Category: Daily Devotionals

HOW POWERFUL IS THE CROSS FOR ME?

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  Romans 1:28

Paul writes to the Christians in Rome who were in no way naïve and sheltered from their culture.  They were first century Romans.  Life was barbaric, sexually deviant, and politically cut throat.  One could see about anything in broad daylight, even in the so-called temples of the day.  The blood of people and animals ran down walls like water. Continue reading “How Powerful Is The Cross For Me?” →

PREDISPOSED TO WHAT?

For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.  For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.  Romans 1:26-27

Simplistic evangelical thinking believes that a homosexual identity is birthed environmentally.  Flawed parenting, early childhood experiences, these are some of the things we believe solely shape sexual orientation.  However, what about members of the gay community who protest that they were indeed born this way?  We are prone to dismiss that because how can we defend God’s Word if a true genetic component exists?  Does this erase guilt and provide a loophole for God’s commandments? Continue reading “Predisposed To What?” →

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Romans 1:22

            Why would I want a substitute for God?  Why would I turn my back on His incredible glory and prefer the graven images of dead things?  I can only speak for myself and offer some reasons that have caused me to run, personally, from God’s presence.

• God created me in His image.  I know right from wrong because He gave me a conscience.  I have violated it and have known what it is like to be racked with guilt. I have hated the feeling.
• God is holy.  When in prayer, I have sensed His purity and have felt the depths of my sin.  I have hated the feeling.
• God gave the Law and revealed His will.  I have realized that it was impossible to live up to it, and every time I did the opposite of what He commanded, I wanted to forget that I had ever read it.  I have hated the feeling.

            So, I can understand idolatry.  I’ve committed it so easily.  But longevity with God tells me that there is another way.  I don’t need to be a fool, put my hands over my eyes, and pretend that I don’t see Him, hear Him, or sense Him.

            God invites my worship, my focus, and my preoccupation with His glory because He loves me and invites me to receive the very thing that I overlooked for so many years.  Grace.  It was grace that caused Him to hang on the cross so that my sin could be forgiven.  Grace caused Him to justify me and declare me ‘pure’.  Grace causes His Spirit, every day, to empower my obedience.  If I have any thoughts that cause me to fear drawing closer to God, I can be sure that I believe the lies of the enemy.

            His glory stuns my soul with wonder, then joy.  All those years, I protected myself from what would have saved my life.  And that is the lie of idolatry.  “You don’t want God.  He won’t satisfy.  Come and make yourself another god.”  Never again!

I’ve been a fool and worshipped at other altars.  They had no glory. Give me the grace to walk wisely and feast on Your beauty.  Amen  

THE FOUNDATION OF A FOOL

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Romans 1:21

            A fool, in scripture, is described as one who denies the existence of God.  “A fool hath said in his heart there is no God.”  Void of the ability to know and speak truth, he sets out to become a philosopher; one who reasons things out in a way that makes sense to him.  But according to Truth, defined by an all-knowing God, it makes no sense at all.  According to James Boice, he has simply ‘rearranged error.’  Now, that is futility.  Continue reading “The Foundation Of A Fool” →

A KNOWING OR TO KNOW 

..who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  Romans 1:19

            From Paul’s words, it is clear that there is no excuse for an atheist.  There is enough revelation of God in all of nature to dispel any doubt that He exists.  One would have to choose not to see it.  A person’s sinful nature, no matter how brilliant their intellect, suppresses the truth.  Continue reading “A Knowing Or To Know?” →

A SUBJECT IGNORED

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  Romans 1:18

            God’s wrath is not a subject most churches address.  And of the few that do, some exclude teaching of God’s tender grace.  Focusing on either one, while ignoring the other, distorts the Gospel and hurts any congregation.  A right view of the character of God can only be attained when His wrath, and grace, are understood. 

            One of the reasons people prefer not to think about God’s anger is because of their experience with angry people around them.  God’s anger is not of the human kind.  Continue reading “A Subject Ignored” →

FAITH PLUS NOTHING

The just shall live by faith.  Romans 1:17b

            I write today with fear and trembling.  Prayerfully, I seek God for the concepts and language to write about this critical and most important issue in all of Christianity.  This is the verse Martin Luther stood on and why his life was on the line.  Protestantism was born on the foundation of this theological truth.

            If ever someone had the moral credentials to earn his salvation, it was Paul.  He listed them elsewhere in Philippians.  The humbling discovery he made on the road to Damascus was that his ‘credentials’ had actually kept him from saving faith.  The very things he worked so hard to attain, that he thought were winning him eternal favor with God, were his own stumbling blocks.  He came to understand that his attempts to act righteous were like presenting an offering of filthy rags. 

            The law was not given so that we could mimic it and please God.  There is no brown-nosing the Teacher.  Continue reading “Faith Plus Nothing” →

BEING DIFFERENT

I am under obligation both the Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.  Romans 1:14

A barbarian referred to anyone who did not speak Greek.  This language dominated all art, culture, and education.  To be a barbarian was to be outside of the respected mainstream.  A person who was not able to speak and read the language suffered a stigma.

To be outside the mainstream, whether in society at large or within a smaller group, is to know the pain of exclusion.   Continue reading “Being Different” →

MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you ~ that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.  Romans 1:11-12

I have found that mutual encouragement is a rare thing.  Encouragement alone is hard enough to find, but it does usually exist in one-sided relationships.  One person is spiritually strong; the other weak.  The strong one gives of himself, speaks words of faith, and the weaker one takes it in like a thirsty sponge.  The weak person has little to give in return except gratitude. Continue reading “Mutual Encouragement” →

PRAYERS FOR STRANGERS

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers…  Romans 1:9

            Something amazing happens when we pour ourselves out daily at the feet of Christ.  We press our heart to the surface, offer it to Him without any reservations, and ask Jesus to live large in us.  At that point, His Spirit rises up strong in our spirits and we are in touch with His thoughts and affections.  What He loves, we love.  There is no other explanation for the complete reformation of our heart’s desires. Continue reading “Prayers For Strangers” →