I’m preparing a lesson for tomorrow night’s Bible study that I lead, we’re going through a series on the body and the believer and we’re covering Romans chapter 12 which has been a very rich passage to say the least.  I’m looking at verse 12, which says:

rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

In personal finance we often get discouraged.  In personal finance the emergencies come up.  In personal finance you need to submit your financial walk to the Lord through prayer and meditation on biblical principles as outlined in the scripture.

Rejoicing in hope

Knowing that 100 years from now, 1,000 years from now, or 1 minute from now your identification is with Christ (Colossians 3:1-4) gives you hope.  If you’re not looking forward, then you’re not hoping.  Hope is faith in things to come – whether its the rejoicing in paying off debt and no longer having the bondage of payments to others and being able to be a fuller steward of God’s money, or thinking of the things that the money can be used for to glorify His name it is a great thing to have hope.  We’re often discouraged in life when trials come, but the trials are for our growth (James 1:1-4; I Thes. 3:3) so we can rejoice even in them.

Persevering in tribulation

Perseverance is diligant abiding in a place while pressure seems to come from all sides.  Tribulation comes, as stated above, for our growth.  The world sees pressure as a detriment, but we’re called to have a mindset that see’s God’s plan in all of these things that distract us and call us away from patience and longsuffering.  When you dip into your emergency fund (and I’ve had to do that far too often in the last few months) – persevere.  When your car gets a flat, your fridge goes out, or your kid breaks an arm: persevere.  The reliance on God that comes during times of tribulation should leave us understanding our closeness to Him rather than feeling alone.  It should show us the strength of our relationships in Christ with other believers.  It should be a great blessing to see the tribulation turn into a tool instead of a valley of toil.

Devoted to prayer

Prayer is often presented as begging God for some thing, some action or some event to take place.  But instead we should understand that it is powerfully deep and encouraging relationship.  Who you are in Christ gives you immediate access to God the Father for immediate, constant and intimate fellowship with Him. And that’s something money can’t buy.

So, you can see that I’m excited about this passage – maybe some time you can swing by the Tuesday night study and we’ll rejoice in our hope (which is in Christ), encourage one another through our trials, and pray for one another.  It’ll be great.