Romans 4

"And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness..."

It's strange to always be coming back to this point in my Christian life: do I really believe that God can/will/does justify me?  Later on in this chapter as Paul describes Abraham's reaction of faith, he says, 

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Sometimes I feel like my spiritual vitality is about the same as Abraham's 100 year old body ("which was as good as dead").  But Abraham believed that God gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist.

It is my prayer that I would live this reality out intentionally and daily: I am as good as dead, but God gives life to people like me, because he justifies the ungodly.