September 7, 2011
Introduction to Romans
Some of you may have the daily devotional, Jesus Calling------if you do, then you know that it's written in 1st person, written as though the Lord Himself is speaking directly to the reader. Everybody doesn't like 1st person, but I have really grown to love reading this little book, over the summer-------- so to begin our introduction to to the book of Romans, I have chosen an excerpt from November, to start us off.
Remember its the Lord talking and this is what He says,"You can live as close to Me as you choose. I set up no barriers between us; but neither do I tear down any barriers that you erect.
People tend to think that their circumstances determine the quality of their lives--------so they pour their energy into trying to control those situations. They feel happy when things are going well and sad and frustrated when things don't turn out as they had hoped. They rarely question this correlation between their circumstances and their feelings. But the truth is, it is possible to be content in any and every situation.
Put more energy into trusting Me and enjoying my presence. Don't let your well-being depend on your circumstances. Instead, connect your joy to my precious promises: * I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. * I will meet all your needs according to My glorious riches. * Nothing in all of creation will be able to separate you from my love."
I am thrilled that we are going to study Romans this year, because it, more than any other book in the Bible, teaches us how we can live close to the Lord.
The book of Romans, is a letter, that theologians believe, Paul poured his whole heart and soul into writing. He wrote it to encourage a group of people, most of whom, he'd never met; he wrote it, to encourage a church, that he hadn't founded. (The preacher I heard Sunday morning, said it was a letter that Paul could have written directly to each one of us, individually; could have written to each church, in our generation, separately; and could have written to the 21st century church, as a whole, every denomination, Protestant and non-Protestant, collectively.)
Sin, salvation, spiritual growth, sovereignty and service-----those are his themes in this book. Because Paul was introducing himself to the church in Rome, he very carefully outlined exactly what he believed to be the truth of the gospel. And because he was writing the letter to help strengthen the faith of those young Christians, he was careful to begin, slowly, starting with the basics--------The result is a clear, concise, logical and well-ordered presentation of Christian theology, with a deep emphasis, on how to live that theology out, in our world. If we ever wanted a blueprint to explain what we believe, as Christians, and to teach us how to live it, this book is it!
Romans is a life-altering letter------it reveals to us, like none other--------the power of the Gospel and it proves that the righteousness of God, can and does live, in the hearts of His children. I don't think it really matters what our situations are, or where we happen to be in our individual spiritual journeys----I am convinced, that the time that we are going to invest, in the careful study, of this letter, will change us forever. This has been true, for every generation, since Paul first penned the words, and, it will still be true, long after we have gone on, to be with the Lord.
Donald Grey Barnhouse, a popular 20th century Bible expositor says this: "A scientist may say that mother's milk is the most perfect food known to man and he can give us an analysis, that shows all its chemical components and a list of all the vitamins that it contains, and an estimate of the calories in a given quantity. And a baby will drink that milk without even the most remote knowledge of its content and that baby will grow, day by day, smiling and thriving in blissful, perfect ignorance. And that is the way it is for us, with the profound truths in the Word of God, that are found, in the book of Romans."
I can't wait to see how the Lord is going to reveal Himself to us, in this study, and all the many ways, He is going to grow us, as we walk through it, to be more like Him.
Lets pray………
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