Walk with Me

SCRIPTURE:  Romans 8:12-25         Read the passage

BIO:  My name is Rebecca Mitchell. My husband David and I joined First Pres a couple years ago. We are members of a LIFE Group that is a great joy to us. Occasionally I tell Scripture by heart at the Sunday services.

KEY VERSE:  Romans 8:15  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

CENTRAL TRUTH:  God is not distant or cool or cruel or uninvolved. God is as loving as a Daddy is to his precious children.

DEVOTIONAL:  Daddy and Child

My father turned 95 a couple months ago. He is in good health, and when we visit on the phone, he speaks over and over of the blessings that God has showered upon him. What a model that is for me, because in the busy-ness of life’s up and downs, I can forget to count my blessings. But Daddy reminds me of God’s goodness that surrounds him and me every moment.

Daddy also asks me about my life — my work, the kids, the grandchildren, the weather, and on and on. He loves to hear what is going on with me. And here, too, my dad is a model of God, who is concerned with every detail of my life — to the extent that God knows how many hairs are on my head!

Daddy loves me because I am his child. And because Jesus died on the cross so that my sins could be forgiven, God, too, loves me because I am his child. That is not always easy to accept. After all, God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them! God is the judge of the living and the dead! God rides on the storm clouds and has set the boundaries of the oceans! Such a God would be interested in me?

For I am weak and prone to sin. I am careless with people. I think of myself first. I want what I want and soon. What could God possibly see in me, to want me to be his child?

God, in his love, sees more in me than I see in myself. And as Paul continues in this passage, he shows how God uses suffering and waiting to shape us and form us into the people that God created us to be. In our suffering we become more gentle with others. In our waiting we become more dependent upon God. And the Lord does all of this tenderly and sweetly, because he is our Daddy (that is what “Abba” means) and he loves us so much.

QUESTION 1:  Count your blessings today! Look around and note as many evidences as you can of God’s loving and gracious goodness to you!

QUESTION 2:  Confess your sins to God, and ask him to help you follow him more closely. He is more ready to forgive us and help us than we can imagine, because his love for us is infinite.

QUESTION 3:  Share the good news about God’s love with someone today! Write a note to a person who has been kind to you in Jesus’ name. Ask forgiveness from someone with whom you may be experiencing some tension. Perform a random act of kindness for an unsuspecting person. Do it as unto the Lord, for "we love him, because he first loved us."