A Work in Progress….

Romans 16:17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

Such a timely caution, even today: watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. We see these people everywhere. Sometimes we are these people, causing division, putting up obstacles.

Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

When God is our center, life is about Him, for Him, in Him, but when we lose our focus, when our thoughts and desires and emotions take priority, that is when we start to cause divisions and put up obstacles—for ourselves and others.

Romans 16:19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Lord, Help me to center myself solely and completely on You. Help me to live my life in You, with You, and for You alone. Help me to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in my way and help me not to cause divisions or put obstacles in the way of others. Draw me closer. Amen.

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

Have a blessed day.

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

The message of hope in Romans 15:13 is a favorite of mine. “God of hope,” “fill…with joy and peace,” “trust in Him,” “overflow with hope,” “the power of the Holy Spirit.” Every word is powerful and peaceful, a balm to my weary soul.

Romans 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

It occurs to me as I type this that Romans 15:13 would make a beautiful prayer, calming and centering:
Deep breath in: May the God of hope
Deep breath out: fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him
Deep breath in: so that you may overflow with hope
Deep breath out: by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

Lord, Thank You for Romans 15:13, for hope that can only be found in You and Your word, for deep breaths and prayers that help me to center myself in You. Thank You for Your peace, which surpasses human understanding, a peace that can only be found in You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Romans 15:33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Romans 14:7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.

Today’s scripture brought to mind John Donne’s “No Man is an Island.” As God’s children, we are hardwired for community and connection, “every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main”. Romans 14:7 expresses the same sentiment.

Romans 14:8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Since we are so intimately linked, “any man’s death”—literal, spiritual, emotional—“diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” Since I do not live for myself alone, since this connection among humanity is real and vital, how I live my life matters. I need to live in such a way that I will edify those I come into contact with, not tear them down. By edifying my fellow man, I glorify my precious Savior.

Romans 14:9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Lord, Forgive me when I forget that I am connected to You and Your people. Forgive me when I live for myself alone, intentionally or otherwise causing stumbling blocks for others. Help me focus on edifying others and, most importantly, glorifying You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

Have a blessed day.

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

The “continuing debt to love one another” is a debt we continue to pay, again and again and again. God is really good at the continuing debt to love one another. Jesus is, too. Both are shining examples of continued love through a host of circumstances, from incredibly difficult to really easy.

Romans 13:9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Me? I meet the commandment with varying degrees of success, I’m afraid. When life is in a stable place, it’s easy to pay the continuing debt to love one another. When I’m exhausted and overwhelmed, struggling to keep my head above water, self-preservation becomes paramount, and the idea of the continuing debt to love one another is hard to find.

Romans 13:10a Love does no harm to a neighbor.

Lord, Thank You for Your reminder of the continuing debt to love one another and Your abundant examples of how to love in difficult circumstances. Help me, always, to be mindful of the continuing debt to love one another. Help me to love even when I struggle. Amen.

Romans 13:10b Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Have a blessed day.

Romans 12:9-10 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Lord, I am tired—mentally, physically, emotionally—and when I get tired, I lose sight of the big picture, I lose my ability to be sincere, to cling to what is good, to be devoted in love, to honor others above myself.

Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Lord, I am so deeply entrenched in my feelings right now—overwhelm and exhaustion. There is no spiritual fervor. Everything is a chore, a daunting, taxing, never ending chore. I do not want to live this way, but I’m having trouble implementing a solution. Please help me.

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Lord, I claimed Romans 12:12 as my life verse in my youth, but somehow I have wandered far away from joy, patience, and faith in my day-to-day life. Thank You for the clarity to see that I am allowing my exhaustion and overwhelm to draw my attention away from You and Your desire for me to love sincerely. Forgive me. Help me to draw closer to You. Always. Amen.

Romans 12:13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality

Have a blessed day.

Romans 11:22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

As I read these verses, in my current state of mind five weeks into the school year, the thought that occurred to me is: Jesus must be exhausted. There’s so much monitoring, so much regrading if you will, to see if mercy, re-grafting is deserved, to see if a different branch needs cutting off due to unbelief.

Romans 11:23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

That is my own exhausted humanity speaking. I am thankful that God doesn’t function as I do. He doesn’t need sleep. He doesn’t have a finite number of hours in His day. He doesn’t get tired or frustrated or fed up.

Romans 11:24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

Lord, I pray to You verses 33-36, the doxology: Oh, the depth of Your riches of wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable are Your judgments, and Your paths beyond tracing out! Who has known Your mind? Who has been Your counselor? Who has ever given to You, that You should repay them? For from You and through You and for You are all things. To You be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in….

Have a blessed day.

Romans 10:1-2 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.

What strikes me about verses 1-3 is that the Israelites have zeal but it’s not based in knowledge, and since they did not know God’s righteousness, they established their own idea of righteousness, which pushed them even further from God.

Romans 10:3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

That sounds so incredibly, frighteningly human. “I want God’s righteousness, but I don’t understand it, so I will create rules that allow me to say (and feel): I have kept all these rules; therefore, I am righteous.” A human construct masquerading as a biblical truth, which brings the seeker no closer to the goal of righteousness.

Romans 10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Lord, Humans sometimes do ridiculous things in the name of trying to draw closer to You. Forgive us. Thank You that You are accessible, that You desire relationship with us. Help me, daily, to believe with my heart and profess with my mouth and draw closer to You. Amen.

Romans 10:11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Have a blessed day.

Romans 9:14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!

If I started talking about what I *deserve* because of my age, my seniority, my hard work, my positive attitude, etc, I’m hopeful that it wouldn’t take me long to realize I am seriously off-track. And, usually, it doesn’t take long down the path of “positive things that I deserve” to realize that there are a whole lot of negative things I deserve, too, because of my impatience, my anger, my pride, my shortsightedness, etc.

Romans 9:15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Thankfully, God doesn’t treat me as my behavior *deserves.* In the grand scheme of life, there are far more times where my attitude tends negative before I reign it back to positive. His grace is a gift that I take for granted, and that needs to stop.

Romans 9:16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

Precious Savior, Thank You for Your mercy and grace. Help me to treat others with the same compassion, not because they deserve it, but because You extend such grace to me when I don’t. Amen.

Romans 9:17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Have a blessed day.