We’re still in Romans today, but I’m taking a day off from our study to address a subject that is burdening me.  My hope, as always is that this will be an encouragement to you.  This message is primarily for those of you who have been following after Christ for a while.  It is easy in the beginning, everything is new, but how do you finish the race, when life is 70, 80, or 90 years?  How do you maintain the momentum you have in your faith in Christ?  I’m speaking on my own now, but personally, I want peace in my life.  I want joy.  That is what drives me continually back to God.  There is a peace and joy in a restored relationship with God which surpasses all other pleasures.  I have this body which is prone to leave the peace and joy I have with God, to pursue immediate fleeting pleasures.  Those fleshly pleasures, ultimately destroy my peace, and remove my joy in intimate fellowship with God.  This happens when I take my eyes off of Christ, stop looking to Him as my sustenance for life, and allow the business of life to take over.  We all, are designed not to function independent as Christians, but as dependent children; daily, constantly looking up to our Father for wisdom and guidance.

Here then is my exhortation for sustained peace and joy.  Meditate on this scripture, use it as a filter for your thoughts and decisions, and you will know the peace and joy of Christ.

Romans 13:8-14 – “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness andput on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

There is a circular momentum to doing this.  As you seek peace and joy by loving those around you well, you will find that you will not be able to do this as well as you want, which will drive your closer to Christ; asking forgiveness of sin, resting in His blood as covering for your sin, pleading with Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit as you pursue knowing Him/becoming more like Him in reading your Bible.  He is your daily bread, whereby another day comes and you start all over.  New opportunities to love well, new opportunities to reject fleshly pleasures, knowing you have a greater treasure in Christ.

What are your relationships like now?  Would you say that those around you would know the depth of the love of God by how you love them?  How do you spend your time?  Do you have a peace and joy in intimiate fellowship with God?  If not, what things are keeping you from time spent in prayer, in reading/meditating on Christ in your Bible?  The time has come Christian to wake from your sleep.  Fast.  Do whatever you need to do.  Surround yourself with Christians to spur you on.  Take part in corporate worship of God.  Take communion to remind yourself of the victory of Christ over sin, and our hope in Him.  Put off those things which rob you of peace and joy in God, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Make no provision for the pursuit of fleshly pleasures; cut them off, run from them.  Trust in the surpassing greatness that is yours in Christ.  In a short time, we will be with Him, and know a fullness of joy in His presence.

Grace and Peace,
Adam