- That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Romans 4:16 – Paul in this chapter is again helping his readers understand how God’s grace is given. For many of these readers it was believed that God’s sin-forgiving grace came to them because they were on the family tree of Abraham or because they kept the commands of the Old Testament Law. Paul explains that’s not how God’s grace is delivered to us, it’s delivered through faith in Jesus. Think of it this way, faith is what gets grace to us. Imagine “grace” is a letter that you are trying to get to someone. You could put that “grace” letter in an abundance of things to get it to them, but it won’t work. You could put the letter in your fridge, or in your garage, or in some box on your porch, but that letter isn’t getting to them. Only when you put it in an envelope will it be delivered to the person you are sending it to. In this example, faith is the envelope for grace. The Law won’t deliver the letter, a particular family tree won’t deliver the letter, faith in Jesus is the only means of delivering grace. This means that all people has access to this “letter” of grace! Choose then to have a faith, which is a complete confidence, in the work that God did through His Son Jesus. Through that faith in Jesus is where grace is delivered to your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3427
- No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Romans 4:20-21 – Hope and hopelessness will agree on the presence of a problem but will disagree on tomorrow’s potential. That’s what a note next to these verses says in my Bible. We go through very difficult things in life and our enemy will use those things to dishearten us in our walk with God. What we see being spoken about Abraham was that he didn’t let the troubled seasons change how he trusted in God’s ability to take care of things. Know God is able to do what He has promised you He would do. Maybe we don’t have the steadfastness in that belief that Abraham had, but we can begin to lean into that direction. Whatever it is you’re trusting God for trust Him today with it. Let it be more that just words that you trust Him but actually trust Him and let Him have control of it. God’s always good for the promises He makes. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1052
- In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. Romans 4:18-19 – That first phrase really stands out doesn’t it…in hope he believed against hope. What it means is that even though everything looked hopeless, he still had hope. For from a physical perspective, Abraham and Sarah having a child looked hopeless. Everything was pointing to the reality that this wasn’t going to happen, but Abraham, despite the hopelessness of the situation, believed God to be true and they had their child of promise. Where are you at right now when it comes to your hope in God? Maybe you are in a season of holding your child of promise and your hope is settled and founded in God. Maybe you are still in the longing season, looking for the seemingly impossible outcome that you desire from the Lord. If that’s where you are today, I encourage you to hope against all hope. Yes, things right now don’t look like it could come together in any shape that is healthy and good, and from a solely physical standpoint that is true. But we don’t serve a God that’s limited to a solely physical reality. Our God is in all, over all, and can make the impossible happen. Our God can bring life to where there is only death. He can make seas part and mountains crumble. He can make the sun stand still in the sky to prolong the day for His purposes. Whatever promise from God you are hoping for from the Lord, don’t lose hope just because the situation seems hopeless. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2413
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