I love Romans 8 for a lot of reasons, but one of the main reasons is the fact that this chapter includes a few of my favorite verses of all time, Romans 8:38-39. To get some context, read Romans 8:31-39 in the Message with me:
“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture…”
Some days, I just need to remember that God is on my side. What about you? I think that one of the enemy’s greatest tricks is whispering the lie in our ears that God must actually not mean what He says. In fact, it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book… literally. Genesis 3:1 (emphasis mine) says,
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The line, “did God really say,” gives me chills, because I know I have heard this lie time after time. “Did God really say He loves you, despite the ways you mess up daily?” “Did God really say that life lived Jesus’ way is the fullest kind of life?” “Did God really say it was a big deal if you did that just once?” “Did God really say He’s on your side?”
Yes, He did. And not only did God say that He is on our side, but He means it. Our God is a God who keeps His promises and Whose words are true and able to be trusted. God is on our side, and just like Romans 8 says, with Him on our side, we simply cannot lose.
I want to live from this place: A place of waking up every morning and knowing that not only does the Lord fight for me, but with Jesus, I cannot be separated from that fierce kind of love by anything that comes my way. I want to look at life with complete confidence in this truth. And I want to invite other people into this place of complete peace in the fact that Jesus, our King, is literally fighting for us every single day. And I can’t imagine a better outlook for this normal Thursday morning.