Monday’s Blog: Paul Series “Romans 15â€
We continue our study of Paul’s letters today with Romans 15. Last week, in Romans 14, Paul warned the Gentiles not to judge their Jewish brothers who were weaker in faith. He starts chapter 15 instructing them to accept and build up those who are weak.
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.†For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
v. 1-6 (NASB)
I love how Paul says that God gives us perseverance and encouragement and that He will grant us to be of the same mind with one another. God doesn’t ask us to give anything that He hasn’t first given to us. He wouldn’t ask us to persevere without giving us perseverance. He wouldn’t ask to love and encourage others without loving and encouraging us. And He wouldn’t ask us to accept one another without first accepting us, as Paul writes in the next verse.
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
v. 7 (NASB)
We need to believe and receive what God’s given us so we can have the power to do all that He’s asked us to do.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
v. 13 (NASB)
Paul knew the power that he had in him. He knew everything he had was from God, and not from himself.
And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
v. 14-19 (NASB)
Paul said he would not presume to speak anything except what Christ accomplished through him. By allowing God to fully work in him, he was able to turn the Gentiles in obedience to God. He didn’t just preach to them. They were able to see the power of God working through him (in signs and wonders) as proof that what he taught was true.  We can learn through his example that to fully preach the gospel as he did, we have to allow God full access to work in us. We must be full of the Holy Spirit and not full of ourselves to fully reach others.
And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written,
“THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE,
AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.â€For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while—but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
v. 20-33 (NASB)
Heavenly Father,
We praise You that You give us everything we need to do everything You call us to do. We humble ourselves before You, and ask You to completely immerse us in Your Holy Spirit. Let Your glory work and reign through us, so the power of Your Holy Spirit can be clearly seen in us as a testimony to others.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
*This series will continue next Monday as we study Romans 16. Â Have a blessed week being filled with the Holy Spirit!
Posted in Monday's Blogs, Paul Series Romans and tagged Apostle Paul, Baptism of Holy Spirit, Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus, love, Ministry, obedience, Paul series, Romans 15 by Amanda Beth with
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Preparing For Your Calling Series: “Believing Jesus’ Teachingsâ€
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
—2 Timothy 2:20
This is the sixth message in my series on preparing for your calling. Follow this link to read previous posts in this series. Last week, I talked about receiving God’s blessings. Even though it’s nice to receive blessings from God, we can’t fulfill our calling if that is all we are seeking Him for.
In John 6, after Jesus fed the five thousand and crossed over the lake, the crowds were looking for Him and He answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.â€
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?â€
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.â€
So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’â€
John 6:26-30
When we are more interested in what God can do for us than what He requires of us, we will not continue following Him and doing His will.
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.â€
… On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?†Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.â€
… From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?†Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.â€
John 6:35-40, 60-69
God’s will is not burdensome. God wants us to simply believe what He sent Jesus to teach us. I was talking to a woman once about Christianity. She said she felt that people just complicate it. She said we have to look at it as through a child’s eyes and just believe it. If Jesus says it, we need to believe it, no matter what.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it†(Mark 10:14).
When you tell a child something, they don’t normally try to reason it out. They simply believe what you say is true. We are to receive Jesus’ teachings the same way, with childlike faith.
Many Christians say they believe the Bible is true and they believe Jesus, but they only rely on what their pastor or minister teaches them. They don’t seek to dig deeper on their own and learn directly from Jesus.
The Israelites relied on Moses to teach them. But Joshua also sought God on his own as Exodus 33:7-11 explains, “Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
God has used my pastor and many other people to minister to me through the years. But the greatest teachings and revelations I have received have come directly from Jesus. There is so much more that Jesus taught than what majority of the church is teaching today. If we are not willing to seek Him and fully believe what He taught us, then we will not fully live the calling God has planned for us.
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.†Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:8-12
I don’t know too many Christians that are doing what Jesus did, let alone even greater things than He did. When I have seen teachings on some of the things Jesus did like healing, casting out demons, raising people from the dead, it’s often taken to the extreme and for flattery or financial gain. The devil will try to pervert anything that Jesus teaches to prevent us from believing and following it. That’s why we must seek Jesus for ourselves and continue believing what He says over what we see and hear from others.
Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.â€
John 12:44-50
Let us all join together in making a New Year’s resolution to seek Jesus and believe His teachings. I pray that 2013 would be a year of revelation and revival in the body of Christ as we stand together believing the One God sent to teach us His will.
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Prayer For The Week:
Heavenly Father,
I praise You for sending Jesus to teach us Your Word. Help me to study Jesus’ teachings so that I can learn Your will. Give me understanding and revelation of Your Word and help me believe. I pray also for the body of Christ to seek You with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. Bring a spiritual revival to us in 2013. Help us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus doing what He did, and even greater things, through the power of Your Holy Spirit in us.
In Jesus’ name I believe You! Amen!
Verses To Meditate On:
For this week, study Jesus’ teachings in any of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).
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Posted in Monday's Blogs, Preparing For Your Calling Series and tagged Believing God, Discipleship, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Ministry by Amanda Beth with
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