Praying to do the Right thing in the Right Time!

Romans 1:8 – 13 First, I think my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart you some spiritual gift, so that I may be established – that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brother and, that I often plan to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.

As we returned the data Romans chapter 1, we are going to look further into Paul's request. Paul in his prayer to God was requesting the opportunity to visit the Romans. His statement in verse 10 and his statement in verse 13 make it clear that this had been his desire for some time. Yet he makes it all so clear in verse 10 that he does not want his desire to overrule God's will. Though he recognized the good that could come from his visit to the Romans he also understood that to be blessed and it it needed to be according to God's will. One writer put it this way," we must be concerned with doing things right (management), but we also must be concerned with doing the right things (leadership)." Paul's comments reveal that he was truly concerned with both of these areas.

One of the primary reasons for Paul's desire to visit was so that he might impart a spiritual gift to help strengthen our established the believers at Rome. Paul getting to spend time with the Romans would allow his spiritual gift of teaching and preaching to be used to build their faith and to strengthen them as a body of believers. But Paul also realized that by being there not only could he encouraged the Romans but they through their faith could also encourage him as well.

In this request we find Paul praying desiring God's will he and at the same time desiring to see the growth the Romans. How often do we become selfish and our prayers ignore the will of God and what his desire is and forget about the benefit of others and their need to grow spiritually? When we recognize the opportunity to minister are we patient enough to wait for God's timing?

 May our prayers like Paul's be concerned with the will of God and the growth of other believers that we might see fruit in their lives.

The Video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton  FW # 63

Paul's Rejoicing

Romans 1:8 First, I think my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

In this verse Paul is showing the priority he gives to being thankful for the salvation of the Romans. Remember, these are people that Paul has never met and that live many miles from him, yet he is thankful for their salvation. How often do we as individuals rejoice when we hear of the salvation of individuals in foreign lands?  When  missionaries send a letter tells of five individuals being saved do we get really excited? Do we take time to praise God because these people have been saved, that they've trusted in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse their sin?    

Not only is Paul thankful for their salvation but goes beyond that. when he rejoiced that their faith was known to many people around the world. In fact their testimony had spread to other believers throughout the world. They had apparently stood up for what they had been taught and the impact was far-reaching. How well is our faith known? Do our neighbors who live across the street even know of our faith?

The faith of these Romans may have been much like the faith of Chinese Christians today. Christians whose lives are on the line day by day. I recently heard of believers in one particular church that have been locked out of their building. The authorities of the city kept them from being able to rent any properties in their city. Despite this we are hearing that these Christians continue to meet together on a regular basis even outdoors in the wintertime. Because of constant surveillance of the pastor’s home meetings cannot be held there.  The faith of these Chinese people is being reported today the world over just as the stories of the Roman faith had come to Paul half a world away.  Some of these Roman believers would some day face the persecution of Nero

Paul moved from rejoicing in the faith of the Romans to his desire to go to Rome.  He had desired to go for some time as can be seen in verse 13; but he had been hindered from doing so.  Paul made it clear in this passage that he would not put his own desires above those of God’s and would not go until such time that he knew it was the will of God.  From this it can be surmised that we are to seek God’s will above our own.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton   FW # 62

Acnowledge God's Desire

Proverbs 3:5–8 (NKJV) ⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. ⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.  ⁸It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Solomon’s challenge here is to “Trust in the Lord”. This trust is characterized by total commitment in the phrase “with all your heart.”  When I am trusting God I am not reliant on my own wisdom, I don’t “lean on my own understanding.”  Rather, I become fully reliant on God “acknowledging Him” and choosing to do what is pleasing to God.  Our own pride causes us to “be wise in our own eyes.”  Yet, when I “fear the Lord” I will quit my sinful ways and turn to following His plan for my life.  Solomon here is calling for us to live in absolute obedience and surrender in every area of our lives.  Then we experience the “straight paths” or “directed Paths” which are in opposition to the crooked ways of the wicked or perverse.

I cannot try to live my life half for my own desires and half trusting in the Lord.  I have to get the same attitude as the psalmist in Psalm 119:113 (ESV) “¹¹³I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.”   Christ challenged us with this in Matthew 6:24 (ESV) “²⁴“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”  And then again in Mark 12:30 (ESV) “³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The wise person is characterized by continuous contemplation of God and a ready observance of his will, not only in the great issues of life but also in day-to-day routine. No matter is too small for God’s attention. To paraphrase one commentator, it is self-idolatry to think we can carry on even the most ordinary matters without his counsel.^[1]

The final challenge in these verses is to “Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”  To revere the Lord and avoid evil gives us a second contrast between our human wisdom and God’s wisdom.  Unfortunately, when many people seek counsel they go and find counselors who will tell them what they want to hear.  It is rare to find individuals who will seek out counsel based upon the principles of God’s Word.

But for those who will be follow God’s desire and fear Him they are promised: God’s direction, health, and strength.  How many miss out on these blessing because they will not be obedient?

 May your life be one that is characterized as “Trusting in the Lord!”

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton  FW # 58

---

^[1] Jim Newheiser, Opening Up Proverbs (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 61.

Acknowledge God's Direction

As we have begun the New Year many have made resolutions and are striving to change their lives in some way.  During the next few days we will look at ways we need to acknowledge God in the New Year.  The principles are taken from Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 3:1–4 (NKJV) ¹My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; ²For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. ³Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, ⁴And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.

We need to acknowledge God’s direction or learn God’s truth.   The challenge in verse one is “do not forget my law”.  To forget would mean that I am not mindful or I do not have a proper response to God’s law.  The first step in not being forgetful is to know, to be “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:9-10) and His Word.  God reveals his law, which is His will, in His Word.  Practically I acknowledge God’s law by reading His Word, putting myself under the teaching of His Word, working to memorize His Word. (Psalm 119:11)   The positive side of this challenge is “Let your heart keep my commandments.”  When our heart, that is our mind and will, is set on being obedient to God’s commands we will want to know these commandments by heart.  Our desire to obey will drive us to want to know God’s Word.

In verse two the writer continues “do not let loyal love and faithfulness leave you.”  This “mercy” or “loyal love” is “fidelity to obligations rising from relationships.”  And “truth” or “faithfulness” is that which can be relied on because of stability.  But when these words are put together they are “faithful love” combined these individual words give us a further meaning.  The “binding” and “writing” is stressing that the teaching become second nature, a regular part of the life.  The ramifications of this terminology are that the disciple is actually subject to the Lord, not the teacher, and that the requisite “discipline” is respect and obedience for the Lord and his teaching and not merely for a human instructor^[1]

With these principles come some promises which are length of days, long life, and peace.  One does not have to talk with too many individuals to realize that people desire long life, but even more than that they desire the life they have to be peaceful, yet how many are willing to get to know God’s Word so that they might experience it?  The second promise is to have favor and a good name by God and man.  An individual may have a good reputation before man, but this goes beyond that to having a life of integrity before God and being pleasing in His eyes.  These blessings are in opposition to the individual who is not faithful who is promised in Prov. 13:15, “The way of the unfaithful is hard.”

 

Our hope is that you might Acknowledge God’s Direction in this New Year!

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton    FW # 57

---

^[1] Allen P. Ross, "Proverbs" In , in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 5: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 916.