Monday, September 12, 2016

Faith Brings Peace And Joy

Faith in Jesus gives me peace with God and the greatest joy!

 
Romans 5:1-11  Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.  2  Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.

3  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  4  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

We all face situations that make us ask "Why?" Our hearts can become troubled when God doesn't make sense to us. In my previous post I looked at Jesus concern for his disciples and how they would handle the emotions that could be overwhelming after he is crucified. Jesus taught his disciples that they should not let their hearts be troubled by the events that would soon take place. (John 14:1)

Today in Romans 5 I am following up with some of the verses that I discovered during my study for the post "Why?" Paul taught the Romans a similar lesson about the impact that faith has on your state of mind and your happiness.

Without faith we are condemned by God because of our debt of sin but thanks to God he has made it possible for us to be justified and be made free from sin by Jesus work on the cross. Now I am God's friend just like anybody that I read about in the Bible.

Paul Teaches The Romans About Faith 
- Romans 1:17, 3:22-31, 4:5, 9:30, 10:10

Faith has always been necessary to please God, before Jesus came Abraham's faith was in what God was going to do through the Messiah, our faith now is in what he has done through Jesus.
My Eternal Hope
Romans 15:13  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
My hope that comes from God and the work of Jesus accomplished on the cross gives me complete joy! An issue that I had no ability to overcome has been handled in the only way possible. Now all of my other problems seem very small in comparison to the sin problem that God has solved, the joy of that thought spills over into every area of life, all of my other cares are nothing in comparison.

How believers maintain peace:


Through remaining in Christ - John 15:4-7, 16:33
Through living by the Holy Spirit - Romans 8:6, 14:17-19; Galatians 5:22
Through obedience to God’s word - Joshua 1:8-9, Psalm 119:165-167
Through prayer and meditation - Philippians 4:6-9, Psalm 1:1-3; Isaiah 26:3

-Dictionary of Bible Themes on BibleGateway.com
Thank you Lord for faith that brings me to a peaceful relationship with you! I know that I will not be disappointed because I have the Holy Spirit in me as proof that our relationship has been restored for eternity. (Romans 5:5-11)