Romans 8:15-17

This will be quick. Looking at Romans as always.
8:15: Once again, it is so clear that how we act is our choice. We often want to cower and act like sin is the only option, but because of Jesus that just isn't the case. We're no longer mindless slaves following a will we cannot control. Instead, we are children who can run to our Daddy and lean on Him...if we will just choose to!
8:16: I like how NLT puts it, that the Holy Spirit, "speaks to us deep in our hearts." Yeah, can't explain it in words or thoughts, but many times I just know that I know that God is, and that I belong to Him and am loved by Him. Thank God  for that continuing confirmation, or I'd wander away in a heartbeat!
8:17: First the side everyone likes. If we are with Christ then we get to share in all the good things, like eternal life, initmate realtionship with the Father, belonging, joy, etc... But nobody wants to read the secondhalf of this verse which reads, "But if we are to share in his glory, we must also share in his suffering." So we get all the privileges through Christ, but we also get the responsibilities. It means my way dies and I pick His, even though that will cost me. It means obedience. Funny how everyone honors a soldier who out of duty and honor goes above and beyind to serve and die for his country, but thinks that the same kind of thinking doesn't apply to our relationship with God through Jesus. What else did Jesus mean when He said to pick up our cross and follow Him? We follow Him to our death, and then find life. I pray to be that bold, to take the call that seriously, to go wherever He asks regardless of the cost.