The Whole World is Waiting for YOU to pick up your sword...

Today's lesson looks at Faith in our circumstances. Fear is the principal weapon of our enemy. Fear must be accepted by us in order to affect us. Unfortunately, we are too often ready to accept fear and to doubt that we can succeed on the path He has chosen for us. The text teaches us to realize and remember who we are and where we stand. We are His children, and as a result, we are empowered by using our Faith to reject fear and embrace His possibilities.

Romans 8:15-25

¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

The Future Glory

¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. ¹⁹ For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰ Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, ²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. ²² For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. ²⁴ We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. ²⁵ But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

See verse 15-17 - each of us is infused with the Holy Spirit and a DIRECT connection to God "as His children". We are God's heirs to His glory, and as such, we are fully empowered to reject the negative thoughts and words that the enemy bombards us with. See your inheritance as a source of strength and a bulwark against your current conditions.

This does NOT mean that every day is smooth sailing, far from it! (v18) We are going to be challenged at every turn BECAUSE we are His heirs. Remember that the enemy is seeking to knock you off your path and into a state of wandering. Your focus and your Faith will indeed keep you on track! Your burden is a substantial one - just look at verse 19-21. The whole of creation is counting on YOU to stand tall and separate yourself from the herd of grumbling and defeatist attitudes. 

This would be daunting, but remember whose you are! You are HIS child, embrace your identity and stand tall against the attacks. Rejoice when you are under fire, because; (1) your Faith has a chance to grow and get stronger, and (2) the enemy is growing more and more afraid of you because you are getting closer and closer to His Plan's destination for you. See the attacks as an increasingly desperate act and let your confidence in your Faith grow stronger and stronger.

Blessings,

Bryan