This evening's reading was very interesting because I decided to review chapter 1 to be sure I understood what I had read plus I skipped a day so i just needed a refresher course. Well let me tell you it is a good thing I decided to do so.
As I was i was skimming over the chapter I was hung up on the phrase " those who are called" ( Romans 1:24) and it me to ask how do i know if i am called or chosen? Honestly I sat for a few minutes and then the scripture Romans 8:28 came to my mind. Now i thought this scripture said confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead,but not quite. Romans 8:28 says " and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."(NIV) Here is that word called again. So i scanned down the page and read an insert which discussed this scripture. A part of it said " this promise is not for everyone , it's for those who trust Jesus." Well there is my answer, those who are called trust Jesus. OK. So my next question was how do I trust Jesus?" I was then led to Romans 6:23 which says " For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life." (NIV)Here the word that stuck out to me the most was Free... well ok two words, FREE GIFT. So then I thought what is the free gift of God? Salvation. How do I get salvation?
That answer was located in Romans 10:9 which says " If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NIV) So honestly my original thought was correct but, the steps in between getting to this scripture were essential in my understanding of what this all really meant in the first place.
In the message bible i continued to read in Romans chapter 10 and it said "Scripture reassures us No one who trusts God like this -heart and soul- will ever regret it. And as i was reading I saw the word trust several times and so i decided to look up this word trust and just to see what it really means. In the dictionary trust is defined as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. assured reliance. very interesting. Prior to reading this defintion I read that the basis of Paul's ( author of Romans and Corinthians) ministry was on faith.So i looked up the definition of faith and it is defined as firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust.
It just amazed me how all of these words are interconnected. One word led straight to the other. and its crazy because i have not even touch on chapter 2 lol. You cant have faith without trust. Trust is required for faith to even process. While reading these chapters, God revealed to me that when i first accepted Christ it was out of obligation not beccause i wanted to. I remember that because that was the year I tried to steal from Drug Mart and it was almost like that was my peace offering with God, my life. I didnt really have a chance to give it to him willingly, so that in turn effected my whole relationship with Him thus far. It explains the feelings of obligation in my walk " I should be doing or listening to this" "I should be here with that". I never did it because i wanted to, I did it because I thought I had to. This however led me this evening to willingly confess Jesus as my master and That God has made everything right between him and me. That's it. After I said that it was like I was seeing through a new pair of eyes. I also realize that what is going on in my natural life is a direct reflection of what is happening in my Spiritual life. DEEP.
This night was so beautiful and to think i have been missing out on this all this time. Honestly sometimes I wish i could be a fulltime Christian as my career, just study and live in God's word and pressence. Hm. Who knows.
well i did read chapter two but I haven't really broke it down yet. I know for sure we will be dealing with the words spirit and wisdom because Paul says those words alot so they must be important.
well, until next chapter happy reading
Aleta
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