Therefore Being Justified by Faith Part 5

"Therefore, Being Justified By Faith..."Part five

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:1-5

I use to be a man who was justified by self. I never spent a moment of my time looking at myself or examining my ways. I had a heart polluted with all the ways of the world. When I was arrested I blamed the law makers as well as the law enforcers. I had no self control and that cost me years of wasted time looking for the "perfect" job. Any conviction of the Spirit that would fire up in me I would quickly dowse with alcohol.

Any remorseful thoughts were knocked out with chemicals. On May 9th 2003, I ran out of places to run and had no more excuses. The crossroads before me I chose the Romans road. The rest lies in the passages of Scripture I covered this past week.

I had to read about Abraham's blind obedience to an unseen God. What did he have that I did not? I had to study about Paul's past and what happened to him on the road to Damascus. I did a lot of aimless road travel in my early days and these two men had done their share of travel as well. The difference was when God spoke to them they listened. I didn't do that very well and in the long run was left crying out to Jesus...Please save me.

A man name Jan Savercool helped me pick myself up and dust myself off.
He pointed down Romans Road and Jesus did the rest. He wanted me to just look at just chapters 6, 7, and 8 in the Book of Romans but I went further. I will always value my talks with Jan. His time on the roadways didn't go as well as he would have hoped but Jesus was there for him too.

We were two men trapped but set free. We are now two men who still have our trials but praise God He stills works in us. Jesus has been there for the both of us when it is time to persevere. And for you bothers out there who know the both of us, we are some characters. But all in all we are privileged to share in the same hope. These passages in Scripture that I have covered these past few days are forever etched in my heart. They speak to me daily. How have they spoken to you?

I'll end with a quote from John Bevere's book "The Bait of Satan".

"A common excuse for self-preservation through disobedience is offense.
There is a false sense of self-protection in harboring an offense. It keeps you from seeing your own character flaws because the blame is deferred to another. You never have to face your role, your immaturity, or your sin because you see only the faults of the offender. Therefore, God's attempt to develop character in you by this opposition is now abandoned. The offended person will avoid the source of the offense and eventually flee, becoming a spiritual vagabond." Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy.

God's Word for Today: 1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 11:1-29

Think About This: No matter what our stature or status, we have the authority in the family of God to pray the prayer of faith. The prayer of faith engages the heart of God, meeting God's conditions of spiritual life and victory. - A. W. Tozer

I am grateful for Chris' willingness to share this week so that we could be with our kids in Boston. I am writing this morning from the ICU and spent the night with Lindsay. She has just about all the tubes out now and will be starting to eat this morning. We are most grateful for your prayers and comments on the blog. God bless.