Truth be told...

I've been reading through Romans while on Spring Break. I love this book! I love the truth that Paul blatantly puts forth. I love the way Christ is magnified through the word. I love that Paul recognizes the inner knowledge that we do not belong here, on earth.

I have also learned that there is power in reading the Word of God aloud. I have read chapters 3-6 out loud with a friend. I'm blown away by how the Holy Spirit has reached into my heart and shed new light on verses I have read countless times. Here are some verses that really tugged on my heart strings:

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (from chapter 5)

God doesn't expect me to be perfect. He doesn't expect me to have all of the answers. He doesn't assume that I am going to live a sin-free life. Before my existence, he sent his Son to die for the crap I would do. He decided long ago that Dina Coverstone needed a chance to be redeemed in order to spend eternity with her Heavenly Father.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (from chapter 6)

We are alive. Did you read that carefully? WE ARE ALIVE! Because God loved us, even before the world knew us, he gave us the opportunity to choose life...spiritual life. We are under grace and saved by our faith in that grace. Praise God for that!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to choose Christ. I don't know if/how my life would be different without Him and I don't want to know. I am who I am in Christ. My identity is in Him alone. My life is led by Him and His work. He knows everything about me and has my best in mind. And I am satisfied knowing that.