Opening Prayer
Let nothing disquiet you,
nothing distress you,
all things are fading;
Long-suffering
procures all things;
one to Him belongs
desires nothing
For God alone
does satisfy.
Amen.
—St.
Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582
Romans 8:31-39
What can we say about such
wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since
God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who
gave us Christ, also give us everything else?
Who dares accuse us whom God has
chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing
with himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the
one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place
of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from
Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or
calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened
with death? (Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day;
we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things,
overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can
ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t,
and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even
the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the
sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to
separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. NLT
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