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Today and all this week, we are going to take a posture of peace by exploring the

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power that we have in Jesus to prevail in every single circumstance.

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Posture is a short, audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.

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Together, we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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Okay, we're back in Romans 8.

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If you are reading along with me today, kiss the page.

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I love Romans 8 so much.

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And we're going to be reading today verses 35 through 39.

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So it says,

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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

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Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword

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as it is written,

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For your sake we are being killed all day long.

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We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

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No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

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For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor

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things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will

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be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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You know, it struck me that there are believers who go their whole lives without experiencing

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the depth of this truth because they haven't experienced tribulation and distress,

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extreme suffering and sorrow.

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They haven't experienced famine and nakedness,

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finances, possessions, relationships, networks being stripped away.

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They haven't experienced danger and sword,

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things like death threats and diagnoses and attacks on their well-being and health.

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You know, how could Paul, who's the author of Romans, who wrote this,

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how could he be so sure that absolutely nothing could separate him,

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could separate us from the love of God?

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Because he writes in verse 38, he says,

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I am sure, other translations say,

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I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor

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things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation

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will be able to separate us from the love of God.

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Well, Paul was convinced because none of this was theory to Paul.

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He wasn't just uttering platitudes to try to subdue our hurt and suffering,

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trying to make us feel better.

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No, Paul had the privilege of experiencing the immense power of God's love and Jesus'

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victory because he faced such intense circumstances

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that God's love was the only thing that could sustain him.

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God's love was the only thing that had remained, you know,

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circumstances he faced that literally separated him from everything else,

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friends, reputation, well-being, possessions, and yet God's love remained all powerful,

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unchanging, never depleted, and always full of victory.

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You know, hardship is not proof that God doesn't love you.

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It's in the hardship that God's love for you is proven.

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Remember, God chose intimacy.

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He chose relationship with us.

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First John 419 says he first loved us.

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Don't ever, ever underestimate his passion for you.

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Today, don't allow your circumstances to be the thing that informs you about who God is

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and how he loves you and who you are.

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No, allow God to inform you about your circumstances

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and to tell you who you are becoming in him because you are more than a conqueror.

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And we're going to be talking more about this later this week.

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The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3.

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In Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom, meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken.

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This is who you are in Jesus because of Jesus.

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You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win.

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With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus's victory on display in Satan's defeat.

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On Replay.