Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Friday, April 27, 2018

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-04-27-2018

This is devotional thought number 11 in our devotional series titled, “The Gospel According to Paul.”

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18).

There are times in all of our lives when we realize that the only way we will make it is if we trust in the Lord. We understand that in those times no human being can help us. We can cry on their shoulder and tell them all of our troubles, but deep at the root of the matter, they cannot truly help us. While their love can be encouraging and their care can in some ways be uplifting, only God can deliver us from the pit in which we find ourselves.

Paul wrote, in the closing verses of Romans 7, about the struggle of those who want to live holy lives, but cannot. He described the tension between good and evil that they encounter daily. I for one understood that the law of God is good. In my mind, I acknowledged that God was correct in all things and that His words are truth, but sometimes I acted contrary to my intellectual knowledge, and even my convictions. I recognized that His ways are beautiful and just, yet I found a debilitating disease working, which sought to cripple me. The good things that I loved and desired to do, I couldn’t not do. The evil that I despised, I found myself doing as though I was on autopilot. It is in those times that we realize that if God does not deliver us, we are in a sad state of affairs.

Is there any help or encouragement for those of who still struggle with sin? Has the Lord provided any encouragement for us so we may be faithful to Him? “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25). God understands how this flesh often enslaves His people, and He has provided a way of escape. He has given us reprieve if we will receive it. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4).

As we receive the faith of Jesus Christ, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be victorious over the flesh. Because of the perfect work of Christ, there is hope. God is not seeking to condemn us, but save us. This is why Jesus came to this earth. With liberty in His hands, Jesus emerged from the tomb having defeated Satan at the cross. This triumph, He stands prepared to impart to all that would receive it. Thank the Lord today, that because He is the only One who can help us; He is all-sufficient. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, are you?.—L. David Harris (www.LDavidHarris.com)