We hope by now you have received your 30-Day Devotional Guide created by your Flourish Committee. If you haven't, we may not have a correct address for you. You can find a printable pdf version of the Devotional on our website www.theflourishconference.org or at www.cggcwomen.org. Over the next several months, we will be posting each devotional on our blog as well, helping us to celebrate this milestone throughout the year. Today's blog post commemorates the twenty-first year of the March Retreat.
#21 2012 Speakers: Shelley Hitz; LaMont Monford Musicians: Out of the Grey Unshackled: Grace-full
“We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
~Romans 5:2b(ASV)~
When we are justified, we can (and should) boast in the hope of the glory of God. This is the encouragement we have when we face times of suffering. That suffering should not detract from our hope but rather strengthen it. The key is how we respond—with perseverance or by giving up?
The specific theme in this passage is hope: the hope of the glory of God (verse 2), the world cannot give us hope, but if we are followers of Christ, we do have hope when we have been made with God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ! We have hope because God was glorified through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This hope cannot put us to shame because God is on our side, and we are loved by Him.
As Christians, we can rest knowing that there is better to come. The promise of Heaven and living in God’s glory carries us through. We can share, boast, encourage others in this, and we can share the Kingdom of Heaven with others. When we know that we are unshackled, we are not bound in hopelessness, but rather, we are full of grace, love, and hope. How freeing is it to be so full of the things of God that we cannot get anywhere on Earth or from anyone else than our Savior and Lord?
Because we have hope in Jesus, we can rest in His grace, allowing us to be unshackled from the world’s burdens. We have the hope of God, His grace, and that is all that we need. What are you doing to live unshackled and grace-full?
Author: Molly Weaver, Flourish Intern, Winebrenner Theological Seminary