{"id":2426,"date":"2011-04-05T23:42:57","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T04:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2426"},"modified":"2011-04-05T23:42:57","modified_gmt":"2011-04-06T04:42:57","slug":"romans-1422-in-his-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-1422-in-his-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 14:22 – In His Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 14:22 <\/strong>– In His Presence<\/span><\/h2>\n

Do you have faith? Have<\/strong> it<\/em> <\/span>to yourself before God. Happy is<\/em><\/span> he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Living in God\u2019s presence affects our decisions and choices.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The word translated \u201cfaith<\/span>\u201d is pistis<\/em><\/span>, which means \u201cthat about which we have been persuaded\u201d or \u201cthat which we believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore<\/span>\u201d is translated from en\u014dpion<\/em><\/span>. This is made up of en<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cin\u201d and a form of ops<\/em><\/span>, which literally refers to the eyes but figuratively refers to the face. Hence, en\u014dpion<\/em> <\/span>means \u201cin the face of, in the presence of, or before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word \u201chappy<\/span>\u201d is translated from the Greek word makarios<\/em><\/span>. This is an unfortunate translation because happy (from the root hap<\/em> meaning \u201cluck as a favorable circumstance\u201d) actually refers to the joy that comes from good fortune. Makarios<\/em><\/span>, on the other hand, refers to a state of blessedness in which peace and satisfaction come from God, not favorable circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Now Paul tells us how to discern whether or not we should do something. This is of extreme importance as it applies to all those things which are not specifically identified as wrong in the New Testament. This would include such things as: Should I accept an offer for a new job? Should I buy a particular house or a new car at this time? Is it okay if I drink a glass of wine? None of these things are strictly forbidden and we are not likely to hear the voice of God giving us direct revelation regarding these things.<\/p>\n

Paul starts off by asking, \u201cDo you have faith?<\/span>\u201d In other words, \u201caren\u2019t you saved by faith and through faith have a relationship with God?\u201d This, of course, is a rhetorical question and the answer is obviously, \u201cYes!\u201d He goes on to say, \u201cHave it to yourself before God.<\/span>\u201d That is, since you are saved and have a relationship with God, make it a personal relationship. Believe what you believe because God has convicted you and converse with God about everything you do, especially those things about which specific direction is not given in the Bible. Live your life in His presence. That is, live your life with the awareness that God is present with you at all times.<\/p>\n

Finally, Paul tells us that we are blessed, that is, at peace with God, when we do not condemn ourselves for those things which we approve. There are many decisions that we make daily. When we follow through with a personal decision we are \u201capproving\u201d the decision and acting on it. Blessing, or peace with God, comes when we are not judging our own actions to be wrong in the presence of God. As the Apostle John said:<\/p>\n

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.<\/span> (IJohn 3:21<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n

We Christians should live our lives recognizing that we are always in God\u2019s presence. As His servants we are to obey him. As His children we should want to please Him, so we should make our decisions in a manner that will please Him. If what we are about to do is wrong, He will let us know because our conscience will be troubled. Paul will finish these thoughts in the next verse.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Are you living your life in the presence of God? Doing so will have an impact on how you live your life. Remember, ignoring God doesn\u2019t mean you aren\u2019t in His presence!<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –<\/p>\n

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 14:22 – In His Presence Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. Truth to Learn Living in God\u2019s presence affects our decisions and choices. Behind the Words The word translated \u201cfaith\u201d is pistis, which means \u201cthat about which we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1657,73,1658,204,1659,1660,1344],"class_list":["post-2426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-before","tag-blessed","tag-enopion","tag-faith","tag-happy","tag-makarios","tag-pistis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-D8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}