talking...

March 31, 2014

Romans 1:9-10

V 9-10 …that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers…

One of the greatest gifts God gives to believers is the opportunity to come to Him in prayer. I think that many times we squander this opportunity because we fail to see it as the privilege it really is. At it’s most simple level prayer is simply talking to God. There is of course a reverence that should always be present but essentially that is what we are doing. We are talking to the God of the Universe. The creator of all we see around us. We, as believers, have this right to go to Him with a prayers and supplications, with our desires and our heartaches. This is what Paul is telling the church at Rome. He was in constant prayer for them.

who can tell??

March 17, 2014

Romans 1:8 First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

Words are cheap. They come easy, some even have silver tongues that pretty words just drip from. Many don’t mean what they say. Even believers will paint their lives, actions, and beliefs with a better picture than what is truth. We can tell others how much we love God; how much we serve Him, but the truth is somewhat dimmer. This we know. We know that our actions speak with greater truth than our words. Our actions show that we love and serve Him. Our actions show that what we do is for Him and not just for accolades. The life of the Roman believer would have had no room for pretty words. It was not an easy life. Yet, their faith was renowned in all the world. We are probably lucky if our neighbors know of our love and devotion to God.

to all the nations...

March 11, 2014

Romans 1:2-5

V5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations

All believers who aren’t Jewish, mainly me, should love this verse. This small verse at the beginning of Romans should be one of our favorite verses ever. Why? This is the verse where Paul tells of his desire, his calling, his work if you will to bring the saving gospel to the gentiles. The “all the nations” part of this verse shows us that he was dedicated to all people not just his kinsmen the Jews. Because Paul was faithful, because God desired all men to hear and know Him I can sit here today read His word and experience His saving power.

resting on the promises...

March 4, 2014

Romans 1:2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.

There are so many scriptures where the words “God has promised” or “He kept His promise.” So, many in fact that it would take you quite a while to get through them; He keeps His promises. Our God is unchanging. He is the same today and He was yesterday and He will be the same tomorrow. He is never “in the mood to not keep His promise.” One of my favorite things to tell my kids is “Promises are important” we never make promises that we don’t intend to keep. We, however, are human and there may be a time that we can’t for whatever reason keep a promise. We might, (GASP) just not want to keep it; so we don’t. God isn’t like that. If it’s a promise in His word; He will keep it. Psalm 119:50 says, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.” I can read this verse and know that in Him and His promises I can live.

what am I doing?

February 26, 2014

Romans 1:1 …set apart for the gospel of God

Paul used his life to further the gospel of God. He used his life. He allowed God to use his life. This was not a fun experience. This was not an easy life. He hurt. He was in prison. He was beaten and eventually martyred for his love of God’s gospel. What are we doing?

being owned...

February 25, 2014

Romans 1:1 Paul a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

In the days the bible was written, authors of letters, like Romans, had to open with who they were and give proof that they could write the letter. Paul opens this letter with a couple of claims one that he was a slave of Christ and an apostle of Christ. In Rome there were many slaves, and like most areas were slavery existed those slaves were looked upon like property. Paul willingly put himself in the position of being owned by Christ. A slave didn’t do his own bidding, ever, that slave only was concerned with the bidding of his master. It was all that was allowed. Do we, like Paul, look to ourselves as being “owned” my Christ? Do we ever put the bidding, will, call of Christ upon our lives ahead of our own desires? This was not a small thing that Paul did. This was not just a simple claim that he made in order to be heard by the Roman people. His life bore the fruit and truth to this claim. His actions proved that what his lips said was true. So, we may, like Paul, claim to be slaves of Christ, but like Paul our actions must prove what our lips say before we can ever be believed.