Bible In 90 Days – Day 80
Reading: Romans 1:1 – Romans 14:23
Take Away(s):
- WOW Romans 1:1-7. The fact that Paul is writing this – in light of Acts 8:1-3 and 9:1-2 – was MASSIVE. The power of GOD to change even the hardest of hearts is difficult for us to grasp at times…especially when we simply base it on a character in the bible (even though we know they are true stories about real people). STOP…RIGHT NOW. Think about the roughest, meanest, cruelest, “whatever” person you know. Got them in your mind? Picture them embracing you and actually caring about you and your life – that is how HUGE Paul’s conversion was. Imagine how nervous people were to invite him into their homes… But GOD changed him. That is REAL POWER!
- We Gotta Tell! Romans 1:8, 12. I know Jeremiah says we are to make our boast only in the Lord, but we need to brag on what God is doing in people’s lives and in our churches more! I know I need to!
- Don’t Skip This! 2:1. Re-read this verse…then re-read 1:28-32…then read this verse again. <Repeat> [that was for me…not you]
- DONE, not “believed”. 2:6. I think if some of us wrote this, we’d probably have written “God will give to each person according to what he has believed” or “God will give to each person according to what he has thought” or “God will give to each person according to what he felt in their heart”. We gotta DO!
- I am Adopted. 8:15-17. I think we often forget that all who have accepted Christ as personal Lord and Savior are adopted. The fact that Karen and I are in the process of adopting makes this especially cool. I Just started reading a book titled, Adopted for Life, by Dr. Russell Moore (Twitter: @drmoore). With BIND, I haven’t read too far; but so far, in the first chapter, I am undone and thankful at the same time. More posts to follow on this book later.
- Misunderstood. 8:28. Another verse that is often misunderstood and would be written differently if we wrote the bible apart from the Holy Spirit’s inspiration…
- SECURE! 8:38-39. Iron-clad salvation! AMEN!
- I Love This Verses! 12:1-2. I guess if someone asked me what my favorite verses were these would be near the top of the list. I really like the way they read in The Message paraphrase:
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
- Government. 13:1. Even if we don’t agree with our governmental leaders, I think this is pretty clear that God would have us submit to their God-given authority. That said, we see examples of civil disobedience for the sake of God’s Law and Christ’s message throughout the Bible.
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Bible In 90 Days – Day 81
Reading: Romans 15:1 – 1 Corinthians 14:40
Take Away(s):
- Content. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5. We sometimes think we need to rely on the content of our own lives alone to convince people to follow Christ. Not taking anything away from the power of a changed life (re-read day 80’s first bullet), if we solely rely on our story – it is salvation through <insert your name here> rather than Christ…
- Cults. 3:11-13. When I read this, I thought about cults who have based their beliefs on anything but God’s firm and sure foundation. Praise God that we have a hope and firm Foundation.
- Talkin’ Trash! 4:10 Paul trash talkin’ here!
- Wrong Application. 5:9-11. I think sometimes we preach/teach that as the Church we are to segregate ourselves from people who are not Christ Followers. Christ didn’t…we shouldn’t either. Honestly, if we are to obey the Mark 16:15 and Acts 1:8-type commands, we need to be like Christ and go where people are. Now I understand that this should be tempered with maturity in Christ and with proper use of our freedoms in Christ, but we gotta get out of the boat where we can! I like the way my friend Chris Tenny put it! (A shout out for Downtown Synergy/City Church. They’re ROCKIN’ downtown San Jose for Christ!)
- Careful, purposeful witness. 8:9-13, 19-23, 10:31-11:1. Se above bullet…
- The Fully-Equipped Body. 12:18-20. When I read this, I feel, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is saying that God fully equips each body of believers to accomplish great things for Him and His Kingdom. I think too many people hide their skills and gifts…leaving us ill-equipped. I am just a guilty here…just sayin’ though.
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