Day 32 - Romans 8:31 - 8:39

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Terrie's Comments:

The thing that keeps popping off the page in Romans this time through is the importance of ETERNAL FOCUS!!  

no one can accuse us or judge us or condemn us eternally because we have been justified through Jesus Christ and he is pleading our case for us.  

Our suffering in this world should NOT be our focus... if our focus is on what is coming OVERWHELMING VICTORY is ours.  

Nothing can separate us from God.  When our focus is on our eternal home we won't concern ourselves with the things in this life... God has got this, that, and everything!  We are well taken care of and NOTHING can separate us from God.

So where is my focus??

Tori's Comments:

Verse 31a pretty much describes my feelings right now.

via GIPHY

Overwhelming victory is ours.


via GIPHY

God loves us no matter what.


via GIPHY

I keep rereading verse 35, though. How comforting. How beautiful our Father's love is for us.

He's a good, good Father.

"Love so undeniable I can hardly speak.
Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think."

How does this passage make you guys feel? If you somehow missed all of the above GIFS, I feel like a bunch of exclamation points crammed together!!!!!!!!!!!

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 31 - Romans 8:26 - 8:30 - HALF WAY THROUGH ROMANS!!

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Tori's Comments:

"we don't know what God wants us to pray for"

Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'mma stop there. What GOD wants US to pray FOR. That's a totally different mindset than coming to God with a checklist, wishlist, etc.

Vs. 27 Wow. This just shows how God most definitely knows what's best for us. 

Wow, all the feels in this passage.

I should probably stop using so many expressions of surprise, but I can't help it. 

I mean, wowwww.

Terrie's Comments:

This is a great passage,  The part about the Holy Spirit praying on our behalf has always comforted me.  He prays what our hearts want and long for in accordance to the will of God.  Even when we are so desperate that we have no clue what words to use our message is being presented loud and clear in God's throne room!

We are also hand picked by God to do his will.  Awesome!

I could sit on this portion for a long time.  What stood out for you guys?

WE ARE OFFICIALLY HALF WAY THROUGH OUR ROMANS CHALLENGE!! (Right after you leave your comments below)  THIS MEANS YOU STILL HAVE HALF OF YOUR SUMMER LEFT TO ENJOY!  HURRAY :-) 

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 30 - Romans 8:18 - 8:25

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Terrie's Comments:

All of creation was subject to God's curse because of man's sin.  That is Everything God created in this earth... rocks, plants, animals, humans... all suffer.  We are all on a path of death and decay.  

Creation knows that there is something better coming.  As a God follower we need to also ALWAYS be looking foward to this hope that we have in our eternal future.  We need to keep our eyes fixed on the end not on our everyday stuff.  Forever is such a short distance away we need to remember that.  

I think the church has forgotten how to focus on our eternal home.  If the Holy Spirit is just a foretaste of the future glory and we are promised freedom from sin and suffering with new glorified bodies that is something worth looking forward to... far better than any vacation or dreams we can plan here on earth!!  I need to begin to focus and plan way more for my eternal home than this life here which is fleeting.  I need to learn to wait patiently and confidently for all that has been promised!!

We are all spending eternity somewhere... which way does my life point?  Where is my focus?

Tori's Comments:

Verse 19 is intriguing. 

What does it mean by all creation? Is it referring to how there will be a new earth?

The Holy Spirit is supposed to be a taste of future glory. Whoa. I didn't know that. And yet He is rarely given much thought in my head.

I know I am hopeful and excited!!!

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 29 - Romans 8:9 - 8:17

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Tori's Comments:

"you have been made right with God" *insert contented sigh*

"you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do". This is something that I feel like if I stopped right at my moment of temptation and just asked "Why am I doing this? Why am I wanting to do this?" it would probably stop. Because God is greater, and I know whose side I am on. 

We are children of God! Heirs! What an epic amazing cool mind-blowingly awesome thought.

Terrie's Comments:

But if we share in his glory, we must also share in his suffering... what does this look like?  I feel like the biggest obstacle in North America is to get past fear of what other people think.  Sometimes the decisions that the Holy Spirit will prompt us to make and stand up for are not on other people's radars and we need to set aside our pride and care more about what God thinks than any other human being in our world.  But the good news is that we have help.  The same spirit that rose Jesus from the grave lives inside of us!  We are not alone in this.

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 28 - Romans 8:1 - 8:8

8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

Terrie's Comments:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus!

However I do see that it is a choice?  I see it in this passage and also in my own life experience.  If we want to please God and have victory in our lives we need to CHOOSE to think about things that please the spirit and CHOOSE to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.  YOU HAVE TO LET the Spirit control your mind so that you will have life and peace!!

Tori's Comments:

Vs. 8 is commonly quoted by Terrie and myself :) It's so lovely and....a relief. I have said several times on this blog that I am a people pleaser, and this verse is like aloe to my sunburn.

God declared an END to sin's control over us.

As far as thinking about things that please the Spirit... on thinking about this, my mind is wavering over the things I put into my mind via books, tv, movies, etc. There are many iffy forms of media that I will keep feeding myself, forgetting that it's only harming me. I'm choosing the option that leads to death rather than life and peace.

I think my major stumbling block when it comes to what I put into my mind is Tv shows. If a show begins to turn sour, I am very reluctant to let it go, usually waiting until after the damage is done.

What are some major stumbling blocks for yall?

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!