Romans 10:12-15

I was the youngest of  4 boys.  We would do all kinds of things together.  for example, we would play smear the queer, me, being the littlest one, was always the “queer”.  We used to play with linking logs.  This would normally be the “lets see who can make the best cabin” or something like that, but i would always a sever disadvantage because they would always need a specific log i placed at the bottom of my cabin, which looked no different than any other log, they just needed it because it was at the bottom of my cabin.

We would play games like, Keep away or monkey in the middle.  more specifically, lets take Michaels toys and keep them away from him.

You get the picture.  I fell victim of ALOT of childhood pranks.  The way i always got myself out of these, was by calling on my daddy.  “

DADDY!!, THEY TOOK MY TOYS!

DADDY!!, THEY WRECKED MY CABIN!

DADDY!! THEY WON’T STOP HITTING ME!

I did alot of calling on my dad, and he would always come to the rescue and save me from the various situations.

Romans 10:12

12….They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[c]

Just as i was dependent on my dad when my older bothers would gang out on me, We are supposed to be dependent on God and call upon his name when the enemy gangs up on us.

We have to seek God and call upon his name, and we will be saved.

This next point is VERY IMPORTANT.  This next point ties the great commission into all of this. Romans 14-15 states

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

Wait, but read vrs 14 again.  do you notice how it makes the distinction between believing and calling.  It says that they have to call on him to be saved, and they can’t call, until they first believe. it doesn’t say that they are saved by believing, but that believing is a stepping stone to calling, which is how they are saved.  Do you hear me right now?  as it says in james chpt 2, even demons believe in God, but they are not saved, because they do not seek God and call upon the name of the lord.

I love how it gives the stepping stones to be saved.

to be saved, you have to call.

to call, you have to believe

to believe, you have to hear.

and to hear, you have to be told.

to be told, somebody has to be sent.

and guess what, the great commission has sent us, so lets start telling, so those we tell can hear, and those that hear, believe, and those that believe, call. and those that call, are saved.  It all starts with you, and me.  So lets go do it.  You have been sent.

Romans 10:9

9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

So this i think contains one of the most famous verses next to john 3:16.

This verse is not past tense.  it is not in if you confessed at one point in time, that jesus is lord, and if you believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

It is not like the magic jesus prayer that you can confess he is lord once, and then “believe” in your heart that God raise him from the dead, you are saved.

What does lord mean?

the dictionary definition of lord is a “person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.”

How can you confess that he is a a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler, if you do not do what the bible says.

You can not say he is Lord, if you do not take what he says seriously.  Actions speak louder than words, and over 50 percent of communication is nonverbal, so not only say he is lord, but show that he is lord by putting his words into actions.

He has authority.  So does your boss. If your boss tells you do something, you better do it or you will get fired.  The bible is Gods word. Do what it says.

believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

how do you show that you believe? I have a job.  I believe i am going to get paid every other friday.  my actions show that.  If i didn’t believe i was going to get paid, would I do any work there? you can bet your bottom dollar i wouldn’t.  would you work at a job that you didn’t believe you were going to get paid from? i don’t think so.  So now i ask, How can you even say that you believe in Jesus and what he did for you, if you do not put action to showing that you believe it.  James 2:26 boldly states that “just as the body is dead with out breath, Faith is dead with out good works.”

and you will be saved

so after you confess that Jesus is Lord, and put it into action by doing what he says and saying what he says, and then believing that he died on the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead by putting action to back up your beliefs, when judgement day comes, YOU WILL BE SAVED.

Romans 10:1-8

This section is titled salvation is for everyone.  The main thing that has been kicking my butt recently as i have been working on and overcoming the various things i go through on a daily basis, is that i forget why i work to fight these habits off or why I try to live the way I should be living.  I fell into the rut of thinking that i had to do it because the bible says so.  I never put another thought past it as to why though.  It was like when a dad tells his child to do something, and the child asks why, the dad just says, because i said so.  i thought it was like that.  As I would come across things in scripture saying i need to do certain things, i would just asume i needed to do those things because he said so.  but as i got to Romans 10 in combination with louisiana, I got hit by revalation as to why we do things we do.   We are told to love our neighbors as ourselves, to not indulge in sexual sins and so forth.  I have come to a conclusion as to why.  If live a life of sin, that prohibits us from doing what we are called to do, the great commission to go unto all the world and make disciples of everynation, healing the sick, and casting out demons.   There are 2 ways that sin effects us from doing the great commission (gc).  the first is that, if we are constantly sinning, then we are distracted and get caught up and controled by sin, which prohibits us from doing the gc.  think about it, you are hungry for what you eat.  if you feed yourself sin, sin is what you crave.  the other reason is that we have to set the example of Christ for all to see, and if we are sinning, we aren’t setting the example, so then people are not going to take God seriously and won’t believe, or will think that they can believe, but live as we do.  The actual scripture says salvation is for everyone, and that you shouldn’t pole fish.  it says don’t asume people are going to heaven, and don’t asume that people are going to hell and there is no way to save them.  out of that, it put me in my place not to judge people and not to assume peoples fate because it is not my place to judge, i am supposed to do the gc, which doesn’t say go and make disciple of people who you think will make good disciples, it says of everyone/nation.

Romans 9:30-33 & 1 peter 2:8-11

Romans 9:30-33

Isreal’s unbelief

What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,

“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”^[c]

I peter 2:9-11

8 And,

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”^[e]

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,^[f] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”^[g]

11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” (of this earth) to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.^[h]

what do you guys think that this means?

what i think it means is that, we are not saved by our actions, we are given the ability to be saved by his mercy and grace. we are saved by our faith. the dictionary definition of faith is “obedience or loyalty to a person or cause”.

James 2:17-19

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.^[f] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

James 2:26 Just as the body is dead without breath,^[i] so also faith is dead without good works.

So here is the call for Holy living. When i was your age, i went through the motions. I had the belief that God was real, i knew God was real, but knowing he is real isn’t enough. Even the enemy Satan himself knows that God is real. Is satan going to get into heaven? HECK NO he isn’t. What separated me from Satan at the time? nothing. I was no different. We both knew that God was real and that Jesus died on the cross for the worlds salvation, and neither of us were holding up the the discipline and obedience to his will and doing anything to advance his kingdom. That brings me back to my heart for this group. I don’t want to see you guys just going through the motions saying you are saved with out producing any fruit and with out changing your lives more and more to be more Christ like as you go through the various stages of your life. Julie and I are here to help you with your walk with Jesus which brings me to my next thing. Let us break up into groups and then discuss what we are going through in our own lives. If you feel uncomfortable talking about things in front of eachother, you can see us individually, if you do not want to talk to us at all, then that is your choice to try to do this on your own, then that is your choice, and we can’t force you to do anything. We will not Judge you, We will not make fun of you. We are here to help you live a more christ centered life. Don’t tell me that you are just that AWESOME and aren’t sinning at all. That is called complacency and not studying the law that reveals our sin.

In 1 john 1:8 it says “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” So on that note, let divide up into our groups and have a little chaty chaty.

2 kings 4:1-7

1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.

3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”

5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim!

“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.

“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

the symbolism:

The lady-> us

elisha-> God

olive oil -> spirit

jars -> other people

so it starts off saying that she has a debt (sin) that needed to be paid for.  she recognizes her need that she will loose everything if she doesn’t find a way to get out of it, so she goes to Elisha (God) and asks him for help.  He says, what do you have, and she replies, i have a little bit of olive oil (holy spirit).  In a way i think it is kind of like if we go to God in our need, he is like, relax, every little thing is gunna be ok, you’ve got my spirit, now take it and do my will and you will not only get out of trouble, but you will be able to live freely again by pursuing me and my will.  This is the part when Elisha tells her to take that oil and gather every jar she can.  He specifically tells her not to be bashful and only ask for a few.  He didn’t want her to set a limit on what the spirit is capable of.  so she gets every jar and she pours and pours and pours until every jar is full.  This is how we are supposed to be.  we are supposed to get as many people as we can, and pour out our lives into to them and let the holy spirit over flow from us into them until everyone of them is filled with it.

Romans 9:25-33

verse 30 starts off a new section titled, “Isreal’s disbelief”.  I like how it has the no brainer verse in 31-32.  31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law^[a] instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.  This is definitely applicable to my life.  When ever i tell myself, ok, this is the last time.  i’m never going to do this again.  i quit, i still stumble and fall yet another time.  when i constantly remain in the word, then those bad things don’t really happen anymore.   it brings me back to when my pastor taught a sermon on signs and wonders.  There were many people who followed jesus around looking for signs and wonders.  following signs and wonders didn’t change their lives at all.  Jesus told them to go away.  His disciples how ever, who followed jesus, were able to do signs and wonders on their own.  signs and wonders follow those who follow God.  I need to personally quit looking for signs and wonders in my own life, and i need to follow God, and let the signs and wonders in my own life happen as an offspring of following him.

Romans 9:4-24

This is a pretty nice little tid-bit.  there is alot to take out of this scripture.  i have been reading little bits of this for a week or so, and the little bits  make no sense, but when i stepped back and looked at the whole picture i finally get what he is saying with this.  He is saying that life sucks sometimes.  sometimes life sucks intentionally so that you will be more dependent on God hence a stronger faith.  Sometimes, He hardens hearts so that people will be jerks.  If there weren’t jerks to make other peoples lives suck, then there would be a lack of a need for God.  An example of this in the scripture is when it refers back to the pharaoh. God hardened his heart so that he would not let mose’s people go.  This gave God a chance to flex his muscles so that everybody could see his power.  Now, i know you are probably thinking,  well, it sucks to be deemed a jerkface by God.  it isn’t like pharaoh had a choice to do the things he did.  God only hardened his heart.  He did not make the decision for pharaoh.  There is still a level free will involved when God hardens somebody’s heart.  it is still that persons choice on what he does.

Romans 9: 1-5

Romans 9

God’s Selection of Israel

1 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.^[a] I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.^[b] God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.^[c]

Just wow…i love how the very first verse states his authenticity of what he is about to say.  It is his disclaimer to help people like me believe and take the next two verses seriously.  I USED to think that i had a heart for the lost…then i read this, and i changed my mind.  Paul had a heart for the lost.  Paul lived for God.  that is established.  He had nothing on earth.  It says that he was “in chains” when he wrote this, which to me implies that he was in jail or taken prisoner, so on that note, he didn’t have a whole lot on earth going for him.  All he had left was the Glory he was going to receive in Heaven.  In his selflessness, he says in vrs 2 that he was willing to be cursed forever by God so that Israel could have relationship with God.  that is right, Paul was willing to be cursed FOREVER by GOD HIMSELF so that his people he doesn’t even know can be saved.  If anybody knows how to curse anybody, i think God could take the gold in that.  just think of everything he did in egypt with the plagues, think about the famines, think about Sodom and Gomorrah, think about the flood, think about everything God has done to those that aren’t faithful to him.  If anybody knows how to curse, It is God.  I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be cursed by God.  would you??? the second half of that says, He would be willing to be cut off from God forever if Israel would be saved.  So basically, that means, he was willing to be cursed by God for the rest of his entire life on earth, and after he dies, he was willing to go to hell.  say whaaaaa??? exactly.  i thought having a heart for the lost was buying them lunch and spending time with them to talk to them, maybe shedding a few tears if it is an emotional prayer session, but the thought of going to hell as a trade for their salvation had never came close to crossing my mind.  just WOW.

i think i have something i need to start praying for ALOT more now. i think i have some people i need to starting waring for like their lives depend on it, because well, their lives do depend on it.

Judges 9:7-15

Today i have read the parable in judges 9 that gideons only remaining son posed to the people of shechem. It is really interesting. as a basic, i know it is saying that everybody plays a role in the body of God. If somebody starts trying to play a different other than what their calling is, then there will be holes left in the body making it incomplete. this results in other people missing out on things that should be fulfilled. For example, it gives the example of the olive tree, and it says that it shouldn’t give up its olives to sway over other trees. Olives are fruits used to make oil which anoints. If he were to rule over the trees, he would be missing his calling and in that same sense people would not be getting anointed as they should. If the fig tree were to give up it’s calling to sway over other trees, he would miss his calling to bare fruit that feeds. If he doesn’t do that, other trees don’t eat or get stirred up. Then if the grape vine were to do it, then his grapes, the fruit made for wine, would not be produced. I’m not sure exactly what the wine is symbolic of though. In the new testiment jesus says, here is my blood, take and drink. so, it could represent what jesus did for us. The bible says “not to get drunk on too much wine” I think in this situation, yes, Jesus did give us a gift, but we’re supposed to take it in moderation. We aren’t supposed to take advantage of it and us it as a get out of jail free card justifying that it is ok to sin. It is like just because I know i will be forgiven, i am going to do this because there won’t be any consequences. In my rebuttal to that though, in the old testiment, it says all over it not to drink wine or eat any unclean things, but that could have been as a punishment, i haven’t investigated those verses in context yet.

Judges 9:1-6

so today is a busy day, but i know what is ahead of me with prom so i am making sure i save time for the word periodically today, but this may be my only post.  On that note, This story starts off pretty intense.    abimelech, the half brother of gideon’s 70 sons, poses a choice, the people can either choose all 70 of gideon’s true blood sons to be the king, or they can choose abimelech, tagging on not to forget that he is their relative.  the people choose him.  In his pride and desire for power, he hires a couple of maniacs to follow him around do what ever he says.  He goes over to gideons house, and slaughters 69/70 of the sons, but the youngest one escapes.  practical application for this, i’m not sure yet, i’ll think about it and get back to here eventualy!