder:
Would you do anything for anybody?

Do you deserve what Christ has done for you?

Sunday Reading: Romans 5 1-5
 
Key Verse: Romans 5 1
1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Devotion:
When we first believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins we change. It is not an easy change to describe because it is a change that affects us for the rest of our lives. It is a change that we can look back on and wonder why we did not do it earlier in our lives. It is a change that we look at and ask why everyone is not there too. It is such a big change within us, yet in our outward appearance we do not change. Yes we will start doing things differently as we find out more about God and we will live differently as we find out how God would have us to live, but we do not suddenly grow an extra eye or anything strange like that!

What we do find is that our belief gives us a peace and understanding of what God has done for us and what He continues to do for us too. All that is because of what Jesus Christ did for us on that cross. Because of that unselfish act we can be assured that our belief has grounds or that our hope is actually a firm thing and not just hope in something that does not yet exist. We learn that we have a God that understands us and that cares for us.

We then start to look at the things that go wrong in our lives and we begin to realise that they are all God’s design. We certainly will not understand His design until we are with Him, but we can rest assured that it is His design. It may not feel like it when something bad happens in your life, but the more that you realise just what God has already done, the more you can gain strength in what He is allowing into your life. When things do go downhill in our lives we need to reach out to Him and allow Him to strengthen us through the certain hope that we do have in Him. That hope is not something that we should hide from others because they need to see it so that they may find it one day too. We have been given the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide us every hour of every day – accept His help.

Points to Ponder:
What things worry you?
 
Are you letting God help you through it?