Verse of the week - Romans 8:24,25

God breathed each verse of the Bible. Each chapter contains His power packed words. But, it seems that some chapters consistently jump out at me more than others. Romans 8 falls into that category. I have committed so many of the verses in that chapter to memory. Many of them have spoken to me at specific times and trials in my life.


In our small group this last week we had an interesting conversation about faith. Of course, we started in Hebrews 11. What is faith, what does it look like, how does it impact our living?


One word jumped out at me in Hebrews 11, again a verse that I have memorized. "Hope." Faith is being sure of what we hope for.


That brought us to Romans 8:24, 25, "For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."


Faith by very definition rests on what remains invisible. It has a lot in common with hope. It looks ahead, it requires patience, it will face tests, it will carry us through.


Fortunately, faith does not come from somewhere inside of me, faith has come from God as a wonderful gift (Ephesians 2:8,9). If I produced it, we wouldn't have anything to talk about. Faith comes from God and keeps us focused on God. It will require patience, require us to overcome, to bear up under many burdens, but it doesn't rest on ourselves, it focuses on Him.


For more on this, I would highly recommend A.W. Tozer's book Pursuit of God (you can follow that link to an online copy of the book, and read this chapter for yourself). These thoughts came as we studied the chapter entitled "The Gaze of the Soul."


My eyes transfixed on Him. Hope.

For in this hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see,
we wait for it with patience.

~Romans 8:24,25~