The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage: Romans 12 (day four)

How do I live the Christian life?  What should it look like?  Someone must have asked Paul these questions, because he covers the answer very clearly.  Beginning at verse 9, Paul spends the rest of the chapter painting a radical picture of what the Christian life should look like.  Some of the instructions we might could have guessed…love without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good…these are not so surprising.  Bless those who persecute you, associate with the lowly, never pay back evil…now those are just not common.  Feed your enemy, overcome evil with good…are you kidding me?  Paul is saying the Christian life does not look common…he is saying it should look like Christ.  It goes back to verses 1 and 2…present yourselves as a living sacrifice, acceptable to God…do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Why?  So we can prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Re: Verse reading — Romans 12 (day three)

“Overcome evil with good.” In our world of “culture wars” and “love wins” and “right and wrong side of history”, we can come to believe that we fulfill our calling by striving to keep the forces of the devil from advancing. But the question is not, “Will evil conquer the world?” Rather, the question is, “Will we become good?” Paul tells us to become transformed by the renewing of our minds, and to set our minds on things above instead of earthly things–on the good that must take root in our lives rather than the bad that threatens us in this world. Self-inventory in the presence of our Lord is always the harder task. But unless we submit to his transforming discipline, we will never think like Christ when it comes time to act against evil.

Re: Verse reading — Romans 12 (day two) 

“Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”vs.1-2

Call to Worship, choir, orchestra, band, hymnody, scripture, and prayer these are the things we generally associate with the beginning of worship. These are good things, things which bring honor and glory to Jesus and are edifying to the body. What if worship, however, wasn’t dependent on those things. What if worship began in you and the those elements I listed earlier become an outpouring of what you were already experiencing.

Too often, I think, we rely on the “service” to begin our worship. It then becomes the responsibility of others, i.e. pastor, worship leaders, musicians to begin our worship. We expect them to get us fired up to worship, but perhaps we relegate too much responsibility to others in that case. It is not a secret that we come into the house of the Lord to give him the glory and praise he deserves. Why not let the first words out your mouth in the morning be a declaration of thanksgiving. Why not prepare your body and mind to worship. Think of what an awesome corporate experience that would be if we came expecting to meet Jesus and ready to worship him with every part of ourselves.

 

Re: Verse reading — Romans 12 (day one) 

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.“–v 1.

When does worship happen?  Where are you?  In a sanctuary?  Listening to a choir?  Praise band?  Sermon?  In a quiet time of study and prayer?  Looking at a nighttime sky full of stars?

Paul has a specific marker for spiritual worship (some translations read “reasonable service” i.e. that response to God that “makes sense”)  Paul says that it is when we give our lives to God. Like a sacrifice in the Old Testament system, only this time the sacrifice doesn’t die, it continues to live with a powerful new purpose.  This sacrifice, this surrender of life, Paul calls worship.

No wonder Christians call it a worship “service”.   Implied in true worship is a promise to rise from my knees to do His will.

 

Re:Verse reading–Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-21 (day seven)

“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. . . for the sake of my brothers.”–9: 2-3.

It is actually a badge of honor.  A sure sign of integrity.  Christians who weep over their lost friends.  We are not hardened.  We do not learn hate.  Their rebellion toward God creates sorrow in us, and intercession.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem.  Stubborn, proud, violent Jerusalem.  “As He drew near and saw the city, he wept over it”–Luke 19: 41.  He was a “man of sorrows” and first on that list was the future He saw for those who refuse God.

Do we love our enemies, weep over them?  Romans 8 gave us strength.  Now, Romans 9 and 10 gives us our assignment.  Pray for those who hate us! “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. . .for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”–Romans 12:17, 20-21.

Re:Verse reading–Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-21 (day five)

It’s a burden that teachers carry, the desire for their students to “get it”. Whether to learn a behavior or understand a concept, the good teachers always speak in these terms about goals and objectives for those in their classes.

Paul has a burden for a deeper and more meaningful goal. He is burdened for salvation to capture the hearts of his “kinsmen”.   Romans 9:1-2 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.” Romans 10:1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” Paul’s burden is for his brethren to “have it”- a saving encounter with Jesus. He knows what we should know. When you “have it”, the Holy Spirit works in the heart and mind of the believer so that they “get it”. As we share the gospel and pray for the salvation of friends, neighbors, and others, our desire and burden should be for them to “have it” first and foremost.

Re:Verse reading–Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-21 (day four)

Paul is quoting the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, in verse 15. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” It is a well-known missions verse…seen on many mission team T-shirts. It is a progression of questions, beginning with verse 14…drawing us to a logical conclusion. “How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent?” (v.14) It is a primary task of the church…to send missionaries into all the world to share the gospel. Sounds a lot like the Great Commission. If we cannot go ourselves, we help to send others. We are a part of the process, or at least, we should be. How are you involved in missions? Are you going? Are you sending? Are your feet beautiful?

Re:Verse reading–Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-21 (day three)

“It is not as though God’s word had failed.” We think we know how events must happen if they’re going to happen; otherwise, they aren’t happening. We’ve thought that way for a long time: Moses striking the rock instead of speaking to it; Saul offering the sacrifice instead of Samuel; Nicodemus asking how these things can be. When the particular anticipated moment they had imagined never came, often the people became afraid that God had failed or bitter that he had failed to act. So when we feel the same way, we join a long line of small thinkers. God is much greater than we can imagine, though, Paul says elsewhere. What if God does something in a different way than you thought it needed to happen? Has God failed–or are you about to learn something?

Re:Verse reading–Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-21 (day two)

“That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” 9:8

 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 10:11-13

Have you ever encountered someone who, when speaking of their faith, refer to what their grandmother believed? Some people speak with nostalgia about how often someone in their family went to church, and how fervently they believed. In some, that is the extent of their faith. They hope to somehow glom on to the righteousness by association.

Paul warns about this kind of thinking. Don’t assume that because you have been born into a righteous family that you will be saved. Salvation does not come by heritage, but by the confession of each and every one. This can be particularly sobering when we  look at  our families. Have that conversation. Ask those questions. Their souls are worth the investment.