Monday, April 27, 2026

Opening Scripture

In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, LORD, are good.

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. Psalm 25 selected

Opening Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are holy and exalted! May your kingdom come and your will be done in my life, home, and community, just as it is in Heaven. Help me to trust you today to meet all of my needs. Help me to forgive others, just as you have forgiven me. Help me to resist temptation and overcome the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

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

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Reflection  

Our theme this week is: Formed for Flourishing. God has created each of us to flourish! As such, we only truly flourish when we live our lives as God intends.

The book of Romans will serve as our text over the next six days. Paul’s extensive letter to the Church in Rome offers a comprehensive exposition on the Christian life.

While there are many powerful statements in this epistle, Paul’s message could perhaps be summed up in Romans 1:16-17. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

In today’s passage, Paul expands on the blessings and benefits of the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus. Our justification, which is the result of repenting of our sin and pledging our allegiance to King Jesus, creates peace with God. This isn’t just an emotional “peace of mind,” though that certainly is part of it. This is a spiritual and positional reconciliation with Almighty God through the mediating work of the Lord Jesus. This peace changes everything!

We are incapable of establishing peace with God on our own. Our willful disobedience and sinful nature have set us at odds with God, literally making us His enemies. It requires the unique and magnificent intervention of Jesus – the spotless Lamb of God who sacrificed Himself for us – to accomplish that feat on our behalf.

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24).

Any religious effort to reconcile with God apart from faith in Jesus is completely failed and flawed! Unfortunately, many world religions still teach that religious activity is a viable substitute for a personal relationship with Jesus. Certainly, the apostle Paul believed as much until his conversion experience.

Paul then addresses a theme that Peter covered extensively in his letter: rejoicing in suffering. It is easy to rejoice “in the hope of the glory of God.” It is entirely different to rejoice in suffering. It comes down to perspective and what you’re trying to achieve.

If your goal is ease, comfort, and pleasure, then suffering is an obstacle. If your goal is godly character, deeper devotion, and stronger faith, then suffering is a catalyst. There must be something to this since so much of the New Testament speaks to it.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

In the Christian life, trials and tribulations – rightly encountered – produce perseverance (hypomonēn). This perseverance is an active endurance, a hopeful steadfastness, and a deep fortitude that develops godly character. This Christlike character – tested and proven in suffering – results in strengthened faith and a vibrant hope that God will see you through.

“Let us run with perseverance (hypomonēn) the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

This theme of hope in God is expressed beautifully by King David in Psalm 25, our Opening Scripture. “In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you.”

Paul makes a statement that seems to echo David’s plea to God to honor that trust and hope. David prays, “Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame.”  Paul offers his “Amen!” to that prayer with the declaration, “Hope does not put us to shame.”

The Greek word (kataischynei) here can mean to shame, disgrace, disappoint, or cause to blush. Paul declares confidently that our hope in God will never result in shame or disappointment because God is the object of our hope. Our confidence is in Him, and the Holy Spirit confirms it for us.

“God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). The indwelling Spirit confirms our adoption into God’s family, assures us of His enduring love, and guarantees our inheritance.

“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Of course, the greatest proof of God’s love for us is this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

In Simply Christian, N.T. Wright says, “Once we glimpse this vision of the Holy Spirit coming to live within human beings, making them Temples of the living God – which ought to make us shiver in our shoes – we are able to grasp the point of the Spirit’s work in several other ways as well.

“As the early Christians reflected on what God had done in Jesus, and on what God was doing in their own life and work by his Spirit, the two themes of God’s word and God’s wisdom played a vital role in their understanding.

“The early Christians discovered that telling the story carried a power which they regularly associated with the Spirit, but which they often referred to as simply ‘the word.’ Note these references from Acts: ‘Filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke God’s word with boldness.’ ‘The word of God continued to spread.’ ‘The word of God continued to advance and gain adherents.’ ‘The word of God grew mightily and prevailed.’

“God’s wisdom is not a wisdom ‘of this age’ – that is, of the present world and the way this world sees things. Instead, ‘we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.’ God has given us access to a new kind of wisdom, through the Spirit. All God’s treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the Messiah himself.

“God offers us, by the Spirit, a fresh kind of relationship with himself – and, at the same time, a fresh kind of relationship with our neighbors and with the whole of creation. The renewal of human lives by the Spirit provides the energy through which damaged and fractured human relationships can be mended and healed.”

THAT is a fuller explanation of what “peace with God” is all about, and it describes what it means to be a Flourishing Christian.

Justified through faith. At peace with God. Filled with the Spirit. Rejoicing in hope. Persevering in affliction. Does that describe you?

What is the Spirit impressing on you? Ask Him to speak to you. Listen. Wait.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!