Living in Joy and Peace

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 

We have so much to be thankful for and to be full of joy. We will be going through a few scriptures in Romans 5, where we can learn about a precious gift that we have been given. God is so gracious and good to us. Every single day we can choose to have joy, peace, and life because of Jesus.

*** This is only an outline here on the blog – more details are discussed on the podcast.

This is such a great reminder that we are no longer under the law, and we are under the new covenant. We are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. We no longer are justified by works, and the beauty of the new covenant is that we are made right through faith. Because of this one of the benefits that we have is peace.

Before we were a believer, we could not live a holy life and even as a new creation, without the Holy Spirit’s power, we cannot live a holy life enough to please God. There is nothing we can do on our own to be made right before God. Peace comes when we relate to God based on faith in what He did for us instead of what we do for Him. We can be free from thinking that we must perform to some standard to be accepted by God. We can have peace because of what Jesus has done for us.

[2] Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Look at what this scripture says, because of Jesus and our faith in Him we are in a place of undeserved privilege! Thank you, Jesus!

Also, look what is said in the NKJV: through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God

What it’s talking about here is we have access to peace. The Greek word that was translated access as prosagoge. It literally means admission. Faith is our admission, or ticket, into the grace of God. No one is allowed in without a ticket. Our own good works won’t grant us admission. God’s grace can only be accessed by faith. This is the privilege that we stand in!

Anybody can rejoice or have joy when things are going good, right? But Paul is encouraging us to say that we should have joy in the middle of biscuits flying. Most people don’t have joy during hard times, in fact, they get mad and sometimes bitter at God.

Now is this saying we need to be happy at tragedy, no but we can have internal joy because of the faithfulness, and unconditional goodness and grace of God.

[3] We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

What we can rejoice in is that God loves us because of our faith in Him. His love is not based on our performance for Him. Thank you, Lord! Our faith and joy can remain steadfast through the good times and biscuits flying because of God’s faithfulness to love us no matter what.

What makes us lose our joy and peace is when we depend on ourselves and our own efforts. When trouble comes, we feel condemned and judged because we messed up. We may even feel unworthy and unloved or even devastated. But girlfriend, remember God loves us in our mess. Simply, put your eyes back on Jesus and the joy will return.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

I want to also mention something here that many times is misinterpreted. God is not the one who brings trouble and pain in our lives to teach us or obtain positive results in our lives. It’s the Word that gives us instruction and guidance.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

There are problems and trials in our lives because there is an enemy, and he hates those of us who are believers. There is a battle going on between the kingdom of God and this world. The only purpose of the devil is to steal everything from us including the Word of God in our lives.

Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

If problems were what made us grow and perfected us, then most believers would have been already perfected. Think about it, those who experience the greatest problems would be the greatest Christians, but that’s not the case. God’s Word does not need to be supplemented with problems to accomplish its work.

What does happen is when we operate in faith and joy, God can give us such victory that we are better off despite the troubles the enemy tries to throw at us. We can become stronger and be more aware of his stupid tactics in the future.

It’s just like when an army goes to war. If they win, there are spoils to be gained. But if those soldiers embraced their enemy because of the spoil they were expecting to receive, they would be killed instead of blessed. First, they have to fight and win the war. Then, and only then, will the spoils be available. The enemy doesn’t come to be a blessing, but a blessing can be obtained from the enemy if their opponents are victorious.

Those who believe that God has brought on their problems, won’t even enter into a battle. They will allow the devil to wreak havoc in their lives instead of taking authority against the challenges.

James 4:7 [Amplified Bible] So submit to the authority of God. Resist the devil, stand firm against him, and he will flee from you.

We are in a battle girlfriend, but we can live in joy, and we can rejoice even during biscuits flying seasons…. We can have joy because of God’s faithfulness, unconditional goodness, and grace He shows toward us. We can stand on God’s Word knowing that no matter what the stupid devil tries to do we have the victory. He has already lost, he is under our feet, he is powerless unless we give him power.