June 14, 2008

Romans 5:2-5

We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that He has already thrown open His door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand--out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary--we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! -Romans 5:2-5

1. We finally realize that God is great and wonderful and glorious. We finally open up our lives to Him only to realize He already did it for us. He used Jesus to open up His door to us. We're so excited to finally get to a point that He has already brought us to. And that just brings us more excitement.
2. After this, we finally stand in God's grace, which is not closed off and boxed in; it is wide open. We're free to run, dance and play in His love and grace. It's not small or insignificant, but huge and freeing. It gives us plenty of room to stand up in His righteousness and shout our praise to Him.
3. Then there's more: because of the greatness we've experienced in God, we continue to shout our praise to Him when we are troubled and suffering. Because we know our suffering isn't in vain, but it leads to greater things, including a passionate patience. I don't really know how to view patience as passionate, but I find it interesting.
4. With all of this, we don't feel left out. We're not missing anything. Instead, we do not have enough space to contain the blessings God has poured into our lives.

I don't usually like the Message Remix unless I'm reading it beside the NIV, but I was having a hard time completely understanding this passage in the NIV so I'm sold on this version.

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