Access To God

"Moreover let us also be full of joy now!

let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice

in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction

and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance."

Romans 5:3

Becoming a Christian has enormous consequences.

Relationships are changed; we are given privileges;

we look at life differently; our resources are inexhaustible.

How do we receive all of this?

Paul makes it clear: through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our relationships are changed: we have peace with God.

"Therefore , since we have been justified through faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..."

Romans 5:1

When we are at odds with God, inner peace eludes us.

Becoming a Christian necessitates being made right with God,

and what a difference it makes!

Peace with God is enough to sing about.

We are given privileges: we have access by faith into God's

very presence:

..."through whom we have gained access into this grace

in which we now stand."

Romans 5:2

Once we knew only hostility, now we are invited into

the King's presence. Once we were outside; now we are 

welcome inside. Access. What are you doing with the privilege

of coming into God's presence?

We look at life differently: we can be joyful even when facing

the hard things that come into our lives. We know life isn't purposeless.

God is taking the stuff of our lives and making something good out of it.

We are on our way somewhere. God wants us to get us ready for heaven.

Our joy is real because we know we will one day share the glory of God.

Our resources are inexhaustible: God keeps pouring His love into our hearts.

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has

poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

whom He has given us."

Romans 5:5

He not only makes us feel very loved, but He is so generous

in His supply that we have an overflow of love for other people.

He gives us the Holy Spirit, who not only transforms our thinking,

but makes God's love real to us.

Our trouble begins when we forget these great realities and

concentrate on our inadequacies, our fears, and all other manifestations

of our smallness. The proof of God's love is that Jesus Christ died for us.

We are no longer shivering outside in the cold with no credentials

to come before the King.

Jesus has invited us into His very presence and given us all we need

and more besides. This passage in Romans 5 is a renewed invitation to

take advantage of your privileges as a daughter of the King.

Prophetic Art by Pam Herrick

"Access To God"

A devotional by Gladys M. Hunt