Romans 1:18-23

Dear Father God I thank you so much for this time we have to share with you and each other today. Lord help me to focus on what is important today, help me to not be distracted by stress and pain and family woes, help me to focus in on you. Lord I thank you so much for my sister Angela and her willingness to spend time in the world with me, I glean so much from our time together. Lord you know the needs of both or our families and I ask you to overflow our cups. Amen

1:18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. (My bible has a side note "or people who prevent the truth from being known.")

God's anger is poured out on those who prevent the truth from being known or who push the truth away from themselves. I am thinking that there are many in our culture who will be shown the wrath of God when the time comes. God is holy and just, loving and forgiving  yet his anger is for those who prevent his true nature from being known. I love that this makes him angry, it shows us his nature which is justly and good.

1:19-20 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. (Manifested in them) God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

I really loved your view on this verse. It is hard not to take the view point of judging those who look around and see the wonder around them and yet they believe all of it was just an accident or part of chaos theory. I want to know more specifically what did God put into their hearts as "knowledge"? Do you think it is your conscious or the knowledge of right and wrong. Is it the wonder of nature? Hard to say isn't it?  I look at this verse and believe that even those who have not heard the word of God might be saved if God desires it. That those who died before Christ was on the cross might be saved, those in the deep jungle might be saved also. 

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. 

I think left to our own imaginations we could make God into something very scary and dark because our imaginations are tainted by our sinful nature. God is indescribably big, powerful, creator of all things and if left to our sinful imaginations of coarse he would be vengeful, mighty forceful and in love with power. God is all those things but he is also HOLY, sinless, full of love and mercy all of which our human heart and mind can not grasp.  

22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.

Our little minds can not comprehend the every-living glorious God we like to keep God contained in a little package, make him familiar like a bird or an animal. We are fools. I am guilty of this myself, not in worshiping an object but of obsessing over an idea or not giving my cares and worries up to God, thinking I can handle this. Thinking God can not possibly handle all of my burdens. I become the fool because I can not carry my burdens, I need God to take them away.

Romans 1:18-23--Angela

Father God, bring your peace to Tina and Mark and to the girls. I thank you for encouraging Echo to make the decision she has made to move to Anacortes. I praise you and your glorious nature for inspiring Mark and Tina to encourage her to follow her heart, despite the fear and concerns they may have about her future. Thank you for providing for me and Eric today. You keep placing upon my heart the importance of remaining firmly rooted in today's provision. My heart is often distracted by the future, concerns that aren't even on the horizon...weeks or months away. And I know you are faithful. I know that you are faithful to provide for our needs. I know that I must push past my enemy, fear, and press into your faithfulness. You are faithful, not because of what we do but because of who You are. Reveal to us Your faithfulness today. Lord, I pray a special prayer for Ruby today. I pray for your ministering angels and your people to meet her, to encourage her, to love her. Father, give her the security of being a daughter of the King. Give her the security she needs right now. Father, I pray right now for the lies to be broken over Mark. I pray for Mark to have a great awakening to his partnership with fear, depression, and discouragement. I pray that he would have a great awakening to the way he has been partnering with the lies of the enemy, who only desires to keep him low, pressed down, oppressed, and depressed. Father, lift his eyes to see your countenance shining upon him. Call forth his spirit into true communion with Your Spirit. Break through the lies and bring forth Your truth in greater and greater measures each day. Fan the flames and renew for him the joy of his salvation. Your good news is really good news. The life he is living, the life he has settled for, is not the life you planned for his family. Father, spark in Tina prayers and songs of deliverance over her family. Father, remind her of the dreams she's had, and give her fuel to fan the flames of her intercession and prayer. Give her hope and life in these times. A smoldering wick You will not snuff out. I breathe life into her soul. I breathe life into her spirit. I call her forth into communion with Your Spirit...nourish her, strengthen her, revive her, give her tools and truths to combat the lies of the enemy in this season. Give her swift breakthrough, Father God. Thank you. ~Amen.

1:18-19 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."

This really stirs my heart in righteous anger against the enemy right now. It is such godless and wicked teaching that has Christians at the bottom of the barrel, oppressed by poverty, fear, and depression. It is wicked and godless teaching, the false doctrines of demons, that keep us under the finger of fear that God is not who He says He is, that keeps us from seeing the great victory and triumph that has been given to us by Christ's sacrifice. The sentence right before this is "The righteous will live by faith." That is as plain as plain can be. Just like you said this morning, it is that SIMPLE!!

LIVE: Fully alive, fully infused with the joy that is the very nature of God, fully confident of purpose and destiny, fully assured of all provision (all that we need for life and godliness). The promises are clear in the Bible, but somehow we feel we are disqualified. We fear that somehow we have done something, or not done enough to be sure that God will make good on His promise to provide. It is by faith that we live. Anything less or more is a teaching borne out of wickedness and godlessness.

I have long since stopped seeing people as wicked and godless...I see the principalities behind these lies as wicked and godless. If we are oppressed or downcast, we have only to see that these things are not from God. We have only to recognize our true nature...our new nature...the one that is free to believe all the good things that God says about us. If someone doesn't know the Lord, I still see them the same way...loved by God, the promises are for them, they only need to meet the Promise Maker (the Promise Keeper).

1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

So often when discussing this verse, I have been tempted to focus solely on the fact that men are without excuse. I have used this verse to fuel a judgmental attitude of superiority...I know God, and you don't. You missed the signs. Oh shucks, too bad.

In reading this today, though, I see a very different focus. It is a question that this verse begs an answer to...what are the invisible qualities of God? This verse implies that they should be obvious, yet so many of us seem to look at creation and see only the bad...the violence, the disease, the darkness. None of these are God's qualities, so this is not what Paul is talking about. God reveals His nature in the fruit of His Spirit...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.

I want to turn my attention toward these qualities of God. I want to look at creation, at my brothers and sisters, at my husband, at my children, through the eyes of God's immutable nature...from beginning to end, God's kindness, gentleness, patience shines forth from all of creation. I want to see God clearly, and I want to see my fellow humans clearly, and I want to see creation clearly. I want my mind to be completely renewed to see the earth as good, to see all of creation as good, to see everything around me as something for my enjoyment, for my nourishment, for my good. I think this is what Paul is so up in arms about...if we see God as evil, then we are without excuse, for He has never revealed Himself that way. If we see Him that way, it's because we are projecting our fallen nature onto Him. We must stop doing that and trust Him at His Word!

1:21 "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."

This is in keeping with I wrote in the last paragraph, but it brings freshly to mind a scene in The Magician's Nephew, by CS Lewis. I hope you've read it. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. It's one of the Narnia books, and the scene I'm thinking of is when Uncle Andrew (a greedy, low-minded man) is surrounded by the talking beasts of Narnia, but he can't hear their words. He can only hear growls, and he interprets them all as having ill-intent. He trusts none of them, and even Aslan's song is just noise to him...frightening. Because of his "darkened understanding," he interprets the whole beautiful scene as threatening and evil. In fact, he has just projected his own evil heart upon the creation of a brand new world. He's missed the beauty, and because of it he will succumb to his fear and possibly die.

1:22-23 "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles."

I recently heard someone teach on this verse. He said that we become what we gaze upon. In other passages, Paul says that we become like our idols...not seeing or hearing. This man who was teaching said that the glory we were given by God was like His glory and was meant to ensure that we would have intimacy with Him. This is what allowed Jesus to tell His disciples that they were not mere slaves, but actually friends of God. And later, when His Spirit fell upon all flesh, the ability to receive the mind of Christ was given to all mankind. However, we are given the choice as to what we gaze upon, what we worship, what we meditate (worry) over. When we are in idolatry, we exchange our God-given glory for the glory of nature. And throughout the Bible, all of nature is in subjection to God...nature is subservient to God...lower than what we were made for. Even the angels do not share in the kind of intimacy that God reserves for human beings...we are meant to colabor, to coreign on the earth. We are not meant to have a slave relationship with God, but rather a partnership. Moses had this, Abraham had this. David had this. And that was in the Old Testament. They managed to tap into the truth of man's glory before His glory was revealed to all mankind through Jesus. The time when Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites, and God heard his pleas and spared their lives. The time when Abraham was given power over the fate of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a grave mistake to be like Esau...to give our birthright away for momentary peace, for momentary satisfaction. Rather, we are to be like Jacob, understanding the power that lies within and not settling for anything less than all we were meant to become.

I pray we will both grow in our understanding of the glory reserved for us, and that we would both grow in wisdom and stature, so that we can carry that glory in such a way as to honor the One who gave it to us.

Bless you, my dear friend.
~Angela

Romans 1:14-17--Tina

14 For I have a great sense of to the people in our culture and to people in other cultures, to the educated and uneducated alike.

Paul feels called to tell everyone know matter who they are about Jesus. Everyone despite where they have come from can come to Christ, he is for everyone.

15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach God's Good News.

I find it interesting that Paul wants to go to Rome and is eager to go into enemy territory, he is eager to put his life on the line and go against the culture. I don't think I could have gone into Rome to preach the gospel.

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-Jews first and also Gentiles.

It is not shame that would keep me away from Rome but fear. Paul is fearless instead remembering that through God's power all things are possible. Even waking in the morning is done by God's power, he wills it to be. I think remembering that God's power is in control of everything from the tiny ladybug to my heart beating in my chest is important, he is bigger and more powerful than any force of nature. It is so easy to forget this and therefore lose faith in God.

17 This good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

I love that it is only through faith that we are made right in God's eyes. Simple child like faith, no works, no pain we endure, no tests we pass, it is through simple faith. Through living by faith, with faith, in faith we are made clean and holy in God's eyes. It sounds too simple doesn't it? Like we should be doing more and more yet God is always going against what we think of as logic, his heart is bigger and more loving then our heart we can not even imagine how much he loves his creation, how much he loves us. Truly amazing!

Dear God, Thank you so much for this time to spend in your word today. Lord let these words sit on my heart, sink into my heart and become part of me. Lord I pray for Angela and Eric, Lord you know the needs there and I ask you to bless them beyond measure with your provision. Amen

Begin Again

So I have finally gotten on here and read your post and your prayer. I am amazed that we seem to be dealing with a lot of the same issues, provision, direction, purposeful work all these things can be so disheartening. I find that this is the stuff that steals my joy, lessens my faith and leads me astray. I think God knows that provision is a big issue for me that I have to put all my faith into holding on to the fact that God will provide and that God takes care of children. Even knowing that, bringing it into the light and still it consumes me "the worry." I do not know what God has in store for us, the conversation has begun with the knowledge that we all feel like we don't belong here. We have asked God for his direction, for his plan to be worked out in our lives and so far nothing has been revealed to us. I continue to speak to my husband about his spiritual issues, he continues to deny that he even has any spiritual issues but he has come to the point where he admits that things that have happened have affected the family and their relationship with God. I see this has a step in the right direction, even if it is a baby step. I continue to struggle with loneliness and isolation and working at a job that is both hard on the body and very unsupported with pay and encouragement. So the long wait in the dessert continues and I do not know what is on the other side. I hold on to the promise that God has good things for his children.


Dear God, Hear my prayer this evening. I lift up my friend and sister Angela and her family. Lord you know what the needs are, you know that Eric has taken a step of faith in quitting his job in the hopes of something more. Lord I ask for you to reward Eric's faith, that you would step out and meet Eric and deliver to him a job, work, and purpose and that Eric would know that all things come from you. Lord I ask that you would surround Angela with a blanket of peace through this time, that she would know that you are giver of all good things and that you will provide for them what is needed. Continue to feed her with your unending faith and that she would continue to speak through her writing and blogs and profess your name again and again. Lord I ask that what ever is biting Orion and Zara would be banished from their home and yard, that the invisible bugs would be gone. Lord surround those children with your perfect love and protection, help them to grow in faith and become soldiers in your army. Amen

Romans 1:14-17--Angela

Father,
I pray a special blessing of peace for my dear friend, Tina. She needs a gentle touch from You right now. Give her Your perspective. Bring her to a higher place to see all that You are up to for her and her family. Give her the assurance that You haven't left her and that You are always and forever in her court. Bring revelation and reality to Your deep affection for her. Give her eyes to read Your Words afresh, especially the Words of promise and blessing for her, Mark, and their children. Lord, infuse her with wisdom, perspective, and clear direction. Give her a vision for their future and help her to hold onto it no matter what circumstances may be. ~Amen.

vs. 14 "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish."
Paul's heart beats for every person. His message is for every type of person, from every walk of life, from every station. Whatever he says applies to me, it applies to you, it applies to the wealthiest of the wealthy and to the poorest of the poor. It applies to every person in every religious sect, and it applies to every atheist out there. No one is exempt from his message, his prayers, his hopes, and his dreams. He lived to see Jesus get His full reward.

vs. 15 "That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome."
His calling gives him gumption, enthusiasm, and joy. Eager is a word I associate with my children. They are eager to try new things, to be with me, to talk to me, to show me their greatest inventions or their dollies' new outfits. He is eager to share because this message of freedom is so amazing, and it's for everyone!!


vs. 16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
I am coming close to having this same boldness and excitement about the power of the gospel to save, heal, and deliver those who hear the good news of Jesus. Everyone who believes! I am intrigued by the order Paul shares here...first the Jew, then the Gentile. I don't quite understand how this all works, though I have been impressed in recent years by the import of the Jews in Jesus' mind. I know this speaks of order, and I also know it speaks of Paul's heart for his own people. I think it also speaks of the mystery of the Old Testament and the crimson cord of salvation that runs through the pages of Jewish history, the prophets, and the wisdom literature of the Old Testament.


vs. 17 "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"
Paul lends credence to my theory about the crimson cord running through the Old Testament by quoting Habakkuk 2:4 (2:3-5 says: For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay. See, [the wicked foe] is puffed up; his desires are not upright--but the righteous will live by his faith--indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.") The righteous shall live by faith is a very powerful saying that is quoted all the time in Christian circles. What is the evidence that we are living a life of faith? That we wait patiently, trusting His timing. That we read His Word and believe that everything He says about us (the righteous) is true and is for us and is for today. The passage in Habakkuk implies that the righteous have peace and are satisfied...content, filled with gratitude. The wicked one strives and gathers people unto himself as though they are his resource, his sustenance. The righteous one trusts in God alone and does not lean on another person to give him his daily bread. This is a lesson I have been learning for my own life. How to put my trust in God to provide instead of in my husband or even in myself...to put my hand to the plow, yes, but not to carry the burden of the outcome of the works of my hands. Instead, I rely on Him for the outcome and His perfect timing.


Prayer Request: We are in a season where this reality is being tested fully. My husband felt the Lord calling him to completely surrender in the area of provision. He quit his job without another one to take its place. We are pressing into the Lord for His provision, for His direction, and for His peace through this time. I have had to daily take my fears to God (as we do not have enough to pay October's utilities or November's rent) and rely on His Word to daily increase my faith for His promise to provide. This morning, I woke with the same fear of not having enough (plus having to deal with invisible fleas that are eating my kids alive despite the fact that we have no animals!). After washing bedding and vacuuming all morning, I went to Him in despair. He encouraged me to continue looking up the passages on "treasure" that I started looking up a couple of weeks ago. I was so encouraged. I know He is going to provide. I don't know how, but I know I am to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trust Him to show us the way. We need prayer, just as you do. This has a make-it-or-break-it feeling to it. Eric has long been searching for his place in this world, for vision, and for confidence to make his mark. I am weary of the cycles and the fears and the uncertainties. I am weary of the pressure and his depression. I am seeing signs of him coming out of that, and I am seeing signs of cycles being broken, but I face the fear every day. I know you are in a similar place with Mark, with a lot less clarity and a ton more fear. As we pray for each other, I think the Lord will lift the veil and bring more peace, more joy, and more confidence in the foundations He is laying for our families in this season of uncertainty. I love you, my friend.


~Angela

My week

Angela,
My week is crazy!! Ruby has been out of school due to asthma, I am trying to get her into the doctor for tomorrow. (I had to get a sub for work) Mark was sick and time is speeding up. I won't be able to work on our study until at least next Monday, just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and to let some of the pressure off of you also.
Love,
Tina

Colassians 3:6-11 Tina

Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.

3:6 God’s terrible anger will come upon who do such things.

So we keep our focus on the things of heaven, not the things on earth. Those things mentioned in the previous verse are temporary “feel” good ideas. When our hearts and minds are on things of God we will not feel tempted for the temporary fixes of this life. We live for heaven, we live for heavenly ideas. Sin destroys people’s lives. Sin separates people from God. Christ had to die on the cross because of sin. That is why God is angry about sin. Romans 2:1-16 explains about how God will judge sin in the future. What does this mean to us, who are saved through our love of Jesus? If we honestly try to turn away from our sin, we still fall prey to these human things. We all lust for things, desire comfort? I think it is our heart that matters most. I pray that when we stand before God the Father we are indeed covered by Jesus. Does God take in account our faithfulness in pursuing him? This is when I get confused and unsure of everything that we have been talking about!

3:7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world.

Yes when I was separated from God and unsaved my appetite for those wicked things was more prevalent but now I am still guilty of some of those things. I wish it were not so but I fear that it is. I have a new nature, I have put on Christ but I still find myself wanting things, desiring comfort, security.

3:8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

I do feel like I have a handle on these things. The taming of the tongue was a long process but I feel like through Christ I am able to control my tongue. I know that out of the mouth comes what is inside the heart.

3:9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds.

Yes we have stripped off the old nature and with it the old habits. No lying ever! Hard one to keep, how many times has someone asked you for your opinion and you didn’t give it, you simply said what they wanted to hear or something to build them up. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who gives us strength to do these hard things. We live in a world that is so full of lies, so full of untruth, so blurry that the world can not even see the truth when it is said.

3:10 In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.

Praise Jesus there is hope, we are continually being renewed as we learn and grow in Christ!!! I am so thankful for this verse after the others. What I am getting from these 5 verses is it is a process! We mature as we grow in Christ, with each new gift that the Holy Spirit gives us it purifies us even more, we will never be perfected until we are with are Brother Jesus in heaven. The process is what God wants from us, for us to draw close to him, to care about the things he cares about, to mature, and to put our sin to death through maturity not through self discipline but through love and faith.

3:11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or fee. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Paul ends this point on a good note, so glad about that!! Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Love covers a multitude of sins, Christ covers us. This verse is also telling those people of the day that the law does not matter; Christ came for all of us!

Dear Father,

Thank you for your word and for your loving faithful spirit among us. I ask that you infuse within us your power, your wisdom, and give us a heart like Christ. A heart that would do anything for you, a heart that loves like your Son Jesus. Amen