CAN I PRAY FOR YOU?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

         This sounds like the end of Romans.  Paul expresses a beautiful hope and prayer.  It is packed with everything anyone might ever need.  While His prayer moves my heart and I could write about it, the Spirit of God prompted me to pray these scripture over each of you today.  I hope it connects.  I hope it lights the flame of hope in your heart.  I hope you are stronger and resolved at the end of it.  It is a privilege to love and pray for you.

Lord, You can see Your child. She’s reading this and needing You to break through the barriers to her faith.  She’s tired, ready to cave in.  Afraid to hope.  Afraid to feel the pain of waiting for you.  The ability to endure no longer exists. 

She hoped in someone for something she needed and hope was smashed.  She has no joy and no peace in believing that You are true to Your promises.  She has not felt the power of the Holy Spirit in a long time.

First, I ask that You deliver her from evil.  Send Your angels to wherever she is right now and fight against what she cannot see.  Defeat her enemies and put a blood covering over her.  Restrict all enemies from speaking to her and moving against her.  In the authority of Christ Jesus, I cancel their plans to lie, steal, kill and destroy her faith.

I bind her mind to Yours.  Be large in her, Holy Spirit.  Every prayer that has been spoken over her, bring to full budding and blossom.  Every scripture that she has planted in her heart, bring out of the deep and put it within her heart’s grasp.  As she opens Your Word today, remove the veil from her eyes to see the power of Your love, the power of Your authority, and the power of Your hand to be the source of all that she needs.  Bring such powerful revelation as she reads that a journal page cannot contain her insights. 

Through Your Word, and through the God-moments that You will ordain today for her, grow her faith and her hope.  Transform the flickering flame of her faith into a blaze of glory.  Infuse her heart with fresh faith and the ability to stand in the cement of Your love and believe You!  You are not distant.  You are not passive.  You are a God of intervention and no one who has ever trusted in You has ever been put to shame.

Break through the fog.  Reveal Yourself to her so that she may see Your glory and live.  The kingdom is here now and near her. 

Seal this by the power of the Spirit and it is by the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the world, and King of Kings, that I pray these things.  Amen

BLIND TO GOD’S PLANS

And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”  Romans 15:12

         The first announcement that there would be a Savior to the world came in Genesis.  The Psalms are full of revelation that all nations will praise the Lord.  Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm in the Bible, only two verses long, but it has one of the broadest outlooks.   The nations of the world are worshiping God because of His love and His faithfulness.

         Paul’s quote in today’s scripture comes from Isaiah 11.  Through the line of King David (Jesse was his father), a king will come and bring universal blessing.  This will be the messianic age when lions and lambs will live together without the urge to kill and without the fear of being prey.

         If God’s plan was to include all nations in His plan for salvation, how did the Jews miss it?  They had the Torah and had memorized it.  Yet, their bias against God sharing His blessings outside their borders were expressed strongly down through the centuries.

         It makes me wonder today what I’m missing.  Is my Gospel inclusive? It is easy to be standoffish with those I don’t understand, with those whose culture is so unlike my own.  I am repelled by their violence, their practices, and shake my head in disbelief when I see their stories portrayed on the evening news.  They are so far from God and the gap seems insurmountable.  Yet, God is revealing Himself to modern-day Sauls; Continue reading »

WHEN A WELCOME IS RUINED

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  Romans 15:7

         Why would I not want to welcome someone today into my home, into my fellowship?  While there may be a temporary reason like weariness, there is a much deeper reason when I can’t welcome someone over a long period of time.  Chances are, they have hurt me by something they did or said or they offended me by their beliefs and lifestyle choices.

         A lukewarm welcome feels terrible, doesn’t it?  No welcome at all stings for a long time and the memory of it sits interminably in our soul. Continue reading »

HARMONY – WHAT IS IT?

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 15:5-6

         Before Jesus was arrested, he prayed at length over His disciples.  What He emphasized the most was their need for unity.  Harmony and unity.  Jesus knew what we would experience.  Relationships can get tiresome.  Relationships can get strained.  Relationships can grow argumentative.  Paul prayed that endurance and encouragement would fuel harmony.  And how many reasons there are to pull away from each other!

         I can disagree with someone’s leadership style and let frustration separate us.  I can struggle with someone’s opinion at the conference table.  I can be put off by someone’s personality.  I can disagree with how another is using their spiritual gift.  I can strain under someone’s abrasiveness and try to avoid them.  Continue reading »

WHAT I MUST DO IF I’M GOING TO MAKE IT

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.  Romans 15:4

            Scripture is more a heart thing than it is food for the intellect.  Yet, because of my early mentors, I approached God’s Word as if it were for my thoughts only. Meanwhile, my heart languished and I wondered if I could go on.

            While I am currently not in a place of hopelessness, I realize that you may be.  Life has temporarily come apart.  You are exhausted and out of the fight to survive.  You are waiting for someone to come along and impart supernatural strength.  There is no one offering it to you.  There can be no one to offer enough of what you need.  So what must a man or woman do to make it? Continue reading »

PICK A SIDE!

But Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”  Romans 15:3

         “Whose side are you on anyway?”  I remember the pressure.  I remember the question? Bullies in my 6^th grade class picked on the underdog in my class.  He had done nothing wrong.  I felt the pain of the afflicted and stuck my neck out to say, “Stop hurting him.”  With that, the bullies demanded that I pledge allegiance to one side or the other.  I did and would have paid that day if it had not been for the end of recess and teachers standing in the gap.

         In lieu of pleasure and ease, Jesus picked sides and stood with His Father.  He paid for that choice with His life and He gave His disciples a heads up.  “If they hated me, they will hate you.”

         Is a broader picture painted of the bias against me if I align with Christ?  It is.  The ‘reproach’ quote from this verse in Romans comes from one of the great Messianic psalms of the Old Testament.  Psalm 69.  If I read it with Jesus in mind, this foretells His suffering in detail. Continue reading »

A SKIRT, HOSE, AND A STRAND OF PEARLS

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Romans 15:1

         Converted Jews and Gentiles were having such a hard time getting along that Paul has to keep writing to them, urging them to love each other.  He is asking the strong to be tolerant of the limited understanding of the weak.  He is also asking the weak to embrace the strong – whom they believe to be in error.  What does that look like?  I’ll give you a personal example.  First a little history.

         It took our whole family a long time to move out of legalism.  That was our history.  We bore the pain of those who live under its umbrella; joylessness, discouragement, false guilt, and living defeated by others judgment.  The way out was long and painful.  To embrace new brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, those who had been portrayed as living in gross error, called for courage and a shift in spiritual paradigms.  Most of the ‘lifestyle issues’ that had previously been labeled sinful, over time, became entirely neutral.  Grace, in place of judgment, became the banner over our home.

         The challenge came when I was called to re-visit the places and people who were still trapped by legalism.  I will confess that my attitude stunk.  I didn’t want to go.  Disgust, that only covered hurt, still reigned in my heart.  God had to work with me by calling me to travel, embrace, and teach those who live like those in my past.

Recently, I was invited to speak to a church to speak at their annual women’s conference.  It was very conservative.  The rules were stated up front.  They only approved of one version of the Bible.  The dress code was also mandatory.  I decided, before praying about it, to turn down the invitation.  Honestly, my flesh was groaning at the thought of it.  But, God moved in my heart and told me to go. I changed all my scripture references, both in my notes, their handouts, and in PowerPoint, to the version of the Bible they required.  I put together an outfit for the event; found a skirt in the back of my closet, dug for a string of pearls in the bottom of my jewelry box, Continue reading »

WHEN IN DOUBT, DON’T DO IT

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith.  For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.  Romans 14:23

         Timidity, something that has plagued me for much of my life, is to live unsure of who you are and what you’re called to do.  While those two areas are comprehensive, what’s even more crippling is to live with everyday uncertainties.  Am I going to the right church?  Am I serving in the right capacities in my church?  And for some, have I married the right person?  Have I taken the right job?  Every decision, big and small, is made without faith that it is the right decision.  I am not a person of kingdom influence because I’m always hiding in the shadows, timid and unsure of myself.  Ultimately, this is a spiritual problem.  A strong father/child relationship with God is what gives anyone confidence and purpose.

         I consider the times I begin a conversation with “I’ve been thinking a while about saying something to ______________ about ____________.”  It’s dangerous to go forward with a potentially serious conversation on shaky ground.

         Or, “I’ve been thinking about making a job change.”  “I’ve been thinking about starting a new venture.”  Continue reading »

THE TIMBERS OF WHAT WE’RE BUILDING

So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.  Romans 14:19

         Not a mistake that Paul uses the phrase ‘building up’ for what happens when I love other believers as Jesus would love them.  Not only are they built up on the inside but also the church at large is being built.

         Ultimately, Paul wants me to understand that I am involved in the building process.  And building is not haphazard.  A successful project is only realized when there is a blueprint.  Intentionally sticking with the design is what ensures success.  Each piece of steel, each timber, each footing, must be crafted with care according to the Architect’s plan.

         I am part of our worship team at our church, a fantastic group of singers and musicians.  Just last night I was thinking about the growth of our church and the slowly escalating move of the Spirit.  This is what I saw being played out.  The bass player is undergoing rigorous cancer treatments.  He arrived not feeling well.  Continue reading »

WHY WOULD OTHERS BELIEVE I’M A CHRISTIAN?

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Romans 14:17

         I’m holding my breath while writing this.  I’m realizing that an unbeliever may call me a Christian for all the wrong reasons.  And if they do, legalism (the thing which has hurt me and the thing I despise) is still a part of me.  So how do others perceive me?

• Am I known for what I don’t do?
• Am I known for being out of touch with what’s happening in the world?
• Am I known for being disgusted by our times and intolerant of those captive to sin?
• Do I look so peculiar by the way I dress and wear my hair that I become a joke to anyone in the mainstream?
• Am I perceived as someone who is ‘against’ a litany of things?

      These should not be the things that define my Christianity.  Paul gives a different list.  It’s not a long one.  There are only three things on it.      Continue reading »