Dana Hagstrom – Page 382

Romans 8:18-25 – Hope for Your Future

All of us are struggling with something. Maybe it’s getting older, maybe it’s weight issues, maybe it’s relationship issues, maybe it’s financial issues. Sometimes we feel like all we do is face an uphill battle. One step forward and then two steps back. If you can identify, this passage is for you.

We are not alone in our struggles. We read today that “all creation” eagerly waits and has been groaning in pains of childbirth. For all who know God and his beautiful gift of salvation, we wait in anticipation of something beyond our comprehension. The saying, “this, too, shall pass” should be on our lips.

Romans 8:1-17 – Abba Father

Read Romans 8:1-17

This may be my favorite reading in Romans so far. There is so much to convict us in this reading. If someone reads this and doesn’t want to follow Christ, there must be something wrong with them. If nothing else, the perks are great!

Did you have a favorite verse that spoke to you?

Romans 7:7-25 – The Law Exposes Sin

Read Romans 7:7-25

God’s law was given to us so we could live a thriving life in God’s will. His precepts were intended to give us the blueprint for a life that would be rich and desirable. God wants only the best for us, and his law was designed to show us what that is.

Likewise, the law exposes our sinfulness. We didn’t know it was wrong to covet (a yearning for something that doesn’t belong to us), for example, until we learned the law. It’s almost as if by knowing what we aren’t supposed to do, we fall into the trap of doing it. Despite our best efforts to be “good” we fail. We know we’ve failed because we know the law.

Romans 7:1-6 – The Law is Powerless to Save

Read Romans 7:1-6

Being under God’s grace and not under the law does NOT give us the go-ahead to sin. We have seen this in the last two days as Paul warns his readers. But this grace does give us freedom from the bondage of sin and the propensity to sin. We are given a new beginning, a fresh slate, and we can now be mindful of our sinfulness.

Romans 6:15-23 – A Slave to What?

Read Romans 6:15-23

These people really want to go on sinning, don’t they? Paul’s answer is the same as it was in yesterday’s text. Is it okay? “Of course not!” We will be a slave to something, whether it be sin or righteousness. Paul uses that analogy to help us understand the relationship. We can become a slave to whatever we choose to obey. Our freedom gives us that choice.

What do you picture when you think about being a slave? You are not your own. You belong to someone else. As humans, we have weaknesses. What areas in your life do you feel weak? It is in those moments or areas of our life where sin can infiltrate despite our freedom from it.