Living with Courageous Confidence // Romans 8:31

Let today’s verse wash over you: if God is for us, who can be against us? Who, indeed?! There are all kinds of forces at work trying to divide, deceive, depress, and discourage. Yet, as it also says in Romans 8, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus, and in Him, we are more than conquerors. Jesus cautioned His followers that going His way would put us in opposition to the world. Consider what He said as recorded in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” Then again in John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” So, if you find yourself at odds with the world today as a result of your faith, know you are in good company. Don’t lose heart, though, because Jesus overcame our trouble-causing world, and in His mercy, made us all more than conquerors as well! God IS for us, so who of any importance can stand against us, let alone stop God’s purposes? May we live with that courageous confidence. So be it, amen.