Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I ask that you take the words in this blog and breathe life into them. Apart from your anointing they are just words on a page. I ask that you quicken our hearts to hear, see, and act upon what you are trying to teach us by the Power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Romans 13: 8-14 (NLT).
“Owe nothing to anyone –except for your obligations to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9For the commandments say, ‘you must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.’ These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 10Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of the law. 11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So, remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes and put on the shining armor of right living. 13Because we belong to the day; we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
What the Word is Saying
Our actions will show who we are and who we serve. If we confess a relationship with Jesus but still abide in anger, revenge, and sultry living our actions do not match what our mouths are saying. I think this is another stumbling block for Christians. Because we want to be right. To show and retaliate for transgressions against us. However, that is not what Jesus has called us to do at all. He outlined for us the ten commandments and summed them up in two. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; And your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10: 27, NASB).”
Loving your neighbor is easy when he is fond of you. He does not disagree with you. He does not harm you, persecute you, or bear false witness against you. However, it is a completely different thing when those are being done to you from your neighbor be it friend or foe. Perhaps it is the most difficult when we are in the right. We lie to ourselves thinking that God should understand because after all look at what that person did to me. We lash out, we accuse, we act violently, we gather those who are on our side to go against those who have wronged us. But Jesus is saying “no you must forgive, let go, and let God.” So as with seemingly everything in our lives it comes down to trust.
Surprisingly learning to trust the one who created the universe and everything in it is among the hardest things for Christians to do. Sure, He is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere at the same time. But we tell ourselves “He does not understand what we are going through or He would not be allowing this to happen. I (you) waited long enough for Him to act and now I am sure He wants me to act on my own behalf.” Now while sometimes that is true, the key question to ask yourself is “Do I have the peace of God in doing this?” “Am I truly being sent, or I will I look back and realize on my own; I just went?” Surely, we would say “but Lord they are telling lies. They are abusing their power. They have committed crimes against us. Therefore, I won’t pay my taxes, because they are not giving me what I feel I paid for.” Jesus says submit to those who He has placed in authority over you. The great news is that He can do something about it when you are wronged. He may choose not to, and the reason could be so that others can see your faith in action. Observing you trusting God to make a change and not in your own strength. Paul is realigning your kingdom vision. This world is not our home and our time left here is short.
This world with all of its injustices, violence, and Idolatry has a shelf life. Jesus, the prophets, and Paul, all remind us that. We are just passing through. By the grace of God, we believe in His Son Jesus. But there are so many others who do not. Our sole mission for being here is to advance His kingdom. To be the voice speaking of His work that He did for us all on the cross. If we don’t tell them then who will? How can we tell them if our actions do not look any different in a positive way than the unbeliever. Jesus said “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16, NASB). I guarantee as Paul does here, that they will not see your light when the darkness in you has snuffed it out. Therefore, live differently don’t be a drunkard. Going out to the bars or parties and drinking yourself into a stupor. When you do you are no longer in the Holy Spirit’s control. Rather the “spirits” have control of you and you will do what they tell you to do. Do not be involved in sexual sin, engaging and filling your mind with filthy pictures, performing filthy acts, and leading filthy lives. You will not have control over your body, rather the fleshly desires will consume you. “For the scriptures say, ‘You must be Holy, for I am Holy (1 Peter1:16).’” I will say that this does not mean you must do everything your government tells you to do. If the government wants you to lie, cheat, steal, deny your faith, and disobey God you are right in not doing it. However, you will likely be jailed or persecuted for your faith. You must endure it for Christ’s sake and your witness of His work in your life. This does not mean you rise up and take matters into your own hands.
If you do not yet know a personal relationship with Jesus I encourage you to do so right now. Where you are say aloud "Jesus I confess that you are Lord of all. I believe you came to earth, lived a sinless life, suffered and died on a cross for my sins, They placed you in a tomb, and three days later you rose from the grave and because of that sacrifice I will spend eternity with you." IF you prayed that prayer, please contact us we would love to walk beside you and hold you up in your new Journey with God.
Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying to us Today. I pray that God would send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us.
“Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.”
Where noted NASB: “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
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