Category: LifeWise Academy

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 2, Romans 13

Personally, I don’t often struggle with  obeying America’s government authorities. I agree that I should obey the speed limit and make a complete stop at a stop sign. I agree that I shouldn’t steal or murder or lie in court.

My government allows me to freely worship and to teach my children all the ins and outs of our Christian faith. When I was a homeschooling parent, my state’s laws allowed me the freedom to choose any curriculum I believed to be appropriate for my children, and now as a director for a local LifeWise program, I’m honored to be able to help public school children learn the Bible even during hours with parental permission.

But what would I do if I lived in a nation that forbade such practices?

• What if my country regulated what pastors were allowed to say from the pulpit?
• What if my country said I wasn’t allowed to teach my children the Bible or take them to church?
• What if my country banned prayer altogether, even a child’s silent prayer before eating lunch or taking a test?
• What if my nation wouldn’t allow me to choose a private Christian school or a Christian homeschooling curriculum?
• What if my government banned homeschooling altogether?
• When would I say, “I must obey God rather than men,” (Acts 5:29) and refuse to submit to the government’s orders?

Many of our brothers and sisters in other nations are currently wrestling with these issues, and I’m afraid many of these issues are on the horizon for us as well. Please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the freedom that we in America have enjoyed for hundreds of years, the freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth, the freedom to teach our children the Word with passion and conviction. I pray that we would make the most of this freedom while we have it. I pray that we would not give up meeting together, and that we would teach our children diligently, verse by verse and precept upon precept. I pray for our brothers and sisters in other nations who do not enjoy these freedoms. I pray that You would give them wisdom about when to submit and when to refuse. Help them to have genuine love for their enemies and to overcome evil with good. Help them to remember that Your Word is their most powerful weapon. Please, Father, fight their battles for them and shelter them under Your wings. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Romans 13:8-14 ESV

What do I think about night after night, day after day? Am I thinking about loving and obeying God or loving and obeying my own fleshly lusts?

Before coming to faith in Christ, sexual immorality was a normal part of my life, but by God’s grace those chains have been broken. But what about quarrelling and jealousy? What about selfishness and gluttony? What about laziness and pride?

Am I putting on Jesus Christ every morning, clothing myself with His righteousness? Or am I still walking in the lusts of my flesh?

Am I loving the Lord by loving my neighbor? Or do I simply “love me some ME“?

Again, the Word brings conviction and forces me to ask hard questions about how I’m living and where my treasure and pleasure are found – in Christ or in created things, in the Word or in the World?

Heavenly Father, You are my greatest treasure. Your Word is both convicting and comforting. I need Your help to live a pure, holy life. Please speak deep into my heart, that I would live for You and not for me, that I would follow You rather than my flesh. I know that Your ways are good and good for me. Please help me to trust You moment by moment and walk in the obedience of faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior. Amen.