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Day 28: Romans 7/Psalm 57
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Tuesday March 23, 2004
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I do not understand
what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not
want to do--this I keep on doing.
Romans 7:15,18-19 (New International Version)
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We Need
Help!
As you read today’s
devotion, please clear your mind of everything.
Specifically, do
not think of a smiling alligator.
Do not let a
smiling alligator enter your mind’s eye.
Are you thinking of
a smiling alligator? Sometimes it is amazing how the very thing we are
trying to stay clear of seems unavoidable. I identify with Paul’s words
because there are times when I have every intention to make the right
decision, and then I become powerless. “I will go to bed after one more
commercial...I will not get angry at the other drivers on the way to
work this morning...I will not participate in negative conversations
about (insert name) ...”
The point of these
verses in chapter seven is not to remind us that our moral efforts are
futile. This is not an excuse for us to lounge in our powerlessness.
The point of these verses is to remind us that we need help--that we
cannot be what we hope to be by our own strength. Paul asks:
Who will rescue me from this
body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:24-25 (New International Version)
Only through Christ
are we rescued from the power of sin. When we find ourselves spinning
around in circles, making the same wrong decisions over and over again,
remember that Christ came to offer both grace to forgive and power to
overcome. It is not being weak to say, “I need Jesus.” It is being
self-aware.
Today’s
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your love for me even when I continue to mess
up. I recognize that
I do not have enough strength to battle my temptations on my own. I
love you. I trust you. I need you.
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Memory Verse of the Week:
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that
came by Christ Jesus."
Romans 3:23-24 (New International Version)
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For a complete
listing of all the previous devotionals in this "50 Day
Experience," click here.
To read the chapter or psalm of the day online, click on one of the
following links:
o
Romans
7
o
Psalm
57
Allan Fuller, fuller@cincyvineyard.com,
Director of Celebrations at VCC
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