Heavenly Father, May my life be lived daily “in honor of the Lord”. Whether I eat or whether I abstain, let me be fully convinced in my own mind, walking by faith and not by flesh. I want to be prepared to give an account to You for how I have lived. I am thankful that You are my judge, because You are impartial and righteous and merciful and wise, and I am selfish and foolish and petty. I am not my brother’s judge. You are. You are the all-knowing, all-righteous judge of the world. I pray that I will pursue what makes for peace and building up the body in unity and holiness. I pray that I would not do anything that would cause my brother or sister to stumble. May the body of Christ be pure and holy, without blemish, in word, thought, and deed, to the glory of Your Name, and may that begin with me. In the perfect name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior 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.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Romans 13:1-7 ESV
Here in America I don’t often struggle with obeying our government authorities. I have found that most of their decisions are good. I should obey the speed limit and make a complete stop at a stop sign. I shouldn’t steal or murder or lie in court.
I’m allowed to freely teach my children all the ins and outs of our Christian faith. There is absolutely nothing preventing me from practicing my faith and teaching my children the Bible and all of its practices. Even as a homeschooling parent, my state’s rules allow me the freedom to choose any curriculum I believe that is appropriate for my child.
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 Christian homeschooling curriculum?
What if my government banned homeschooling altogether?
When do 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 already wrestling with these issues and I’m afraid many of these issues are already 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 and 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.
12:9 ESV — Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
I love Romans 12. It’s so full of practical wisdom. I’d love to memorize all 21 verses in order, so I could remind myself of every ounce of it every time I needed it.
First, I need to be reminded that my body is a living sacrifice for God, that I might walk daily in the holy obedience of faith.
Second, I need to be reminded not to think of myself too highly, but to remember that my faith is a good gift from God, that I might serve Him by serving others in my teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and serving.
And then, I need to be reminded that my love must be genuine and sincere, free from hypocrisy, that I would hate what is evil and cling to what is good. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:6, Love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” Our culture says that we should applaud others’ choices, no matter what they are, but our Lord says that genuine love HATES evil and LOVES good.
And finally, I need to be reminded how to treat those enemies that genuine love will make, that I am not to repay wrong with wrong, but to overcome evil with good.
Light and love are our secret weapons in the fight against the evil one and those in his grasp.
Vengeance belongs to the Lord, not us. We are His servants, called to put on the full armor of God, to resist the devil and fight the good fight of faith. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, please help us to remember that we are Your soldiers, Your workmanship, Your children, Your servants, that we are in a battle between good and evil. Let us fight this battle well, with the sword of the spirit ready in our minds, mouths, and hands, overcoming evil with good by Your power at work in us. Let us not grow weary of doing good, knowing that at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart. In the Almighty and Good name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
I hope that when you’re reading Romans you have noticed how often Paul references The Old Testament – Habakkuk, Hosea, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Genesis, Malachi, 1 Kings, Psalms, and more. For as much as I love the books of Romans and Philippians, we must not limit ourselves to studying the New Testament.
Remember 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” and 2 Peter 1:21, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Let’s be faithful to Psalm 119:11 and store up God’s word in our hearts, that we might not sin against the Lord.
I hope you’ll stick with us and Read through the WHOLE Bible in 2 Years. After we finish Romans, we will be back in the Old Testament mining for nuggets of gold in Deuteronomy.
Dear friends, if you are reading this and have not yet bowed the knee to Jesus, let me appeal to you that you turn to Him today and be saved. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, left the glories of heaven, took on human flesh, was born as a human baby, lived a perfect and sinless life, performed numerous miracles before thousands of eye witnesses, taught with authority explaining the way of salvation by faith in the One true God. He died on a Roman cross to pay the punishment for the sins of humans like you and me, making a way – the only way – for man to be forgiven by a just and holy God, and now He invites us to trust in Him and be saved from the wrath of God.
Twenty-five years ago, in July of 1998, I found out I was pregnant with my second child. Our first daughter was two years old, and I was overjoyed that we were expecting again. Unfortunately, during a routine 12-week ultrasound, we discovered that our unborn son had a bladder obstruction. His bladder was as big as his head. This wasn’t good.
On September 10, the doctors attempted an in-utero procedure to place a stent to drain Tommy’s bladder into the amniotic sac, but the procedure was unsuccessful and four days later we found out that he had passed away in my womb.
When we first learned that Tommy had an obstructed bladder, I prayed for God to either heal him completely or take him quickly, but after losing him, I would have given anything for one more month or even one more day. I wanted to feel him move again in my empty womb anf see my belly grow big and round and full with him. I would have loved for him to grow big enough for me to bathe him and take his little handprints, even if I had had to do those things after he had died.
Friends, there is no better way or better time to lose your child. You are never ready for it. It all hurts.
But this devastating experience grew my faith exponentially. I leaned into the Lord and His Word like never before. I began praying and reading the Bible in earnest, and I learned to trust God like never before.
I ended up founding an online ministry and writing a book called A Child of Promise – part story, part Bible Study, part journal – for other moms and dads who found themselves in the position of carrying an unborn baby with a poor or fatal prognosis.
God used this pain not only for my own good, but also for the good of other hurting families. Like our reading in Romans 9, God is the trustworthy potter in each of our lives. He has mercy on those He wills, and He hardens those whom He wills. And all I can say is that I’m thankful for His sovereign, merciful hand that shaped both me and my son.
Heavenly Father, I know that You are good. I know that You are sovereign over heaven and earth. I trust You even when it’s hard. I pray for my hurting sisters. I pray that You will encourage them and fill them with Your supernatural peace that surpasses understanding. Be their calm in the storm. Hold their hand as they walk through the fire, and carry them when they can’t take one more step. I pray that Your Word would be a light to their feet and a light to their paths, pointing them straight to You. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, 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 8:28-39 ESV
My grandmother didn’t like to sit still. She always found something to keep herself busy. If she was watching something on TV, she kept her hands busy with counted cross-stitch.
As a college graduation gift, Grandma Norma gave me this cross-stitched picture of an American Sign Language postage stamp.
When I was about ten years old, she taught me to cross-stitch. In the last thirty years, I’ve made a few things of my own and have really enjoyed the process. I’ve learned two big lessons:
Don’t judge the finished project until it’s finished. You can’t really see how it’s going to turn out until it’s all the way done.
A great finished product takes a great amount of time to finish.
And such is life.
There will be lots of bumps along the way. There will be times of fruitfulness and times of barrenness. There will be lots of happy times, but also plenty of storms. But we can trust that God sees the finished product and He’s still working.
Which reminds me of this song that my kids sang when they were little.
I am a Promise – Homecoming Kids / Gaither Music
A child’s life is a work in progress, but so are ours. And if you’re God’s child, then you can trust that the Lord will complete the work that He has begun in you. You can walk with confidence that He is carrying you in the palm of His hand, even when you can’t see Him working.
After my grandma died, my mom found this darling bird that she had made. I added the Bible verse and gave it to my granddaughter.
Giving birth to my stillborn son, Tommy, was a completely different experience than giving birth to my living children, not because the physical pain was less but because there was no expectation of joy to come. It’s hard to watch a mother in obvious pain as she groans and struggles in the pains of labor and childbirth, but the pain she’s experiencing is not without hope. That mother has hope during her pain because she knows that in the end she will hold a precious little bundle of love in her arms.
Earlier this week I saw this definition of HOPE penned on a dry erase board in a friend’s kitchen. Desire plus expectation equals HOPE. Expectation without desire is merely drudgery. Desire without expectation is just wishful thinking. But expectation combined with desire puts fuel in our tanks and joy in our hearts. Hope enables us to keep pushing forward through the pain.
Dear sisters, take heart in Christ. There is something infinitely better than a pot of gold on the other side of the pains of this life. All of creation is groaning today, but everlasting joy is coming. In this world we do indeed have trouble but we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. He has triumphed over sin and death. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, then you can have total confidence that you will be raised from the dead, just as Christ was. This is our sure confidence and hope.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
Romans 8:11-12 ESV
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, Yet from what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I’ll begin; Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood; How His kindness yet pursues me Mortal tongue can never tell, Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face; Clothèd then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace; Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, Take my ransomed soul away; Send thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day.
The original text of the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
Teach What is Good 
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