The Road Through Romans: What We Have Received

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Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. Ro. 1:5

Yesterday we talked about “receiving” as “intentionally taking hold of something”. If you missed the convo you can find it on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Today I want to begin a dialogue about what it is we have actually “taken hold of.”

We have received or taken hold of grace. In other words we have intentionally taken hold of or come into possession of the charis of God, the unmerited good will, loving-kindness,  and favor of God.

What does grace accomplish in our lives?

  1. Grace exerts God’s holy influence upon our souls. It causes God to become the primary decision maker in our lives. Without the application of God’s grace we continue to be our own boss and make the same bad decisions which got us in trouble in the first place.
  2.  Grace keeps us from going back to the world and it keeps us close to Jesus. Without it we are like wild dogs off leash running back to the wilds.
  3. Grace strengthens us and causes us to become truly powerful people. Without it we remain weak and helpless in a world at war.
  4. Grace increases faith in God, knowledge of God and affection towards God. As it operates in our lives we trust Him more, understand Him better and love Him more fervently. Grace keeps our relationship with God from growing stale.
  5. Grace empowers us to practice Christian virtue.
In short we cannot do anything truly “Christian” without God’s grace operating daily in our lives. Further with grace in daily operation in our lives we cannot help but becoming more and more “Christian” in our living.
It does beg the question, how many of us do you think have shut down the application of grace in our daily lives? Have you ever done it?

Cee’s B & W: Things That Fly

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This week Cee has challenged us to show her anything that flies in Black & White.

You can see how others took up this challenge by clicking the underlined link.

I am not overly good at capturing things in motion so I had to be a little creative with this one. These are all things that could fly if they were real.

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This is the Zaandam version of the Liva birds… I think.

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This is a phoenix in St. Bavo’s, Haarlem

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O.K. So I really do believe in angels but honestly I think they are much bigger and most times a little scarier than this.

Thankfulness: Rocognizing the Work Of God In Our Lives

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Philippians 4:4-8 reads,  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I shouldn’t shocking anyone out there when I declare no one’s life is perfect. The world is broken and even the best lives experience trouble. In the end life isn’t about what happens to us. It’s about how we choose to view what happens to us.

We can approach life with chronic anxiety, anger or negativity and that is what life will be filled with, or we can choose to approach life with hope, faith and thankfulness and that is what life will be filled with.

In this world two forces are always at work. Good and evil. God and the Devil. Light and Dark. Some day that will change and the Good God who is Light will defeat once and for all the darkness, but winning over the darkness is His job not yours. Your job is to be thankful 

Thankfulness is a conscious decision to recognize the work of God in our lives.

Today is a day we in America set aside to be thankful. Take some time to rest and thank God for His work in your life. It may not change your circumstances, but it will change how you look at them and in the end that is what you are called by God to do.

Happy Thanks giving! JE

 

 

The Road Through Romans: The Takers

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

100_5431Romans 1:5 reads,”Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.”

You know so many people view Christianity as an inherited religion. They believe they are Christians because their mother or their father was a Christian, or because their “Gramma was Catholic”.

THAT IS SO WRONG!

Christianity is not an inherited trait! It is a conscious decision. You don’t catch Christianity by being in close proximity to other Christians, like you catch a cold. You don’t get Christianity from your parents like you got your blue eyes or curly hair. Christianity is a personal decision to  receive the promises of God through Jesus Christ’s work on the cross and in the resurrection.

Paul says “Through him we received”.  Now that translation may be a little deceiving, because in our culture we consider receiving something as a passive activity. We receive the mail and we receive gifts. We don’t do anything to earn the mail. It just shows up in our mailbox. We don’t do anything to receive a Christmas present. We wake up Christmas morning and it is under the tree.

Well in one sense that is what Paul meant when he said “we received”, but the word in the Greek has a deeper meaning. Receiving as Paul meant it was an active verb not a passive word. The word is “lambanō” and it means, “to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it”.

Jerry Harris, one of the elders in our church likes to teach it this way, “You can receive a gift but before it really becomes yours you have to open it up.”

I would go a step further and say if a gift is really to become yours you have to use it for its intended purpose. It’s like this. Let’s say you get a new shirt at Christmas. Even if you unwrap it, and  then take it out of the box, if you then hang it in your closet never to be worn is that shirt really yours?

This is what many people are doing with their Christianity. They were there when it was offered. They accepted the gift. But then they took it and hid it away never to be seen except on special occasions. They are like the servant who received one talent in the parable Jesus told.

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Ma. 25:24-30

Can I encourage you, if your Christianity is in the closet today take it out, dust it off and start living it in real time. Anything else is a big waste of faith.

If you have missed any of our discussions on the Book of Romans they can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

 

The Road Through Romans: The Son Of God In Power Pt. 2

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles, Uncategorized

100_5431We have been studying the Book of Romans bit by little bit over the last several weeks. Currently we are in verse four of chapter 1. If you have missed any of our discussions you can catch up on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Last time we were discussing the work of the Spirit in revealing Jesus to be the Son of God. Romans 1:4 says,

and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The NIV says Jesus was appointed the Son Of God by the Holy Spirit, the KJV says Jesus was declared the Son Of God by the Holy Spirit. The actual verb used is “ὁρίζω horizō”, which can also be translated as “defined”. Jesus was defined as the Son of God by the Holy Spirit. I love that!

How did the Holy Spirit define Jesus as the Son of God? It wasn’t through Jesus’ baptism; It wasn’t through His teaching; It wasn’t through His miracles; It wasn’t even through His death on the cross; The Holy Spirit proved Jesus was the Son Of God by Jesus’ resurrection.

The Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead and in that moment all the other defining prophecies for Messiah became secondary. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, not just because he is the Son of David, not just because He fulfilled the prophecies of Abraham, Balaam, Moses and Isaiah, but because He alone has risen from the dead and now can offer that same hope to any who believe on His name.

The symbol of Christianity is not primarily an empty cross but an empty tomb!

Share Your World 2015 Week #47

Posted on by under For Family & Fun, Uncategorized

share-your-world2I’m a day late getting back into the game this week. I have been trying to make sure I get a full 24 hours off every week and this week I needed it. I slept almost 12 solid hours from Sunday into Monday and then spent most of the rest of my time lying on the couch too tired to do anything. Yesterday I hoped to hop right back into it. I even came in to the office an hour and half before anyone else to get a jump on things. E-mails and paperwork followed by two meetings, a concert and a rehearsal kept me away from the blogosphere for the entire day. By the time I stopped I had little mind space left for writing. The good news is I did get to work on the novel for a bit before the day went crazy.

But here I am once again an hour and a half before the crowd and launching into the blogosphere by SHARING MY WORLD. Cee’s questions are below and as always you can find a diversity of answers to them by clicking on the underlined link and launching yourself into Ceeland.

In your native language which letter or character describes you best?  Why?

“J” of course because that is my name. Well actually it is Joseph but I am the 5th in line and my son is the 6th so we all have nicknames: My great-grandfather was Joseph; My grandfather was Joe; My father was Jack; I’m J, and my son is Joey.

What is your greatest extravagance?

I am not a very extravagant person. I guess it would have to be eating out. I really like Italian food. Going to the movies is a close second. Oh, I suppose you could put travel in there somewhere. I try to go on a trip every couple of years.

Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?

I would rather exercise my mind than my body. I try to do both every day. I always get some mental gymnastics in. If I exercise physically three times a week right now I consider that a success

List at least 5 things that makes you laugh.

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My dogs

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My Pastor Christmas hatr 5

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Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that last Friday I got so much time to write. This week I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and my birthday! The kids are coming and we are having turkey dinner and cake. What could be better?

The Road Through Romans: The Son Of God In Power

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles, Uncategorized

100_5431Today we move into verse 4 of Romans chapter 1 in our study through the Book of Romans. If you have missed any of this study you can find the posts on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. rO. 1:4

I want to begin our study of this verse by studying the one who appointed Jesus to be the Son of God in power. That would be the Spirit of holiness, the πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνη, the Holy Spirit.

In Christianity we worship the Triune God, the Trinity. That is not three Gods but One God expressed in three distinct personalities. You might not totally get that, and that is O.K. There are lots of things we don’t totally get about God, like the balance between sovereignty and free will (we will get into that in our study of Romans chapter 9). The trinity is one of those things that can be explained but still defies explanation. I just accept that in faith. That said what I know is that each member of the Trinity has a different part in the plan of salvation. Each part is intrinsic to the plan and if at any place the whole Trinity did not work together the whole plan would fall apart.

The Father’s Part: To Create the plan of salvation

The Son’s Part: To Execute the plan of salvation (to die and rise from the dead)

The Spirit’s Part: To reveal the plan of salvation to the recipients of salvation (that would be us humans).

Of the Spirit of Holiness Jesus said, very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16: 7-15

So according to Jesus it is the Spirit who reveals the need for salvation and it is also the Spirit who applies the power of salvation to our lives. Jesus made that final point clear when he told the Pharisee, Nicodemus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” John 3:6

So let me conclude this portion of our study with two questions:

Do you think the Holy Spirit reveals the “truth” to everybody?

If so why doesn’t everybody come to Jesus?

 

Pastor Wrinkles Sunday Quips & Quotes 11-22-15

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Hey there folks! Here is a new challenge for all my Sunday readers. Every Sunday I will post one quip or quote that struck me during the week. You can join along in the quipping and quoting. Here is what to do.

Publish a post of your own, using one quip or quote that grabbed you during the week. You can add a picture to it if you like or even photograph the quote from it’s source.

Link back to my post

You can include the Pastor Wrinkle’s Q& Q photo in your post if you think my mug worthy of your blog.

Q&Q

“LIberation is dangerous. It’s costly. It’s high drama and high stakes. It calls for enormous risk, superhuman effort, steely nerves. There’s an enemy in the way, a vicious enemy, heavily armed, not to be trifled with. Of all the words we might use to describe what Jesus does here, work isn’t one of them.

Setting free isn’t work.

But being set free can be.

You have to want to get well.” Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God p. 156

The Road Through Romans: The Seed Of David

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 “regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David,” Romans 1:3

Jesus was a descendant of David. That’s important stuff. If Jesus had not been a Son of David he could not have been Messiah. He would not be qualified to take the throne of Israel.

David was arguably Israel’s most famous king. It was to him that God made this promise, “The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you. When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” 2 Samuel 7:11-13

Solomon may have built the first temple but that temple fell. The king of David’s line who was prophesied to come, will build a house for God’s name that will last forever.

That is why Matthew makes the first chapter of his book a genealogy of Jesus.

This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

4 Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

6 and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

14 Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Elihud,

15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Ma 1:1-15

It is why Luke offers another genealogy (thought to be the genealogy of Mary) in the third chapter of his book.

What writer in his right mind starts a book with a genealogy? No one that’s who. No publisher would publish a book that started with a genealogy, except of course God. The genealogy is of first importance here because unless Jesus is a son of David we have nothing further to discuss. Further unless Jesus is THAT son of David we also have nothing further to discuss.

In Romans 1:3 Paul is not just saying Jesus was a son of David. There were literally thousands of sons of David roaming the earth at that time. Paul was declaring, “2 Samuel 7:13 is fulfilled in Jesus. He is not just a son of David. He is THE SON OF DAVID.”

If you have missed any of our previous discussions concerning the book of Romans they can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE