Wow, the month of January is now over, and it’s time to wrap up our challenge. What an amazing way to start off the year.  There have been priceless truths shared during these past weeks, and the scripture itself that you’ve committed to memory is the most valuable treasure of all!

To each of you who have completed, or even done a part of this challenge, we want to thank you.  It is a huge encouragement to see others who are willing to take the time and put in the effort to make God’s Word a priority in their lives!

So now that we’re done, here’s the next step.  If you have successfully memorized the chapter and quoted it to your parents, then have them let us know via email by midnight on Sunday February 5th.

They can email us at journeytotheheart@iblp.org.

After the cutoff date we will post a list of the names, and then we will be sending out a reward to those who have finished the challenge. It won’t be anything too spectacular, but we do want you to know that we appreciate your effort and accomplishment!

So email us if you have any questions, and now, begin to enjoy the new treasury of verses and truths that you’ve been given through this time!

Congratulations!

In His service,

~The Journey Office

“OK, you’ve convinced me.”
“Naw you don’t really believe me.”
“No, I believe you!”
“No man, come on!! You still don’t believe me.”
“No I really totally do believe you, I believe you 150%!”
“No you don’t!”
“Yes I do!!”
“You do not either!”
“No, I really do!”
“No you don’t, because if you did then you’d do it!”
“I really believe you and I believe you even if I don’t do it.”
“But if you don’t do it then there’s really no way for me to know that you believe me!”
“Well I do believe you!”
“ARGGHHHHH!  Listen to me!  I will never know if you actually believe me unless you DO IT!!”
“Look, you told me that jumping off a bridge hundreds of feet in the air with a big rubber cord tied to my feet was one of the most incredible things that I could ever experience. And I believe you!”
“Sigh….No, you don’t believe me, because if you really did, you would actually jump.”

Ok, so I’m not necessarily advocating bungee jumping, but I think many of us have that exchange with God all the time, and we’re not even aware of it.
Some of us are standing on the brink of real life in Christ, and we are proclaiming with all we have that we are all in! Oh yes; we believe that these two incredible verses are true, and that God loves us, and nothing, NOTHING, NOTHING! can change that!
But, for many of us our lives proclaim a very different message.
We’re on the brink but we haven’t actually jumped.

When we are faced with different aspects of life, or pierced by the pain of death, we start to wonder. When we come up against the reality of the spiritual realm and the war that is raging, we begin to fear. When we are under authorities who are difficult, corrupt, or evil, we tend to resent. When we are in the middle of things currently happening that seem to have no reason and no hope, or when future possibilities loom ahead of us with uncertainty and possible hardship and pain, we feel doubt. When we experience the heights of success, and the depths of despair or defeat, when we’re trapped with people, or in circumstances that seem to drain all hope, when all these things happen to us, our hearts often scream “WHERE IS THE LOVE OF GOD NOW?????” while our heads, and our mouths declare, “Jesus loves me!”
We’re on the edge, and we “believe” in jumping, but we haven’t jumped.
It’s a heavy thought, to suggest that we don’t really believe that God loves us.  But here’s why this challenge may be needed.

If we jumped, if we truly, really, completely, and with everything that is in us, believed those verses, our lives would be an explosion of the power, the victory, the grace, the love, and the light of God; and this world would feel the effects of it!
When I say explosion, I truly mean it.
It sounds extreme doesn’t it?  It sounds very “out there”, and if you’re anything like me, then when you hear someone talking like this, you may be thinking thoughts like “This isn’t for me. I’m just not spiritual enough to live an explosive Christian life. This is for the Navy Seal Christians who ingest scripture and drown themselves in prayer, but I’ll never be able to be like that.”

If that’s how you think, then I just want to remind you of two things. Number one:Jesus came for sinners (Lu 5:32), and number two: He came to give them abundant life. (John 10:10) “Abundant life” that’s the explosion we’re talking about! So as long as you’re not perfect, then Jesus meant this for YOU!

Here’s where the whole explosion thought came from:
If we believe Romans 8:38-39, then what we are saying is this:

I believe that:
The Being who made wondrous planets, countless stars, and innumerable galaxies,
The Artist who made color, and created sound, brought forth music, painted the sunset,  and sculpted the mountains,
The Scientist who designed gravity, made time itself, and formed cells and organisms so small and yet incredibly complex,
The One who created the world of spirits,
The One who designed order to sustain life,
And the One who created life itself in all its mystery,
This is the One who loves me, and this is the One who says, that nothing that has been made will ever separate me from that love.

If we really believed that the God of all gods, the Ruler, the Maker, the Designer, and the Creator, loved us to that extent, don’t you think that our lives would be explosive?

When you jump off that bridge tied to a bungee cord, what you are saying is: “Ok! I believe, and I am NOT TURNING BACK!”
When you “Jump” into the fullness of life in Jesus, what you are saying is: “I am ‘persuaded’, and I am NOT TURNING BACK.”

…….So Jump.

~ Laura O.

Wow! I love this verse! If we back up to verse 35 and 36 we see that suffering is promised. Tribulation is inevitable! For indeed those who live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution! But! We can choose to glory in these trials because NOTHING can stop us from the LOVE of Jesus! From conquering our adversaries in the spirit of praise of WHO He is that has loved us! Our heart is fixed! We will not fear! We will press on! We will stand in the face of condemnation and triumph covered in the blood of Jesus! We will not back down, we will not relent, surrender is not an option we are redeemed, we are sanctified, we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS!!! As excited as all this gets me, I believe my favorite line in the above verse is not so much that we are more than conquerors, although what does that mean? That means that, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death (to name a few!)…it cannot defeat us! In fact it can’t even touch what we have! We serve the One who has the keys of Hell and of Death in His hand and He is the Author and Finisher of our faith! But…getting back to what excites me the most is that it is through HIM that LOVED us!!!

Why would Jesus love me? Why did His Father love me more than 2,000 years before I was born and send His living Son (His ONLY son) to be slaughtered as a lamb for the sacrifice of my sin? I don’t understand that. I don’t understand His love for me in that while I was yet a sinner HE died for me! I don’t understand Him. I just worship Him because of it! I adore Him because He rescued me and secured for me a place in Heaven! His love for me is from EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING! He has never left me nor forsaken me! His thoughts for me are more than the sand on the seashore! I have been to the beach and let me tell you that is a lot of sand! He loves us! Even in our weakness, even in our shame! He loves us! Even when we spit in His face and deny His presence through our thoughts, actions and attitudes, He wipes the tears from our eyes. He weeps over our sin. He stands at the door and knocks even when I shut Him out. He picks us up when we have fallen into sin and can’t find a way out. He has sealed us and He is preparing a place for us even when we find in our hearts and conversations no room for Him.

He is beyond my comprehension. He is beyond my imagination! He has bought me with the very blood flowing through His veins and He loves me today and I will spend forever with this King of Kings and Lover of MY soul who has made me MORE than a conqueror! He has defeated the greatest trial I could ever go through and uses the trials of our faith to bring forth His perfect and loving work to make us into the image of His dear Son! Oh how I love Him! How I adore Him! Join me in Praising Him today and everyday! Do not let a day go by without reflecting and basking in this amazing love! He, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah delights in you! Delight in Him! Seek Him first! Look for Him and for the treasures of this relationship unlike any other relationship in your life and you will find them! You will see Him with a pure heart! You will stand amazed in the presence of Jesus your Redeemer and the Avenger of your faith! Hallelujah! Holy is the Lamb and Holy is the Lord God Almighty who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord in Heavenly places! May we see Him High and Lifted up! More than Conquerors!!!!

~Liz Baldwin

Jesus loves me this I think hope  know!

“How deep the Father’s love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That he  should give his only Son

And make a wretch His treasure

“Why should I gain from his reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom”

A young Christian man was once confronted by his skeptical college teacher about the “love” of this God he believed in. She boldly questioned, “If your God is so loving, why is there only one way to heaven and everyone who doesn’t accept it goes to hell?” The young man thought about this and wisely responded “I don’t know why God didn’t make 10 ways to heaven, or 7… or some other number. I’m just thankful he made a way for me to get to heaven (considering the condition I was in).”* God made a way to us. We did not make a way to God. We’ve heard about it so many times that it is easy for this idea to lose its excitement and power but God’s love truly is the amazing story of the ages. God loves us so much that He initiated the process, paid the highest cost, and made a way for us to have a relationship with Him on earth and spend eternity with Him.

Paul asks what can separate us from this love. Can tribulation (which can literally mean pressure), or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  It has been said that God takes us to the top of a hill to look into the distance and see the awesome vision He has for us, then He leads us down through the valley to mold us into that vision. It is in the valley that many fall away. It is in the hard times that we feel forgotten and even abandoned by God. But these verses remind us that absolutely nothing can separate us from His love. Often the reason that we fail to recognize His love in the trials of life is because we have a false perception of success. Success is not achieving things that make me money, make me laugh, or make me famous.  Success is achieved when my character is made more like Christ’s (Col. 1:28), when I make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20), and when I bear fruit that will last (John 15:16). These are the things that bring true joy and it is through the deepest love that God refines us and helps us achieve these.  It is in this light that we should evaluate the shadows of our valleys. When we understand true success, we position ourselves to be able to understand true love.

Years ago, there was a Christian in Communist China who was arrested for his faith and thrown into prison. He was placed in solitary confinement with little food for 12 months. This man survived these harshest of circumstances but when he was released he could barely walk and even the sunlight hurt his eyes. People asked him “what was it like for you in there?” He softly smiled and replied, “It was like being on a honeymoon with Jesus!” God’s love will always be there for us no matter how trying the circumstance!

God loves me so much that he wanted to be my Father! He wants a personal, daily relationship with me – right now in 2012! The realization of what this deep, personal love really is can means the difference between working for Jesus or working with Him. It means the difference between doing things to make myself more “Godly” vs. doing things because I am God’s. It means the difference between doing good things to ease my conscience and try to earn a better standing with Him vs. doing “everything as unto the Lord” because I know how much He loves me, I want my daily actions to be pleasing in his sight, and I know His plan for me is the most rewarding.

Sometime back in the mid-1900s, there lived a young man in the sparsely-populated woods of northern Michigan. He had an older brother whom he dearly loved. One day, the young man’s “hero” was summoned to the army and went away to war. He was tragically killed and never returned. The young man was devastated. In reality he would never see his brother again and yet he could not accept this – his “hero” would return some day he told himself. The boy would eagerly walk to the train tracks and wait, expectantly watching the horizon for the first glimpse of his brother coming home. He made this trip for over 12 years, waiting there day after day but never saw his brother again! As sad as this story is, it helps us realize the joy of God’s love – because it’s just the opposite! This young man would never again be united with his brother, we can never be separated from God’s love! The young man’s brother would never return, God’s love will never leave! But because this young man could not comprehend the fact that his brother was really gone, he did not live in the reality of his true circumstances and this defined his life for over 12 years. May we live in the full reality of the true greatness of God’s love! Someone once said, “I don’t have hold of God’s promises, God’s promises have hold of me.” His great love is one of those promises!

~Brent

 *not a direct quote

“Who is he that condemns?”  A beautiful picture of this is the woman caught in adultery. Surrounded by her accusers  before Jesus, she must feel overwhelmed by judgment and condemnation. Then with a simple question, she and Jesus are all alone. Now the question in her mind must be, “Will this man also accuse and condemn me?”  She  knows she is guilty  according to the law, but this man does not condemn her! He sends her with a mandate, “Go and sin no more.”

When all the accusers have left  and we are all alone with Christ, who is it that condemns? Jesus has every right, but He settled that question when He took upon Himself the sin of the whole world. He defeated sin, rose from the grave, and is sitting at the right hand of God. Yes, if anyone has the right to condemn us Jesus does. What does He do, though? In the climax of the moment when our judgment should be death? He forgives.

Now who is left to condemn?  The accusers, who have sin themselves, cannot cast the stone. Jesus, who has every right, forgives us. Shouldn’t we be rejoicing, embracing this forgiveness and walking in it? Though this is true, sadly there is one more condemner with a voice sometimes louder than all the rest, ourselves.

We are forgiven, but doubt, shame, and pity, put upon by ourselves do not allow us to walk in the truth of that forgiveness.  We let self rise up and completely overwhelm our soul. We become weighted down and become completely occupied with ourselves. Andrew Murray puts it this way:

“It is the sinner dwelling in the full light of God’s holy redeeming love in the experience of that full indwelling of divine love, which comes through Christ and the Holy Spirit-who cannot be anything but humble. Not to be occupied with your sin, but to be occupied with God, brings deliverance from self.”

When Jesus gives the mandate to the woman caught in adultery to, “sin no more.” He then addresses the crowd saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

How do we become completely free from the last condemner, ourselves? Go and be “occupied” with God.

~Abby Swanson

-Romans 8:33

“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?”

This sounds more like a challenge than a question. Who would dare to contradict God and say that His elect, His saints (the very ones He has declared pure and holy) are guilty.  Would you dare to stand and correct God? To claim that He has overlooked some detail, but you with your ever watchful eye understand the REAL truth?  “Sit God, and get wisdom from me”. How utterly absurd. He could respond to you in much the same way He responded to Job “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you will instruct Me.  Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who set its measurements? Tell me, sense you know… Who enclosed the sea with doors…’thus far you shall come, but no further; here your proud waves shall stop’…Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know it place? Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?”

One very important aspect of the Christan walk is to AGREE with God. To always say ‘ You are right; I am wrong”. Most of us think that we do this, and it is true that we would never be stupid enough to think of correcting God to His face; however, we often bring a charge against what God has declared as Holy: ourselves.

Paul is pointing out that there are no charges; God is the One who justifies.

By the blood of Christ we are CLEAN. What a beautiful thing. We can boldly go through life knowing it is by His word that we are justified; not by what we feel like. Sometimes we don’t feel like we are justified; we are acutely aware of our shortcomings and our sinful flesh; however, if He says we are clean then we must humble ourselves and agree that He is right. What He says is truth. He alone justifies. Whenever our feelings contradict the word of God we must go with what He says to be the truth. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Praise God that He is merciful, and that He has made us free.

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever!

~Madison Knight

-Romans 8:32

The secret of the Christian’s success and joy in life is a burning desire to thank Jesus for what He has done for us and to tell others about Him.

When we put our faith in Jesus as our Saviour, what do we receive from God?

The answer is ALL THINGS!

1)  GOD GIVES US HIMSELF.

• The gift of God is God himself Jesus. Our grace is brought to us by God himself, paying the price, delivering the gift. The gift and the Giver are the same.

2)  GOD GIVES US RELEASE FROM OUR SINS.

• The Son is the sin-bearer.

. . .gave him up for us all

Our sins and their consequences were taken up and dealt with by Jesus personally and in a costly way.

3)  GOD GIVES US THE GUARANTEE OF ALL HIS OTHER GIFTS.

Since God did not spare even his own Son, but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else? (Rom. 8:32, NLT)

This reminds me… My mom shares that shortly after she was born again that God began to convict her about a relationship she had developed with a certain young man, who was not a Christian. A wise Christian counselor asked her, “Michelle, have you trusted Christ to take you to Heaven?” She replied, “Yes!” then he responded, “Don’t you think you can trust Him with your love life?”

That day she prayed & gave that area of her life to God! Shortly after that God miraculously brought my Father into her life!

God cares about every area of our life. He loves us and wants to lovingly guide us.

We receive the gift of new life through Christ, by receiving Christ as our Saviour and Lord – we put our trust in him.

. . . along with him

The grace of God and his other gifts do not come to people apart from faith in Christ – ie. relationship with him.

Since God has done the greater, greatest thing (given up his Son for us), he will surely give us lesser and other things along with Christ!

What are these other things? All things?

Romans 8 is a summary of the many gifts that come with the grace of God in Christ:

• No condemnation

• No guilt

• No weakness

• No defeat

• No despair

• No want

• No separation from God.

Our calling every day of our lives is to appreciate the benefits of Christ’s saving death for us.

“God the Father had but two grand gifts to bestow; and when once they were given, He had left then nothing that was great (comparatively) to give, for they contained all good in them. These two gifts were his Son, who was his promise in the Old Testament, and his Spirit, the promise of the New. “ (Thomas Goodwin)

Main Point: The gift of Christ to us includes all the other gifts of God.

~Jana Dugger

I really appreciate what Abby shared yesterday. I recently finished reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis and though of the section Abby mentioned as I was meditating these verses. In these next two verses God gives us kind of an outline for how He wants to conform us to the image of His Son.

God called the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to bring them into the Promised Land. He wanted them to live in freedom – freedom from bondage, freedom from oppression from a cruel master. Christ has also called each of us out of bondage, out of slavery to the law of sin and death. As it says in verse two, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Even though God called Israel out of Egypt, they could have chosen to stay where they had been for so long, and we all have been given the same choice. But when we choose to answer His call, He justifies us.

Now we are made righteous, but not with our righteousness because our righteousness is still as filthy rags. However, in Christ we have become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). But sometimes we go back to our old ways, our old habits. Why? Why did some of the Israelites want to return to Egypt? How silly can they be?! Didn’t they remember the wonderful promises God gave them? Well, shouldn’t we remember the same promises God has given us? Promises to be glorified with Christ, promises of hope and help from the Spirit, promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called. The very next line says, “whom He justified, these He also glorified.” So what’s my problem? I don’t walk in the Spirit! Isn’t that what we started with in this chapter?! “If Christ is in you… the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (v. 10). And the Spirit bears witness that we are children of God – joint heirs with Christ that we may be glorified with Him.

Last week a few of the verses mentioned suffering and groaning. What’s this all about? What about jumping and leaping and praising God because we are justified? The question isn’t whether I am suffering for Christ’s sake. The question is, “Is Christ being glorified in all my actions, attitudes, and words?” Because when Christ is glorified, you and I are glorified! “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

For “if God be for us, who can be against us?” We certainly will go through trials, floods, rivers, and the wilderness. We will face giants and seemingly innumerable enemies. Israel faced all of these things and we will too. We do go through suffering and groaning. But God has given us another promise. What do you think David thought when he went face to face (or face to knee cap) with Goliath? What about the decision Daniel had to make when praying to Almighty God was outlawed? How about Elijah vs. 450 prophets of Baal? There are countless examples of people in Scripture and throughout history who have faced incredible challenges because they believed God’s Word and claimed His promises. It’s not that nobody is against us if God is for us, but it doesn’t matter who is against us.

We are children of the King of kings. He has called us out, justified us, and glorified us even now but He will so much more when we go home from the battles we face today. Do you think people in the early church who were persecuted mercilessly continued in the faith just because they were being martyred? I don’t think so. They knew God’s Word to be true and stood on His promises despite their torments; it didn’t matter what they suffered. Christ alone was their hope of glory, and that is far greater than any challenge they could ever face.

By the grace of God, what am I going to do today to bring glory to God?

~Ian Boyes

The first thought that came when I was reading this verse in preparation of writing something was, “Oh, no. I have the predestination word. The one that causes an endless amount of debate and the question, so what do you believe about predestination? If God already had everything predestined from the beginning what about free-will?” Well, I took a deep breath, sent a plea up to God for enlightenment, and forged ahead.

Many times I believe we get our misconceptions from looking at things from our very small narrow perspective. Such as looking at words like, “foreknew, and predestined.” What about God’s perspective on things such as this? Our minds cannot even begin to fathom the ways of God.What are some things that would make a difference on how these words would apply to Him? One would be time. While we are limited by this, He is not. Here I am going to step out and let an excerpt from Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis take over:

 “Another difficulty we get if we believe God to be in time is this. Everyone who believes in God at all believes that He knows what you and I are going to do tomorrow. But if He knows I am going to do so-and-so, how can I be free to do otherwise? Well, here once again, the difficulty comes from thinking that God is progressing along the timeline like us, (His example of a time line:  if we picture time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all).: the only difference being that He can see ahead and we cannot. Well, if that were true, if God foresaw our acts, it would be very hard to understand how we could be free not to do them. but suppose God is outside and above the timeline. In that case, what we call ‘tomorrow’ is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call ‘today’. All the days are ‘Now’ for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; he simply sees you doing them, because, though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not ‘foresee’ you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him. You never supposed that your actions at this moment were any less free because God knows what you are doing. Well, He knows your tomorrow’s actions in just the same way—because He is already in tomorrow and can simply watch you. In a sense, He does not know your action till you have done it: but then the moment at which you have done it is already ‘Now’ for Him. This idea has helped me a good deal. If it does not help you, leave it alone. It is a ‘Christian idea’ in the sense that great and wise Christians have held it and there is nothing in it contrary to Christianity. But it is not in the Bible or any of the creeds. You can be a perfectly good Christian without accepting it or indeed without thinking of the matter at all.”

Yes, we have the choice, but because God is not limited to time He foreknew each one of those who would come to a saving knowledge of Him.

“He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,”- this is beautiful to me. God placed in all of us who know Him that seed of desire to become more and more like His Son. He didn’t just save us and leave us there. No, like the clay in the potter’s hand, He desires to fashion us into the image He has predestined us to be!

~Abby

-Romans 8:28

To those who love God, to those who have responded to his call for
salvation: they are the ones for whom God promises to work all things
together for their good. It is not anyone or even we ourselves that can do
this working: it is God.

In previous verses, we are assured of the Holy Spirit’s intercession on our
behalf, interpreting our prayers and needs, asking according to the will of
God. If we, who don’t even know how to ask or pray, need the Holy Spirit to
help then why cannot we trust the who One who sees in entirety the whole
procedure and happenings of our life? He certainly will not fail to leave
out or overlook a single detail that is needed to work all things for good.

It’s like making a cake, ingredient by ingredient things change and blend,
come together, but to us (who represent the cake), the batter seems runny.
We are poured out into a new mold that is all greased and unfamiliar. Yuck!
Picked up and moved by the bakers hands and set inside heat for a period of
time, things seem to be going in the wrong direction. Things are happening,
and we become uncomfortable, rising –expanding into a weird texture. The
moisture that we were discontent with is now mostly gone and the heat is
become unbearable. Just when it seems we will dry out, we are pulled out of
the oven. Finally, everything seems like it is going to be just fine, then
we are set aside. We have to cool-settle. At just the right time the baker
will come back and remove the form. And again we are left…something is
being prepared for us. When the time is right, He adorns us with the
confection of frosting. Then we are presented to the guests. We are placed for our use, then cut and served. We are delicious and filling. We bring
pleasure to our maker and glorify Him through what we are, because we are His. All has worked together for good.

The same can be true in our lives as we allow the “ingredients” to come
together, being formed into something which can and will bring glory only
to Christ. This working in us allows us to become a representation of the
Creator, spreading His love into the lives of those who need a Savior.

~Tiffany Martens