Romans 4:16-22
New International Version
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[b] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Thursday - November 11
We often tell children that they have their “whole life ahead of them” which means they have lots of potential. Instead, what if we started telling kids that they were dead? That’s not very motivational. But God is not interested in motivating us to live up to our potential or “God-given abilities.” God is interested in our deadness because that is where He does his best work! God creates life out of nothing (“ex nihilo” in Latin). That is what God did “in the beginning” and that is what God still does. God’s word creates life. It created life in Abraham both spiritually and literally, since a 100 year old man and his 90 year old wife who had never had a child miraculously had a child exactly as God promised! Let us stop looking at our weak, frail, “dead” bodies and look to Christ and cling to God’s life-giving word of promise.