Thought for Friday, 27 October

 Romans 8:35, 37-38

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity,

or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us and I am convinced that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love.  Death can’t, and life can’t.  The angels can’t, and the demons can’t.  Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away.

Have you ever heard people talking with some degree of authority on certain subjects and wondered how they managed to get that knowledge?  I’ve spoken with friends about the current situation in Israel and they come out with background to the conflict that I’m totally unaware of.  I spoke with my daughter just over a week ago and she asked if I remembered a specific thing that happened a long time ago and I genuinely couldn’t remember anything about this occurrence.  In situations like this, I always go quiet.  I suppose I could try and bluff my way through by kidding on that I was aware of the background to the current problems at Gaza and did remember what Ruth was talking about, but I would be uncomfortable taking that option.  When I can’t recall a certain situation or have the same background information about a certain subject, I tend to be left with an element of doubt that the information I’m being given is accurate.  Although I have only provided a couple of examples, I’m fairly sure that we all have similar examples of our own when someone comes up with information in a discussion or argument where firstly, we wonder how they knew that and secondly, wonder if it is true?

When Paul was writing the words in today’s passage from scripture, the statements and arguments he makes are unquestionable for believers.  Paul had a personal encounter with the risen Lord that totally changed his life around and he went from persecuting the early disciples and believers to becoming a disciple himself that took the good news from Israel to Rome and to many places inbetween.  Paul experienced real trouble, calamity, persecution, danger and the threat of death throughout his ministry and despite all this, his faith never wavered.

The first paragraph describes situations where we are not 100% confident in the accuracy of the information we are hearing.  It should naturally make us cautious about sharing it.  When we read from scripture, we should know by believing that every word is true, and be happy or encouraged to share it.  By reading and opening our hearts and minds to what lies therein, we provide an opening for God’s love and a place within us for his Holy Spirit to reside.

Having mentioned Israel and Gaza, it would be remiss of me not to ask that we all include this situation in our prayers and ask for God’s intervention to prevent any further atrocities and loss of life.

Prayer – Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love and grace that is always with us. We pray that we will always be strong in our faith and that we will never give up hope, no matter what is happening in our lives.  We pray that you will help us try to love others as you love us. We pray that you will help us to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving. We pray that you will help us to be patient and understanding. We pray that you will help us to be good examples to others. We pray that you will help us to be faithful and obedient to your word. We pray that you will help us to trust in you and to know that you are always with us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.