Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 11 today we see Paul unpacking one of the great mysteries of the Gospel, as we get a glimpse of God expanding His merciful plan of redemption to include not only the children of Abraham, but being poured out to the entire world…

“And you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in by grace among the natural branches, and now share in the riches of the nourishing root (Christ the vine) the Olive tree” (vs 17).

Q. How do you feel about the Scriptural fact that…

“A hardening of the heart was put on some, so that you could receive mercy and reconciliation with God”?

or that…

“Some were made enemies of God” so that you could become God’s friend?

Q. Although you are a blessed and favored beneficiary of God’s redemptive plan by grace, do you ever struggle with the perceived fairness issue of the goodness/severity of it?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that your steadfast love and mercy endures forever!

🙏 Lord Jesus please help us not to lean on our own imperfect understanding, or presume upon your kindness and take your costly gift of faith for granted, but instead let us worship you and acknowledge you always and in all ways as our good and all-wise King 👑

🙏 Holy Spirit we praise you today for awakening us from our “spirit of stupor”, and opening our eyes and ears to stand in awe at the majesty and glory of our gracious, transcendent, supernatural God…

✝️ “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things – To Him be glory forever, Amen!”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭11:33-36‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 10 today we see Paul’s wise guidance and strong warning that even though an individual, or group, or entire religion may have great zeal and sincerity, their attempts to successfully please God unto salvation will fall short and fail miserably without pure Gospel truth.

Q. Have you ever caught yourself, “Seeking to establish your own (insufficient) righteousness” to win God’s love and approval?

Q. Are you putting your primary identity in something other than the finished work of Christ?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for a clear (and eternally rewarding) understanding of your grace via the pure truth of the good news of the Gospel – That reconciliation, forgiveness, favor, adoption, and a perfect right standing with you comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone…

✝️ “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to proper knowledge…For being ignorant of the glory of God, and seeking to establish their own standard of righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Romans 10:2-4

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 9 today we see our sovereign and righteous God reigning and ruling providentially over all things…

“In order to make known the riches of His glory to vessels of mercy (needy and undeserving sinners saved by grace) which He has prepared beforehand for heavenly glory, to all those whom He has called” (vs 23).

Q. Does the true God of justice and mercy, who made the universe and all that is in it, have the right to carry out His perfect plan of redemption and salvation in the way that He chooses?

Q. In the big picture what is ultimately most important – individual human rights, or the glory of God?

🙏 Heavenly Father please forgive my foolish pride for the many times that I thought my plan (as a created vessel) was better than yours (my Creator) – Thank you so much that “Our election is not because of the good or bad that we have done”, and that “Our salvation depends not on human will or exertion”, but that we have been saved exclusively by your amazing grace and gift of faith to us in Christ.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for your costly and atoning sacrifice on our behalf, causing former hell-bound sinners like us to be transformed into “Children of the promise” so that we will never be put to shame…

✝️ “Those who were not my people, I will call my people, and her who was not beloved, I will call beloved. In the very place where it was said to them ‘You are not my people’, there they will be called children of the living God!”

Rom 9:25-26

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 8 today we witness the anthem of every favored, blessed, and redeemed child of God crying out with great gratitude…

“Abba! Father! For we have received the Spirit of adoption as children of God!” (vs 15‬).

Q. Is there any other chapter in the entire Bible that lays out God’s very great and precious promises as magnificently and magnanimously as Romans chapter 8?…

– Set totally free from guilt, shame, and condemnation (vs 1-4),

– Given new life identity, affections, purpose, and peace (vs 5-11),

– Adopted into God‘s eternal family and given abundant inheritance as co-heirs with Jesus (vs 12-17),

– Hope, joy, assurance, and guaranteed deliverance from the trials of this life (18-25),

– Direct access to God in prayer and His providential plan that is always in our favor and for our eternal good (vs 26-33),

– Perfect security and certainty that God will never leave us and always love us, as Jesus Himself intercedes unceasingly for our protection and salvation (vs 34-39).

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for the massive array of Gospel benefits that you have lavished on all who put their trust in the finished work of your Son Jesus – we give You Praise, and Honor, and Glory forever…

✝️ “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:37-39‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 6 and 7 today the apostle Paul relays some serious warnings about the dangers of…

1. Cheap Grace

“What shall we say then – since sins power does not control us anymore and we have been given newness of life in Christ, should we continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” (Rom 6:1-4).

‭‭and also…

2. Cheap Law

“What shall we say then – since the very law that promised us life has condemned us to death, should we now consider the law sinful? By no means! For the law is holy and righteous and good.” (Rom 7:7,10,12).

Q. Have you ever been tempted to use God’s abounding grace to enable or justify your sin?

Q. Have you ever minimized God‘s righteous law, thinking that you have kept it so well that you reached God’s holy standard?

Q. How do we reconcile the fact that grace does not give us a free pass or ticket to sin, yet we do sin frequently because God‘s law is too lofty to obey perfectly?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for the pure good news of the Gospel – that Jesus life, death, resurrection, and ascension has wiped away our past sins, imputed righteousness to cover our future sins, and given us new life and Spirit-filled power to battle our current sins.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today that you obeyed your Father perfectly, cleansed us with your precious blood, and arose in victory to destroy all strongholds and set us free from the slavery of our old ways…

✝️ “We know that (by God’s grace) our old self was crucified with Christ in order that sin may be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to it…Likewise we must make it our aim to present ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life…For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:6,23

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 5 today we see one of Paul’s classic…

“Not Only That, But Much More” chapters, loaded with beautiful and priceless gifts and promises all because of Jesus costly and finished work on our behalf – all those who put their trust in Christ have been…

“Granted eternal peace with the Father” (vs 1),

“Given access to the Throne of Grace” (vs 2),

“Infused with rejoicing & hope through trials” (vs 3),

“Rescued from shame & filled with God’s love (vs 5a),

“Sealed forever & empowered by the Holy Spirit” (vs 5b),

“Justified by Jesus blood” (vs 9a), and

“Saved from the judgement & wrath of God” (vs 9b).

Q. If Jesus is responsible for giving us these phenomenal gifts in our lives, isn’t He worth loving, prioritizing, and pursuing above all other things (career, status, position, money, possessions, fame, man’s approval, worldly reputation, making a name for ourselves, etc)?

Q. In what ways do you live out this love and pursuit of Jesus (over all other things) on a daily basis in your life?

Q. What areas do you struggle in?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for your abundance of “Not Only That, But Much More” blessings of reconciliation and righteousness through Christ.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for being our “Wonderful merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and friend”, and for laying down your life to give us these many undeserved and immeasurable gifts. And we thank you Jesus for the greatest gift of all – Yourself!…

✝️ “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!”

Romans 5:6–8

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 4 today we see that Abraham (the father of faith)…

“Believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (vs 3), and that he…

“Grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised” (vs 20-21).

Q. Since we know that God has granted us righteousness despite our sin, have you come to a point in your walk with the Lord where it has become perfectly clear that His eternal love, favor, and approval for you is based upon Jesus finished work and not your own?

Q. If this is true, then what is your primary motivation to answer God’s call to obedience, and work out your salvation with fear and trembling? (Jesus)

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that you, “Have given life to the dead and called into existence things that did not exist”, crediting us with a right-standing before you, not because of our good deeds but because of your gracious gift of faith that caused us to believe.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today with great gratitude for your sacrifice, and with eager expectation of your return – Rejoicing that we (like Abraham) have been graciously included in your miraculous plan of redemption, and fully justified by faith to receive your eternal favor and promise…

✝️ “But the words ‘It was counted to him’ were not written for Abraham’s sake alone, but for ours also. Righteousness is counted to us, (and all those) who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Romans 4:23–25

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 3 today we see the apostle Paul unleashing an absolute avalanche of inescapable truth regarding Adams fall and the subsequent curse of separational sin, in combination with our individually self-caused and hell-bent human condition…

“None is righteous, no not even one (vs 10),

“All have turned aside, no one seeks after God or does good” (vs 12),

“There is no reverence or fear of God before their eyes” (vs 18), and…

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (vs 23).

Q. With this kind of track record for all of humanity, and a Holy God that cannot be in the presence of sin, what possible chance could any of us have for redemption, salvation, and eternal life with God?

🙏 Heavenly Father you are mighty to save! Thank you so much for your steadfast love & faithfulness, and your mercy that endures forever in Christ.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today that by your atoning sacrifice on the cross you have reversed the curse of sin, set us perfectly in right standing with God, and given us new life in you, both now and forever…

✝️ “For we are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith for all who believe.”

Romans 3:24-25

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 2 today we see the clear warning and present danger of unjustly passing judgment on others…

“For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, because you (the judge) practice the very same things” (vs 1).

Q. Do you find yourself sometimes forgetting about God’s grace in your life, and tend toward a self-righteous or “Holier than thou” attitude toward the lives of others?

Q. Have you ever had the experience of someone judging or condemning you unjustly?

Q. Apart from Christ, if God were to rightly judge you, would you be innocent or guilty?

🙏 Heavenly Father I confess to you my far too often critical spirit toward others – Please help us all to avoid the common practice of judging by appearances, and focus on taking the log out of our own eye before we think about the splinter in someone else’s.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for rescuing & ransoming us from hell with your precious blood, taking all of our sin-stained actions and rightly-deserved judgment & condemnation on yourself at the cross.

🙏 Holy Spirit please open our eyes to our own transgressions of partiality toward all of God’s image bearers, and cause our response to His amazing grace to be an ever-increasing humility, gratitude, and love…

✝️ “Do you suppose, O man, you who judge sinners and yet are yourself sinful, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience for you, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?…Do not store up wrath for yourself, but repent (by putting your trust in Jesus) and receive eternal life!”

Romans 2:3-8 medley

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Romans chapter 1 today we see the fallen nature and utter hopelessness of mankind apart from Jesus, as Paul makes perfectly clear man’s total state of depravity and subsequent urgent need for the good news of the Gospel…

“Although they knew of God they did not honor God or give thanks to Him” (vs 21)…

“And then they exchanged God’s glory for useless idols” (vs 23)…

“Worshipping things that had been created rather than the Creator” (vs 25)…and

“Refusing even to acknowledge God, they engaged in all manner of disobedience” (vs 28,29).

Q. How often do your affections and excitement for created things become internal and external idols of the heart (comfort, control, approval, status, sports, entertainment, vacation, relationships, money, sex, achievement, job, health, appearance, etc) and take priority over your love and service for your Creator?

Q. How do we reconcile and fight this broken allegiance and lack of devotion to God?

🙏 Heavenly Father forgive me for the many times I “Claimed to be wise in my own mind, yet was just a fool”, and exchanged your glory for the temporary things of this world – Thank you so much that you are continually transforming our darkened and foolish hearts of stone into flesh, and giving us new affections and desires for you.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for absorbing God’s wrath in our place on the cross, lifting our biggest burden in life, and fully reconciling us to a right standing with God forever – Please help us all to keep our eyes fixed on you so that we can consistently affirm and proclaim…

✝️ “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes!”

Romans 1:16