Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of images and lyrics from the Jeremy Camp singing … The Answer … powerfully singing of the reality of Jesus being THE ANSWER to all of the challenges of our humanity.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Romans 7:15, 25 [NLT] … 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. … 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
… Our human conundrum is our innate sinfulness; but Jesus, by dying on the cross, has given us the answer to our human dilemma.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Romans 7:14-25, 8:1-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul personalizes the human dilemma, which is our battle with our sin nature; but he also presents THE ANSWER, which is our surrendered relationship with Christ.
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Reference Passage : … John 15:1-5 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… For the truly born-again Christian, Jesus has given us the answer to dealing with our sin nature and that is giving us His Spirit to empower us to deal with our sin and become fruitful Christians.
Reference Passage : … Romans 8:1-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… In Romans 7, Paul presents his own (and our) innate challenge of death with our sin nature; but in Romans 8, he gives us God’s answer, … and that is JESUS!
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … … Paul, challenged by his human weakness, listens to Jesus’ answer to give us the grace we need to overcome our sin nature.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Randy Kilgore, uses a personal and human illustration to show us the challenge of our humanity and points us toward THE ANSWER to the dilemma. The ODB author writes … A coworker confessed to me that he didn’t think he was “Jesus material.” I listened as he described what he called his “comfortable, narcissistic” life, and how it didn’t satisfy him. “But here’s my problem, I’ve been trying to be good, even caring, but it isn’t working. It seems that the very things I want to do, I can’t do, and the things I want to stop doing, I just keep doing.”
“What’s your secret?” he asked me in complete sincerity. “My secret,” I answered, “is that there is no secret. I’m as powerless to live up to God’s standards as you are, which is why we need Jesus.”
In the ministry God has called me to lead (USE THIS LINK) I often run into Christian men dealing with the same conundrum which Paul presented in Romans 7 … that we all must confront our very human sin nature … 24/7. But then at the end of that chapter (in see Rom. 7:25 and the beginning of Romans 8, Paul gives us God’s answer to this dilemma of human weakness; and that is an obedient and abiding relationship with Christ (see also John 15:1-5 and 2Cor. 12:9-10).
Dear one, do you, like I do, come up against our human nature, battling sin in our lives, and often feeling that we’re powerless? Well, if God’s word (above) is true - AND IT IS!! Jesus has given us His answer, by dying on the cross, paying for our sin nature, and then giving His empowering Spirit to give us the strength to deal with our weakness.
So, I’m praying that we all walk in surrender to God’s Spirit and glean the strength to use Jesus’ answer to our humanity, walking in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for being THE ANSWER to my humanity.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here walk in surrender today to You, King Jesus, letting Your Spirit cover our weakness. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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