Romans 4:13-18 (click to view Scripture below)
Measuring ourselves against the law leads to despair because we will never be able to live up to the law. What a freeing and wonderful revelation to know that our Lord did not promise Abraham he would be heir of the world as a result of his adherence to the law, but rather as a result of his faith. This is a message that should bring incredible hope to us all. Through Abraham’s “righteousness of faith” the Lord made him the father of many nations.
The world today is all too ready to suggest to us all that we don’t measure up. It tells us we aren’t smart enough, strong enough, pretty enough, and on and on. The children of Latin America face daily reminders of the ways in which they fall short, but ChildHope shares with them that they aren’t measured by the world’s standards or the law. We’re able to share God’s love with them and a message that in Christ “we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7
Regional Coordinator, Mexico and the Caribbean
Prayer: Lord, thank you that we are not measured by the law, but rather by our faith. Help us to be ever mindful of that and also to share it with others, especially the children of Latin America.
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Romans 4:13-18 (ESV)
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
See other devotionals in this series.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
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