Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Do you have peace?
When we read Romans 5:1 we know that we have been justified by our faith. We know that because it has been told to us the entirety of our lives. We are able to stand among the unrighteous and say that we are righteous because Jesus paid the price with His blood for our sin. Dikaioo, justification, I love this word. The implication of the word is that it does not negate the violation but it does liberate us from the sentence of guilt. If we read further into Romans 5, verse 8 states, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Still sinners. Still, even today. Still sinners. How do we have peace in that place? There is a difference between condemnation and conviction. It is excruciatingly painful and unattainable to have peace when we are living under the condemnation of Satan. He wants to convince us that the sacrifice was enough for everyone else, but not for ourselves. He lays upon us shame and guilt for our humanness, for our inability to walk in the perfect footsteps of Christ.
Yet, God Himself knew in the beginning that we would need a Savior. Jesus was set aside from the beginning of the separation of time, when God decided he wanted a family, he set Him aside as our redeemer. God’s grace created provision for us before he ever set our feet upon the earth. He gave us access to Himself through Christ Jesus. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He knows that he will have victory in the end, and he worked from the point of victory back to today to set us up for righteousness. He gave us an all access pass to his throne. He wants to commune with us. He wants us to come up on the Mount and be there. He wants us to glory at his power, to glory at how he has predestined our lives. He wants us to glow like Moses with his presence and with his love. He wants to share revelation with us that we can take to the congregation whom chose to not climb the mount.
How are we able to “be there” and commune with God, through Christ if we are so busy running through our lives. How can we attain the peace if we don’t take the time to just be there?
God who predestined us, loves us enough to train us and to teach us. He will create tribulations in our life to get us to our knees. He calls out to us and says, come sit with me. Come be with me. Come bring to me your burden, let me share it with you. Let me drive the yoke and let you rest in my power. So often we want to carry the burden all our self and curse him for the rain or lack thereof in our lives. There are so many neigh sayers that will blame God for everything and not see the blessing of the circumstance. We all have had painful circumstances. We have experienced death, divorce, bankruptcy. We have lost everything in the earth and yet we still continue to bless the name Jesus and God.
When we can see God’s hand in the circumstances, when we can see his provision through the times of lack, when we can praise him in the storm we are learning the character that comes in experience. I have faith in Jesus because I have experience with him. He has saved me before and I know that he will save me again. I know that when I learn and understand the circumference of my tree, when I realize what fields God has set me to work that with practice I will be able to teach others how to cultivate the same soil. Through tribulations we are driven to our knees. We are driven to call upon the name of Jesus. Then we see someone else faces the same giants we know which rock it will take to slay them.
Patience is an act of obedience. Like with my own children. When I ask them to wait, I am giving them a direct assignment. I am asking them to not grumble, not to question me, not to jump up and down in rebellion. I am asking them to wait. It is of my opinion that patience is the most difficult act of obedience that we encounter as humans. We want to fix it our way, right now. Jesus does it immediately, but for us that isn’t fast enough. Matthew 14:31 states, “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Poor Peter. He had the courage to step out of the boat, he had the courage to walk and take the first steps but as he got closer to Jesus, the goal, he started to give up, get tired and lose his faith. Jesus, immediately reached out for him. He didn’t wait until he was 6 foot under. He grabbed him as soon as he started to slip. There is hope in that.
Experience is in the simplest terms practice. We practice our righteousness, we practice our character traits, we practice crying out to Jesus first. I know that when my grandfather was alive he was my first phone call, whether trouble or celebration he got that call. When I lost him I had to retrain myself to call Jesus first. I had to learn to not turn to that phone for encouragement but to get on my knees. The experience brought me practice. I had to replace one savior with another. It was through that time of tribulation that my experience resulted in change within myself. I was able to learn, to react with reflex the ability to call upon the name of Jesus in times of crisis, or ceremony. Just like we would know to not sit on a broken chair, it’s not something we would even have to think about, our experience would tell us that it can’t hold us and we would walk past it and find another chair without even thinking. With practice and experience all of us can learn to let Jesus be that first call. He can be that friend that love us like no other and can encourage us in a way that no one but he can do.
Our hope comes when we trust God to do what he says he is going to do. When we quit trying to do it our way. When we can be patient and wait for his hand, we can receive the love and the grace that waits in abundance for us. The kind of grace and love that can produce peace. There is not guilt and condemnation, there is no need to be ashamed. One of the most profound things anyone has ever said to me, Drew Russe looked me in the eye and said, “Never be ashamed of how he got you there”. I walked in shame of my past, I walked in shame of my present. I had the thought that I was disposable and never enough. I would never measure up to the bar that God set for my life. I would never have the character to minister in the way that I felt called and lead to do. That one sentence, despite the fact that I knew that to be true, set me free. I can look at my life now and see God’s hand in it. I can see him holding the spoon stirring me gently over a refining fire. I have learned that in the face of adversity, and there will be adversity, that Jesus and God are more interested in being intimate with me than me getting it right.
I often ask my children if it is better to be right or to be happy. I want to walk in the peace of the Lord. I want to be able to know that everyday when I wake up his grace and mercies are new for me. I want to have a peace that passes all understanding and I believe that only comes with realizing that our time here on earth is a process. Tommy Tenney said, “Our King does not alter the robe of righteousness to fit the person. He alters the person to fit the robe of righteousness.” It takes time, it takes patience but what it produces is a person capable of love, capable of pouring for the love of God to others and for others.
The Holy Spirit is our guide. He is our teacher and our comforter. He can nudge us in the right direction if we are there in the presence of God. He can prompt us to talk, to listen or just to hug. We are in this process not for ourselves. We can’t be content with chasing after the footsteps of Jesus just for our own good. When we can get a hold of Jesus, when we can wrap our heads around the fact that God so loved us, that he sent his only begotten son, even while we were sinners. That he set in place a fail safe way to keep us in his company even as we fail, even as we fall. It is in those failures, in those falls that we are able to teach others. That we are able to see the unfailing love of our Father God. We are able to see ourselves and our circumstances next to Jesus on the cross and realize that ours circumstances are temporary and that God is using them to our good.
That’s where we find the peace that passes all understanding. Where we can get up on a Sunday morning, not only to get dressed for church but to take time to get into the presence before we get there. We are able to show up with something to offer and not to stand in the spiritual welfare line. We don’t have to slide in the parking lot sideways cussing the brother that took our spot. We can love from the abundance of God’s love, we can look at the others who act like we used to act and give them grace and mercy, a cup of coffee and a hug.
Amen Jennilee
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