LEARNING DAILY

 

Romans 8:37-39, Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

One of the thoughts I have gained as I have been reading the Chronological Bible for my daily devotions is that nothing Israel did could stop God from loving them. Yes, He certainly got angry with Israel but that anger never was so great that He stopped loving the people He had made a covenant with (the covenant He made with Abraham). The people of Israel deserved to be permanently rejected by God; instead He temporarily punished them. The cycle in the book of Judges clearly shows us that when the people cried out to Him, He heard them, sent a judge to deliver them, they lived in peace and prosperity until the judge died , and they fell back into sin. The people’s desire to have a king over them instead of God clearly shows the people’s desire to be like the world; God told them through the prophet Samuel what would happen by choosing a man to be king. It did not matter to them. So, God gave them a man to be their king and just like He had told them they turned against Him. Even with Israel’s flirtation, even outright spiritual adultery, God loved Israel. Israel did not totally abandon God; Israel was attracted to and became preoccupied with gods other than the One True God. Before the people entered the Promised land, Moses warned them to hang on to God with all their might (Deuteronomy 4:1-4). Yet, over time the people drifted, little by little, they drifted in to disaster. But God never stopped loving them.

 

The New Testament tells us to “watch and pray”. Those word are usually associated as encouragement to be alert to Jesus calling His people to Him in the clouds – the rapture of the Church. I find them encouraging because if we do not, it can be easy to drift from our love, loyalty, and commitment to Jesus Christ, when that happens it becomes easy to allow other interests, concerns and pursuits to gradually replace Him. Moses’ warning to the Israelites is very appropriate to each of us today. We must hold fast to Jesus Christ so we do not lose control of what it means to follow Him.

 

That brings us to today’s verses. As a Believer, you are conquerors. You are victorious. You are super conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us so much He was willing to die on a cross, taking the punishment we should be taking for our self-centered, sin-filled lives. Believers in Jesus are not victims in this fallen world; in Jesus Christ, because of His victory at the cross, we are empowered by the Holy spirit in us to be “more than conquerors” in our struggles in life.

 

I can only believe that anyone who fails in their spiritual life, it will not be because of the lack of God’s grace and love. No external force or great adversity will be able to “separate you from the love of God”! Only one’s neglect to remain in Him will do that. We “watch and pray” and know that in Jesus Christ the love of God the Father is revealed to us. By remaining in Jesus Christ as “our Lord” can we have certainty that we will never be separated from the love of God.