Encounter Christian Campus Ministry Daily Devotions 2020

April 09 by Miss Jelyn Palandito

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:23-25

In a world that seems ever increasingly problematic and hopeless, with the pandemic and other concerns in our society, the worries and doubt in our hearts adds up.

In our today's passage, Paul says: "We are saved in hope, and by that hope we live." Then he goes on to say that hope, by its very nature, is something that hasn't happened yet: "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

So what makes it possible to wait? To be patient? To be hopeful?

Patience is not an inactive thing. Many misinterpret the meaning of patience to denote that we passively endure everything thrown our way until things will be alright again. But its not the case, Jesus said,

"𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳" ( 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 14:12 )

Jesus didn't sit back and go through life passively or aimlessly, he broke the power of darkness everywhere he went. Then He commissioned us to do the very same things and gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us to do what we are called to. Waiting patiently with composure separates us from the world. Having this hope inside of us brings us peace in a world where trouble and heartache abound. Jesus reminded us in John that the Holy Spirit whom He's given us is the first fruits of our redemption and part of His job is to keep us in a state of peace.

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶; 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥" ( 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 14:26-27 )

Knowing this, we can be encouraged that we can live separately from the world waiting in patience and in hope for the Lord's return.
Paul instructs us in this very truth to encourage us to remain hopeful with an eternal perspective in mind. Paul himself longed to be reunited with Christ Jesus, but knew that remaining in the world was more beneficial for everyone around him.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰: 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺" ( 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 1:23-24 ).

He could speak this because he knew that waiting patiently did not mean waiting passively. He knew that by remaining in this world meant salvation for those he came in contact with. He was so convinced of this that he exclaimed,

"𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯" ( 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 1:20 ),

in other words, for me to go on living in this body means that people would see Christ and be forever changed. While we wait in patience, it is important to understand the reason behind it so we don't lose hope. Peter explained these things to his brethren who were looking for the Lord's return,

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦" ( 𝘐𝘐 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 3:9 ).

He went on to say,

"𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯..." ( 𝘐𝘐 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 3:15 )

And so it is necessary for us to keep this in remembrance while we wait for Jesus to return. He is not willing that any should perish and so in His grace He waits for others to come to Him. Since He has commissioned us for this specific purpose, He is waiting on us to fulfill this great commission, in order that He might come back and redeem a full and powerful church.
So hope is necessary for life, hope with patience will keep us focused on the task at hand. A few of Paul's concluding thoughts in the book of Romans seem very fitting for today's thoughts,

"𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵" ( 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 15:13 ).

I hope this devotion will remind us that despite of the crises we are currently facing, it will not stop us from what we are suppose to do in life. I also hope that we'll never forget about the responsibilities we have on our shoulders. Lastly, though we are locked up in our homes, waiting for this pandemic to be over, let our prayers be unceasing and our faith unwavering.

Source: Juli Camarin

>>>>>>>>>>Life Group Discussion Questions:
a. Have you tried to wait for a long time for someone/something?
b. What did you do while waiting?