Romans
5:1-5
Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace
in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that,
but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does
not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
It
took me a long time to get to the point where I stopped praying for what I
wanted, and instead prayed for what God wanted.
Faith
and hope aren’t about what you will receive but about what you believe. It
takes great faith to trust that no matter what happens, God is still good. When
we have that kind of faith, then we have hope in the presence of the Holy
Spirit who fills our life.
Our
culture sees hope in the wrong context. We hope for provision, success,
healing, a bigger house, children, and relationships. We need to have our view
of hope transformed. We need the light of truth of God’s Word to shine on what
hope really is.
Faith
is a complete trust in the truth and reliability of something and, in this
context, a complete trust and reliability in God which produces justification.
Justification
or salvation is solely by faith in Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins and
His resurrection from the dead.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is serving Jesus as the Lord of a person’s life.
Faith
produces peace.
Biblical
peace is a rest or tranquility in the middle of everyday living. The peace that
the world offers is only good when the conditions are perfect. God’s is good no
matter what our circumstances.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is living in the reality and security of God
every day.
Faith
produces joy.
This
joy is present even in the suffering and difficult times of life. Joy, unlike
happiness, is not dependent on what happens. Joy is a work of the Holy Spirit
in the life of a follower of Jesus.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the joy of the Lord as the
strength of our lives.
Faith
produces hope.
Hope
is not wishing something happens. Hope is having confident assurance of what
God promises in His Word.
Hope
is not based on our feelings or on our circumstances but on the truth of what
God says in His Word.
1
John 3:19-20
By
this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him;
for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows
everything.
God
is greater than our feelings and we trust what He says not what we feel.
Matthew
19:26
But
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all
things are possible.”
God
is greater than the circumstances of our lives and even when things look
impossible, God is in control.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is having a confident assurance in what God
says no matter how we feel or what circumstances look like.
Salvation,
peace, joy, and hope come through faith. They are produced by the work of the
Holy Spirit and God uses all the circumstances of a person’s life to produce
those characteristics in our lives. They come from the strength and confidence
that comes by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Faith
in Jesus gives us the motivation to keep pressing forward with a passionate
heart. Faith isn’t about waiting for our desires to be fulfilled. Faith is
knowing Jesus and depending on Him and experiencing His presence in our lives
continually. It is knowing that no matter what, God is good and He is always
with you.
We
are living in a period where people really knowing Jesus and experiencing His
peace and joy and hope is a struggle for many. We as the church have the truth
and we need to be Jesus’ voice and His hands and His feet.
May
you and I experience the reality of Jesus in our lives and proclaim Him to
others.
In
Faith in Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe
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