Happy Thursday, {{first_name | everyone}}!
Every Thursday we reflect on a crucial question: how does this verse point us to Jesus? And with Romans 12:12, the answer is one of the most encouraging things we'll look at all week.
In today’s email…
📕 The portrait our verse is painting
📣 Encouragement on how to share this with others
🔦 Community spotlight!
MEMORIZE 🧠
_______ __ hope, be _______ __ tribulation, __ ________ __ prayer.
Romans 12:12
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CONTEXT 📕
As we’ve covered so far, Romans 12:12 gives us three commands. And when we look at the life of Jesus, we find he didn't just teach these things. He lived every one of them, fully, even when it cost him everything.
1. Jesus rejoiced in hope.
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
He saw past the suffering to what was on the other side: resurrection, ascension, a people redeemed and reunited with the Father. His joy wasn't naive or disconnected from reality.
It was anchored in what he knew with certainty was coming.
It’s also worth mentioning that Paul calls him "Christ Jesus our hope" in 1 Timothy 1:1. Not the one who “gives us” hope. Hope itself.
Jesus is the content of our elpis (hope). When we rejoice in hope, we are rejoicing in Him.
2. Jesus was patient in tribulation.
Isaiah describes the Suffering Servant:
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
Jesus faced the ultimate tribulation (thlipsis). Arrested. Mocked. Beaten. Crucified. Forsaken.
He could have stopped it at any moment, but He chose to stay under the weight (hupomonē in its purest and most costly form) because he knew exactly what His endurance would accomplish.
Again, Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus endured the cross. And through the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to endure as well.
3. Jesus was constant in prayer.
The gospel writers tell us repeatedly that Jesus withdrew to pray:
16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
The verb is in the imperfect tense, which means that this was His pattern, over and over.
In Gethsemane, under the most crushing pressure of His life, Luke records:
44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
And hanging on the cross itself, Jesus prays Scripture:
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
That's the proskartereō we talked about in yesterday’s email: pressing in harder when the weight is heaviest, rather than trying to escape it.
I don’t know about you, but I’m grateful to have a God who does not ask us to do things He is not willing to do Himself!
Instead, we're invited to follow someone who has already walked every step of this road.
Romans 12:12 is a portrait of Jesus. And to the extent that we follow Jesus, we'll be formed into people who look more and more like Him.
APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃♂
Gethsemane is the most instructive moment in the Gospels for this verse.
Jesus knows what's coming. He's hours from arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion. Luke 22:44 tells us he was in agony (literally, the kind of anguish that produces physical symptoms).
And what did he do? He prayed more earnestly. He pressed in harder (proskartereō) at the exact moment when pressing in was most costly.
He didn't rejoice because it felt easy. He stayed under the weight (hupomonē) when he absolutely could have left. And three times, Luke tells us, he came back to the same prayer: "Not my will, but yours."
Read Hebrews 12:1-2 today and sit with the phrase "for the joy set before him."
📣 Share
Who in your life is in a Gethsemane moment right now? Who is feeling the pressure and crushing weight of a life circumstance?
Consider inviting them to meet up for coffee with a message like this:
"Hey, I’ve been thinking of you. I've been studying and memorizing Romans 12:12 which says: 'Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.' I know you’re going through some hard stuff right now and wanted to encourage you. God is with you and I’m praying for you. Would love to meet up for a meal or coffee this weekend."
🙏 Pray
Father, thank you for your son Jesus. Thank you for sending Him to endure the cross. He lived every command in this verse before you gave it to us. Through Jesus’ example and your Spirit, empower me to be more devoted to you and your Kingdom. Amen.
COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ❤
Wonderful. So thought provoking and the Holy Spirit was speaking to me about several very timely things in my life today!
- JT
Best way ever to memorize scripture! It has truly helped me to memorize - from the fill in the blanks to the background of the verse, and how the verse fits into all of scripture - it’s outstanding!
- Greg
I am really enjoying and finding these devotionals very helpful. Full of good information about God's word, but simple. I greatly appreciate this, as I am not able to learn well when there are complicated words and or if the writing is too complex.
By His grace I am learning and actually remembering things that I have studied. So HUGE THANK YOU! Keep up the good work!
- NS
I'm so incredibly blessed to have found Malachi Daily! I love how this message gives such clarity to the whole scenario and then gets us to focus on the heart of it all, helping us to really question our actions and our heart's desires to bringing God glory at all times.
I so look forward to your messages every morning — I feel lost on the off weeks! Lol. You guys are awesome. 😊
- Kathy
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ANSWER KEY ✅
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12
If you missed any of this week’s emails, you can read them here:
Blessings,
The Malachi Daily team 🙏
Today’s Contributors
Payton is a husband and father in Vero Beach, FL. He serves as the Email Marketing Manager at Faith Driven Entrepreneur and helps Christians master storytelling through his newsletter, Christian Story Lab.
Kieran is a husband and father living in NJ. In addition to Malachi Daily, he writes a personal newsletter about the intersection of faith, fatherhood and entrepreneurship.
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