Happy Humpday! You know what starts in 2 days? The great State Fair of Texas! If you grew up in North Texas you probably have the same emotional attachment to the fair that I do. Every year as the fair approached we would, as local North Texas students, all get free fair tickets. Both of my older brothers marched in the High School band and on fair day they marched in the nightly parade, so all throughout school I was guaranteed an annual trip to the fair. Oh, the sweet memories of growing up with the State Fair. One year I ate 12 bags of cotton candy in one day. I’ll never forget standing in front of the souvenir booth to pick out my annual awesome new toy. It seemed like every year it ended up being a big plastic pirate sword though.
Throughout the years it's always stayed a part of my life and when Marge and I got married it created a new annual pilgrimage. Every year the fair opens on the Friday before our anniversary so it has become tradition to start celebrating our anniversary by attending opening day the fair. This year it worked out perfectly with the new jobs and we’ll be there pumped up and ready at 9am on Friday morning. Our dad’s will be with us as well, what a treat to spend quality time with our dads at the state fair! Here I come Fletchers!
This morning as we move on through Romans we find ourselves in chapter 8. There’s lots of great stuff in chapter 8 and as those that consider Romans to be the best book in the bible, most consider chapter 8 to be the best chapter in the book. Thus far in Romans Paul has walked us through the sinful state of man, his incapability to achieve righteousness before a Holy God that then results in his dire need for the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ. Chapter 8 gets down to the nuts and bolts of the actual ‘how’ we can live a righteous life for God. More specifically the ‘who’ that is going to enable us to live this righteous life for God.
Romans 8 introduces us to the work of the Holy Spirit in the sanctification process. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 19 times in chapter 8 vs only being mentioned 2 times in the previous 7 chapters. Paul’s message here in Chapter 8? A life that is pleasing to God must be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification, or the setting aside of ourselves for God’s work, is the work of the Holy Spirit in the regenerated life of a believer. The Holy Spirit delivers the believer from the power of sin, even in the very presence of sin, and performs God’s Will in the life of a believer. Without the Holy Spirit we are lost to God’s Will. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot experience the true peace of God. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot ever hope to battle sin and be victorious. The Holy Spirit is essentially life, He is the Spirit of life. The Holy Spirit can do the impossible, it can produce a Holy life in weak and sinful flesh. Praise God for sending the Holy Spirit.
Now we have learned thus far in Romans that man is totally depraved. Ever in rebellion towards God because of the sin nature inherited in the garden of Eden because of the first sin. As we accept Christ as our Savior the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts as a Holy helper. (John 14:26) Romans 8:5 delineates the separation of living in the flesh vs living in the Spirit. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.” I heard a great definition of peace the other day, “peace means the experience of tranquility and well-being regarding the past, present and future.” Oh, how you and I need a life full of the peace of God!
Romans 8 is so full of so many epic verses that I could write for days, but I will focus on one that I think speaks volumes to us today as we all search for God’s purpose in our lives and in this world. Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” I’m sure you’ve all heard this verse before in some arena or context, let’s unpack it.
It starts out “And we know.” Who is the we? It refers to that which is the common knowledge of the Christian, one who has the Holy Spirit, a believer in Christ. Paul is specifically talking to people that have confessed that they are sinners and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. We often see God’s Word pulled out of context and used by a lost world in a time of dire need as God’s promise to mankind in general. God is specifically speaking to His children here.
“that for those who love God.” Who loves God? If you love God you will believe in God with everything you are. You will believe that Jesus is the only son of God, sent to this world to die for the sins of a lost people. If you love God you will believe that His son was crucified and died and rose again to triumph over the sins of all mankind so that we can have eternal life with God in heaven. If you love God you will be a believer and you will keep His commandants and serve Him. "If you love me you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15) Also love for God means love for others. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) If you love God you will love obeying and serving Him and you will love serving others.
“all things”. Folks, this is crystal clear, wouldn’t you say? ALL THINGS. God and bad; bright and dark; sweet and bitter; easy and hard; happy and sad; prosperity and poverty; health and sickness; calm and storm; comfort and suffering; life and death. There is nothing that God cannot and will not use for His good.
“work together for good.” This is one of the biggest obstacles I encounter as I talk with people about God. Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why would God allow a busload of kids to get into a wreck? I’ve heard them all. Friends, you and me both have a 3lb brain that sits between our ears, and we are completely incapable of understanding an almighty God that breathed light into existence with just 4 words. A God that hung the stars and created man with mere words. Our small human minds are incapable of comprehending Him. Everything that happens to God’s children works together for good. There are no accidents, no coincidences and no luck. God has a perfect plan for your life and everything within that plan will work together for good. It’s God Word and its true, all you have to do is believe it.
“for those who are called.” What does it mean to be called? I think of back when I was kid growing up in the country town of Combine, Texas that had a whopping 300 people. We grew up on Nelms road, the name of my grandparents, and all my cousins lived on that ¼ mile dirt road. There were some hard days of playing on that dirt road. Every night as dusk approached, every kid in the group would hear that call, the call of our moms. It’s time to go home and eat. A voice called out and out of obedience we went. We knew that because of that ‘calling’ good tasty things were awaiting us. Notice here that it’s a 2 step process. #1 you get an invitation, a calling, and #2 you accept it, there’s action on your part. It’s the same with God. He calls us and out of obedience and love for Him we react and come to Him. He has good things for us when we obey and follow His voice and His calling. John 10:27a, “my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow my voice.” We know God’s voice as our shepherd and when He calls to us we should come running. What a beautiful picture of ‘those who are called.’
“according to His purpose.” You can rest assured God has a very specific purpose for those He calls and that purpose is perfect. God is not a God of chance or indecision. He created you, you’d better believe that He had a plan for you before you ever took your first breath. What a glorious promise this is! The God of the universe created you, saved you, and called you to fulfill the purpose He created just for you! Folks, don't we serve a personal God!
There’s so much more in Romans chapter 8 but we’ll wrap up here. I pray every morning that each and every one of you that are reading this post will be prompted by the Holy Spirit to spend personal time reading His Word every day. There is no substitute for time spent with God and I can't think of a better way to spend your time!
Blessings my friends!
Comments