Category Archives: love of God

The Romans Challenge: Reconciled!

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“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Reconciled- “Brought into friendship from a state of disagreement or enmity” (Webster’s 1828)

Today is Romans 5!

We were created for connection to God! Relationship is connection. Back in the Garden of Eden, God’s intent for mankind was to have relationship. When Adam and Eve chose to sin, separation from God came. This separation is all we have really known and understood in our lives. It is the norm. But God desires for us to experience something radically different than that. He wants us to be united to Him in a close and intimate relationship!

This is why Jesus came. His death, burial and resurrection provides the way for us to experience His salvation from sin. When we accept Him as our Savior, we are justified by His blood. His blood cleanses us from the sin that has separated us from God. Then we experience the most beautiful thing — reconciliation. We are brought back into the relationship that God originally desired for us to have way back at the beginning, in the Garden of Eden.

This relationship we now have with God is closely connected to Him. He gives us the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. We now live our lives literally walking and talking with God.

We go from being enemies of God, pursuing sin, to a friend of God, pursuing Him and His righteousness! We can now live our lives reconciled to God!

The Romans Challenge: Rejoice in Hope

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“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today we start Romans 5!

Hope is the confident expectation of good.

Glory is the sum of all God’s characteristics. It is all of His perfections or excellence.

When we come to know God for who He is and all of His greatness, we know that we will experience good from Him. No matter what our circumstances are we know God is at work for our good. This is because He is completely good and He is completely love. All this love and goodness is poured out upon us.

When life is hard, we have reason to rejoice! Because whatever hardship that God has allowed into our lives is working in us perseverance, character, and hope. More than all of this, we will experience God’s love, which is defined as His will to good for us!

When we trust God in impossible circumstances, we will find out that He is faithful! He never leaves us or abandons us. Each and every circumstance will deepen our understanding of God and grow our relationship with Him, if we will determine that our eyes will be fixed on Him.

We will “rejoice in hope!” We have hope that He is working here and now on our behalf. Romans 8:28 says He is working all things for our good.

We also have hope that when all is said and done, we will experience the ultimate good, eternity with Him!

Rejoice! No matter what God is for us!

The Romans Challenge: Heir of the World

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“It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Romans 4.

I live in the country. Starry nights here are beautiful! Sometimes, at night, I go out and stand in my front yard and just gaze at the sky. The stars are everywhere. Then I think of the promise that God made to Abraham. “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.” (Genesis 26:4) How amazing it is to me that one of those stars represents me.

Long ago, God came to Abraham and gave Him a promise. Abraham believed what God said. It was just that simple. It was Abraham’s faith in God that made him righteous. This changed the trajectory of our world. God worked throughout time and history to fulfill this promise of an inheritance that was so much bigger than a mere man, who God came to all those thousands of years ago. Abraham was directly in the lineage of Jesus, and Jesus came for the world that God promised to Abraham. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jewish or non Jewish, Circumcised or uncircumcised, none of this matters. When we believe in Jesus, we can be confident that one of those stars we see lit in our skies at night was meant for us. The promise that God gave Abraham is true! God wanted to bless the world through Abraham’s faith!

God still wants to bless the world not only through Abraham’s faith, but through ours. When we believe God and receive the salvation He offers through Jesus, we are given His righteousness. It comes just as it did to Abraham, through faith. We are His! We have entered into relationship with God Himself.

In this relationship, we come to know God and in turn we make Him known to those around us. That way others can look up at the night sky, as Abraham did, and realize God’s promise is true, “God lit up that star for me.”

The Romans Challenge: Righteousness Through Faith

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“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Romans 3

We are all deeper in sin than any of us could ever imagine. When we finally see our condition, we should be very concerned. There is nothing we can do that will fix our sin problem.

The Jews of Pauls time thought that if they could work and work at it, they could become righteous and have the purity it takes to stand rightly before God. They had the attitude of “I’ll do it myself.” But none of us can “do it” on our own. Righteousness only comes through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. When we believe in Jesus and receive what He did for us on the cross, we are brought into right standing with God.

Jesus is God’s solution for everyone’s sin!

A few months ago my husband came across this video. It perfectly illustrates how we cannot clean ourselves up on our own. Only God is able to do the heart transformation we need to make us right — righteous.

Will we call our to Him? Will we accept through faith His great gift?

The Romans Challenge: Conscious of Our Sin

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“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Romans 3.

One of the most impactful exercises I have ever done is taking the time to complete a “Spiritual Inventory” list. It is a check list of sins that are listed in the Scripture. Prayerfully considering the condition of my spiritual heart is of upmost importance.

I believe it is healthy for us to come to God with the same prayer that David did on a regular basis:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sin numbs us. Our enemy would love for us to live unaware of the sin in our lives. He would love for us to blame all of our problems on others and our circumstances. He is aware that once we see the truth, we have a sin problem, we are close to freedom. Because it is the truth that sets us free from the chains of sin!

Romans 3 has a list that describes where we all are without God. It concludes that the Law of God, makes us “conscious of our sin.”

Knowing that we have a problem with sin is good! Then God can show us the answer for our sin problem, Jesus.

Even in the life of a believer, sin that we embrace separates us from that close and intimate relationship that God desires for us to have with Him. It clogs up the communication lines. It keeps us at a distance from Him.

Jesus has provided all that we need to deal with our sin problem. Once we become conscious of our sin all we need to do is go to Him in prayer. He promises us this: 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Law served its purpose. It helped us to understand that we need Jesus! Jesus said that He didn’t abolish the law, or set it aside. He fulfilled it. What Jesus did on the cross is enough to deal with the sin in our lives.

Thank you Jesus!

The Romans Challenge: The Riches of His Kindness

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Today we start chapter 2

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“’Cause He is good, and He is God
What I earned, it’s not what I got
And He is just yet also kind
What I deserve, it’s not what I find
What more could I say about Him?
My God is love” – Chris Renzema “God is Love”

You and I are all lawbreakers/ sinners. It’s what is in us, our nature. We all need to recognize that sin has been our practice. What we deserve is punishment. BUT God!

Through Jesus we see the “riches of His (God’s) Kindness.” Kindness is defined as “Act of good will; beneficence; any act of benevolence which promotes the happiness or welfare of others.” Webster’s 1828.

God’s plans for us are good! He works in our circumstances to prosper and benefit us – which is love. He promotes our happiness – enjoyment of good – when our happiness is found in Him.

I love the song I quoted above. The phrase I quoted always sticks out to me. In Jesus, I don’t get what I deserve. God’s kindness is rich towards me. It is abundant and overflowing!

May we truly see what God has done for us! Then we will love Him all the more!

The Romans Challenge: The Wrath of Our Loving God

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“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today we read Romans 1.

God hates sin! But why? How could a God whose very nature is to love hate anything? The answer is pretty simple: Sin destroys the ones God loves. At the beginning with Adam and Eve, sin destroyed God’s connection to all of us and introduced death into our world.

God is perfect. He is perfect in love, goodness, doing what is right (righteousness), etc… His perfection has no sin within it. This means the consequences of our sin has to be separation from Him. Sin cannot live in Him. We experience death in our sin, because He is life. When God is not present within our lives, we are walking in “godlessness.” Our actions are “wicked” which is our departure from following His ways. His perfection means we cannot be united to Him in our imperfection or sin. His “wrath” is His “justifiable abhorrence” (Webster’s 1828) to sin. He cannot, in His great love and goodness, embrace the things that brings destruction— our sins…

Sin is a choice. It is not an uncontrollable impulse… I know because I have experienced it. For years, I wanted to do things my way. I chose to… I heard the Word of God at church and read it on occasion. But I chose not to obey. This lead to much anxiety, depression, anger, bitterness, etc.

But thankfully God wants us to live free! This is why He has given us the opportunity to know Him. 

“since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God is making Himself plain to us! He has given us all we need to know Him! He doesn’t want the truth of His Word to be suppressed in our lives by our ignoring it or cherry picking it.

May we embrace the truth of God’s Word and obey it fully so we can live as we are meant to live — in a deep relationship with God.

The Romans Challenge- Called to Belong

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“And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬

(Today we read Romans 1)

You and I were created for connection. We were meant to be a part of and in relationship with someone greater than us. We were created to belong. Paul puts it this way, we are “called to belong to Jesus…”

When God first created man, He stated something very profound:

“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone…””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is not good for any of us to be alone and disconnected. We can see it easily in the life of the most fragile amongst us, a baby. Without connection to their mother and father, lack of physical contact, (skin on skin time— close and intimate) a baby will present as “failure to thrive.” They simply will not develop correctly without experiencing “belonging.”

Spiritually, we will not as well. God knows this. His great love draws us in for connection to Himself. He knows that without us experiencing, “belonging” to Him, we will be “failure to thrive” spiritually. This will affect every area of our lives. We will lack peace, love, and joy if we live disconnected from Him. We NEED to belong to Him.

Paul states not only that we are “called to belong”, but we are “called to be God’s “holy people” i.e. “saints”. (Verse 7) To be holy is to be set apart for God. It is to be conformed to His image and have our life regulated by His divine precepts (i.e. God’s Word) -Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

Our connection to our loving Heavenly Father, will cause us to grow as we were meant to grow. We will become more and more like Him in every way — His image bearer.

Do you feel the longing “to belong?” This is what you were created for — relationship with God.

He longs for you “to belong” to Him as well. In fact our verse says, He called us to belong to Jesus Christ. He called us to be His Holy people — set apart for Himself.

All we have to do is come to Him responding “Yes God, I want to be connected to you! I no longer want to live my life alone. I give myself to You. I belong to You!”

James: “Screen Door on a Submarine”

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“You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Today is James 2)

Faith without works is useless!

God has given each of us “a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) This is the capacity to believe, but we must act on it! Our actions “complete” our faith.

We can say we “believe there is one God.” (verse 19) And James says that is “Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” The question is: “what are we doing with what we believe?”

If we truly believe that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ came and died then resurrected from the dead in order to set us free from sin, do we live like we believe it?

Abraham believed God and the Scripture says, “It was credited to him as righteousness.” (Verse 23) He was put into right standing with God and He was known as “God’s friend.” He had a personal relationship with God. This relationship was reflected by his willingness to obey God no matter what the cost of obedience may be.

If you and I have faith and believe what God says, then we will act accordingly. In short, we will do it!

Coming to God in faith is just the beginning of what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to consume us! He wants us to receive His Word — what He says. He wants us to believe it to be true. He wants us to act upon it in obedience.

There’s a classic song by Rich Mullins that I am going to attach. Listen to its words and consider. Do I act upon what I believe? Or do I have a “screen door” on my spiritual submarine?

James: No Favoritism

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“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Today is James 2)

I have four kids, who are all adults now. Throughout the years my husband and I have tried very hard to treat them equally. (However, I am sure that there have been times we did not do this perfectly)

Each Christmas, they had close to the same amount of presents with the same amount spent on each of them. Whatever their needs have been we have tried to pay close to the same amount and spent equal amounts of time. My goal has been that they would each feel that they were my favorite. They frequently joke about who is my favorite. The truth is… THEY ALL ARE!

If they begin to think any differently, it cause all kinds of issues. Favoritism divides.

In the family of God (i.e. the Church) we are all God’s favorite as well. The word favorite is defined as “A person or thing regarded with peculiar favor, preference and affection; one greatly beloved.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary) God is equitable. If I am someone he regards with favor, preference, affection and love, then so are you! He does not look at our social status, our ethnicity, our wealth or the lack thereof… “For God so loved the World…” He loves us all and He loves each of us completely and perfectly. He is Love. His love cannot be divided into different sizes or portions. We are to love like our Heavenly Father does!

Favoritism or giving a preference to one over another. It is giving special attention to someone. James states that having favoritism is a sin. (Verse 8)

The remedy for favoritism is found in what Jesus called the second greatest commandment:

““Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭36‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

James says if you do that “you are doing right.”

Everyone is equal at the foot of the cross. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness and hearts that need to be transformed. Those who are born again are born again into a family where we are one in Jesus!

If we elevate or devalue someone according to what they possess materially, (or for any other reason) we are missing the mark, in sin. We are dividing what God has created to be united in Him — ONE!