There are several times in my life when I go too fast for my own good. I speed through conversations leaving people feeling confused or not heard. I speed through moments with my family and realize days after how truly impactful they were and wish I would have made that moment more memorable. There are times I speed through when I read the Bible and fall victim to believing that because I understood something with my mind, that I knew it in my heart.
1. Do you struggle with living life with too much urgency?
Chapter eight of the book of Romans might be a great example of something that was written, and if we speed through reading, we can totally miss the amazingness of God’s Word. This Growth Community lesson is meant to be taken slowly to fully allow our hearts to be transformed by what we know about God. Purposely, there is less depth than I normally would write in hopes that as a Growth Community, we are able to slow our minds down to seek Jesus and understand His works more fully.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
2. What does this verse mean to you?
There are times in life when we are speeding through life, going from appointment to appointment, kid’s sports game to next agenda items, and we overlook God’s purpose and what He is working out around us.
3. Why can a lifestyle full of rushing dull our ability to recognize God’s workings?
Romans 8:29-30 continues, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
4. Who initiates the whole process of our salvation?
The conversation about the foreknowledge of God and the exacts of the predestination of the elect is a lengthy one. My hope is that we take more from the simple truth that God predestined, He called, He justified, and God glorifies. With each of these amazing biblical truths, there can be one truth that we, as followers of Christ, miss. Instead of arguing deep theological concepts, a follower of Christ ought to look more at how their confession of Jesus as Lord is transforming them.
5. What does it look like to be conformed to the image of His Son? How can we be conformed?
Roman 8:31 adds, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Reading the Bible and not stopping at each verse number is one way to see God’s truth in such an amazing way. Because God foreknew, because God predestined, because we are conformed to image of Jesus, because we have been justified by the work of Jesus, and because we will be glorified because we put our faith in Christ, God’s Word says one truth that we cannot distort, but must hold on to, that God is for us.
6. How can this truth be strengthened in our hearts when we slow down?
Romans 8:32 states, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
7. What was God’s supreme act of love? When was the last time you took the time to realize that God sent His Son to seek you who were lost?
Romans 8:33-34 continues, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
8. What does it mean to “bring any charge”? Why can nothing or anyone make a charge against God’s elect?
Taking a moment to slow down brings us to a place to rest in God’s supreme work. Oftentimes, I catch myself going through life condemned by my mistakes, misses, blunders, and failures. While I may have others who know the weight of this prison, I have had to learn that I have to slow down to remember that those charges are not from God. Living a life in haste seldom brings peace to those who confess Jesus as Lord. Taking time to slow down and realize that any charge against you has been paid for on the cross is where the rest can be found.
Romans 8:35-39 concludes, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
9. Is there anything you can do to make God love you more? Is there anything you can do to make God love you less?
10. What is the only way to be separated from God?
When we rush through life, we get more focused on the trials, persecutions, difficulties, and let-downs. Slowing down, reading His Word, reflecting, and realizing His love, grace, and power are real. Knowing Jesus is King and Lord of this world brings us to a place where we understand that nothing in this life can stop God from loving us. It is easy for our brains to say, “Yes, I know that.” The sweet spot is when our hearts can slow ourselves down long enough to realize that we can rest in His love.