Rejoice. Be Patient. Pray.
What is on your to-do list today?
Verse of the Day
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Today’s Devotional
No, seriously, what is on your list? I would be embarrassed to show you my list. It is long and there are many items on my list that have been there for a couple of weeks (or longer). Now, thinking about your list, I challenge you to go read all of Romans 12.
Paul is giving the Roman church some to-do items for how to live. I’d say it was like “Christianity Kindergarten”, except that it’s not that easy. I counted 20 directives in that one chapter of Romans, and I know I missed some. But let’s focus on the three in today’s verse.
Rejoice. Be Patient. Pray.
Today, we are going to focus on rejoicing. I’d like for us to go back to our list from yesterday about our confident hopes in God. When was the last time you rejoiced over your faith and belief in God? For me, I tend to either take my faith for granted, or I am wrestling with God about something.
But as I think about how far God has brought me, that is cause for celebration today. I need to rejoice over the fact that God is God and I am not. I need to celebrate my hope in Jesus’s saving grace in my life. I need to be joyful that I am confidently hoping that the Spirit will be helping me all day today. What a gift! I need to be grateful for my current and future transformation. I need to celebrate the sanctifying work that is happening and will continue to happen in my life as I continue to seek God.
People…. there is cause for celebration in our hope in God! And as I celebrate these things, do you know what happens? More confident hope. And I truly believe that God wants us to celebrate with Him, for Him and about our hope in His power in our lives.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What do you need to rejoice in today?
What specifically can you do to celebrate with God?
How does that make you more hopeful?