Month: June 2012

THE ENDING TO ROMANS

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith – to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!  Amen

         It’s the end of Romans.  How do you feel?  Have you been changed?

         I remember the day, sitting on the edge of my bed in a hotel room in Minneapolis, that God spoke to me and impressed upon me to study and teach Romans.  I was trembling, literally, with the prospect of such an undertaking.  That was two years ago.  Two hundred and forty devotionals later, you’ll never know how many mornings I feared that I would never grasp the meaning of the verse in front of me.  My testimony today is this ~ The Holy Spirit loves to teach and is faithful to anyone who seeks to be moved by the most difficult scriptures.

         In the end, Paul’s last words are about the sources of strength.  He will need it for the violent end of his life and ministry.  And he knows we will need it too.  We have been sent out to live as sheep amongst wolves.

         Are you fearful of the wolves?  Are you out of physical strength?  Out of emotional stamina?  Are you intellectually tormented, wondering if what you believe is really true?

         Paul sends us to three places to get strength. Continue reading “The Ending To Romans” →

JESUS SHOWED ME HOW

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  Romans 16:20

         How does God crush Satan under my feet?  Now, that is a visual! I crush the serpent’s head the same way Jesus did.  This act of subjection was predicted in Genesis.  “You (Jesus) shall crush his head and he shall bruise your heel.”  Gen. 3:15   While Jesus declared that he came to destroy the works of the devil, and he did this through signs and wonders, the actual crushing of Satan’s head didn’t happen until the cross.  Jesus had to give His life as the perfect Lamb in order for Satan’s power to be broken.

         Paul says that I have a similar opportunity to crush Satan under my feet.  How does this happen?  Just as Jesus gave up all rights to his life and came to do His Father’s will, and Satan was crushed, this act of subjection is repeated again and again through me and every child of God.  When I give up all rights to my life and choose righteousness over sin, Satan is crushed.

         Ultimately, Satan must use people to get his work done.  He needs bodies he can control.  Continue reading “Jesus Showed Me How” →

MAKING RIGHT JUDGMENTS

Your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent and what is evil.  Romans 16:19

         Do mature Christians need to be concerned about being deceived?  Aren’t they grounded enough in the Word to be past such a threat?  Apparently not.  And if any of us believe we are, we live dangerously.

         As long as I live here on earth, I can be fooled.  Good and evil aren’t always obvious.  The author of evil is so good at deceiving that he can make what is sinister appear holy.

         What is wisdom?  Warren Wiersbe defines it as ‘knowing what to do when there is no biblical precedent.’  Satan is always in the cobwebs.  He weaves webs around the outlines of our Christian lives and mixes in his own brand of what appears to be holy.  His options are never dark-colored but glittering and full of light.

• He might tell me to stand up for righteousness and discipline a child when grace is called for. Continue reading “Making Right Judgments” →

WHO WOULD I MENTION?

Priscilla, Aquila, Epaenetus, Mary, Anronicus and Junia,

Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Aristobulus, Herodion,

Narcissus, Tryphaena Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus, Asyncritus,

Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, Julie, Nereus, Olympas.

People Paul remembered in the last chapter of Romans.

         I’m nearly at the end of Romans.  What a journey over this past year.  As I start reading the last 5-6 verses, I realize these are the last words of Paul’s to the Roman church.  He won’t see them again and he has invested so much of himself into the birth, and growth, of their church.  He did it to his peril as he was beaten and imprisoned.  Though Paul has often gotten a bad rap as being non-relational, his closing words are all about people and relationships.

If I were about to die or to be taken away in chains, what kind of a goodbye list would I make?  This morning I daydreamed.  I imagined that I will send a good friend on a journey to visit the people who have impacted my life the most profoundly.  “Tell _________ that I thank him for showing me the face of Christ through his kind spirit.”  Continue reading “Who Would I Mention?” →

THRIVING IN CHANGE

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life.  Romans 16:3-4

         In a day when so many have lost their jobs and businesses and are trying to get any kind of employment to make ends meet (even something that has nothing to do with their field of education), it is easy to believe that life is over.  Watching their homes go into foreclosure, moving across state lines to live with parents and relatives, these undermine feelings of stability.

         It is always comforting to know the stories of those who have gone before us.  Priscilla and Aquila, invaluable in their work for the kingdom, lived on the run.  Stability was not measured by predictability but by learning to rest in a God who would use them and provide for them no matter where they went. Continue reading “Thriving In Change” →

IS IT REALLY INSIGNIFICANT?

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchrae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.  Romans 16:1

         A ex-murderer wrote a letter to a church in Rome.  A woman who was moved by his faith contributed extensively to his ministry and felt called to serve him.  When he needed someone to deliver his letter, she took on the burden of carrying it to the Roman church.

         Travel for women was dangerous.  Most likely, she had others traveling with her but Paul doesn’t mention them.  Phoebe stood out.

         She had no idea the power of the letter she carried on that trip.  The theological history of the church was in that letter.  The Reformation was in her satchel.  Continue reading “Is It Really Insignificant?” →

MORE THAN A MENTION

I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.  Romans 15:30-31

         Some of you are struggling for your lives whether spiritually, emotionally or physically.  You know that you desperately need prayer but where are those who will cover your needs in a way that is more than just a quick mention?  Where are the ones who will get on their face before God to listen to the Spirit on your behalf, to invest time and energy and be spiritually intuitive as to your needs?  Who will cover your situation from every possible angle?  They are few.  And they are always the ones who believe in the power of God and the power of answered prayer.

         Someone who is having surgery today needs a more strategic prayer than this ~ “Lord, be with him in surgery today and be in control.  Amen”  This is pretty lame, lazy, and shortsighted.  Continue reading “More Than A Mention” →

OVERHAUL OF A MINDSET

At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.  Romans 15:25-26

         When charitable giving is the topic of a Sunday morning, I can tune out because I believe that I am already generous.  My mindset is skewed due to the fact that I am innately selfish.  Unless I am like Jesus, willing to give up everything for an enemy, I know little of generosity.

         Those in Macedonia and Achaia were non-Jews from wealthy urban areas in the Roman Empire.  Their mindset was that Rome taxes the weak in order to fund the empire.  Many of the Gentiles enjoyed their wealthy status at the expense of the Jews throughout Judea.  To give back to them charitably, instead of take, was an upside-down idea.  Jesus does that well.  He turns everything on its end, making our head spin, reinforcing the reality that kingdom thinking is the opposite of everything we’ve believed to be true.

         Who might be the last person I would consider giving to today?  Perhaps my mindset has closed off my spiritual hearing.  Continue reading “Overhaul of a Mindset” →

HOW A MINISTRY SURVIVES

Since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you.  Romans 15:23-24

         Those who lead ministries are dependent on God’s people to provide for what they need.  Paul made it clear that He was coming to Rome not only because he longed to see them but to ask them to provide for whatever he needed to travel to Spain.  His needs would include food, money, fares for travel, and traveling companions.

There is a balance when leading a ministry.  I know missionaries who feel entitled.  They have no trouble walking through homes, where they are guests, and ask for furniture and objects they admire.  They offend their hosts and leave a bad taste for missions.  The implication is, “I have given up everything to follow Christ and you haven’t!  Support me!”  Continue reading “How A Ministry Survives” →