Category Archives: Jesus

The Romans Challenge: We Are The Lord’s

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“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 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.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is the most natural thing for us to think about what we want, when and how we want it. This is because we have inherited a selfish nature from way back when Adam and Eve decided to do what THEY wanted to do and not obey God. But when we Jesus becomes LORD of our lives, this changes.

We no longer live to ourselves or die to ourselves. We are the Lord’s. We are to live our lives in total submission to Him, total dependence on Him, and total obedience to Him. Where He wants us to go, we go. What He wants us to do, we do. We are His!

There is joy and excitement in living this way! What God does in our lives and through our lives is always good. His power will be displayed in us and through us. He has placed us where we are to represent Him and to carry out His great and awesome plan. In order for us to experience this we must recognize this truth, “none of us live for ourselves alone…we belong to the Lord.”

The Romans Challenge: Clothe Yourselves With the Lord

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“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When I was in High School, back in the 80’s, it was every girls dream to get to wear the Letter Jacket of some cute boy. It was a signal of all that you had entered into an exclusive relationship. At that point, you identified as their girlfriend and your status was “taken.”

In a similar way, God’s desire is for us to “wear His letter jacket.” This Jacket is “the Lord Jesus Christ” Himself. We are to clothe ourselves with HIM! When we put on Jesus, we “embody his teachings, love, and righteousness.” (Berean Study Notes Bible Hub) We receive our new identity in Christ living a life reflecting His nature. It is a signal that we have entered into an exclusive relationship with Him. At that point, we our spiritual status becomes “taken.” We are HIS!

How we lived before — chasing after what we wanted, when and how we wanted — is not our consideration. We are pursuing Jesus with total surrender, total obedience, and total dependence upon Him. We are not to “think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”

What a privilege it is to be His! May we take into consideration every moment of every day who it is that we have been clothed with!

The Romans Challenge: Wake Up!

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“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Spiritual drift happens… It’s easy to get lulled away into spiritual “slumber.” Our enemy will work little by little in our circumstances over a period of years and years to get us to slowly wander from the truth.

I know this from first hand experience. One “little” lie that I believed 20 years ago took root and slowly grew inside of me until I had drifted and found myself in a spiritual “slumber” or negligence. This negligence of my relationship with God, drift away from Him, caused me to be miserable. I was anxious, angry, bitter, and more. Thankfully God used some godly older women in my life to encourage me to “wake up!!” In fact, the exact wording one spoke to me as I sat in her home telling her all of my troubles, “Janet, the problem you are having is you have left your first love.” Instead of putting “aside the deeds of darkness,” I was dabbling with whatever I felt like I could get away with. I was not living my life in a wholehearted pursuit of God.

“The hour has already come for {us} to awake from {our} slumber.” God wants us to be alert and pursuing Him! Spiritual complacency will only lead to death, darkness, and destruction in our lives. We are either moving forward towards God or drifting away. If we are drifting off to sleep, we will find ourselves far from the peace, joy, love, and life that God desires for us to experience in a close and intimate relationship with Him.

Wake up!! You and I have been called to live “Awake and Alive.”

The Romans Challenge: The Debt to Love

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“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 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.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus loves! When I truly get my heart and my mind wrapped around that statement, I am changed. His love reached down into my mess and not only forgave my debt of sins, the areas I have missed the mark, but His love has cleansed me from them and put me in right standing with God. This is not anything I can do on my own. I could never repay Him for what He has done for me. So what is my response? I am indebted to love!

When you and I see how much we are loved by God, our only correct response is to love in return. This is a love for God and those He has placed around us.

When we love, we fulfill the law. Love doesn’t seek its own. Love wants to prosper and benefit others. It isn’t selfish. Love gives itself away for the good of others. “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Loving as God does — completely, deeply, and selflessly — is not something we can do on our own. As believers, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and pours God’s love out into our hearts. “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NIV

There are times that I struggled to love as Jesus loves, but I can stand on the promise of God. I can ask Him to fill me with His perfect love so that I am not bound up by the debt of sin once again. 

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love…”

The Romans Challenge: Authorities— God’s Servant for Your Good

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“For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God establishes authorities. He has placed them over us “for your good” As a Christian citizen, we are to respect those that God has placed in authority over us. Those who serve us in governmental offices are placed in those positions to promote good and restrain evil. They are working for the welfare of our society.

If we are doing what is good, “you will receive his {the authority’s }approval.” (Verse 3 ESV) BUT, if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid because God has placed these authorities in position to “bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

Simply put, God has placed those who govern over us in that position. We are to respect and honor them for the service they provide. 

“Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV

May we resolve to pray for those who serve as governmental authorities over us. They hold an important role and service to us. This is our first and foremost civic duty! 

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Romans Challenge: Governing Authorities

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“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Years ago I was consumed with Talk Radio. I listened to it every day for hours. I talked about what I heard to my family. I was very concerned about the “Governing authorities.” I was so concerned that I would worry about the world I was raising my kids in. I lived in an uneasy state. I felt like it was up to me to do something to change things and I knew the problems were bigger than me…After a huge election loss of the party that I supported, I was in great dismay. It was then that I came to the conclusion that I needed to look to Someone bigger than the situations that I was seeing around me — God.

God is sovereign. This means He is supreme in power. He is King over all! Daniel 2:21 says:

“He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭2‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We can be confident knowing that “There is no authority except that which God has established.” God is in control! Whether the authorities over us follow God wholeheartedly or refuse to acknowledge Him, God is working in our Nation and the nations of the world. We can take courage that God has a plan. This plan is not one of a political bent. It is the advancement of His Kingdom! He is King of Kings! Ultimately, it does not matter what the earthly rulers choose, God’s purposes for our world will prevail!

God instructs us to pray for those who are in authority over us. But ours is not to worry about who is sitting in the Oval Office, the Kremlin, or any other governing office. God is in control of that. As citizens of Heaven FIRST, our allegiance is King Jesus!

We can rest in the assurance that “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” God is always at work, and He is in control!

The Romans Challenge: Live In Harmony

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“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You and I were meant for connection to God and each other. We aren’t meant to do our lives alone. This is why believers in Jesus are united in a family — the Church. When we live in harmony — a connected whole (Websters 1828) — we will experience growth, encouragement, love, and relationship with each other. This is God’s plan for us.

Pride kills harmony. When our focus is on ourselves — what we want when and how we want it, we CANNOT live as God intends for us to live, connected and united with our brothers and sister in Christ.

We are called to live a God centered life. Our focus is to be on Him. We are to display Him in our actions. Our lives are to be totally submitted to God, totally dependent upon God, and totally obedient to God. When we live this way, God unites us to Himself and to others within His body, the Church.

BUT, if our lives are built upon ourselves — doing what we want and calling our own shots… we will exhibit pride, conceit, and division. We will be separated from the connection to the Body of Christ that we are meant to experience. Destruction will be the result of our choice to follow “self.”

Father, help us to live in harmony with each other. Help us to leave behind our selfish ways and to live our lives with You in the center. As we follow You and obey You, fill us with love for our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we can live as You intended us to live in harmony — ONE!

The Romans Challenge: Love Must Be Sincere

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“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. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭9‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sincere — Being in reality what it appears to be. not for the sake of appearance; real; not hypocritical or pretend. (Websters 1828)

Jesus loved sincerely! There wasn’t any pretense in what He did. He didn’t have an ulterior motive. He came to display to us and to make known His Heavenly Father. He came to show that God is love.

His love embraced the outcasts, touched the untouchable, welcomed the sinners. His love hated (detested) what was evil. He confronted hypocrisy, overturned the tables of swindlers, exposed lies with truth. He was full of zeal, passionate in pursuit of us.

“Love must be sincere.” Anything less than sincere love isn’t love at all. It will be some form of hypocritical, self-exalting, looking out for our own interest, action that will be empty and hollow. It won’t last the test of time.

Our aim should be to be like Jesus — loving with sincerity, hating sin, and clinging to good. This kind of love only comes to a life that is surrendered to God. We cannot “be like Jesus”, loving sincerely, in our own efforts. It will require an emptying of our self or selfish ways and receiving His love. “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Holy Spirit we ask You to fill us with Your love. Help us to love like Jesus — sincerely!

The Romans Challenge: One Body In Christ

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“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are one. We are connected, attached, and united to each other. Paul uses the metaphor of a human body. “We have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.” We have unity, but we are also diverse. My part of the body differs from yours. We each have our function. BUT, even though we are different, we NEED each other!

Each of us are gifted in different ways to bring glory to God and to serve Him and serve one another. One persons gifting and abilities is solely for that purpose. No one is better than the other. We shouldn’t “think of {ourselves} more highly than {we} ought to think.”

God has gifted us with His gifting for a purpose. What He has given to us we need to use! If we don’t the other parts of the Body of Christ— the Church will suffer. What God has given to us, our part we play, is important for making the Body of Christ strong and building it up. He wants us to participate in His good plan to have His people united, strong, and on mission to share with others His love. He has given us all that we need and equipped us. The question is, “will I respond ‘yes’ to Him and live connected to Him and His Church?”

The Romans Challenge: Living Sacrifice

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“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

If we are in relationship with Jesus, there will be evidence. We will be changed! When we look at all that Jesus did for us on the cross and see how great the mercy of God is towards us, we see what a wonderful and giving God we have. The only response is for us to give back to Him all that we have, our lives. This is our “spiritual worship.” (ESV). How do we give ourselves to God as we should? He wants EVERYTHING! He wants us to love Him with all that we are (entirely, totally, and completely).

The sacrifices in the Old Testament were laid upon an altar and burned completely. They were offered up completely to God. We are to live our lives that way. Everything about us is His – our time, our money, our entertainment, our jobs, our homes, our cars, our family, our clothing, our choices of food and drink, etc. It is ALL His!

How does this work practically in our world we live in today? We are to live our lives not as the world patterns it, but as God has told us we need to live in His Word! We are to continue to be “transformed” in our hearts and our lives. This comes as we allow God to renew our minds (our way we think and act) by coming to His Word over and over throughout our day.

You and I were meant to display God to the world around us. We are to be distinctly different. This only occurs as we allow God to change us and we become more and more like Him every moment of every day. As we know Him more, we will love Him more. As we love Him more, we will obey Him more. As we obey Him and live as He desires, we will be like Him. Living like this requires surrender to Him and His ways!

May we live our lives as “a living sacrifice.” Set apart for Him and His Glory!