January 21, 2024
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Romans 12:3-13
We have more communication technology, but less person to person communication. We have more social media, but less time socializing together. We’ve supersized our stuff, but we’ve downsized our time with others. As a result we are becoming more and more isolated from our families and communities. That’s why the call of Christ is a simple call to a personal relationship. Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” Jesus wants to connect us to God and to God’s family.
In the book of Romans chapter 12, the apostle Paul appealed to believers to fully devote themselves to God, which would lead to a transformed and renewed mind that would know and follow the will of God (Rom.12:1-2). He then instructed them in the new way they were to think of themselves and one another in Christ. We can have this new way of thinking of ourselves and one another in Christ.
August 6, 2023
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Matthew 5:1-3; Romans 7:15-25
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beatitudes, recovery
We all have problems. We have hurts, habits, and hangups that we can’t overcome. It’s like something inside of us is broken and it leaves us powerless to change. We’re held captive and can’t get free!
How are you doing at overcoming these hurts, habits, and hangups? For most of us, no matter how hard we try, we find ourselves powerless to break free, so we continue to be held captive by them.
The apostle Paul wrote about these feelings of brokenness, of feeling powerless to change. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he described how admitting our brokenness can move us toward God’s blessing. We can see how admitting our brokenness can move us toward God’s blessing.
August 2, 2023
“Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.” (Romans 16:3-5 NLT). In Paul’s letter to
August 1, 2023
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NLT). The apostle Paul prayed that the Romans would overflow with confident hope. What is this hope and
July 30, 2023
“Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires” (Romans 13:14 NLT). First, isn’t there the necessity of putting off our old clothes? Certainly, this is what the Word teaches. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul says to “put off
July 29, 2023
“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other” (Romans 12:10 NLT). In Romans 12, Paul described how those who have offered their bodies as a living sacrifice and have received a transformed mind that knows God’s will, should live with each other. In verse 10, Paul gave two marks of
July 28, 2023
“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36 NLT). Paul’s benediction at the end of Romans 11 is all encompassing. It declares that all things come “from” God, for He is the Creator. All things exist through God, for
July 24, 2023
“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32 NLT). God already gave us His best when He gave us His only begotten Son. Therefore, let us not accuse Him of withholding any good thing from us. If we
July 23, 2023
‘Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children’ (Romans 8:15-16 NLT). What is the greatest proof, the most convincing evidence that we have been adopted into God’s family? Isn’t it the internal witness of the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell in us?
July 22, 2023
“For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.” (Romans 8:7-8 NLT). The apostle Paul wrote that only those who live according to the Holy Spirit are able