Romans 4:20 – 22 - But Abraham never doubted. He believed God, for his faith and trust
grew ever stronger, and he praised God for this blessing even before it
happened. He was completely sure
that God was well able to do anything he promised. And because of Abraham’s faith God forgave his sins
and declared him “not guilty.”
Paul used the model of Abraham to help
explain the concept of God’s gift of grace and mercy. He wanted everyone to
understand that we do not earn God’s love…our sin prevents us from ever working
hard enough to pay the debt of death that we all owe for the sin in our life.
God’s forgiveness and salvation is a free gift that we accept when we have
faith…the ability to believe in what God can and is going to do…just because He
loves us.
It is one of the best deals in existence…we
give God our sin…and he gives us His goodness and forgiveness. Once He has
cleaned out all that sin from our heart…He can come move in…and bring with Him
His father and the Holy Spirit. They become our best friends….and we begin to
take on Their characteristics….especially the ability to love and forgive
others. The rules are there to simply
expose any sin that tries to creep back in to our heart…cause its great
roommates can’t live where sin lives.
The other great characteristic that we develop
once God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit take up residence in our hearts is an ability
to trust and believe in every promise that He made to us through the scripture.
If we keep sin from moving back in…that faith grows stronger and stronger…helping
fuel us through the tough times of life. That’s really what faith is…not hoping
that something will happen….but knowing for sure that it will happen…no matter
how long it takes.
My favorite promise is Jeremiah 29:11. He knows
the plans He has for my life…they are going to prosper me…and give me hope to
live with joy and contentment…whatever the future holds….. paraphrase mine. All that is required of me is to daily expose
any sin that has tried to creep into the heart I gave to God when I was 14. God…does
the rest…for He is able to do anything He has promised….AND…I believe that He
will.
Father…thank you for the reminder that You can
and will do all that you promised. Forgive me for the times that I allow sin to
creep into my life and slow down the process of exchange. Help me to keep sin
from moving in to my heart…so You can build enough faith in my heart to last
through the waiting times …no matter how long you ask me to wait. Amen.
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