Category: Romans

Romans 15

1/30/2012

Romans 15:13 “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

We need to have trust in God that He knows what is best for us and has us right where we need to be. When we trust and glorify Him in our day to day we can feel the power of the Holy Spirit in us and we know to surrender our feelings for the Spirit’s power. When we understand this and our hearts are changed to follow Christ we have and can feel the joy and peace that comes from God alone. The world is going to happen and bad and sad news will be delivered but when we truly have faith that God is God and we are not we have comfort from the Spirit. It doesn’t mean we don’t feel sad or morn but there is peace that everything is under control because we are children of God. When we take our eyes off God we struggle with the world and we get discouraged but we know to pray and grow so it is the Spirit of God that gets us to praise God in the storms of life.

I love what Jesus says in John 14:27, “I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” When we know and live to be like Christ we know that our home is waiting us in heaven and we are here on earth to honor and love God so much that we surrender and say not my will or wants but yours. Then we trust in Him and the Spirit’s power fills us and we have joy and peace as we wait patiently for our new home. Amen

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Romans 14

1/27/2012

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Romans 14:7-8 “For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

This was just at the perfect time for me. When we belong to the Lord and are living our lives to glorify God that is exactly what we need to do. Our lives become tools to help others know Christ and we must focus on helping disciple and teach people to feel and know the same thing we do; and that is how incredible it is to know and live like Jesus Christ. This might mean God has you somewhere or doing something that you don’t like but God is not concerned with what we like, He wants us to show the love of Christ and be a person that has their eyes on the prize. We are not called to be so comfortable in our belief that we do everything we like without being focused on others. We are to think of others as better than ourselves and continue to work and grow so we can teach people to obey all that He commands (Great Commission). When we lose that inward desire to need everything our way we become free to help serve the Lord and make a difference for people and we will be a tool that can be used to help grow the Kingdom of God. So I say keep learning and growing never be satisfied with what you know, then go out and wherever God has you, do your best to be a light and help people see Christ in your life.

Look at what Jesus tells Paul when Paul ask three time for the thorn in his flesh to be taken from him; 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Whatever we do and wherever we are we must not worry about how we feel just let the Spirit work through us to help others find the love of God that we all have. Amen

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Romans 12

1/25/2012

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Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

When we accept Christ and are baptized we come up new and are ready to start over. We must forget the past and live letting God shape us into a person focused on Him. I love that it says, “let God transform you” we can’t do it only God can. We must open His word and read it for transformation, changing our hearts so we live the way it shows us. We have been given the Holy Spirit to be our advocate to show us what to do and we know what Jesus did and know we are called to be like Him. When we release control, get behind the Spirit, and learn we can be sure of these things: One, we will change and two satan will entice us with worldly pleasures. Our walk won’t be easy, and we must make an effort to continually die to self.

Look at what is says in verse 11, “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” It doesn’t say live for yourself and you will have fun, it says, “serve the Lord enthusiastically.” We are called to serve not just receive, so we must learn and then live out what we learn. Then when we are tired or discouraged with life we know we must work hard and not be lazy. We must have faith that no matter what happens Jesus did what He did for us so we can have eternal life through Him.

I want to end with verse 12 which says, “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Amen

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Romans 11

1/24/2012

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Romans 11:36 “For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.”

This is a great reminder of who God is and that everything is His. We get caught up in what is ours when in fact nothing is. We have things because God has made and provided these things. When we can understand this we can let go of the control we think we need and let the Spirit lead us in all areas of our lives. We must remember that we are never alone the Spirit is in us to help, guide, comfort and strengthen us in our walk to glorify God. When we realize that everything is from God we hold on to things much more loosely and we are not controlled by them. This makes a huge difference in how we take care of our money and how we deal with our kids and what we think we need to be happy. Our focus should be on living and growing to be like Christ so all we do is to glorify the Father. Think about something in your life that is in your grasp so tight that your knuckles are white. Then ask the Spirit to take that from you and give it to God because it is His. Then start working every day to release more and more of yourself and receive more and more of the Spirit so you hear Him loud and clear. Say thank you God for loving me so much that you gave your Son to give me a way to you. Thank you so much for giving me the Holy Spirit to guide me to you. Help me give you the glory in everything I do. Amen

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Romans 8

1/21/2012

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Romans 8:1-2 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the live - giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

What I love about this verse is we see how incredible belonging to Jesus is. We can believe in something but still be tentative but when we really belong it is a part of us. The Holy Spirit is what guides us to say yes to Jesus Christ and that Spirit is what is in us showing us the way to life. Our lives should slow down and our reactions should always be a result of what Jesus would do.

In verse 4 it says, “He did this so (this is about why He sent His Son) that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”

Do we ask and seek wisdom form God? Do we die to self and really listen to the Spirit for guidance? This is very important as we grow and belong to Christ and we realize that the Spirit will not lead us to sin it will lead us to glorify God. I love what it says in verse 12, “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.” This is a battle waging inside us so we need to be full of the Spirit by praying and reading God’s word so you can hear God’s Spirit loud and clear.

Verses 13-14 say, “For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by Spirit of God are children of God.” Make sure you choose this family and belong to Jesus Christ for He is the way and the truth and the life. Amen

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Romans 6

1/19/2012

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Romans 6:3-4 “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

Do we realize that we are set free from our past and live new in Christ? This is what is true and our hearts need to continually grow to see what we should become. Verse 10 says, “When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God.” We are called to study and learn everything that Jesus did and to live it with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are new creations that should be focused on one thing, glorifying God.

Verse 11 says “So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ.” We were born sinners but we have another way and when we seek Him above all else we understand what transformation means and we surrender our will. I love what verse 16 says because it is important to remember when we are struggling with life. “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you chose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”

We have a choice and God has given us the tools to obey him. We can’t do anything for the tools they are ours to have but we can choose to ignore them and let this world enslave us. I say choose life and really know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, get in God’s word and pray for wisdom and then listen to the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us so our focus is on glorifying God. Amen

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Romans 5

1/17/2012

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Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

Our faith is very important as we understand all that God did. Our faith shows that we believe that Jesus Christ came and sacrificed His life for us so we can truly know God. We don’t waver when we are struggling, we turn to God for guidance and comfort and we are confident that no matter what happens everything will be good.
Paul shares in

verse 3, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they will help us develop endurance.” We are in this relationship until we die and Satan is going to continue to tempt us and keep us off the narrow road every chance he gets. When we are praying and seeking God’s wisdom we know and are ready for what this world throws at us. this preparation is God’s way of helping us and He gives us His word to meditate on so we are ready for all situations. God’s word is not there for removing the trials from our lives it is there to prepare us to seek Him and be ready.

Verse 4 says, “And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” We have hope because of Jesus being raised from the dead and that we will someday be in heaven with Him. So our faith grows because of what Jesus did and because God gave us all the tools to be focused on living a life as Jesus did, fully devoted to the Father.

Verse 5 says, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.” We must realize when we feel compassion and joy and peace and all things good in our hearts that is the Holy Spirit guiding us and comforting us because God loves us. He doesn’t want anyone of His children to perish so He has well equip us for our journey home with Him. We need to take the time to seek and open our hearts to ask questions then follow the Spirit and knock so we can change from living for ourselves to living for God. Amen

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Romans 3

1/15/2012

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Romans 3:22 “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.”

It is so important for us to remember this and not get stuck beating ourselves up for who we are or what we have done. When we believe and confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord we are made right with God. We have got to see this as a new day or new beginning and remember after we repent we start new and all that crud is gone. We need to be saying to God thank you, I want to learn and grow to be just like Jesus. He was sent for us all to bridge the gap to the Father and everything He did is worth following. When our eyes are focusing on Him we can know that we will be lead to honor God and our life will align with everything God has shown us in the law.

In Romans 3:28 it says, “So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

When we can understand everything Jesus did was perfect to follow so when we die to self and focus on Christ the law doesn’t matter. If we wake up every day and start by thanking God for life and then before all decisions stop and say; what would Jesus do? Our lives would look a whole lot different. It seems silly but we are called to surrender our lives and fully follow Christ, when we do that people can’t see the world just a light. I pray that we all slow down and seek wisdom from God and ask Jesus to guide us through our day to day lives. Amen

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Romans 2:28-29

1/12/2012

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Romans 2:28-29 “For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”

This is so important to understand when we call ourselves Christians. We are not Christian just because we go to church or just because our parents went to church. We cannot go or do anything just because it should be done. We are called to be different and our hearts should be open to learn and grow taking on the qualities of Christ. We are Christians because we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and we die to self and seek to live for the Father. What it says in verse 29 is key, “…it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” Are we seeking all our choices and how we are living our lives by God’s standard? Do we let the Spirit control what we do and how we grow? Or is our life ours and we do the topical things we know Christians should do but our heart is the same as always. I challenge us all to step out of the driver’s seat and let our heart truly follow the Spirit living Christ-like and not just saying we are Christians. Amen

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Romans 2

1/11/2012

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Romans 2:7-8 “He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But He will pour out His anger and wrath on those who live lives of wickedness.”

As I looked at this I noticed a key word, seeking, we are supposed to be relationally seeking what God wants from us. It is not for us to ear it and be satisfied, it is for us to hear it and let it change our heart so we can grow and be different. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we should desire to be like Him, seeking all that He did, changing our lives to glorify the Father. Paul goes on to say in verse 13, “For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in His sight.” Take the time to seek God with an open heart reading to learn so as we learn we grow and as we grow we change and as we change people see Christ and want to have the same.

I want to end with a prayer, Father I open my heart to you today and ask you to fill it. Keep me steady and constant as I seek a relationship with you. Keep me strong when I am challenged by the world and work on my heart so I can be transformed. Thank you for showing me your love by sending Jesus for me to have eternal life. It is in Jesus name I pray. Amen

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Romans 15

Romans 14

Romans 12

Romans 11

Romans 8

Romans 6

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