DEVOTIONAL

Prayers:

Scripture Reading for Prayer and Praise:

Worship Song Sung or Said: 

God’s Word for Today: Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Devotional/Study: Part 1

We all know, following Jesus and living according to His teaching is not easy in these days because we are in a spiritual battle against the flesh the world and the devil and these three powers seek to lead us away from the one and true living God. For first-century believers, there was a price for being followers of Jesus. 

There was economic and social persecution. These believers needed encouragement, so God used Paul the apostle throughout his life to comfort, encourage and teach people to trust in God and live like Christ in the midst of all kinds of suffering and hardships.

In his letter to the Christians in Rome Paul teaches how Christians should live among themselves and live in a society where persecution was a real issue and pressure to conform to the standard of the society, they lived in. Paul encourages Christians how to live above the difficulties we face.  He said in Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” 

These verses are very relevant to us in these days because they are the key to the well-being of those who follow and lives for Jesus. These are Gods word showing us how we are to respond in various situations we face in life and if we live out these verses, they will help us to remain steadfast in a world where people are hostile to Christians and to the message of the cross. They will also help us in the context of persecution and hardship and storms that we face and will face in the days to come. Let me say we will only be able to live out these verses if living under the lordship of Christ and walking and living under the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Firstly: He says “be joyful in Hope.” Does Paul mean that we should be walking around with a smile on our face and jumping up and down when we are going through sufferings? I don’t think Paul is saying this. The joy Paul is talking about is an inner joy that rises when our soul is deeply connected with God and trusts in Him during hardships, believing that God has a purpose and plan in our lives even in the most difficult times. Being joyful in hope is choosing to trust God in every situation, especially when you going through a hard time. 

In our walk with God, we always need to fix our eyes on Jesus and look forward to what he will do in our lives and how he will use us. This creates in our hearts a joyful expectation.  The wonderful thing about our God is, he wants to bless and use us for his glory. Once when Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus, he said in Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” 

This joy is internal and is a fruit of the Spirit and will overflow in our hearts when our eyes are fixed on Jesus It’s a joy that knows from deep within that our God is in control of our lives and believes and worships God with confidence believing that everything will be alright.

Our part in experiencing joy is to pray that there will be an inner joy in our heart in every situation good or bad. I do believe in some amazing way we will experience joy in God’s presence. Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Paul the apostle was truly an amazing man of God. His life was full of hardships, suffering, persecution, and beatings yet he remained joyful and praised and worshiped God.

On one occasion he was beaten and put in prison. However instead of complaining he worshipped and praised God with joy in his heart. Paul could rejoice in prison and in the face of many trials because his joy was in the Lord, not in circumstances. He was only able to praise God because he knew God was with him.

Several years there was an attack on a village named Gojra in Pakistan. This attack came after some accusations surfaced that Christians at a wedding ceremony had desecrated a copy of the Quran. Houses were burned and in one house a number of Christians weren’t burnt alive. A few days after the incident I went into that house and met up with some of the relatives and in the midst of this terrible incident we all held hands and at same time we prayed, cried and worshipped God seeking his peace and comfort. Although it was a very sad and painful time, there was a sense of worship and a quiet trust in God. 

I have concluded that this Joy comes from Knowing our God is always good, always right, always true, and always gracious. These truths release joy and the peace of God in a troubled heart. We can find rest in God when our hope is in Him. The psalmist said in Psalm 62:5 "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.” 

Brothers and sisters when we face life’s most difficult hardships, we can experience true joy and peace when we know within our hearts that in the deepest waters or darkest nights, God is with us. This joy is rooted and comes out of the hope we have in who God is. Paul calls these Christians to be "Joyful in hope." There are two kinds of hope a worldly hope and biblical hope. A worldly hope is always uncertain. I hope it doesn’t rain today. I hope I don’t have to go the hospital. These kinds of hopes are full of uncertainty. 

The biblical hope Paul is speaking about carry’s the idea of anticipation and confident expectation and certainty that God keeps His promises according to His purposes and plans and does what He says He will do. It is a hope that believes God promises are certain, yet still to come. 

Why is God our Hope? He is our hope because of who He is, He is Almighty, provider, merciful, trustworthy, forgiving, faithful, good, and saviour. 

Sometimes for some of us lives can be very stormy and difficult. When we read the psalms, we discover the writers sometimes went through very dark times. In Psalm 42:5 the psalmists say “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.” You will notice in this time of darkness, the psalmist tells himself to put hope in God and praise Him. 

When life is difficult the way to rise above our hardships is to fix our eyes on the God of hope and worship Him. This will release Joy, hope to overflow out of our hearts. I recognise that sometimes when life is difficult, it is not easy to praise the Lord, but it’s in those times we have to look to and worship God despite what we are feeling. 

Joy is a cornerstone of our faith. Paul said in Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” 

Personal Prayers: