Lot's has been happening up here in Newcastle as of late, which I will share with you over the next few weeks, but for now I wanted to share with you something that God showed me the other day.
I have been reading through Romans, and this verse really stood out to me, I couldn't put my finger on why or what it really meant, and was wrestling with it for awhile, but finally got some revelation and would love to share it with you!
"Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." Romans 1:5
In Paul's introduction we find some incredible revelation about calling, the character and nature of God, and our role in the new kingdom. Wow, that's a lot to fit into a few lines!
This particular verse stood out to me because it outlines quite clearly our purpose.
Firstly, we are called by to God, to something. We saved by His grace for relationship with Him... But now as His children, He has a purpose for us, a plan for us and work for us to do.
What is that something?
Obedience. God has called us to obedience to Him, nothing less, to disobey God is to violate the very thing that He asks of us. We often take this quite lightly, if God says someething, to assume that because we are under grace, He will understand if we simply don't do it.
We are forgiven, but to disobey Him, is to grieve His heart. Nothing is more painful to Him than our disobedience, if we only understood the pain that it causes Him when we ignore or disobey Him.
The hope that we have, is that obedience is by FAITH!
There is no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus, because it is the Faith in God that even allows us to be obedient and have the desire to do so. The Grace of the Lord that is accessed by Faith is with us, and allows us to fulfil the commands that God has for us.
How amazing is our God! His standards are so great, His expectations so high, and yet He understands us!
He knows that we cannot do it on our own, and so for us to even try, is foolish.
He has made a way, let us stop fighting to serve Him, and simply do it by Faith.
If you want some examples of this then let me know, otherwise I will just leave it here and let you work it out in your own life!
Let His Grace surround you and lead you into complete obedience to Him.
Daniel