Romans (Today's New International Version unless otherwise noted)
Romans 5
Peace and Joy
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, wea have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And web rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but wec also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Jesus, help me to rejoice in my suffering. I know this could be such a growth area for me. I do not rejoice at my suffer. Teach me again why I should be happy to suffer. Suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope. I would be so wonderful to always have hope. Hopeless does describe how I have often felt the last so many years. So should I pray for sufferings Lord? I think I have plenty now, but perhaps not. Jesus help me to persevere, build my character, and live a life of hope for all to see.
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Praise You Lord Jesus, that You died for me while I was still totally drowning in my sins. You did not have any sign that I loved You or cared for You at all, or even that I wanted out of my sins, and You died for me. Lord, let me follow that example. Help me to do good for those who hate me and do harm to me without a moment of remorse. Guide me to do Your will, regardless how I am treated or despised.
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Holy Spirit, help me to rejoice in the reconciliation that Jesus has given me. I am so tempted to sin right now. I want to sin so bad. Help me, for it is such an evil thought in my head. Help me be so filled with Your holy joy, that I have no room left for the evil left in me. Purge the evil from me Lord. Make this go away. Please Lord, bring this to an end.
You have bled and died for me. You have brought me in and held me close. You have saved me. Do not let me fall back into the pit now.
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
Jesus, death and sin are the same. I am so near death right now. I feel like I am surrounded by it and totally immersed in it. Have I sinned Lord? I know I have been tempted, so very tempted, but have I fallen? Show me if this death that envelopes me is caused by my sin and how can I break away from it?
I know I have sinned just by being so blue. My dire, hopeless mood does not give You glory. But where is the death coming from? My sin is awful for I feel so abandoned. Are You there? No, show me what I have done and give me the strength to break away. For this feeling of death must surely come from some sin I have committed.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Lord, Your grace is for the many. You can pour it out on whomever You want. And it is a gift, we certainly do not deserve it. Jesus, I will be bold here. I have no claim to it, but please pour Your grace out on my wife and children. My hope has so much bitterness right now. I have failed to lead my family to You. I have almost no influence over my older children and my wife now. I am so sorry.
But Your grace, it is a gift anyway Lord. Bring them to love You. Bring them to see their sins, repent , and turn to You with their whole heart. Lord, You chose me and I don't know why. Please choose them now to.
16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For i
f, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus, when I first read this I thought, "How awesome! We are to reign through Jesus in this life." But now I see it differently. Perhaps You want us to rule in a Spirit of Life. Jesus, help me to not live my days moping around in sorrow and doom and gloom and death, for then that is where I will lead others. No, Holy Spirit, help me to live as someone who knows that his Redeemers lives, and paradise awaits. Fill me with Your gifts of joy and kindness and peace to I am full of life and lead others to the life and love of Jesus.
18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Lord, it is by Your act only that we are forgiven and made clean. You and You alone saved me and continue to save me. Thank-you so much for giving me Your righteousness, otherwise I would have no righteousness at all. Lord, You have chosen me and loved me and opened my heart to You. I don't know why. Please Lord, open the hears of my family and bring them to know Your love and Your righteousness. Keep me Lord and change me so I am no longer a hypocrite who claims to know You, but sins over and over again. Make me pure Lord.
20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You reign Jesus, You are Lord and You are righteous and by Your grace we are righteous. It is all about You and through You and with You Lord. You are my hope and my salvation. I am full of sin without You, hopeless and lost. But through You I am clean! Praise You Lord.
Footnotes:
a 1 Or let us
b 2 Or let us
c 3 Or let us
*Romans5*
The following quote is from a book called: Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry that I just finished reading. “We read in God’s Word, in the book of Romans, that we have been justified, or made right with God, through faith in Jesus Christ. And because of that, we have peace with God and can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Now get that straight – we don’t have joy because we have hope; we rejoice IN the hope God gives, and the object of that hope is his glory. Everything points back to that, the glory of God, and if we don’t realize that, then we’re going to be shaking and passing out all of our lives from the hunger. God alone is the one who deserves the praise and the glory because this is all his deal anyway. And it says in that passage in Romans, chapter 5, that if we put our hope in God and focus on his glory, that kind of hope will not disappoint.”