My problems go from bad to worse.
Oh, save me from them all!
18 Feel my pain and see my trouble.
Forgive all my sins. Psalm 25:17,18
Tag Archives: The Bible
Evening Meditation 9-30-16
Turn to me and have mercy,
for I am alone and in deep distress. Psalm 25:16
What is distressing you tonight? Bring it to God in prayer.
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The Road Through Romans: The Gospel According To Moses
We are currently working our way through Romans a verse (more like a word) at a time. If you have missed any of the discussion, it can be found on
We have been discussing the truth that the Bible is a unified text, the theme of which is Jesus, from beginning to end. Specifically we have been discussing that the Old Testament writers were used step by step to unveil God’s plan to send a Savior from among men for men. As Paul says,
“…the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” Romans 1:2
I suppose the question can be asked, “Why did God not just reveal the whole plan at once?”
Paul offers us some insight when he says,
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Cor. 2:6-8
For God’s plan to work it had to be revealed in such a way that God’s enemies would not realize that they were undoing themselves by crucifying Christ. In some ways the cross was the greatest long con in history. By the time God’s plan was revealed it was too late to do anything about it. Still, the signs were there like puzzle pieces scattered across time just waiting for someone to put them all together. It strikes me that Jesus was the first one to do this on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection.
He (Jesus) said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24: 26-27
Jesus started his explanation of the gospel with Moses. Yes Moses was given a puzzle piece to share with the world too. In Deuteronomy 18 Moses shared these thoughts with the Israelites.
TheLord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name Deut. 18:15-19
Like so many other Messianic prophecies this one lay hidden in between verses that seem to have little to do with Messiahship. Many probably looked at these verses and considered that they could speak of any prophet in general. Yet, the very words “like me” mark a certain prophet out from the rest of the prophets that crowd the annals of Israel’s history. Moses was a prophet of a different sort. He was the vessel that carried the ten plagues that brought low Egypt. He walked softly and carried a big stick that span ocean in two. Jeremiah was great but he was no Moses. Ezekiel? He was awesome. Moses rose above him. The prophet of Deuteronomy 18 would be like Moses. He would be a game-changer.
In preaching to the leaders of Israel after healing the crippled beggar Peter reveals the name of this prophet like Moses when he says, “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.” Acts 3: 17-23
The Principle is this. The New Testament reality fulfills Old Testament Prophecy. What the Old Testament saints looked forward too we experience in full if wee believe.
How exciting is that?
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The Road Through Romans: 1:2:3 Noah’s Promise Through Abram’s Eyes
We are continuing our study verse by verse through the book of Romans. This week we are using Romans 1:2 to take a peek back through time to see that the gospel (good news) about Jesus was preached even in the Old Testament.
If you have missed any of our discussions they can be found on…
Romans 1:2 reads,
the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
From this verse we understand that Paul was not preaching a new message in preaching the gospel (good news) about Jesus. He may have been bringing some new information to the table but the message was an ancient one. Yesterday we talked about how the message was first preached by God Himself in the Garden of Eden.
Today we turn to the end of the story of Noah to see how God used the first savior of mankind to proclaim some more information about the Savior Of Mankind.
I think we probably all know the story. Even many non-Christian societies have flood epics that are written into their cultural ethos but for the sake of making sure we are all on the same page I will share a brief summary of Noah’s history.
Noah was deemed by God to be the last righteous man on the face of the Earth.
God determined that He was left with no choice but to destroy the world by flood.
God told Noah to build a boat which would save himself, his immediate family and a small number of animals from the destruction to come.
Noah built the boat.
The flood came,
The world was destroyed.
The waters receded.
Noah and the animals got out of the boat.
The world started going back to normal, which was a bad thing.
Noah, a man of the soil, proceededa to plant a vineyard. 21When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”
26He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27May God extend Japheth’sb territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” Genesis 9:20-27
It may seem a small thing and maybe even to the listeners this father’s curse may have seemed nothing more than a Dad getting mad, but there was something of the prophetic being uttered here.
God was singling out the line of Shem to be the dominant among the three brothers. And while the whole world and even the hosts of Heaven may have missed it, God was singling out Shem’s family to be the genetic line of Messiah. Canaan (the son of Ham) was to be totally supplanted by Shem and to become Shem’s slave and Japheth was to find his protection in the tent of Shem.
Ten generations later God is speaking to one of Shem’s great- great and so forth grandsons, Abram. God says, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.a
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”b
4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspringc I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Did you note the words “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” ? Did you note that Abram was being given the land that belonged to the Canaanites (the sons of Canaan the son of Ham)?
What was going to happen in Abram’s life that would bless the whole world?
Many years later God would develop the promise a bit more and the promise of Messiah would begin to be seen more clearly than ever before.
Tune in tomorrow for more of the Old Testament Gospel.
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Pastor Wrinkles: The Road Through Romans 1:2:2
We are continuing our verse by verse study through the Book of Romans.
Yesterday I stated that the Gospel Message was not “new news”, …that Jesus was preached in the Old Testament prophecies.
If you missed that discussion or any other part of our chat you can find it in its entirety on
We are in Romans 1:2. Paul writes:
the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
The information that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise was the newest piece of the gospel puzzle, but the promises had been made and reiterated for thousands of years.
SO…
Today we go back to see how Jesus was preached by the Old Testament writers. As we go back we are dealing with a topic called progressive revelation. You see, God created the plan of salvation before he made the Earth and certainly before He made men. The plan to send Jesus to die and rise again was made before the foundations of the world. It was part of plan A. It was not plan C which God put into effect because plan A didn’t work ( and that thought right there ought to blow your mind).
In spite of the fact that God made the plan in eternity before time, He did not reveal it all at once. Instead He chose to show His hand one card at a time, progressively, as the generations passed. But the first card was thrown down right in the beginning.
in Genesis 3 just after Adam and Eve had sinned, as God pronounced His judgments on everyone involved God said these words to the serpent who enticed Eve.
“Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15
Bible scholars call this the “protoevangelion” the first mention of Messiah. It is a prophetic word that a man would arise who would be stricken by the serpent but who would in turn crush the serpent completely.
Adam and Eve could hardly have known what it meant. Even the serpent (Satan) could not know. They all probably thought this referred to Eve’s immediate children (which explains why Satan worked so hard to destroy both Cain and Abel),
Today we can look back and see that Christ fits the prophecy perfectly. Writing to the church in Corinth Paul uses these words to show that Christ is the fulfillment of the protoevangelion,”… the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” 1Corinthians 15;24-26
Christ was stricken by Satan on the cross. The devil injected Him with every poison sin had created. The enemy thought he had dealt the Son of God a mortal wound. He was sure he had found Jesus’ Achilles heel, but Jesus overcame. now Jesus is crushing the Devil’s head under His nail-pierced feet!
But the good news is even bigger than that! Listen to these words of Paul at the end of the Book of Romans.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesusg be with you.” Romans 16:20
The protoevangelion is about Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is Eve’s offspring. But so are we and the Bible teaches us that “Jesus is the first-born among many brothers” Romans 8:29. So you see…ALL THOSE WHO BELIEVE ARE EVE’S OFFSPRING!!! ALL WHO BELIEVE NOW HAVE THE ABILITY TO CRUSH THE SERPENT’S HEAD!!! BECAUSE OF WHAT JESUS DID WE HAVE VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL!!!
Now that is good news!
More tomorrow.
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Pastor Wrinkles: A Road Through Romans: 1:2:1
Well we have officially finished verse 1 of the Book of Romans. I predict we may spend just as long or even longer in verse 2. I hope you are having fun.
If you have missed any of our conversations up to this point you can find them on…
Today we begin looking at Romans chapter 1 verse 2
2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
We stated yesterday that Paul was set apart to be a messenger of the good news from God (the gospel). Throughout this letter to the Romans, Paul is going to share exactly what that good news is but before he gets any further into it he assures his readers that this good news is not new news. It’s old news or rather old promises that in Paul’s day had been recently fulfilled.
Paul didn’t preach a new gospel. Jesus wasn’t an unexpected twist in the road, or at least he shouldn’t have been. He was foretold by the prophets and sages thousands of years before he was born. Paul’s job wasn’t to introduce new material to the world. It was to affirm that Jesus was the old material come to life…prophecy fulfilled.
Verse 2 is important because it hails the unity of Scripture. Too often today critics and “experts” on the Bible talk as if the Good Book is nothing more than a hodge-podge of spiritual ideas held together by chicken wire and red neck stubbornness. Nothing could be further from the truth. The God of the New Testament and the Old Testament are the same God. New Testament theology is built off of Old Testament truth. Sure, there is progressive revelation but the progress is not God’s but ours.
God never has and never will change or progress because He already IS period.He cannot be added to or taken away from. If we learn something new about God it is not because there is something suddenly different about Him, but because we simply had not realized that thing in Him before.
Further, Scripture outlined the truth about the Messiah long before Jesus came on the scene. Men only denied Jesus because they did not know the Scripture or because they had neglected it and created a “Messiah of their own making” rather than a Scriptural Messiah.
Paul’s job in Romans is to dispel those wrong images of Messiah and show Jesus for who he really was and is.
I think it would be awesome to spend a little bit of time looking at the gospel from a few Old Testament references so that we can understand exactly what Paul meant in this verse.
Who is up for a little jaunt back in time?
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Pastor Wrinkles: A Road Through Romans 1:1:6
Today we finish up verse 1 of chapter 1 in the Book of Romans. We are taking our time. I hope that doesn’t wrinkle your socks. I’m in a slow down frame of mind right now and the devotional I am reading is encouraging me to “take it slow and notice things.”
If you have missed any of the things I’ve noticed or if you notice anything I have missed you can catch up and comment by going to
“THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS” PAGE
Today we are talking about the “Gospel”.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—
Yesterday we mentioned that Paul was set apart. He was different from other people. Today we learn what He was set apart for. Paul was set apart for the gospel of God. Paul’s purpose for living, the thing that dictated all his behavior and every boundary he lived by was the gospel of God…the good news from God.
We asserted two days ago that Paul was called (invited) and set apart to be a messenger. “The gospel of God” was his message.
What is this good news? Well let’s use some references from other places in the letter to the Romans to explain what that good news is…
For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.21But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Mosesi and the prophets long ago. 22We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood Romans 3:21-23
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:6-11
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”o) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,p neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39
Now that is good news worth being set apart for!
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Pastor Wrinkles: A Road Through Romans 1:1:5
Here we are five days into our Romans study and still on verse 1. I think we will be to verse 2 on Sunday; So just hang on.
If you have missed our previous conversations on Romans please find them on the
Today we are beginning to speak about one of the major themes in Romans. It is the idea of being “set apart”.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.
Right from the get-go Paul tells us he is two things. He is called, which we already said meant he was “invited”; And he is “set apart”. The Greek word Paul uses here is “aphorizo”. It means Paul is-marked off from others by boundaries, he was limited, or separated from others.
Paul starts his letter by saying, “I am different from other people. I am limited in ways other people are not limited. I have boundaries within which I live that other people don’t have.”
Once again it is important to note that these limits were not imposed by God. Paul was invited into them by God. They were necessary but they were not forced. Paul needed the boundaries because they were good for him. In fact we will learn later in this letter that those boundaries are actually part and parcel of the salvation that comes from God. Paul needed the boundaries, the limits because only inside of them could he walk in the fullness of power.
Paul helps us to understand the idea of being “set apart” or limited in his first letter to the Corinthians when he writes,
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:23
Paul was set apart not just as an apostle but as a Christian. What that means is that those of us in the rank and file are really no different from the apostle in respect to being set apart. If Paul was different from others, we should be different from others. If Paul had boundaries he had to live within, we should have the same boundaries. If Paul was limited in his choice of behaviors, we should have limits. If Paul had to separate himself from the world, we have to separate ourselves from the world.
Now what in the world do you think that means?
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Pastor Wrinkles: A Road Through Romans 1:1:4
This is installment four of our verse by verse study through the book of Romans. At this rate I calculate we will finish the study sometime in the course of eternity. If you have missed the previous portions of our study on verse 1, they can be found on the “Road Through Romans Page”
Today we are talking about the word “apostle”
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— Romans 1:1
We have learned quite a bit about this man named Paul in only seven words!
Today we learn that Paul is an apostle. The Greek word means Paul considers himself-a delegate, a messenger, one sent forth with orders.
The classical Christian definition of an apostle refers to the twelve apostles of Christ but in a broader sense it applied to other eminent Christian teachers such as Barnabas, Timothy or Silvanus.
There were four biblical qualifications for apostleship: (From WebBible Encyclopedia)
- that they should have seen the Lord, and been able to testify of him and of his resurrection from personal knowledge (John 15:27; Acts 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 9:1; Acts 22:14-15)
- They must have been immediately called to that office by Christ (Luke 6:13; Gal. 1:1).
- It was essential that they should be infallibly inspired, and thus protected against error and mistake in their public teaching, whether by word or by writing (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Thess. 2:13).
- Another qualification was the power of working miracles (Mark 16:20; Acts 2:43; 1 Cor. 12:8-11). The apostles therefore could have had no successors. They are the only authoritative teachers of the Christian doctrines. The office of an apostle ceased with its first holders.
Some would argue the last point made in item number four by turning to Ephesians Chapter 4 and noting that “apostle” is listed as one of the enduring offices of the church. They would say that the office of apostle today is different from the office of the Biblical apostles. To me the point isn’t really worth arguing. The answer isn’t going to directly effect 99.999% of the church, because even if the office still exists most of us will never ever be called to it.
That said there is a part of apostleship every Christian does bear in their spiritual DNA. We might not bear the authority of the office but we do bear the authority of the message. All Christians are delegates of the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth and we have a message to bring to the nations. Further we have been given orders that whoever we are and wherever we go we are to share the message. We are called to remember, the order to share the message is not a suggestion but a commission!
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The Law In the Grace Pt. 7
Restoring Connection
Today we conclude our discussion on the authority of the Bible. If you have missed any part of the discussion it can be found in segments in the links below
It all comes down to this; The way we view the Word of God, the Bible, is going to affect our understanding of good and of God. If the way we view the Bible is incorrect then our understanding of God and good will be incorrect. The church today is teetering on the brink of a lot of wrong choices simply because she has forsaken a high view of Scripture.
Some, in the church, choose to believe that not everything in the Bible is God’s Word. They believe they can pick and choose what they like from the Bible and discard the rest. They end up with a sweet sounding watered down faith that has no power.
Others have chosen to believe that they can mix the Bible with other religions and come out with a better religion than any the Earth has ever seen. That is the religion of antichrist and it is the lamplit path to Hell.
Still others have accepted the Bible as the Word of God but they believe that only parts of it are for today because they believe God’s grace has delivered us from the rules of the Bible so we don’t have to obey them. Those people are making shipwreck of their faith and are making a mockery of grace before the eyes of unbelievers.
Finally, there are many in the church who believe every word written in the Bible but they don’t actually know those words because they have let the Devil busy them right out of Bible study. Their lives in the days to come will be ineffective, not because their belief was wrong but simply because they didn’t make it important in their day-to-day life.
Today the church is in need of great repentance not FROM something but TO something. If you are not already there God is asking you to repent TOWARD a high view of Scripture again.
Maybe one of the attitudes we discussed over the last several days has grabbed hold of you, slipped in unawares. Maybe as you have read my words you have realized you need to get rid of that attitude. In order to get rid of an attitude you have to replace it with something better. If you need to take a higher view of Scripture this morning. If you need to make Scripture, the Bible, more important in your day-to-day living would you pray with me now?
PRAYER:
Lord I am coming to you today. And I am rededicating myself to you and I am rededicating my attention to your Word, the Bible. From now on Lord I give this Word place in my life as the only infallible authoritative word for my faith and doctrine. If you say it in your Bible God I believe it and that settles it from now on. Amen.
Lillie-Put 