Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 2 August 2014 "Nothing can separate us from God’s love"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 2 August 2014 "Nothing can separate us from God’s love"
Daily Scripture: Romans 8:31-39 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:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Reflection Question:
The apostle Paul wrote Romans to introduce himself to Christians in Rome, a city he had never visited (cf. Romans 1:10). In today’s reading, he summed up the letter’s first eight chapters, in which he laid out the good news of the gospel as he preached it. For him, God’s love was not abstract or theoretical. He faced all of his life’s challenges with the profound personal certainty that “nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We, too, can live each day in that deep, life-giving trust.
Would you say that your life so far has pretty much worked out the way you’d hoped, or have you had significant hurdles and pain to overcome? What circumstances or events are most likely to leave you feeling separated from God’s love? What spiritual “anchors” help you to stay connected to God’s love and the hope and peace God offers, even when times get difficult?
Family Activity:
Galatians 5:22-23 [Galatians 5:22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.] listed love first among the many fruits of the Spirit. This week, discover other verses on love in Scripture and find Bible stories about God’s love. Share God’s love with one another and your community through your words and actions. Remember—you can practice growing love in small, yet meaningful ways to share God’s love with others, not just in big, fancy ways. When we are open to God growing us through the Holy Spirit, everyday acts will help produce love! Pray daily, asking God to grow love in your heart and lives!
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you that your love is a fixed point in an ever-changing world. Keep me steady, stable and loving every day of my life. Amen.
Insight from Brent Messick
Brent Messick is Resurrection’s Managing Executive Director of Operations.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God. How do we know this? In today’s Scripture passage, Paul presents three convincing arguments for God’s love.
First, he talks about the sacrifice of Jesus. Paul says that if God did not spare his one and only Son for us, then that should convince us that He loves us enough to supply all of our needs. Surely we should trust a love like that for anything.
Then, Paul challenges us to think of every terrifying thing we could possibly experience in this world. He mentions such things as persecution, hunger, threat of death, angelic powers, fear of tomorrow, and the powers of hell. But the love of God is so strong that not one of these things is able to separate us from His love, which is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. With that assurance, what should we be afraid of?
Finally, Paul asks: if God has forgiven us for our sins, then who can condemn us? You might think that Jesus will come to judge us. In Revelation 5, we read that Jesus has earned the right to judge us through his death on the cross. But Paul is saying that Jesus is our advocate. He sits at the right hand of God to plead our case. Paul sees Jesus not as the judge, but as the lover of people.
This last argument of Paul’s makes me pause and think. Will Christ still love me when I sin? While I strive to live a Christ-like life, I know that I fall short. Christ died for us on the cross. And, yet, I repay his sacrifice with sin. Surely my sinning will separate me from Christ’s love.
Paul’s assurance gives me hope and great peace of mind. But I believe it is a two-way street. I know that I have to do my part and strive to live my life as God created me to live it. God knows my warts, my scars, and my weaknesses. Yet despite these shortcomings, Paul tells me that God will not abandon me. This is a very humbling message for me.
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