romans 15 and 16

finishing up the book today,  there are some really good things in the last two chapters of the book. but i am not going to post my thoughts right now. 

i am questioning my motive behind this little blog right now.  it helps me to want to get up and read and stay a little bit more accountable to journaling.  BUT, it makes me question my motives.  am i posting for me, for you or for God?  

not sure where this will go in the future, but just wanted to let you know where i am at with this whole deal.  i have not been able to truthfully answer that question yet...  when i do, i will let you know.  

have a great day!  

romans 14

romans 14

this is a chapter that can cause much debate.  it is a chapter that people could use if they have things they like and do not want to give up.  it is a chapter that has verses in it that people will throw around, without really ever digging into the heart of what Paul is saying here.  this is a chapter of freedom.  

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but or righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.  So then let us pursue what makes peace and for mutual upbuilding. vv.17-19

THAT is the heart of this chapter.  righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  pursue peace and mutual edification, upbuilding.  it's tough to argue with that...

grace and peace 

romans 13

romans 13
v.7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
ok..i hate tax time though!
vv. 8-10 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
i love this passage. i'm not good at it, but i do love it. love is the fulfilling of the law. i get so caught up in do's and don'ts. for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. i don't get caught up in that very often. it's hard to argue. i can argue wether or not a christian can drink. i can argue the wrong's and right's of religion. but it is really hard to argue that someone is too loving.
v.11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.
you know the time, wake up! the message puts it this way...
But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can't afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don't loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!
no need for me to comment further. ; )

romans 12

i cant hardly get past the first paragraph.  i mean i can read it, and continue to read...but my mind stays there.  

i appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living 

sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. do not be conformed 

to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of you mind, that by testing you may discern

what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

holy and acceptable...which is your spiritual worship!  spiritual worship?  apparently, there are more than one kind of worship that i am engaging in.  non-spiritual and spiritual.  do not be conformed!  that has always been a tough one for me!  but the last part blows my mind...by testing you may discern what is the will of God...seriously?  i can see what God wants to do with my life?  i can know that?  me, i can know that?  you gotta be kidding me...ME?  i can "discern" the will of GOD.  i just thought i had to guess and hope.  maybe muster up a good enough plan, it seemed so difficult, He seemed so distant.  who knew?  obedience leads to intimacy...knowing, peace, perfection.  

romans 11

Romans 11

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall?  By no means!  Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

are we, christians, better than the religious people, the jews, who think they have it all figured out? a resounding no!  we were grafted in b/c they stumbled.  and their trespass led to great things, namely, our salvation.  so, paul asks, how much greater things will come about when they obey?!  

what does that mean for us?  never stop telling the religious people, that missed Jesus, about his grace and His love for them!!!!!!  never!!!  

i love this chapter!  b/c it teaches me to stop being cynical and start loving people...  good luck with that!  

romans 10

well, it has been a while since i have done something.  so, back on the horse...and it is a good day to get back on.  i am picking up where i left off in my reading, not blogging.  there is SO much good stuff in romans chapters 4-9, so my advice to you is to read it!  then, re-read it. then, read it some more...THEN, come back here and read this post about romans 10.

ok, so here we go. romans 10

Paul starts right off... 

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Paul is talking, b/c we read 4-9....lol, about the Israelites.  His prayer is that they would be saved...and they, have a zeal for religious things and for God.  But there is a problem, they think they get righteousness from God by what they do.  And apparently, b/c they think they are so right in what they are doing, they become ignorant to the righteousness that God provides.  God provides righteousness(right standing) through Jesus to all who believe.  Not so much to those who try and earn it by establishing their own works.  hmm... does this sound familiar to any modern times church debates? 2000 years later and we are still trying to earn God's favor....

then the big question comes after verses 8-11.  who is going to tell them?  who is going to tell the israelites that they have, in their pursuit to be holy, missed God....  then, Paul asks some questions that need to be addressed in chp. 11.  

see ya tomo....well, some time soon.

romans 2

romans 2

Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself.  It takes one to know one.  Judgmental criticism of others is a well known way e escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors.  But God isn't so easily diverted. 

I need to watch my mouth!

God is kind, but he's not soft.  In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

God disciplines, and firmly takes a hold of us...radical life-change... hmm?  There is something more to this...

If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into account.  But if you sin knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely.  Merely hearing God's law is a waste of time if you don't do what he commands.  Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.

oh... Now I see a little more clearly.  When God takes us by the hand, we must follow, in order to see the radical life change...  I thought I would just sit around here until my life started to miraculously look different.  I thought, maybe, if I go to church enough.... or listen to a ton of sermons...  or even read my Bible enough...  my life would look different.  Like I could act whatever way I want to and then just do those other things and some how my life could matter more in the kingdom of God.  Apparently, I have wasted quite a bit of time.  

also apparent from this chapter is this little tid-bit, and this proves that this has been a problem for a long, long time.

You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law.  The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God,"  show's it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.

I think the two problems are related.  the fact that i love to hear about God and not always do what i hear (it's called disobedience) and the fact that outsiders are down on God b/c of jews(i think you could substitute modern day christians in place of Jews)  

and from scripture it is clear that this blog won't fix the problem.  it is a problem that isn't going away.  but, there is something you can do.... become marked by God.  

You become a Jew by who you are.  It's the mark of God on your heart, ...

God, actually marks your heart.  He chooses you...  that makes me WANT to obey...  i can get pumped up about that.  THAT makes me want to change, obey, live, love, give, surrender, submit...joyfully!  he marked me....   

and you!

romans

romans 1

Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus.  You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ! (MSG)

seems like a pretty good way to start a monday morning!  i think God is teaching me something about my identity.  

then there is this....v. 18-24

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 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.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse.  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.  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.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen (ESV)

although the knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him...

they exchanged the truth about God for a lie AND worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!

if in the first posted verse about identity God was teaching me, what do you think he might be saying here?  

can you think about worshipping AND serving right after exchanging the truth about God for a lie?  

have you ever looked at what is on one of these?  ...resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things...is what romans says.  i think this is primarily for me....lots to consider and think about!  

see ya tomorrow...

colossians 3

i read colossians 3 this morning.  good stuff...  paul lays out some application steps for us.  every time i read this book, i always think of paul setting up match stick men, and in this chp. he knocks them down.  he lays it out, all on the line for practical steps of how to live.

one thing stuck out to me through out the day...  

children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 

Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

eric had a rough morning, so did i.  i took him to day-care where he catches the bus to school.  he forgot his back pack... ugh!  third or fourth time in as many weeks...  i said, "sorry buddy...i'm not going to get it this time"  he handled it calmly, NOT!  he freaked a little bit on me.  then, i got stubborn... :-) i said, "sorry.  you can cry all you want, i'm not getting it for you again.  if you don't want to go to school without it...don't forget it."

after 20 minutes at day-care and this type of bantering going back and forth...i left.  he was sitting on the floor crying.  i could have went on got the back pack 3 or 4 times with the time that i took in there.  and i didn't think about colossians until i got back in the truck.  oh man!  did i embitter him?  as the MSG says,  don't be too hard on your children or you will crush their spirits... did i crush his spirits?  

he was fine when he got to school and he was great tonight when i got home.  he learned a lesson...  and so did i.  i think the Lord was saying, hey!  be careful...live holy.  rely on Christ. don't be too hard on your kids.  raise them to be holy.  teach them to obey you.  love them like crazy.

great teachable moments!  i love it when these work out! 

colossians 2 and a little more

this probably should be 2 posts, but it isn't ..so hang on this could be long. i am trying to spend time with the Lord early in the morning. why? is there something magic about spending time with the Lord in the morning vs. any other time of the day? no, not really. but, for me...here is what happens. i oversleep, i choose not to get up or to just lay back down for one more minute...then i tell myself, i will open my bible first thing when i get to the office. then, i get to the office and the onslaught of the list i have compiled in my head hits. so, the rush is on to finish the list, before the meetings start and before the phone starts ringing. all the while, some where down deep i am trying to figure out where i will fit God into my day. so, 2:30 it is....

i admire people with enough discipline to start their day, every day, with God first. i think it says a lot about their view of their saviour... so, here at 2:36 now, i will do my "quiet time"...

colossians 2
v. 1, i want you to know how much i am struggling for you and those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally... it has been a while since i struggled for anyone, much less for those who have not met me personally. struggle... God, forgive me for living in the mirror. give me a passion for those that you have a passion for. a passion to struggle, to work, to, according to dictionary.com, to advance with a violent effort!

i'm stuck here...but i struggle on...

so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
how cool is that? the full riches of complete understanding! wow, i want that! fullness, i feel like my life lacks fullness. i get focused on one tiny aspect of life and i miss the fullness of complete understanding. in verses 6-8, Paul talks about how to achieve this. by continuing in the way we came to know Christ. through faith! that is how i came to know Him, by believing in Him. by His grace and my faith! and i love this, do not let human traditions and the basic principles of this world dictate how you live! how many times do we do this? this is religion...it isn't life giving or inspiring. live free in Christ, through faith in Him and be filled with joy! shouldn't by that statement, christians be the happiest people on the face of the planet? but we aren't. unfortunately i'm not.

but i will hold onto this when i am down or feeling defeated...verses 13-14...could be my favorite passage in all of scripture...
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

live in that for a little while... words that pop out to me are, dead, alive, God made, you, forgave, ALL, canceled, took it away, nailing it to the cross, disarmed, made a public spectacle of them, triumphing, by the cross!

grace...

colossians 1

i'm back...

colossians 1

i love how Paul has identity down.  in the first sentence he clearly states who he is.  "Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God..."  i had to pause for just a second on that.  mostly b/c i do not embrace my identity like that.  by the will of God....if you know anything about Paul's life, you know he lived  controlled by the holy spirit.  surrendering his will over and over again.  in fact in one place he says, (paraphrasing) if this isnt the real deal, then i am the biggest fool there is!  he was wreck-less in the way he followed the will of God.  

Then, he is clear on the identity of those he is writing to in the church at Colosse...to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ.  Paul had identities down.  sometimes we don't.  we beat ourselves up for the "sins" we commit.  we live in a drunken state of guilt and shame, or apathy, or where ever it is you live.  holy and faithful brothers in Christ.... i love this b/c Paul goes on to tell us how to identify ourselves properly.

in v. 6 he mentions the gospel is growing and bearing fruit all over the place, just as it is among you since the day you heard it AND understood God's grace in ALL its truth.  they heard the gospel, they understood God's grace in all its truth.  if you just read that and blow right by it, you probably dont understand the ramifications of grace.  if your head spins when you read that the holy and faithful brothers in Christ understood God's grace...you are starting to get, Grace.  there is a completeness that Paul writes about in colossians...it's as if he is trying to let the people of Colosse know that they only got part of the story.  he uses the word ALL quite a bit through out the letter.  i wonder if that is why i like this book so much?  

Paul is praying for the people.  specifically for God to fill them with the knowledge of God's will through spiritual wisdom and understanding.  why?  so that they would live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way!  how?

• by bearing fruit
• growing in knowledge
• being strengthened for endurance
• joyfully giving thanks 

that would be a pretty good picture of a life of a person following Christ.  and if you ever get hung up and need a memory jolt as to why you would want to live this way...Paul gives us one in verse 13...  for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

not only did he rescue us, but he brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves!  

Grace....