Category Archives: Romans

⁸ Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. ⁹ For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Romans 13:8-10

Dear God, our small group last night was talking about the idols we can make out of our devoutness. It is easy to make piety my idol. It’s easy to even make doing these prayer journals my idol. But if we focus on these things–going to church every time the door is open, spending our daily time in prayer or praying so many minutes a day, listening to only Christian music, etc., but have not love for our neighbors in need then we are a loud, clanging gong (1 Corinthians 13).

But it does start with legitimate worship of you because if I’m not submitting myself to you, worshipping you, asking for forgiveness for the things I do that grieve you, and then accepting that forgiveness in a loving relationship with you, then I will not be able to extend forgiveness to others, and I won’t know how to love them because I won’t really understand how much you love me.

Father, I know you are love because the closer I get to you and the more I turn loose of my worldly idols the more I feel love. The less selfish I become. Speaking of love for others, I have a friend who has to be nervous about a doctor appointment they have today. Help them through this process. Guide them. Guide the doctor. Father, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy spirit, have mercy.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

10 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. ² I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. ³ For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. ⁴ For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

⁵ For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. ⁶ But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). ⁷ And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” ⁸ In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;
    it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: ⁹ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. ¹¹ As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” ¹² Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:1-13

Dear God, the verses of the day for Bible Gateway are 9 and 10. Having grown up Baptist, these were part of the three passages of Romans I was taught to lead someone to Jesus: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and Romans 10:9-10. We all sin. The wages of sin is death, but salvation is a free gift from you through Jesus. And then this ipart about believing in Jesus and confessing I need him.

I don’t know how long it was before I read these verses in context. And I’m not saying they were misapplied when I was young. I think they can stand on their own. But It’s important to see what Paul saying here. He’s speaking to Jews in Roman and trying to convince them that Jesus is your son and the Messiah. So he goes back to the beginning for them: the law and Moses.

I like the phrase the translators used here in verse 2: misdirected zeal. I see a lot of misdirected zeal lately. Most of it centered around politics. I see Christians who are zealous about supporting or opposing different liberal or conservative things. I think Satan must just be loving this. I’ve seen people defend bad things they want to defend because of their pride, biases, and prejudices. At the same time, I’ve seen others attack good things because of their pride, biases and prejudices. And I’ve done the same. I’m willing to give someone whose side I’ve chosen the benefit of the doubt when they do something bad, and I’m reluctant to give credit to someone I’ve chosen as an enemy when they do something I think is good. I’m as bad as anyone.

So, my zeal for you gets misdirected. Maybe part of it is that we just don’t know how to lament anymore. I don’t want to feel powerless in the face of seeing things I don’t like. I want to be critical. I want to complain. Or when I see others attacking something I support, I want to be defensive. Social media and even blogging like I do with these prayers has given us this false sense of having a voice when, even if our opinion reaches 100 people, they are going to be people who are already in our algorithm and in agreement with us anyway. We’ll just be preaching to the choir and nothing will materially change in the world.

Father, that leaves me with the simplicity of believing in Jesus, following you, praying for conviction and self-awareness, and then praying for direction and you put dominoes in front of me that you want me to knock over. My little life can have a butterfly effect on the world. It can ripple through time. But I have no idea how that will happen. It might not be the talk I give. It might be the door I open for someone. So help me to be faithful in my worship of you, help me to weed the soil of my life and remove the cares of this world, lead me not into temptation, deliver me from evil, forgive me and help me to truly forgive, and show me what you need me to do at any given moment.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:3-5

Dear God, when I think of the sorrows in my life, while I don’t like them at all, I can definitely see where they have made me a more humble, loving person. I’m much less judgmental that I would otherwise be. I can clearly see the aspect of “prosperity gospel” in the idea that there’s a formula for living your life a certain way and then having things turn out the way you want them to. I was talking with a mom recently who has been through drug/alcohol/suicidal ideation issues with her son. She told me that she had a friend two years ago whose son had to go to a drug treatment center, and she judged this friend for her son being in that situation. Now that she’s been through something similar, she’s a different person towards that friend. Her heart softened and changed. It’s more loving, understanding and forgiving.

The other part of this is the idea of developing endurance. As American Christians, we are soft. We see someone promoting a non-Christian agenda and we freak out, calling it religious persecution. “You’re saying, ‘Happy Holidays,’ instead of, “Merry Christmas.’ Aaaaa! I’m being persecuted!” “There’s an LGBTQ rights march in my town square. Aaaaa! I’m being persecuted!” But there are literally people who have been tortured and killed and are currently being tortured and killed for their faith in you. But even the little struggles I have make me stronger. They make me more durable. I’ve been doing a lot of cycling over the last three months. I’ve been mixing in some really hard workouts with some easier recovery rides. I want my body to be able to push through pain and get stronger while also having the muscle memory of what it’s like to be in for an endurance ride. None of that will happen if I rest myself on the sofa and never push through the pain.

Father, I’m not going to go out looking for pain. Life will bring enough of that. At the same time, I don’t want to run from it. I want to walk the path you’ve given me to walk. I want to have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, but I also want to have the courage to change the things I can. If it were easy, I wouldn’t need courage. Please give me the wisdom to know the difference, and to persevere and rest in you when life’s trials come my way. If there is to be pain, make it count for your glory and my growth.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11

Dear God, I really need to be better at communicating this to people I see throughout the day. I need to be better about sharing this reconciliation with you. The trick for me is that I know it’s not just about realizing their need for you and evening being willing to repent, but getting them to somehow walk the narrow path.

I have a friend who’s really struggling in their marriage right now. Actually I have a couple of friends in that situation. I’ve encouraged them both to really discipline themselves to walk closely with you and be as healthy as they can before they make any definitive decisions about the future of their marriages. I suspect that the healthier they get the more clarity they will get as to how to respond to their spouses.

I just got a text while I was typing this from a friend who said she and her husband are taking their adult son to rehab today for substance abuse. Oh, Father, the path will have to be narrow for him as well. I know he’s battled addiction for about 20 years. Help him to find the narrow path.

Father, lest I forget, I need to walk the narrow path as well. Jesus saved me from your condemnation, but that does me no good here if I don’t live it out during my earthly life. The only way to experience your fruit is to graft my branch to your vine. So I come to you to worship you, love you, and then take that love and give it to others as much as I can.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

¹² When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. ¹³ Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. ¹⁴ Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. ¹⁵ But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶ And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. ¹⁹ Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰ God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. ²¹ So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:12-21

Dear God, would I be willing to give up sin for Lent? Not would I be able to, but would I be willing to even if I could?

My wife and I were talking yesterday about the idea of giving up lying for Lent. It was kind of a joke, but I started to think about whether or not I’d be willing to tell zero lies for the next six weeks. As I sit here right now, would I be willing to commit to total and complete honesty? No little white lies about how great of a job someone did when maybe they didn’t, or how much I enjoyed something that I thougth was meh. No selective truth about what I want someone to know and obscuring what I don’t want them to know. No lies of omission? And that’s just lying. Coveting. Hate. Lust. Not only can I give up every sin in my life, but am I willing to try?

Then there’s Jesus. Jesus denied himself and the temptations Satan threw at him, but he was also more about being one with you and he let that be the driver of who he was and the actions he took and how he thought about people than he was about disciplining himself to not sin. Going back to the quote I mentioned a few days ago, “The pure in heart should be known more for their God-attentiveness than their sin-avoidance.”

Father, Jesus was not only redemption for us and a contrast with Adam, but he was also an example for us of what it looks like to be yours. So help me to be yours today. Help me to love others well and love them through the things that frustrate me. Even the things that have hurt me. Even now as I type these things I find myself thinking about ways I’ve been hurt and getting angry. Help me to deal with this anger in a healthy way and love through it. Love beyond it. There’s an appropriateness to anger. We can use it to help us know where to build boundaries and inform our decisions for the future, but there’s no room for bitterness in it. Help me to let go of my bitterness and simply worship you through it, remembering there are plenty of things I’ve done to anger others. Going to the verses for today from Psalm 51, “Have mercy on me, O God, in your good ness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

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