My friend Michael Ann and I have known each other for 36 and 1/2 years. We were both PK’s (preacher’s kids) and we were in the same homeroom together in high school. We even share the “Rentz” last name—I was born a Rentz, she married a Rentz. On top of that–we both love to travel, read and we both are “bloggers”. (Check out her blog here.)
Michael Ann shares her insights on Romans 8:1-17; she gives special emphasis to Romans 8:9 and 12. I love her excitement and passion for digging into God’s word. Maybe you will join us in looking at the word in the way she teaches us. You never know what you might learn.
Read on . . .
Romans 8 has always and forever been my favorite chapter of the Bible! I get PUMPED UP every time I read it! Mercy! I ran back into it full tilt last week, and—as God is wont to do—He showed me a whole new perspective of it.
Let’s back up.
Since Advent (the season leading up to Christmas) I’ve been listening to We Wonder, a contemplative podcast intended for kids but which has left me gasping more than once as God has spoken to me through His holy words in the Bible. For the last few weeks, We Wonder has led us listeners in the practice of lectio divina. We take a small passage of scripture and read through it once and let it sink in. Then we read it again and wonder about it. And then we read it a third time and talk with God about what the Spirit has to say to us. I then usually go back later and read what comes before and after the passage. On May 25 we read Romans 8:9-11, and once again I gasped as I heard words I’ve heard multiple times before, but I heard them as if for the first time.
“You are not ruled by the power of sin.” Romans 8:9
It hit me like a brick! I read the whole passage several times that day and the next day and then moved on to read the entire chapter over the following days.
As we moved into June, my soul felt weary and weighed down by all that’s been going on. A pandemic. Protests. Violence. Sin on so many levels. I’ve always felt things deeply, and this week I felt as if I could barely move, as if my heart weighed 10,000 pounds. I felt God calling me to get away and sit with Him and pray and listen and confess and beseech and cry and rest. So I designated yesterday as my mini prayer retreat. Going away somewhere wasn’t a great option, so I gave my family a heads up that I wouldn’t be available for most of the day and retreated upstairs to our guest room.
And I sat with Him and prayed and listened and confessed and beseeched and cried and rested. And He pointed me back to Romans 8:9-11. And THEN He had me write it out in first person. You guys! I still can’t get over how powerful that was, and I want YOU to do the same thing! Here’s what I’m talking about by “first person.” (Fourth grade English was a long time ago for a lot of us!)
Romans 8:9 says, “You are not controlled by the power of sin. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.”
In first person it says, “*I* am not ruled by the power of sin. *I* am controlled by the Spirit since *I* have the Spirit of God living in *me.* Verse 9. That hits a little differently, doesn’t it!
I wrote it out all the way from verse 9 through verse 11, in first person.
Then He had me loop back to verse 5 and work all the way through 11.
“Letting the Spirit control my mind leads to life and peace.“ Verse 6.
LIFE AND PEACE?!? LIFE AND PEACE!!! Exactly what my weary soul was craving, and here’s the answer!
I worked my way, in first person, all the way from verse 1 through verse 17. God reminded me of His power, of how my life works (or can work) since I belong to Him. Even though so much of this whole situation we have going on can scream gloom and doom, He provides freedom and love and victory to those who have yielded their lives to Him.
Romans 8:12 says that “I have no obligation to do what my sinful nature urges me to do“. So when I get all judgy mcjudgypants over what people have to say about wearing face masks, I’m not obliged to stay judgy. When I get angry about looters stealing from hard working businesses who are already struggling, I don’t have to carry hate or bitterness toward them. I can lay those down at the feet of my Abba, Father (verse 15) in repentance and know that He’s already provided—at an ENORMOUS cost—forgiveness to me through Jesus. And I can ask Him to grow me, to make me more like Jesus.
I hope you will consider working through this same exercise. I suggest beginning with Romans 8:9-11, reading it or writing it out in first person. Then verses 5-11, then verses 1-11, and then through verse 17. And here’s the thing. God may have something totally different to say to YOU in these verses! And that’s cool! He’s growing each of us, and my growth chart is likely to look very different from YOUR growth chart! Our journeys are different. But God is the same! He loves us more than we can imagine, and He has big plans for us!
I also invite you to listen to the We Wonder podcast (https://www.wewonderpod.com/). In the coming weeks we’ll be working through the fruits of the spirit. Hmmmmm, it’s almost like God got my attention this week and will now remind me of how He will grow His character in me as I (a branch) abide in Him (the vine.) He is so good to us, isn’t He!
I pray that God will encourage you just like He encouraged me this week. Oh the with-ness of God! He is here! He cares! He is working in me, in you, and in this crazy world of ours!
Michael Ann Rentz