Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:1-4 ESV

Warrior;
Keep it simple soldier. The book of Romans is called “Paul’s theology”, it is a book on the level of the Gospels. The book of Romans could stand on it’s own leading someone to the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus. There is a path of conversion called the ‘Roman’s Road’. The 8th chapter is unto itself, again set apart for is theological value and its ability to put in simple terms the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The 8th Chapter starts with, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. It ends 37 verses later: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:38-39) What a Gospel Sandwich, NO Condemnation, and NO separation from the love of God, as the BREAD, and in between- the meat of the sandwich- is what God did to remove that condemnation and to secure the tether to you as a believer, so that nothing can snatch you out of the hands of the Messiah! That is but one chapter, in one book of the GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST! Keep It Simple Soldier! Sometimes we overcomplicate things, we allow our insecurities to feel the need to ‘oversell’. We don’t need to share everything we know about the Bible\God, or feel guilty because we know less than we desire to know. Just share the GOOD NEWS, Freedom in Christ.

Leader, CONFUSION is the #1 weapon formed against a child of God in today’s continually darkening world. When we get confused, we hesitate, we don’t step out, or speak up. Some people are intimidated by the Bible, they get confused by the language of certain Bible translations. When that happens to me, I go to many of the other translations, I go to the original language and I go to respected resources that help illuminate, or add layers of understanding to the passage I am marinating on. The MSG Bible is not a translation, but it is a paraphrase, and that brings in some other ways of considering the text. Here are the same verses, Romans 8:1-4 from the MSG paraphrase: With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us”. God is in control, it is written! God has an order, it is in God’s timing and in His ways, and by His Will and by His Word. If God is God, and as His child you believe; He is a good Father, and He is a Just God, then you must HAVE FAITH. Faith requires a gap. A gap between what God says, and what your flesh is telling you. Are you going to believe God, or are you going to believe what you flesh is telling you? See Numbers Chapters 13 &14, 12 spies; 2 followed Faith, 10 followed the flesh! How did that work out for them?

Conduit, it is written: For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10) GOD- K I S S; KEEP IT SIMPLE SOLDIER! “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”, therefore, I must decrease so He can increase! (2 Corinthians 12:9a, John 3:30) “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:1, 38,39) One of the WILES OF THE DEVIL is confusion. The 2 ‘bookends’ of Chapter 8, are 2 primary focal points in the devil’s lies and accusations of the “Called out” ones; Condemnation and Love; ‘God couldn’t possibly LOVE me, based on….’ Since we are familiar with performance-based acceptance and love- the devil LIES to us and uses that same standard with God toward us! This is also one of the ERRORS of Balaam. Balaam believed God had to punish the Israelites. Balaam knew God was a righteous God, He was a God of judgement, and the Israelites had sinned against Jehovah. Balaam believed God had to curse Israel. But God chose to have mercy on His children, and Balaam became less than a talking ass! The voice in our head says, Since we have not PERFORMED, and lived up to PERFECTION, then the lie is perverted again, this time into, “HOW is it possible for God to love such a wretch as me? Maybe he loved me when I first knelt at the altar, but I have messed up too many times….” Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Which brings up a point. Many people misapply Jeremiah 29:11, they take it out of context. It is often used to make believers feel good knowing that God is in control (Romans 8:28), however it’s intent when written was for something very specific. But, we can rightly apply this in that other setting, because of the general principle of God’s grace and providence- especially for those whom He loves, the church. This is a logically congruent application of this scripture, based on the IMMUTABLE nature of God. When the verse was inspired, God had promised to bring Israel back to their land after the Diaspora, therefore, the exiles could be assured that they had a future and a hope. This promise was not made to all nations at the time, but only to Israel. However, this is also applicable to those who call on the name of Jesus. God has promised believers in Christ certain things that are not applicable to the human race, as a whole. For those who are in Christ, God has promised that our sins are forgiven. God has JUSTIFIED HIS CHILDREN, through the CROSS OF CHRIST. So all who believe ON HIM, are seen as RIGHTEOUS before the Father. We stand before God justified. Your condemnation has been removed, and HIS LOVE FOR YOU, cannot be separated from you! No matter what battles are being waged around you, HAVE FAITH, God has plans for those in Christ, and those plans are good! Today, act AS IF God is in control, and say to CONFUSION, “Behind me”!