WWW Be Right (32)
First B Jackson
2015-10-07

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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So I just feel like I wanna tell you that for us teachers being up here, God really uses this to sharpen us. So here we go, Amy. Is that better or is it? Is it on? Okay.

That's better. This chapter eight has just been so powerful for me and stretching and convicting. And I just feel like going back to the fundamentals for me has been really good in my life. And I know that one of the reasons God has me up here teaching is to refine me and just to do something in my life that I really needed. And so I just wanted you to know that.

And I really wanna encourage you, couple friends and I were talking this past week. Reading the book and answering the questions is so important, but I wanna make sure that you're reading the chapter in the Bible. And that should be obvious, guess. But and also but maybe it's not because maybe we're just barely getting the questions done, but I really want to make sure if you haven't read Romans eight, sit down and read it. And if you have time, just sit down and read the whole book of Romans.

Maybe you could do it in chunks, but it's just so good to have an overview of the whole book. And that's really good. I've had a couple friends come to me saying they just wanna know how to study the Bible. And that's one of the first ways is just to get an overview of whatever book you're studying. And then as you're reading each chapter, one of the things I like to do is find like a key phrase or word or something that's used over and over.

And in chapter eight, it would be the Holy Spirit was a big one. And you just go through and either you can either mark it in the in your Bible, or you can just go through and write on a separate piece of paper and make a list of everything you learn about the Holy Spirit in that chapter. And for some reason, when I do that, things just come alive and they just I learned things that I didn't see by just reading the text. And just seeing like what the Holy Spirit does just all in one spot really stands out to me. I was just gonna read you part of my list of what the holy what I learned from the Holy Spirit in chapter eight.

It says, the law of the spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. Those who walk according to the spirit, the laws are fulfilled in them. Those who are according to the spirit set their spirit. The mind on the spirit is life and peace. You are in the spirit if the spirit of God dwells in you.

If you have if you don't have the spirit of Christ, you don't belong to Christ. If the spirit is in him who raised Jesus and dwells in you, he will give you life. So anyways, that's just part of it. It's just it's a really powerful way to go through and and study and just if you wanna go a little bit deeper. So I feel like Romans eight is kind of a climax of this book.

Everything leading up to and this is just such a amazing chapter and it's kind of a lot pressure for a teacher. But and I just I feel like it's even one of the most important books or chapters in the Bible too. I love this Roseanne was saying this is one of her favorite chapters. So I just wanted to kind of like quickly recap where we've been leading up to Romans eight. So Romans one, we learned that the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

We learned that we're without excuse because he put it in our conscience and showed us creation, so we know that there is a God. And then men exchanged the truth for a lie. In Romans two, we learn there's no partiality with God. So Jews who have the law also have stubborn and unrepentant hearts, and they will also experience the wrath of God. In Romans three, we learned that by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified, so it's not by works.

The law just shows us where we're sinful. In Romans three twenty three, we've all sinned, Jews and Gentiles, everybody, we've all sinned and fall short. In Romans three and four, we learn about justification and God's answer for sin. Justification that Christ stood in our place and died on the cross. And when I put my faith and my trust in him, then I'm justified.

So it's by faith. In chapter four, we see it's always been by faith that through Abraham's example in the Old Testament. Romans five, God showed his love for us. So we see while we were still sinners was when Christ died for us and we're saved from the wrath of God. Romans six, all who were baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death.

So we're no longer slaves to sin, so that's like, yay, we're set free and the sin has no power over us anymore. We're dead to sin. Let's see. Okay. And then Romans seven, we learned that the law is good and holy and right, but if we try to live by the law in our flesh, we're gonna fail.

And we're gonna see a lot today that I feel like sometimes we feel stuck in Romans seven or in six where we feel like either we're free to sin because God's it's God's righteousness or we try so hard to live the law in our flesh and we can't. But that's not where we're stuck. We're in Romans eight and that's the beauty of it. And so we get to look back on everything that he's done for us and see that we're set free from that sin nature and now we're free to live and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. And he's the one that fulfills God's will in our lives for us.

And this was prophesied in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 3six 26 through 27, the Israelites were in Babylonian captivity. And those verses say, he says, moreover, I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you'll be careful to observe my law.

So that's a that's a picture of the new covenant where we stand now with his spirit in us that causes us. Remember that roller coaster analogy I gave a couple weeks ago? When we make it up to the car, when Christ lifts us up, when we go down the roller coaster, it's through his power. When we go right up the rails that were the law. We it's through the spirit and through his power.

And it's a new heart that he's given us. Okay. So let's pray. Lord, I just thank you so much for this word and for this chapter and for the way you love us and what you've done in our lives and how you're drawing us even closer to you, Lord. Lord, I just pray that your spirit would speak through me and speak to me.

And Lord, we just just pray that our hearts would be open to what you have to say in Jesus' name. Okay. So I don't have again, I don't have the words on the screen. So if you want to open up your Bibles, I was telling someone this morning, I don't really have a lot of illustrations or stories or anything this morning. I just feel like we're just gonna read through the text and talk about it.

And, just because it's been so powerful, to me, so I wanted to share with you what I've been learning. So Romans eight verse one says, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And that's huge. We, remember when we were united with Adam when he sinned, sin equals condemnation. And now we're reunited with Christ.

So we know we have no condemnation when we stand before God. Verse two, the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. So remember that the law doesn't offer salvation. It was never meant to bring salvation.

It was just meant to show us where we were sinful. So that's what it means is what the law could not do. God did, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Hebrews two seventeen, it says, for this reason, he had to be made like them. So Christ had to be made like man, fully human in every way in order that he might be able to become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

So he was fully God and fully man, and that's why he came in the likeness of our flesh. Remember, he chose not to sin and then he was body and in his body was sin was condemned on our behalf. So verse four, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. So how was the law fulfilled in us? It's who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

So that's what chapter eight is all about. Not walking according to the flesh. Remember, we're not walking, not it's not chapter six where it's His righteousness so I can live however I want. We are walking according to the spirit and God's law is fulfilled in us when we do that. We're not free to sin, we're free from sin.

So verse five, For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mindset on the spirit is life and peace. Because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God. For it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it's not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So again, it's not chapter six where we're just that licentiousness that the question that came up that if it's his righteousness, then I can depend on that and then live how I want. We have a new way of living now. So does it matter how we're living in salvation and in sanctification? Does it matter how we're living?

I think that this is saying that it does. And it's also not the chap what we learned about in chapter seven that desperately trying to live the law and do what we know is right in our but we're doing it in our flesh. That's also living in the flesh if we think we're doing everything perfectly. Going to church and doing all the right things and being a good Christian, that's also living in the flesh and trying to live the law. And that's we will fail every time we try to do it like that.

So verse nine, however, you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. So if you have the spirit of God in you, then you're of the spirit. You're not of the flesh. So this was kind of all kind of earth shattering to me, but if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. So if you belong to him, you have his spirit.

If you've been justified, you have the Holy Spirit. If Christ is in you, though the spirit is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. So our bodies are going to die physically. We're we're wasting away, but our spirit is alive because of him and it's because of, again, because of his righteousness. Verse 11, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

Okay. So this this next part is the part that really got to me, just because he introduces a thought and you think he's gonna counter it with the opposing thought, but he doesn't. So in verse 12, he says, so then brothers and sisters, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. So we're not under obligation to the flesh. Remember, we don't owe our flesh anything.

Our flesh didn't do anything for us but defeat us and kill us. So we don't need to yield to our flesh. It's our murderer. It is what leads us to death. We don't owe it anything.

So we're not under obligation to the flesh to live according to the flesh. So then you would think he was gonna say, but we're under obligation to the spirit to live according to the spirit. But then he he's I think he wants to make something clear. And so in verse 13, he says, for if you're living according to the flesh, you must die. But if this if by the spirit, you're putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

And this is a spiritual death and a spiritual life that it's talking about. And that really hit me because that's like, wow, if we're not living according to the spirit, if we're living in the flesh, that's leading to death. And I wanted to jump down to verse 30 real quick. The very last part of verse 30, it says, these whom he justified, he also glorified. So the point is if you are justified, you will be glorified.

He's not gonna let anyone slip through. He's not gonna lose any of us that have his spirit. I think the point is that if we truly have been justified, we truly put our faith in him, then we won't be living according to the flesh. And remember, it's not a perfection thing again. It's it's a process of walking and being led by the spirit.

Because in verse 14, he kind of explains it, what he's been saying. He says in verse 14, for all who are being led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And that really hit me because I feel like a lot of times I do live out of my flesh and I think it's it's important. And yes, we are trusting Christ's righteousness for our salvation, but our life should show a change and a change in a new direction. I know a lot of people depend on maybe a prayer they said when they were a kid, well, I prayed that prayer, I'm good.

But we need to see there should be a change, and there should be fruit, and there should be something that's changed into your life and giving you a new direction. So it says, but if by the spirit so back in verse 13, if by the spirit you're putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So I was thinking about that putting to death the deeds of the body. It reminded me in chapter six when it was, Don't present your members as instruments of unrighteousness. And I love this quote.

There's a puritan theologian named John Owen and he said, be killing sin or it will be killing you. And the other thing that kinda stuck out to me about this was like, this is the deeds of my body. I'm not like killing, like getting all upset about the world's sin and where everyone else is wrong. This is like, I should hate sin in my own life. We should expect the world to sin, but this is like this is like a hatred of my own sin and I wanna put that to death and kill sin or it's going to kill me.

Then I started to think about, well, how do we do that? In Ephesians six sixteen and seventeen, we learn how we do that. We have the sword of the spirit and that's we need a sword to kill. Right? But the sword of the spirit is the word of God.

So how does it all work? I love in Romans ten seventeen, it says, so faith comes through hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So when we read the word, we trust it. I love how Deborah is always saying, say, I trust you Jesus. So when we hear his word, we say, I trust you.

So when we're tempted to sin in some way, then we read his word and we trust him. And I just thought of giving an example. Deborah has these two. I love these. You just write verses.

So you carry you can carry it with you throughout the day and use them to help you memorize. But and then you can have his word in your heart. You know, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. So a verse in here let's see. Thought it was in here.

It is Hebrews thirteen five and six. It says, let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself said, I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you. So that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid.

What shall man do to me? So say, I'm being tempted to we talked about being covetous last week. I'm tempted to want something I don't have, but we come to God's word and says, be free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God will never leave you nor forsake you. And then you use that verse and you say, I trust you. And you kill the temptation to sin.

And I think that that just that little little small victories over sin like that show the Holy Spirit in you and working in you. In Romans one seventeen says, the just shall live by faith. So that's making more and more sense to me. That's how we're living. We're living by faith in God's word.

We're not living we're not trusting in our own flesh. So are you being led by the spirit? Are you remember the wheel, which way is your wheel turning? Are you trying to live like a good Christian but trying in your flesh? Are you trusting God?

So this next really cool part. I think it just keeps getting good and better and better. Verse 15 says, for you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you've received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father. This is cool because he didn't make slaves out of us. We were slaves to sin, but he didn't make us slaves to him, but in a way we are, but he made us children.

So he wanted he wants us to be his children. He wants a family, and that's that's life. And I love the word we cry the words like we cry out because I feel like, you know, anyone could say, father, you know, anyone could say, God, dear my God, or I believe in God, but this is like this is real when we cry out to him. It's not like a like a programmed thing. It's we're crying out, and it's showing that we need God, we need a savior.

I had a friend a while back who was just going through a hard time. Was like, what's going on? And she just said, I've been trying to live life without God. Been going through the motions and I'm exhausted and I can't do it anymore. I just think that this shows being a child of God and we cry out for him like, I need you daddy.

I need you. I need a savior. And he'll give us rest. And when we take his yoke upon him, it's easy and he gives us rest. It shouldn't be hard.

We're not doing it in our flesh. We're doing it through his power. And we're His children. And I also like the contrast between this kind of crazy hate for my own sin and I'm gonna kill it and just, I don't know, that kind of like warrior like mentality. I was thinking there's a book called Tender Warrior that's for men actually, but just like I wanna kill that sin, but then on the other hand, like crying out for a father.

It's like a there's like both. We need both, and just have like that tenderness too. So it's verse 16, The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Verse 17. So it keeps getting better.

So if children if we're children of God, then we're heirs also. We're heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. So what does God just think about that. This like I don't know why this hit me so hard, I was just like, what does what does God own? He owns everything and work his heirs.

We're fellow heirs with his son. In Romans four thirteen, it said, the promise to Abraham, remember the promise to Abraham and his descendants that he would be heir of the world. And it was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. So we're heirs of the world. In verse 17, it goes on to say, if indeed we suffer with him so that we also may be glorified with him.

So we're going to suffer. So it's And right now, there's suffering. And I and I thought about this, what what are we suffering with him? And a lot of times, if I don't understand something, then I try to try to look at it within the context of what he's saying. Verse 18 says, I consider the sufferings of this present time.

So that would be the sufferings that you're going through of the present time. And he also see, in verse 35, he talks about tribulation and distress and persecution and famine and nakedness and peril or sword. That's the kind of suffering that he's talking about. So what does it mean to suffer with Christ? I think it's interesting too.

I think I feel like a lot of truths of God's word go both ways. Like Christ came to this earth to suffer as we suffer, but now we suffer as he suffered when we are living in this present time. Our sufferings right now can be cancer, loss, injury, sickness. There's beheadings, war, some awful things going on in this world. So how do we suffer with Christ?

Think we go through it with him and we trust him as we walk through it. Because the other way would be to be angry and say, I'm your child. Why do I have to go through this? Or we can we can be tender and trust him and and go through it with him. Okay.

So the good part about it is, for I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. Matthew thirteen forty three. It says, then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. When we're glorified, when we're with him in heaven, it says, we'll shine like the sun in his kingdom. That's the glory that's gonna be revealed in us.

And I think that we can give, you know, that we can give up some of the comforts of this world and of the flesh, and we can go through some of these things knowing what he has in store for us. I love it. In second Corinthians four seventeen, he says, for momentary, light affliction, that's what he calls our sufferings. Momentary and light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. And so I just encourage you as I know a lot of a lot of us are suffering and just to suffer with Christ and know what it's producing in you.

And so it keeps getting better and better I think, because now it's gonna talk it's talking about creation. It's the next part. In verse 19, it says, the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. So creation itself is waiting for us to be revealed as the sons of God, for us to shine like the sun in his kingdom. And I just thought that was interesting because you always think about it like God's preparing a place, He's gonna build a new heaven and a new earth, and we can't wait to be in that.

But it's kind of in here, it's saying creation's waiting for us. Creation can't wait. It's like God's building a playground, but the playground can't wait for the kids to come play. It's like it's both, you know? And it's all I feel like God always has like it's both.

It's like I don't know. It's He's so amazing. It says in verse 20 that the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it. So creation's suffering too. I think and I think I've I think I heard it from Piper once that in a way we needed to see the fallen earth.

We needed to see sickness because we need to see what sin does. We need to have a clear picture of things just not being right. This is what sin does. It causes all of this. But it says, in hope that the creation will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

So again, it's the freedom of us and the glory of us that's gonna eventually when creation is waiting for that for the sons, the freedom of the children of God. Verse 22, for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And that's, something that I've heard about, just the pains of childbirth, that part right there. That reminded me of a verse in Mark thirteen eight. It says, for nations talking about the end, kind of nearing the end of of the world.

For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pains. So that's what it's talking about.

And I remember my mom always explaining this to me, like birth pains, they get worse and worse and closer and closer together as the the end draws near. So I've always kind of thought, you know, birth pains, like the end is coming. But what is the meaning of it and what is it leading to? Well, when you're having birth pains, it's leading to a baby. Right?

So at the end of the birth pains, the creation is groaning is leading to a life. And that I think is our adoption as sons, our complete redemption of our bodies, and our new our complete when we're with the Lord and when creation and when creation is free from corruption. So all of this pain and suffering is like the pains of childbirth. There's a purpose in it all and it is gonna end in life. Verse 23, not only this, but we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting eagerly for the adoption our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

And I was talking with a couple of my friends too about just the prosperity gospel. There's a lot of teaching out there that says, you know, once you give your life to Jesus, things are gonna go well, you know, like the health and wealth kind of thing. And I think a lot of people use, we're not to it yet, but verse 28, we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him. People can use that for prosperity gospel type of teaching. But again, if you're reading it within the context of this chapter, it's clear that we're suffering.

Creation is groaning, and suffering is for now, and heaven's gonna be later. I think it's clear. It says because it says, even we ourselves groan, we're waiting, we're we're groaning, we're waiting for our full adoption as sons. It hasn't completely happened yet. We haven't our bodies haven't been redeemed.

And then again, so as you read on verse 24, for in hope we have been saved. So we've been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what already sees? So if our lives were already perfect, then we wouldn't be eagerly waiting for our adoption and the redemption of our bodies. We're going to be suffering.

But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we eagerly wait for it. In the same way, the spirit also helps our weakness For we don't know how to pray as we should. But the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he searches the hearts. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is.

And I love this part. It says because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So the spirit is praying for you, praying God's will for you. Isn't that amazing that God is praying to God for his will in your life? And that's when it says, for we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

And I like that last part again because it's called according to his purpose. And I thought of Joseph in in Genesis. Genesis fifty twenty, Joseph, his brother sold him into slavery, and then he got blamed for something he didn't do, and he got thrown in prison, and a lot of bad things happened to him. But in Genesis fifty twenty, it says, and as for you, you meant evil against me. This is what he's saying to his brothers when he meets them again.

You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. Because Joseph was able to store up food and save it, and it preserved his family and God's family and many other people. Even though he did go through a lot of suffering, God meant it for good. And I think that's what the verse means. Okay.

So we're called according to his purpose and it's for his glory. In verse 29, says, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. So that is his purpose for us, is to be conformed to the image of his son. That's the sanctification process that we're going through, and that's the goal, and suffering and going through that helps with being conformed. And it says, so that he would be the firstborn among among many brethren.

And these whom he predestined, he also called. And these whom he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he glorified. So again, it's that promise, if you've been justified, if you put your faith in him, then you will be glorified, and we hope for that which we don't see. And we're eagerly waiting for when we're glorified and our bodies are redeemed and our full adoption as sons of God. And then creation is waiting for it too.

I just love that. Oh, and Nancy told me this is really cool. I forgot this part. This morning, she came in and said they were she was studying with her kids this morning or a couple days ago about creation groaning, and she might have to help me. But the so she was saying that the leaves in the fall that are yellow and red and orange and all these beautiful colors, she was saying that that's actually the leaves true color, and it's chlorophyll.

So there's chlorophyll in the leaves that make them green, but this beautiful color that we're seeing now is actually their true color. And creation's just like longing for the day when they can be in their true color all the time and waiting for us when we can be shining like the sun in our true color all the time. So that's what it's gonna be like. Creation will be like that vibrant, beautiful color all the time. Is that right?

I loved that. So okay. And the end of this is just so beautiful. It says, what should we say to these things? If God is for us, then who can be against us?

I mean, we have the Holy Spirit praying God's will for us for crying out loud. I mean, who can be against us? If he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how would he also not also with him free how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justified.

So he's the one who justifies. Who's the one who can condemn? We're not condemned before God. Who can be against us? It was Jesus who died.

Yes. Rather he rather he was raised, who's at the right hand of God, who enter who also intercedes for us. Jesus is praying for us too. He died for us. Holy Spirit's praying for us.

Jesus is praying for us. God's the one who justifies. No one can stand against us. And this is who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

It can't separate us because we're suffering with him. He's with us as we go through those things. Just as it is written, for your sake, we are being put to death all day long. We are considered a sheep to be slaughtered. So put to death the deeds of the body and trust him in his word.

Yield to him. So that's that's what it's all about. Living by the spirit, yielding to the spirit. He has given us freedom. John eight thirty six, so if the son makes you free, you'll be free indeed.

Verse 37, but in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. And he says, for I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I was just really struck by the love and I hope that comes through by how much he loved us, like while we were still sinners. He died for us and just that love. And I I think at the same time that I wanna make I just felt like saying that he's not just like the way to get to heaven and have eternal life, but he is someone he loves us so much that he is someone he himself, it's a person.

It's not like a list of things we have to do to get there. It's a person and he's someone to be treasured and not just like the way to get there and because that's what our eternity is gonna be, is to be with him and that's what we're looking forward to is to be with him. And I was talking with I'm talking with my friends a lot this week. There's some other girls that are studying Song of Solomon right now, and I'm just studying about the love of Christ. And I always have loved Song of Solomon one four.

It says, draw after me. I mean, draw me after you and let us run together. And I just love that verse because it's just the love of just like, let us run together. It's it's not it's not like a hard treasury of like trying to do what's right and working in the flesh, but it's life and the power of the Holy Spirit. Okay.

So this is kind of been a self evaluation for me, and I just want to ask a couple questions. So are you still thinking I can continue to sin because he's so gracious and he'll forgive me? Or are you trying so hard just to live in the flesh and do what's right and be that good Christian, but you're doing it in your own strength? Remember verse 14, for all who are being led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So I just encourage you to just be led by the spirit and allow him to work through you and yield to him.

And I just wanted to repeat, Ezekiel thirty seven twenty six through 27. It says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my law. So that's it. I wanna thank the Lord.

Thank you, Lord, so much for your word and so rich. And Lord, I just pray that we would hear it and choose to submit and surrender to your spirit, Lord, every day. We know it's a process, and Lord, we thank you for your grace that you give us. We just thank you for how much you love us and that you pray for us. Lord, help us to walk with you through this life, through the sufferings of this age as we hope and we wait for what you have for us in the future.

In Jesus' name, amen.