Pondering Romans 15:1-6

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Book-of-RomansYou can click HERE to read the passage.

Some of the biggest pain that we experience in this life is not caused by injury or accident or sickness – it is caused by people. The old adage, “Sticks and stones can break your bones but words will never hurt me” is just not true. Words hurt more and the pain lasts longer than a lot of physical pain. Evidently there were some things being said in the church in Rome that was creating hurt among its people. Yes, Christians hurt other Christians.

Why do we do that to our bothers and sisters in Christ? 1) Because we are sinners and sinful people sin against others. 2) Because we ourselves are hurting  – and hurting people hurt other people. 3) Because we are immature and immature people act childish.

But what do these verses tell us we ought to do when people are being hurtful toward us:

  • Look for ways to build others up instead of tearing them down (v. 2) – Our default mode is to return insult with insult. But we who have been transformed by Christ have the power within us to “turn the other cheek” and even respond with loving kindness.
  • Look to and learn from the Word of God (v.4) – Mature believers are quick to run to the Scriptures instead of being quick to plot revenge and figuring out ways to get back at others when they have been hurt. The Scriptures offer us help and they offer us hope.
  • Receive from God the strength and encouragement that other people will not be able to give you (v.5-6) – Sometimes people make it very hard for us to act christianly. But God can fuel us each day with what we need to be able to respond the way that we should. Here is what these verses say…

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

A couple of add-ons: 1) Make sure it is Christ that you are following and not the ways of the world or other people or your own selfish ways. 2) We have asked Jesus to come into our hearts – perhaps you might need to ask Jesus to come into your mouth if you are finding that you have not been responding to people well – that God might be glorified through you.

Think on these things.

Next Week’s Passage: Romans 15:7-13
Memory Verses: Romans 8:1-34

Brick #41 – Philippians 4:12-13

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Untitled design“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13

Contentment is a wonderful thing. But what is genuine contentment and how do you cultivate it in your life?

Jeremiah Burroughs, the Puritan preacher and author of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, describes contentment this way: “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” Think about that for a minute and it will begin to make perfect sense.  It has also been said, “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.”

So how do you develop this kind of attitude. Here are a few things that i have learned over the years that perhaps will be helpful…

1) Cultivate a grateful heart – Thank God for what you do have right now , rather than grumbling about what you don’t have. Thank people everyday who come across your path for things that they do and ways that they serve you. People appreciate appreciation! Gratefulness fuels contentment. More and more our society is becoming a society of entitlement. We, as believers, need to model for the world what it means to be grateful for the incredible blessings that we experience everyday. And if you are not aware of these then you are not looking very hard.

2) Cultivate a fierce trust in the sovereignty of God – What I mean by this is that we must acknowledge that God is in control – even when it appears that life is out of control. And we must cling to the promise that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). And we must confess that God “has chosen us before the creation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4) And we must delight in the fact that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” (Ephesians 2:10) And we must worship Him “for in Him all things were created….all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together….”. (Colossians 1:16-18) Believers are not fatalists. Rather, we believe that God has a plan and a purpose  for everything and that He will accomplish His purposes. He is in control. A strong grasp of the sovereignty of God fuels contentment.

3) Cultivate a daily recipience of the strength that God provides – We live in a self sufficient culture. But what we believe is counter cultural. We are taught to rely on ourselves (or the government) to muddle through this life. But as Christians we confess that we are needy people. We can’t do it on our own. We must have the strength that God provides through His Spirit if we are not just going to survive but to thrive in this world. Our prayer each day should be something like this: “God, today would You give me the strength and the courage and the grace and the compassion that I do not have on my own. Would you fill me that I might be used to display Your goodness and Your glory to those around me. I confess my need for You and my dependence upon You.” A daily recipience of the strength that God provides fuels contentment.

“Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little In comparison to eternal realities.–” Robert Murray McCheyne

May you and I enjoy the contentment that comes from God as we freely submit to and delight in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.

Pondering Romans 14:13-23

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Book-of-RomansYou can click HERE to read the passage.

This passage contains what is often referred to as “The Stumbling Block Principle.”  The principle goes like this: There are  things that some people consider to be “sinful” for themselves that God has not said is sinful. The believer who has liberty in this area should not do anything that would cause his fellow believer to stumble because of his own liberty. Let me give you a personal example.

According to Scripture, drinking alcohol is allowed by God. There are not prohibitions against it. There are, however, prohibitions against drunkenness. So Scripture would say, for example,  that if you want to enjoy a glass of wine you have freedom to do so – but don’t drink to the point of being drunk. More specifically, don’t drink to the point where the wine is in control and God’s Spirit is not. (See Ephesians 5:18).

I think that I would enjoy wine. I think it would be romantic to sit down with my wife over a nice meal and enjoy a glass of wine together. But as a pastor I choose not to drink at all because in our southern baptist Christian culture, drinking has often been looked on as “sinful.” It would be a “stumbling block” to some believers if they knew that I drank any kind of alcohol. Therefore, i choose not to because I do not want to lead others in to sin because of my liberty.

I do, however, have friends who are solid, God-fearing, gospel-loving believers who enjoy wine and/or beer. This is not at all a problem for me because as I read Scripture it is not problematic to God – as long as they are not drinking to drunkenness. So, whereas drinking would be sinful for me (because I would be a stumbling block to others) it may not be for you. If God has given you liberty in this area then, by faith, enjoy God’s gift to you. Note the last verse of this section and think on it…

“Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” 

Next Week’s Passage: Romans 15:1-6
Memory Verses: Romans 8:1–33

Brick #40 – James 1:2-3

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Untitled design“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:2-3

Is James really serious? I mean does it make any sense at all to to be happy when hardship and difficulty comes our way. No it does not. And that is not what James says. He says, rather, that we should rejoice when we go through tough times. Big difference! No doubt you have heard it said that our happiness depends on our happenings – our circumstances, which more often than not we have little or no control over. But our joy is dependent on our relationship with God and our understanding of His purposes for our lives. God is not concerned so much for our happiness as He is with our holiness.

Here are 3 quotes from Tim Keller’s book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering  that I have found helpful – and a few comments to go along with them.

  • “Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.” – (contra means “in contrast to”) Verse 4 of James chapter 1 goes on to say, “Perseverance must finish its work so that you can be mature and complete not lacking anything.” Scripture is full of story after story of how God has used suffering in the lives of His people to bring about His purposes. When we understand that there is a purpose to the difficulties that we go through then they become endurable.
  • “Suffering is actually at the heart of the Christian story.” – Our redemption was brought about because Christ was willing to endure the suffering of the cross on our behalf. Because He suffered and personally took upon Himself the wrath of God, we will not have to experience the agony of eternal damnation.
  • “Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.” – One of the great promises of Scripture is that God will be with us. He will be with us in the good times and He will be with us in the tough times. He has said that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us. Suffering is always easier when you are not suffering alone.

Suffering is hard. I don’t wish for it. I don’t pray for it. I’m not looking forward to it. But I know that it will happen because we live in a world that is suffering from the consequences of the Fall. And I do recognize that God can use suffering in our lives to bring about good for us and glory for Him.

Pondering Romans 14:1-12

Posted on by Shay Reyner

You can click HERE to read the passage.

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother?…So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (v. 10, 12)

Finger-Pointing

The old saying applies here – when you point 1 finger at someone else (in judgement), 3 are pointing right back at you. When we come to realize that we are going to be held accountable by God for our own actions, then we’ve got way too much to work on ourselves then to finger point at others. The problem is generally that we consider ourselves righteous in our own sight – we need to see ourselves, and then others, from God’s perspective. Then we will be much more hesitant to pass judgment on others. Nuf said!

Next Week’s Passage: Romans 14:13-23
Memory Verses: Romans 8:1-32

Brick #39 – John 10:10

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Untitled design“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

This verse does two things: 1) It reminds me that I am in a spiritual battle and what the mission of my enemy is – this is important because it is easy to forget that there is a war being waged in the spiritual realm. 2) It reminds me why Jesus stepped out of heaven and what He wants for my life.

Regarding #1 – One of the best ways to combat the devil’s schemes is to understand his battlefield tactics. This is the reason that C.S. Lewis wrote his classic book The Screwtape Letters.  The Screwtape Letters comprises thirty-one letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood (named after a star in Revelation), a younger and less experienced demon, who is charged with guiding a man toward “Our Father Below” (Devil/Satan) and away from “the Enemy” (God). Here are a few quotes from Screwtape  that give some insight into the enemy’s strategy…

 
  • “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,…Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”
  • “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”
  • “The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.”
  • “(God) wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.”
  • “Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
We must never forget that the enemy of our souls is a thief and a liar and a killer who wants to deceive, distract, discourage, and destroy us.
Regarding #2 – Because of my sin I was facing a dark eternal death. But Jesus came that I might have Life. And not just any kind of life but an abundant life. So, what does it mean to live abundantly?
First of all, Jesus is NOT promising a life of wealth and prosperity for believers. He is promising life that is truly life – a life that overflows with joy and gladness and purpose and hope. He is promising a life that is worth living, a life that is God-honoring, a life that is filled with promise and fueled daily by the presence of God. This passage in John 10 where Jesus calls Himself The Good Shepherd is reminiscent of Ezekiel 34 and what the Lord had to say about Israel, His flock:
“12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak…” 
Rescue! Pasture! Tend! Feed! Bind up! Strengthen!
Jesus came to give us life. Life that we don’t deserve but that by His glorious grace He gives us anyway. What a Savior!

Pondering Romans 13:8-14

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Book-of-RomansYou can click HERE to read the passage

Verse 11 specifically grabbed my attention this week as I was pondering:  “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.”

Here are some things that are true about our present time:

  • According to Pope Francis you no longer have to believe in God to go to heaven.
  • The Oxford Dictionary has changed its definition of marriage so that it no longer is defined by one man married to one woman.
  • One of the top Emmy Award winners this past week (Breaking Bad) makes a hero out of a methamphetamine maker/dealer.
  • The Obama Health Care Act is a joke.
  • The Middle East is a powder keg with what is happening in Syria and Egypt.
  • Americans seem to be fascinated with vampires and zombies.
  • Social networking has redefined how we “do relationships”.
  • Our government run education system has crippled teachers to the point where teaching has become more of a chore than a passion.
  • Christianity is viewed by many as something that imprisons people rather than sets them free.

Paul is admonishing his Roman friends to understand the times that they live in. The same is true for us. When we begin to understand our world then we realize that now is not the time to rest and take it easy. Now is the time to WAKE UP and be about the Father’s business. Now is the time to DO SOMETHING. We must work with the end in mind because as he says, “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

What are my action steps in light of this pondering: 1) I’m going to become more a student of our times – I don’t want to be a news junkie but I do want to better understand  the world that we live in. 2) I’m going to figure out one thing that I can do that will give some indication that I am not asleep on my watch. Not sure yet what that will look like but something practical in response to my better understanding. 3) Spend some more time pondering verse 12 – which is a great thought to leave with you…

“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.”

Next Week’s Passage: Romans 14: 1-8
Memory Verses: Romans 8:1-32

Brick #38 – 2 Chronicles 7:14

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Untitled design“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

No doubt you have probably heard this verse before. But are you aware of the context?

The Lord appeared to Solomon the night that the Temple/Royal Palace construction project was completed and made him this promise. Note that this is a conditional promise: If… then. And note the preceding verse: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people…” The Lord, who has chosen Israel as His people and the temple as His place, is saying there will be very difficult days in the future. Now, you would think that if the Lord is our God and we are His special people then we would experience nothing but the blessing of God. But no, this is not the case. At a time when there is great celebration for the people of God He says that there will be tough tests that will make you doubt everything that you believe and everything that you have seen Me do. And then He tells them how they are to respond to these tests.

I’m afraid that we don’t respond the way that we should. I’m not sure that we as the people of God are very good at test-taking. Give yourself a grade in each of these areas of the test…

“Humble themselves” – C.J. Mahaney says, “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.”  We tend to assess ourselves in light of other people and our own expectations rather than in light of God’s holiness and our own sinfulness. I’m not sure we really understand what it means to be the child of a holy God.

Consider what Jerry Bridges has to say:

  • “As we grow in the knowledge of God’s holiness, even though we are growing in the practice of holiness, it seems the gap between our knowledge and our practice always gets wider. This is the Holy Spirit’s way of drawing us to more and more holiness.”

  • “The Holy Spirit opens the inner recesses of our hearts and enables us to see the moral cesspools hidden there.”

  • “We become so accustomed to our sins we sometimes lapse into a state of peaceful coexistence with them, but God never ceases to hate them.”

True humility has nothing to do with low self esteem. It has everything to do with recognizing the greatness of God and the ugliness of our own depravity. Do you often think on these things?

“Pray” – In the context of this verse, when God says “pray” I don’t think He is talking about the kind of praying that is more often than not lifted before His throne of grace. I think He is talking about the kind of prayer that would be characterized as crying out to God, pleading with Him, imploring Him to come to their rescue because they recognize just how utterly helpless they are to do anything for themselves. How much of your praying is importunate praying?

“Seek My face” – David captures what God desires from us when he writes in Psalm 27, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple…My heart says of You, “Seek His face!” Your face Lord I will seek.” God desires that we seek Him for who He is not for what He might do for us. He wants us to seek His face, not His hand. What is your motivation for seeking God?

“Turn from their wicked ways” – Repentance. Turning away from sin and turning intentionally to God. Not something we in our post-modern culture do very well. Mostly because we have lost any notion that we are indeed sinners who apart from God’s grace would incur the fierceness of His wrath. And rather than understanding how much we hurt the heart of God when we, as His children, sin against Him – we rationalize and think of sin as not such a big deal – and that God is a big God and He’ll get over it and forgive us. Because after all, isn’t that what God is supposed to do. We don’t like to think of ourselves as wicked – and yet that is exactly what we were. Wicked sinners transformed by God’s glorious grace – who still have a tenacious sin nature that often rears it’s horrid head, even as we seek to seek God. Do you repent from your sin “in dust and ashes” (as Job says) or just blow it off as human nature?

We are “then” kind of people. We want God to hear us, forgive us, and heal us – without the “ifs.” We need to start paying attention to the ifs if we want to enjoy and experience the then.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

May it be so for the people of God today!

Romans 13:1-7

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Book-of-RomansI had difficulty with this passage. The obvious question that arises is “Do we obey government authorities at all times, or are there times when we do not. The passage really does not speak to the latter. What the passage does do is affirm the sovereignty of God. God is in control. He is in control even when it seems like things are out of control. This is one of the great great promises in Scripture that I constantly remind myself (and others) of. You will often hear me say two things when I am talking with people who are going through tough times. “1) God is in control, and 2) The joy of the Lord is your strength.” I can almost hear Paul counseling his Roman friends saying these same things as they are enduring difficult days under the rule of the caesars in Rome.

Never forget these. Because sometimes when life seems particularly cruel and when your authorities are making life difficult for you – the truth of these statements will sustain you as walk diligently by faith through the darkness.

That being said, here are a few things that others have said about this passage;

Martin Luther said it well…

A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.

Richard Halverson, the former chaplain of the United States Senate, wrote that…

To be sure, men will abuse and misuse the institution of the State just as man because of sin has abused and misused every other institution in history including the Church of Jesus Christ, but this does not mean that the institution is bad or that it should be forsaken. It simply means that men are sinners and rebels in God’s world, and this is the way they behave with good institutions. As a matter of fact, it is because of this very sin that there must be human government to maintain order in history until the final and ultimate rule of Jesus Christ is established. Human government is better than anarchy, and the Christian must recognize the “divine right” of the State.

Next Week’s Passage: Romans 13:8-14

Memory Verses: Romans 8:1-31

 

Brick # 37 – 1 Peter 3:15

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Untitled design“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” (1 Peter 3:15)

Sanctification is the process of being made holy. The Lord is in the process of sanctifying us. He is making us holy as we journey through this life and prepare to be in His presence forever – His Holy presence. But what does it mean for us to sanctify Christ as Lord? Is He not already Lord?

Indeed He is! But does He reign as Lord in my life? Or do I allow something or someone else to occupy the place of Lord? Over the last several years you have no doubt heard of the “Occupy Movement” . Occupy is a grassroots protest movement that seeks to bring about social and economic reform through the abolishment of capitalism and a redistribution of the world’s wealth. Their slogan is “We are the 99%.” They are asking for the 99% to stand together against what they consider to be the financial tyrants of our world.

We need what I will call a reverse occupy movement of the heart. We need the 1% (the few willing to stand against spiritual tyranny) to allow Christ to solely occupy their heart. This is what it means to sanctify (or set apart) Christ as Lord. No longer is there any competition for who reigns and occupies the place of Lord in our lives. Money is dethroned. Success is dethroned. People are dethroned. Sex is dethroned. Whatever we have allowed to claim the throne of our hearts must abdicate in light of the Lord Jesus Christ’s coronation. He alone is Lord and we must sanctify Him alone as Lord.

Chuck Colson commented that in the early church, if a person stood up in a public arena and cried out, “Jesus is God!” no one would be offended because the Romans and Greeks believed in many gods. To call Jesus “God” would not have seemed revolutionary or even risky. But if a Christian stood up and shouted, “Jesus is Lord and there is no other,” he would be putting his own life at risk. The Roman Caesars claimed the title of Lord, and this was a central reason why Christians faced persecution. They were willing to obey Roman laws, but they were not willing to call Caesar “Lord.”

When Peter wrote what he wrote in verse 15 he knew that he was calling people to persecution and perhaps death. And yet he wrote this with a clear conscience because Christ is worthy of being Lord of our lives.

So here is the question for me and for you: What choices must we start making today  to “sanctify Christ as Lord” in our lives?