Category Archives: Romans

14 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. ² For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. ³ Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

⁵ In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. ⁶ Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. ⁷ For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. ⁸ If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

¹⁰ So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For the Scriptures say,

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bend to me,
    and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’”

¹² Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. ¹³ So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

Romans 14:1-13

Dear God, when I read this passage this morning, I immediately thought of different controversies in the American church right now. On a spectrum of “Christian Nationalism” to “LGBTQ” issues, it seems there are lots of things that divide us within the American Christian church. And that’s the plan right? That’s Satan’s plan: to divide us. It happens in our families, in our places of work, in our churches, in our communities, and in our country–not to mention nations from each other. Divide, divide, divide.

And this little statement from Paul is interesting because it’s hard to know where to draw the line. I actually think it’s gotten easier to me over the years to accept people where they are. To love them despite our disagreements on issues. I’m also slowly getting better at forgiveness and loving through hurt done to me. On a spectrum, I still have a long way to go, but I’m closer to my life being worth nothing to me today than I was even yesterday. I can feel you using the different pressures of life to form me into something completely new. And it’s hard. It really is. But I can feel the good from it as well.

I’m reminded of 2 Corinthians 4 where it says, “⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” Now, to be clear, I don’t even begin to know the kind of suffering Paul is talking about here for Christians at the time. But for the level of suffering I’ve experienced and am currently going through, I can feel your strength underpinning me as I lean into you.

Father, I have all kinds of thoughts swirling in my head. Some of them are constructive and some aren’t. I pray that you will use the pain of the current situations I see and redeem them to make something even more beautiful than I could have imagined. Be glorified in everything. Help me to know how to love others through their weaknesses and teach others through me how to love their neighbor through their weaknesses. Be very present today, Father. And help me to know where to draw the line between what Paul teaches in chapter 14 and then kinds of lines he draws at the end of chapter 13. It’s all complicated, and I’m sure you look at the world and lament over divisions between us the way I am lamenting over divisions now.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

²⁵ I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,

“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,
    and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.
²⁷ And this is my covenant with them,
    that I will take away their sins.”

²⁸ Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁹ For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. ³⁰ Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. ³¹ Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy. ³² For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.

³³ Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

³⁴ For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
    Who knows enough to give him advice?
³⁵ And who has given him so much
    that he needs to pay it back?

³⁶ For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

Romans 11:25-36

Dear God, as I was reading this passage, I found myself asking if Paul could be wrong about any of this. For instance, did you really choose the Jewish people over the other Gentiles, or were the Jewish people, through Abraham and ultimately, genealogically, leading to Jesus, and thereby you reached out to the world and blessed the Gentiles (like me) through the Israelites? so I was wondering that about Paul, and then I got to verses 33-35 and saw that even Paul had a notion that he didn’t completely understand all of your plan. To him, sitting there 2,000 years ago, there was still this great paradigm that the Israelites were your people and the rest of us were just lucky to have your love and interest. I think what Jesus started to shift was the idea that you were really interested in all of us all along. That’s why you sent Jonah to the Ninevites. That’s why you healed Naman in 2 Kings 5.

I will confess that I don’t understand your ways at all, and I could be totally wrong about all of this. It’s possible that you do love the Jewish people more than the rest of us. And if you do, that is fine. To quote the Gentile woman who went to Jesus so he would heal her daughter in Matthew 15:27, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” So I am very happy to be a dog sitting below the table, near you.

Father, help me today. I have fears. I have concerns. I have insecurities. But I really need to live for you. I need to love for you. I need to do this regardless of what it costs me. I need to be a good steward of what you’ve given me. I need to be humble and serve. I need to decrease so that you can increase. And I need to understand that your ways are not my ways, you are greater than I am, and I am just a fool. But I am a fool who at least knows he is foolish. Reveal just a little more of my foolishness to me today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

⁶ Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. ⁷ For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. ⁸ If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

Romans 14:6-9

Dear God, do I honor you enough? For example, I’m not the best about thanking you for my food. I have it in my head to do it when I’m eating with other people. That’s kind of an ingrained habit. Even that, though, isn’t necessarily me being truly grateful for the food. I’ve always had plenty. So much so that I’ve battled my weight since I was 10 years old. No, I’m not really grateful for my food. In fact, there are times when I pray before a meal that I forget to mention the food.

It’s easy to say that I live for you and die for you, but am I honoring you enough in the living? Do I let selfishness dictate how much at risk I’m willing to put what I have? My possessions and my comfort? Oh, how I want to honor you. I want everything I do to honor you. How I worship and pray. How I interact with others. How I do my work. Right down to the little things. How I drive. How I order at a restaurant. How I react when I see a homeless person in need (I’m not good at that one at all–what’s appropriate and what’s not?).

Here’s a good example. I was really proud of something we were able to do with a patient at our clinic this week, and when I told people about it I don’t think I credited you enough for orchestrating what happened or the outcome.

Father, this is a good reminder to do everything I do in honor of you. I’m about to talk with a friend on the phone. Help me to honor you in it. I’m going to meet some men and move some heavy, awkward furniture for work. Help me to honor you in how I do that. I’m going to write thank you letters. Help me to honor you in those letters. I’m going to meet a friend for lunch and do them a favor. Help me to honor you in that time. I’ll spend the evening with my wife. Help me to thank you for her and honor you for how you bless me through her. I want to have you in my every breath today and be grateful for each breath. Help me to be mindful of that.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

³ Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. ⁴ Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Romans 12:3-5

Dear God, here’s the line that really hits me this morning: Be honest in [my] evaluation of [myself], measuring [myself] by the faith [you] have given [me]. I recently took a DISC personality test and it was pretty accurate. I definitely leaned into one style over the other. But I think what pleased me the most about the test is the results of the three graphs it gives. One graph was the me others see. One was my instinctive response to pressure. The third was how I see myself. I was pleased by these three graphs because they were consistent. What others see and what I see were almost identical, and the only difference in the one with stress is that I leaned into my dominant style more. Yes, I have things to work on with my personality and how I handle things. Yes, I am flawed and I need to improve in a lot of areas. Yes, I am a sinner and I need your grace. But at least I am starting from a place where I think I’m actually okay at evaluating myself and seeing myself with fairly accurate eyes.

I think part of this comes from pain and struggle. Last night at the Bible study, the ice breaker question was what question would we ask you if we could. There were a lot of questions about the pain we experience. “Why cancer?” “Why did my dad die when I was 8?” Those questions were hard. And I could ask you why for some of my pain, but of of the men pointed out to the others that the pain is what develops us into the people we are. If my life had been perfectly free from pain and struggle, who would I be right now? No, I credit the struggles for bringing me to you and allowing you to work on my heart.

Father, I need to start putting together next week’s lesson for these men, but I want to do it differently than I did the last eight weeks. I want to be maybe a little more deliberate in my message to them. I want to love them with your love. I want to speak to them with your voice. I want to call them to follow you with your Spirit. And I pray for the men who will choose not to come after this week. Be glorified, oh, Lord. Be glorified in their lives. Be glorified in all of the lives involved with this class, including the leaders and teachers. Guide us all into the men you call us to be.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen