Discipleship Study: Romans 8 (part 2)

Made it this far? Well done you! But we’re not done yet: There is more wondrous truth to be found here in the second part! I hope you’ve been for a toilet break, haha…

v17 - “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

These words are so humbling. In return for sharing in the suffering of Christ through that which we ourselves suffer here on earth, and sharing in the hatred the world threw upon him as we are despised for the stand we take in God, we are made co-heirs with Christ.

WOW.

Jesus Christ, who hung on a cross just so that we could have eternal life with God, is His Son. Family. By living a life of righteousness, honouring God in all we do, we share an EQUAL portion of glory to Jesus…imagine that; looked after and rewarded on par with the Saviour of all Mankind. People’s decision to deny God continues to baffle me.

v18 - “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

No explanation needed. I could not agree more with Paul; weigh it up for yourself and see. That friend you’ve fallen out with…the struggles you’re having with family or that persistent health problem that won’t leave you alone…is it worth giving in to it, taking your eyes off of the God who sustains us, and wasting a promise of eternal joy and rejoicing?

I thought not.

v20-21 - “…in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

This is the closing part of a small section that talks of ‘creation’, but this part sticks out to me the most. How beautiful a day that would be - to see all of creation freed from the chains that bind it, and come into the fullness of God that we, as children of God, already know. May our hearts be well and truly for the lost, friends.

v24-25 - “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Nobody hopes for a Birthday present they already know they will be getting…you don’t hope for wages at the end of your working month, for you are assured of them. The same applies here: Why place your hope in an eternity that God guarantees us as a reward for living faithfully? Instead let our hopes be for the things that are not yet set in stone, that they might be better spent and not wasted on things we know as fact!

v26 - “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

We’ve all been there; you’ve set aside time to be in prayer with God, but you just cannot seem to find the words to bring anything forth from your mouth. No worries, friends - God knows the prayers of our hearts even when we cannot recall them, and even noises that form no words can be interpreted by the Spirit on our behalf.

v28 - “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Lovelovelove this verse. God works for us, you know…some falsely claim that Christians do so much for God and never get anything back, but this puts that myth to rest once and for all. God WORKS for our benefit!

v29-30 - “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

This wonderful, enriching journey that we undertake, begun by Jesus as the first of ‘many brothers and sisters’ (a warm reminder of our attachment and relation to one another in Christ!), was all planned before we even entered into a relationship with Him. And in predestining this, we were subsequently called, justified, and even glorified in Christ!

v31-32 - “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

If you’re familiar with the song Our God Is Greater, it paraphrases this section perfectly;

“And if our God is for us, then what could ever stop us?”

What, indeed. This is not set as an open-ended question, for us to investigate the possible answers, but as a rhetorical question of defiance against the enemy, to which we already know the answer: NOTHING.

v33-35 - “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”

This is a build-up to one of the greatest passages of scripture I believe we will ever have the joy of encountering. Look at the answers to the opening questions - who will bring charge? “God who justifies”…Who can condemn? None, because of “Christ Jesus who died”…not a mention of any mortal human power in sight…and what about this last question - Who or what shall disconnect us from that perfect the love of God?

v36 - “As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long; 

   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” “

This is the reality of what we endure each and every day as we run the race for God…and when we face that ‘death’ throughout the daily hours, are we ever on our own? …

v37-39 - “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Man alive, what a passage. We are MORE than conquerors. Through Him we are made stronger and mightier than historical rulers who have led ten thousand-strong armies into battle and claimed entire countries for their own.

And, in closing, Paul proclaims that nothing…EVER…will ever be able to separate us from the love of our Heavenly Father…you could spends hours making a list of things you think would cut you off from His loving embrace, and God would come right along and cross every single thing off, saying “you keep trying my child, you’re not gonna find one.”

So there it is, finito!

…in a few weeks I’ll be back to do my next round of study notes…

Romans 1-8 provides guidance, challenges, encouragement, wisdom and clarity, but above all TRUTH - a message of truth that I pray sinks into our hearts, brothers and sisters in Christ, for our own benefit, that we might grow closer to Christ and be developed in our walk with God with each new day of this year and every other! Let the set of 366 fresh days in 2012 be a continuously fresh start for your relationship with God whenever needed. 

Thank you for your patience with these posts my dear friends; I know the posts have been long and perhaps far too lengthy a read for you to follow them through to the very end, but I do not apologise :) ….no matter how much nor how little you’ve read I thank you, and praise the Lord for giving me so much to share with you from my heart! I’m always here should you have a prayer request, something to get off your chest, or you just wish to say hello!

Love and New Year blessings to you all!

Your eternal friend and brother in Christ,

Shaun

:) <3

Discipleship Study: Romans 8 (part 1)

**THOSE OF YOU WHO LOVE TO READ WILL ENJOY THIS ESPECIALLY, I HOPE!**

Well folks, New Year’s Day seems a fitting day to discuss a chapter that talks about our new life in God…

Today is Romans 8, the last of my chapters before another member of my discipleship group takes his turns at sharing notes, so this is it from me for a few weeks until it’s my turn again. In the meantime, we’ll get started…In case you hadn’t seen, this chapter is being done in 2 parts, on account of how much God has put on my heart to share with you all! I’m SO stoked to get it all on here (and it took a fair few hours of typing I tell you, ha!)

It’s a monumental amount of reading I know…I’m not sorry about that at all, however! …but gee whizz, you’re missing out on some nourishing truths if you choose not to…I promise you that you won’t regret it, friends! Anywho, without further ado, let’s get underway;

v1 - “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”

Let’s investigate the details of that verse:

‘Therefore’ - An adverb which means consequently..in other words, everything said previously has been leading up to this.

‘there IS NOW’ - Not ‘will be tomorrow’, not ‘was, a few weeks back but not anymore’…but there exists right NOW, in the very present moment…and tomorrow, it will still be a case of NOW, in your tomorrow…ever-present, constantly ready and there.

‘NO condemnation’ - None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Rien. At no point between now and eternity, will anything we do separate us from the love of God. He bears no grudges, keeps no recollection of our wrongdoings. With God, a clean slate is well and truly wiped clean of transgression when we seek heartfelt repentance in conviction.

‘for those who are in Christ Jesus’ - This promise applies to ALL who have an active walk with Christ. Those of the world will seek to tear us down and judge us, but what a great comfort to know that the only One we really answer to, who oversees our eternal future, will never condemn us for the faults we continue to make, for He understands our struggles. He seeks only to bring us through them that we might be refined..what a loving Father!!

v3-4 - “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Incredible; Jesus was sent to fulfill what the law could not. This aptly demonstrates his power over sin…Christ achieved what an entire system of law failed to; and to think there are still those in the world who believe Jesus to be powerless…the governments and rulers of this world, power-hungry, self-consumed and dominating as some of them are, will one day bow before Christ, forced from the earthly thrones they inhabited that they might recognise a far greater, purer, truer and more deserving figure of authority!

This, too, is mind-blowing: “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” …what this is saying is that Jesus was crucified so that we might be able to fully meet the quota that the law demanded…it is our life choices, coupled with the sacrifice of the Son of God, that render the mission complete.

How amazing that God CHOSE for us to have the opportunity to take part in this process, that we might portray our faith, and use the chance to show God how much this golden opportunity means to us! He could easily have completed it by His own power, but rather than this He includes us in the process, charging us with a task which is so much more a privilege than a ‘job’, by the ‘tedious-hardship’ standard it is so often perceived as in the worldly sense. So many people do not enjoy their work and gain no job satisfaction…this could not be more opposite to the concept of being about the Lord’s work! What a considerate God we serve!!

v6 - “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

We’ve covered in previous chapters that the road of sin leads to death, and the road of righteousness leads to life, but here we find that peace gets a mention also. So many people talk of needing peace over something, or feeling troubled by something. Well, this verse clearly states that if our mind is wholly governed by the Spirit, we have that peace readily available. We need not even ask for it, as through God it is ingrained…pre-built into our own mind…we simply ensure we are approaching our situation with a mindset of the Spirit, and we will be given that peace that some seem to seek but never find!

v7-8 - “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.”

Very plain to understand: If in any way we are not submitting to His law, even in the smallest imperfections, we are being ‘hostile’ to God, and cannot please Him…

Let me ask this; do you want to please God? Of course, I hear you cry, as followers of Christ we all do…or at least we should! It’s almost beyond comprehension to consider that the very Maker of Heaven and Earth loves to look upon us…we who are tiny on a cosmic scale…it warms His heart to gaze at us with a beaming grin, thinking “You are doing well, my good and faithful servant”.

It’s like when you’re younger -  when it came to parents evening at school. If your teacher praised you for your hard work, or being helpful, your parents might break eye contact with the teacher that they might look upon you, and show you how much it pleased them to hear these good reports. When you see that smile, as a small child, it lights up your heart to know that your parents are content, delighted, proud with the effort you have made. God is the same -  When He sees that we are making an effort for Him, it causes rejoicing in Heaven!

If that is the feeling we want to give to the One responsible for our salvation and our very being, then let us shake off even the smallest things of the flesh, for they block us from being able to put a smile on the glorious face of our Creator. 

v9-10 - “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.”

So long as the Spirit of God is active within us, we are assured that we dwell in the realm of the Spirit, and though our bodies remain vulnerable to, and targeted by, the way of the flesh, the Spirit sets us free from captivity in all areas.

v11 - “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

This verse, for me personally, holds so much relevance, considering the mistakes I made in giving myself away when I was younger, and foolish. This verse gives me hope, because just as I used to torment myself that my purity died on that day, this verse reinstates that my once dead body is raised to new life in Christ, which makes my heart so, so glad. Do you feel weak and weary? The power of God is at hand to renew your fatigued bones and raise you up into a life that is vibrant, animated and alive!

v12-13 - “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

Our obligation is to put to death the failings of the flesh; an obligation that brings life and cleanses us…That’s an obligation we should all WANT to fulfill!

v14-15 - “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” “

Ahhh, pure *shivers up the spine* moment….we are the children of God..the Spirit within us confirms our adoption by God, a result of the choice we make when recognising Him as our Father and Redeemer.

Think about that moment when you’ll hold (or when you held) your child for the first time after their birth. When they look into your eyes and know you, as their father or mother…the unfiltered, raw LOVE that courses through your veins, perhaps even tears of joy streaming down your face…

That’s how God felt when you first accepted Him as your Father. Feels mighty good, doesn’t it. :)

This concludes Part 1…Part 2 will follow shortly, so if you need drink/food/the toilet/to run around outside so you remember what the outside world is like…

ahaaa, I’m joking…Can’t beat spending time in the word of God!

See you in Part 2!

Love, peace and New Year prosperity in Christ,

Shaunski

:)

Discipleship Study: Romans 7

Almost at the end of my stint looking at the first 8 chapters of Romans, friends…Romans 7 can be a hard read to take on board, but its message, particularly towards the end, rings true in so many ways, and is a call to seek God in our lowest moments!

v1 - “Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?”

Timely reminders here that the law had authority once, but that only applied to us in our old life; once our sinful natures died with Christ on the cross, the law ceased to dominate our lives, as our focus was turned to the freedom found through a relationship with Jesus and the acceptance of God’s grace!

Paul then proceeds to give this example;

v2-3 - “For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.”

Put into terms that we can comprehend, this illustrates, through the image of a marriage, the implications of death on an institution, freeing us, like the woman, from that which we were bound to by law.

v4-5 - “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.”

This is the first time in this book that ‘fruit’ is mentioned. In the natural world, fruit grows when it receives nutrition from the vine/branch of the plant or tree that it is attached to; all that is required to help it grow is fed directly into it. We are much the same in Christ; he is our source of all that we need to grow in God,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” - John 15:1

…and so as God tends to us, through Jesus’ impact in our lives and a diet of prayer, reading the Bible, fellowship and living in accordance to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we too can bear fruit…but fruit that glorifies God and is good for us, not the fruit of death produced under the sinful nature we previously occupied.

v7-8 - “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.”

Paul acknowledges here that he required the law to be able to identify the sin in his life. The difficulty came when sin, cunning as each of us knows it to be all too well, warped and twisted the function of the law, instead using it to bring unhealthy desire and longing within his heart, explained here:

v10-11 - “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.”

Now, what follows below is a powerful section of scripture; a section of the word that I believe is Paul’s interpretation of the cries many of us seek to voice but often cannot form in the moments when our old, sinful nature rears its ugly head and we fall foul of it. It may not make for easy reading, but it hits home a common feeling. I challenge you, as a follower of Christ to read it and not be able to associate these thoughts with your own at some point in your life.

v14-24 - “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

I thank God for this excerpt, as it provides the perfect words to read, and even read aloud to God when I stumble and am too disgusted with myself for slipping up in the same area, or caving to a temptation that I thought I was long rid of. The reason I laid the challenge down before is that all of us will have encountered, at some point, a stronghold in our lives that needs breaking, but the enemy tries his very best to keep luring us back to it. Am I right? I believe so, even if I’m the only one who will admit it openly, ha. It’s a matter of accountability!

But in all this, let us not forget that if you are under attack from the devil, it is only because you are posing a threat to him! Praise God for such wonderful knowledge!

Paul then closes with this incredible nugget of counsel for the troubled minds of those who may find themselves thinking in the pattern and mindset described above:

v25 - “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

The explanation here reveals that since our resurrection with Christ to new life, it is our sinful nature alone which seeks to join with the law of sin, while our renewed minds and bodies seek to keep to God’s law…presenting us, then, with our task:

Remain true to the word and will of God in our lives, and endeavour, through persistent prayer with, and constant provision from God, to battle and uproot the strongholds and past habits that the enemy seeks to reinstate in our lives.

There is hope my sisters and brothers, hope in the One we call Lord! :)

Let us be joyful in the fact that our God is not bound by the old law, but presents us opportunities to press on, freed by the blood of Christ which was shed for us that we might not only have a fresh start each year, but every single MORNING! Amen! :D

May the grace of God be forever a reminder of our salvation in Christ,

Love in Him,

Shaunski

:)

Discipleship Study: Romans 6

We now come to Romans 6, but before I begin, let me just say to you, whether you have been following these notes from Chapter 1 or are seeing them for the first time:

Be blessed, my dear brothers and sisters; I know it can be a lot of reading, but I bring to you what God has put on my heart not to impress with word count but to share His movement and understanding within me, and I sincerely hope it touches your hearts with even an ounce of the conviction and power that it met my own with.

Now, where was I…

Romans 6 explains just how we can benefit from the state of grace that we are called to live in through the price Jesus paid for our sin:

v2 - “By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

…this picks up where my notes on chapter 5 left off. Remember that as sin was rife in the world, God’s grace was on the increase to cater for the transgressions of all mankind. When this verse asks if we should then live by sin that we might gain even more grace, Paul’s response is a clear one - our sin-based life ended when we accepted Christ’s death on the cross as God’s perfect sacrifice. We still sin, but this comes as a result of temptation, and the enemy’s plan for our old nature…he wants it to resurface, to regain a hold of us and weigh us down, but we must learn to know better, friends! We have freedom in Christ! The chains are BROKEN!

v5-7 - “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

…and there you have it; our old self had nails driven through it, our old self hung there for that time, and just as Christ died, so did our old nature; just like Christ’s death, it was very REAL. Our unity with Jesus does not end in his death, however. We are joyously reunited with him through his resurrection, as he was raised into new life from the grave, so were our bodies raised into new spiritual life following his act of selflessness! Add to that the defining statement that our death to sin means we are SET FREE (v7), no longer bound by the chains that once held us captive, but now captivated by God….it’s almost too magical for words, isn’t it? AMEN! :D

v8-10 - “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”

He cannot die again; likewise, WE cannot die again. We died a definite death to sin, and as a result of that the power of sin holds no authority over us! It is our new life that defines us; a life lived to God, that is eternal…it does not end! Once God holds our hearts He does not let go; though we may stray and wander, He will forever keep us in His sight and in the palm of His mighty hands!

v12-14 - “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

Reinforcing the importance of remembering that Christ suffered death on a cross that we might be set free from the power of sin over us; if you are willing to accept that Christ died for you, then you should also accept the death of your old self, and whole-heartedly seek to keep from falling into the traps your old self would indulge in. When faced with temptation, in those flickering moments where a choice is made to rise above or fall into sin, remember Jesus’ blood was shed for THESE moments, that you might choose to be an instrument of His goodness, rather than a tool of the enemy. Remember also that under the New Covenant of the Lamb, you are now under grace, not the law that bound Abraham and the people of the Old Testament.

v16 - “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

The stark truth revealed - we are slaves of the one we obey. If we choose to be slaves to sin, then the dominion of the enemy is still at work, trying to revive our old self. If, however, we are slaves to righteousness, we submit to the authority and will of God, and we can freely live in His light, and believe me friends, if we are slaves to Christ, it WILL show both outwardly AND inwardly in our lives.

v17 - “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.” 

Man alive, I love this verse - God has won our allegiance. Like true comrades in an ongoing battle, we fight side by side with the ever-present and moving power of God, but also with and for the very same spirit of Christ that dwells within our fellow brothers and sisters. We wage an eternal war against sin, that, even now, we already know the outcome of. As a believer in our God and all He promises, if this is not a steadfast reason to be eternally joyful, faithful and faith-filled, courageous, valiant for the Lord, and determined to share His love, word and works in all we do then I just don’t know what is. Let us just be sure we are fighting for the right side even in the little things!

v20-22 - “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Looking back, we realise that the sin we used to live in brought us nothing of any worth, only a future of death. Having said that, we are now called to look not back, but forwards; looking ahead to the benefit we can reap of eternal life! Providing we remain true to His word and guidance, what a glorious promise we have in God!

v23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

A wonderful closing statement to this incredible and nourishing chapter, and the perfect summary of what we must remember when we face those instances of choice; should we choose to cave to the temptation, we bring upon ourselves the wage of sin, and must then seek God for redemption with a convicted heart. But why give in to the enemy’s calling when we can graciously accept the gift that God has prepared for us, and in those times of trial seek His face in prayer, fellowship, the reading of His word…all of this, when combined with a life actively lived to glorify His name, brings us ever closer to that gift; the gift of eternal life in heaven, friends!

I’d like for you to take a moment, as will I, to reflect upon what it is that we are slaves to, my dear, dear friends. Are we slaves to righteousness in every aspect of our lives, or are there things that remain hidden from public view that still have a hold of some capacity over our lives? If that is so, my prayer today is that we would enter into the fullness of His grace and be renewed in our minds and bodies, breaking free from the constraints that seek to weigh us down and hold us back from pressing on in God to the very fullest!

Peace, patience, joy and provision be with you all, dear ones.

Love eternal in Christ,

Shaun

:)

Discipleship Study: Romans 5

Well, after a short festive break, it’s back to the notes i’ve been making while studying Romans! Today is the turn of Chapter 5; I’m not going to sum this one up before you read it as I don’t want to spoil it or give you a get-out clause as it were…I want you go ahead and be able to take it all on board for yourselves. May it bless you even more so than it did me! :)

v2 - “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

…‘we also glory in our sufferings’ ; seems a strange notion, doesn’t it? When we are enduring hardships, the last thing we want to do is give thanks for them, for they can bring us discomfort, confusion and hurt. However, God knows what He’s doing, and He knows full well that the endurance of these trials will refine us and bring about a strengthening of our being, producing, as it says here, perseverance; which in turn feeds through into our character; and the strengthening of our character develops a heightened sense of hope. This hope is built on a foundation in God’s love and His eternal promise of safekeeping!

v6 - “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

At just the right time; God, in His wisdom, knew exactly when this needed to take place. We were not powerless in terms of earthly authority, but, I believe, powerless in reference to the power of God being at work in the hearts of all mankind, and the words in v8 support this, in my opinion; “While we were still sinners”. The fact that they were willing to condemn Christ to death on a cross shows that the transforming power of God was absent from the majority of mankinds hearts…the perfect conditions, then, for God to provide a new way through the sacrifice of the Lamb. The most important thing here, is that the death of Christ cannot be seen as some mere historical event which has unfolded because of circumstances, such as war or appointment of political powers…the death of Christ was meticulously planned FOR these circumstances, not simply as a RESULT of them.

v10 - “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

This beautifully illustrates the before-and-after of our standing with God; before we were seen as His enemies (by our understanding, not God’s! We just weren’t getting the message!) because of the uncleansed sin in our lives. He sent His Son as the ultimate sacrifice to reconcile us, nailing our sin to the Cross with Christ and then, through Jesus’ resurrection, we ourselves were resurrected into new life under the grace of God! What an amazing gift! That certainly got the message across. :D

v16 - “Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.”


v18-19 - “Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

The closing verses provide many different ways of saying the same thing; that just as Adam’s decision to follow HIS desires condemned us all to death, so Christ’s decision to follow His desires gave us the road of sanctification and showed us the way into a state of grace with God; a grace that we soon find has been building up all along:

v20-21 - ” The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

There we have it; where sin was constantly growing in the hearts of man, God was increasing His grace the whole time! In doing this, the death of Christ saw a release of grace that was sufficient to cover all mankind; not just for those alive at the time, but for you and I, friend…
…that’s right, God’s plan throughout the growth of sin in the Old Testament was to raise up a level of grace that could coexist with the resulting righteousness achieved through Jesus’ crucifixion, and would be sufficient for you and I, for your friends and family, your boss, your grandparents, that person who gets the same bus you do every morning, the children in reblogs you see here on Tumblr, even people in prison for murder…all who are walking the earth almost 2,000 years after the act took place…and if that doesn’t get the shivers going up your spine, get this:

That grace we talked about? Well, it will continue to be more than sufficient for everyone who will EVER live. Your future children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren…those who come into this world centuries after you have passed on be with Him…for each of those people, that same perfect sacrifice and grace will STILL be freely available and capable of holding them also…

Now THAT is forward thinking. A gift from Him that is continuously upholding EVERY single ONE of the 7 billion people on this planet…and yet some, unfortunately, out of choice or not, do not know this gift for themselves. That is where WE come in friends! We are called to live out a life that shows the difference His love, grace and mercy has made in our own lives.

We need to be impacting the world for Jesus, in our conversations as well as our acts…and just remember; His grace and love was created to cover all who have lived, do live and will live! I pray that we might endeavour to do this more and more in our lives, and not be afraid to help fellow believers who struggle with this!

Bless you my brothers and sisters!

love and encouragement in Christ,

Shaunski

:)

Discipleship Study: Romans 4

Romans 4 tonight friends! This is where Paul tells us of Abraham’s faith and how it saw him justified wholly in God’s sight and blessed abundantly with an answer to his prayers! …such a great example to us all!

v4-5 - “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

…This passage would lead many to question the point of doing good works. Well, since it is by faith we are justified let our works be done with a different intention; to solely glorify the name of God, and show His love in this world, that we might see a lasting legacy left in our wake with His prints all over it!

v8 - “Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Goodness me, how often do we overlook this glorious truth? We are not only blessed by God, but our sins will never be held against us. Just give that a moment to sink in…not now, never before, and at no point in the future, will God condemn or bear a grudge regarding our falls and stumbles in life. It amazes me that people can still turn down a relationship like this!

v16 - “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”

As a descendent of Abraham, YOU are entitled to this same justification; you are welcome to receive the promise that He delivers to us when, by grace and repentance, we enter into a committed walk with the Lord and live according to His plan for our lives.

v19-21 - “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Abraham was looking at what many would consider a ‘dead-end’ situation. It looked hopeless. Despite this, he entrusted the situation fully to God, and knew whole-heartedly that God had power to do what He had promised…whatever you may be praying desperately for, friends, be it a sick relative, financial help or for a friend to come to Christ, God has the supreme power needed to make it happen, even if we can’t comprehend it!

And last but by no means least,

v22-25 - “This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

Ask and you shall receive, right? God, totally true to His promise, delivered the goods, and Abraham had children; plenty of them in fact, which is no mean feat considering he was into his hundreds! Over time, this has filtered into different nations and lands, culminating in the world population we see today. You, sat there reading this on your laptop, PC or iPhone from the comfort of a bed, floor or chair; YOU are the incredible result of a promise fulfilled by God all those years ago to Abraham..how does it feel? Heart-warming? Purpose-giving? Life-affirming? …it should friend! For through this we are given the opportunity to be credited righteousness in our own lives through Christ’s death on the cross.

Eternal Father, we just THANK You today for the opportunity not only to delve into Your Word, but to just soak in Your presence and be reminded that through your Son’s perfect sacrifice we are set free from the old law that we might gain the chance to be credited righteousness through our faith in You. May our faith be like the toughest diamond, resisting pressure and fire from the enemy, as we seek to establish an ever-constructing relationship with You, God!

Amen! Be encouraged my lovely Tumblrians!

Shaunski

:D

Discipleship Study: Romans 3

Greetings, friends.

I love this chapter! Romans 3 shows us the wonderful then and now of our status in Christ through the power of God at work to its utmost! Again, all readings from NIV.

v2 - “Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.”

…When questioning what advantage the decision to undertake a fully-fledged walk with God holds, Paul’s answer is very clear; much in every way! Nothing is left out, and each and every area of our lives will be improved. Not only that, but we, the very same people responsible for nailing Christ to the cross, are given God’s trust with regards to carrying His Word and sharing it with the world…I cannot think of a greater calling in life, never mind one that carries such wholesome job satisfaction!

v3-4 - “What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar.”

…to ‘let’ something occur is to allow it to happen. This said, His word states that even allowing for us being branded liars (not to mention all other sin), God’s faithfulness will still stand, shining brightly, and will cast our unfaithfulness towards Him into shadow. Such an encouraging truth!

v9 - “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.”

This serves to remind us of the past God has brought us away from; the Old Covenant, when our sins were cleansed through the power of the altar and blood sacrifices. Without those sacrifices, we held no advantage, no sense of cleanliness, and all were alike under the power of sin.

v20 - “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”

…This brings about the stark realisation that our study of God’s law should (quite rightly), when aligned with the conviction in our hearts, hit home the understanding of what we are doing wrong, and how it contradicts His Word. Through gaining that insight, we are then able to run back into His arms and repent, that we might receive His grace, mercy and love.

and now the big game-changer;

v22-25 - “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood-“

….Presenting the New Covenant. Now, no longer under the power of sin, but of grace, we are permitted a righteousness granted not by works, but through faith in the Lamb, whose perfect blood was shed that we might have our transgressions paid for on an eternal scale, past, present and future combined. Verse 23 explains clearly that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’, but in the very same sentence, provides the beautiful truth that we are justified, given the path to being set free, by the ultimate sacrifice. In short, We owe our very lives to the Son of God and the agonising death he died that day.

The cost covered, the price paid, my prayer today is that our hearts never forget this eternal truth, but rather that we might meditate on it daily, giving thanks whenever possible to our Father for sending His Son that we might gain the chance to be liberated from sin, and live a life that glorifies His worthy name. Praise God!

Bless you, friends!

Shaunski

:)

Discipleship Study: Romans 2

So here we have Romans 2; a challenging chapter, which asks us to check our own motives in life, before assuming that we are so different from the unsaved, but also providing the answers to what lies in store for those who remain faithful and see it through to the end. Readings from NIV translation.

v1 - You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

…It seems a simple enough thing to avoid, but in a world where first impressions count for almost 90% of our opinion of someone, it is an area in which it is vital we get this right by God.

v4 - ….not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

…another key point. God’s gifts to us, His provision and blessings, are not like Christmas gifts; given in love without expectance of something in return. It plainly states here that He showers His goodness over us in order that we might run into His open arms, realising that none other can provide for us in the way our Lord and Saviour can!

v13 - For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

…It’s all about putting it into practice my friends. Not just appearing to have it all together, and saying we know this truth and that proclamation, but actually animating the very law we study in our everyday lives, by our thoughts, words and deeds!

v21-24 - you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

…This is particularly challenging; are our words matching the motions of our lives? When we speak out against gossip and prejudice, are we making sure our own lives are free from such sin? And that last sentence, well it speaks for itself; the lost and unsaved MUST see Christ through us, friends.


lastly,
v28-29 says “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.”

…understanding ‘Jew’ to mean ‘follower of Christ’ and interpreting ‘circumcision’ as ‘cleansing’, brings to light the overall message of this chapter; that outward appearance, though pleasing to an eye, may be deceiving to a heart….

But we finish with the wonderful news that if we endeavour to get this right in our hearts and minds and put it into practice daily, then the praise we receive will be from the very one we praise, not the empty, temporary praise of man. How amazing is that?!


Take heart my brothers and sisters, the Lord is for us. I Pray that our lives may be refocused in any areas that need His guidance and light, so that we may shine both inwardly and outwardly alike, all for His glory!

blessings to you all,

Love in Christ,

Shaunski

:)

Discipleship Study: Romans 1

So, as promised, here’s the notes I sent out to my discipleship group on Romans 1. The notes in bold are ones that God laid on my heart just for you, my precious Tumblr-folk!

(all excerpts from NLT)…

There are so many individual lessons that we can highlight from this opening segment of Paul’s letter, that easily stand upon their own strength…you could honestly write 2 months’ worth of sermons based on this chapter alone, but here’s some key focal points I wanted to highlight, which apply to me as much as the next believer under no condemnation (more of that in chapter 8), so don’t forget that! -

v5 - “Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.”

…Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we are told that we not only have authority to share the Good News, but that we should consider it a privilege! …Are we getting joy from sharing His word with those around us? Are we sharing it at all?! The question begs…

v9 - “God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God,”

…Paul’s emphasis here is not that he is praying, but in how often he is praying, both day and night. My brothers and sisters, let us seek to uphold each other, not just in a spare ‘moment’ during a busy day, but as often as we uphold our own personal prayers, if not even more so.

v10-11 - “One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.”

How great would it be for us all to actually meet one day, as the countless ‘Tumblr meet-up’ reblogs dream of? …before that is, we hopefully meet in the eternal afterlife? Perhaps God has more intended in this area than we realise. There’s no reason why our community has to be restricted to Tumblr alone, friends, for distance is nothing to God…but in case other plans do not arise, remain fervent in our encouragement of, and prayer for, one another!

v18-20 - “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

…God forbid that we should ever become like those in the world, who cannot claim to not know of God, for His exposure is everywhere, in all walks of life; they choose not to accept it. Look at it like this; to deny God, surely an Atheist has to first conclude that there is one to deny?

v23 - “And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people”

How often are we seen clogging up the Dash with reblogs of the latest female singer who’s achingly attractive, or the hottest new film star who makes you girls go weak at the knees? It’s celebrity culture at its worst. Are you spending your time reblogging countless GIFs of some Tumblr kid you’ve never even met? Or if not famous people, then picture after picture of sleek tattoos, tasty food, cool jumpers, couples kissing, cute kids that make you go ‘awwwww’, sun-kissed seas, tree-covered mountains or a wolf in a snowy forest?

The time you spend churning all of that out, great to look at though it may be, is time you could be spending sharing the love, testimonies, works and/or word of God…just saying. And I’m just as guilty of this too. Yes our blogs are here to give an insight into what makes us tick, our likes and dislikes, but our primary aim as Christians should be to share the Gospel. FACT.

And finally,

v28 - “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.”

…this is God showing that He has kept His promise of free will to us, even though He knows the consequence it can bring about it. God does not lie, nor does He break His promises…however,

v29-30 - “Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.”

…this is what many choose to do with the free will He grants us. More fool us, eh…

My friends, may our hearts be challenged by these notions tonight, that upon reading them the conviction to do right and live right by God will imprint itself upon our hearts and draw us ever closer to His perfect plan and direction in our lives….

Greater is he that is in Christ than he that is in the world!

Amen!

I hope pray this speaks into your life as much as mine tonight, friends.

Love, in Christ,

Shaunski

:)