Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
It's so cool how yesterday He directed my thoughts on peace and reconciliation and now today He continues with that same theme. When we become reconciled with the Lord, we can have true peace in our life. That doesn't mean we will never go through tough times because we have to in order to continue to grow in our faith. What it does mean is that when we are going through tough times, He is there to encourage and uplift up. It means we have His strength to get through tough times. He is our Peacemaker. Jesus is our Mediator with God. I love the way Matthew Henry puts it:The living Lord of all, will complete the purpose of his dying love, by saving all true believers to the uttermost. Having such a pledge of salvation in the love of God through Christ, the apostle declared that believers not only rejoiced in the hope of heaven, and even in their tribulations for Christ's sake, but they gloried in God also, as their unchangeable Friend and all-sufficient Portion, through Christ only.
He is my "..unchangeable Friend and all-sufficient Portion…" Woo hoo! His birth was to fulfill the purpose of His death. His death was to fulfill the purpose of our lives. We must try to comprehend just how much love He has for us in order to accept it. It can seem incomprehensible yet it isn't.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for dying so I might live. Thank You for loving so I might live. You are so awesome! I know there is a reason You led me to the theme of peace and reconciliation with You again today. Father, open my eyes…open my heart…open my life to more of You and less of me so that I may be more instrumental as Your servant. Thank You Jesus for being My All-Sufficient Portion! Amen.
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