Month: June 2019

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

Paul teaches, as Jesus did, that there are no classes or divisions among believers. While we may have different gifts and different calls on our lives, we are all part of the body of Christ. No one is greater than or more necessary than any other.

God has a place in the kingdom for all of us, work that is designed specifically for each one. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul writes about different gifts of the spirit and how they work together as the body of Christ, each relying on the other just as in the human body. We also know that when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers (1 Corinthians 12:26), and so it is with the body of Christ as well; we must help others be whole, spiritually and physically if we are to complete the work.

Do you know a brother or sister who is suffering? Are there those around you who do not yet know the love of God in their lives? Reach out to all those in need that they may once again be vital parts of the body of Christ, engaged in kingdom work!

Gracious God, we are grateful for all the gifts of the spirit that enable us to accomplish the mission You have given us. Keep us safe in Your love and strong in our faith to do the work for which we are called. Amen.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27

What a wonderful blessing to be children of God through faith! Paul writes this to teach us the reality that we are all God’s children, made in His image, and we must recognize the fact. It’s not a matter of “becoming” His children, we always have been, we simply need to remember.

By our faith, we realize our heritage and our responsibility as part of God’s family. Through our baptism we accept the call Christ has placed on our lives and our commitment to carry out the mission we have been given – to make disciples of all the world. When we follow the example Jesus gave us, we show everyone the joy a relationship with God brings.

God is and has always been our Heavenly Father, and He waits for our acceptance of the promise and our obedience to His will. In this connection of faith and love, we are made one with Him and all our brothers and sisters.

Loving Lord, thank You for being our patient parent. We are often slow to believe and slower to love, but You continue to reach out to us. May we see the truth of Christ and go to share the Good News with everyone. Amen.

Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
Galatians 3:25

Paul tells the Galatians that along with the salvation we have received through Christ’s sacrifice for us, we have received responsibility for our faith. That choice was always there, but now with the coming of the Good News, we know that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Now that we are aware of this, our situation has changed.

Paul explains this using an example that may sound a little foreign to us, but relatable just the same. He said that the law acted as our guardian, protecting us from sin much as an adult protects a child. Now that we have “come of age” spiritually, we are responsible for the choices we make, because we have the truth of Christ as our model.

Notice that Paul does not say we can save ourselves (we can’t!) nor does he state that we are spiritually complete (we’re not!), he only indicates we have reached a point, much like eighteen year olds in our society, that we are responsible for the choices we make. God gave us His son that we might accept the love and forgiveness He brought us, and choose to follow Him. We are now part of the process of bringing Christ’s kingdom to everyone everywhere. May we live up to that responsibility.

Gracious God, through Your gift of free will, You allow us to choose for ourselves, not forcing Your children to worship You, but inviting us. Thank You for Your trust in us, may we not betray it. Amen.

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.

Galatians 3:23-24

Paul continues the theme of justification by faith in his letter to the Galatians. The concept that God asks us to consciously choose Him was not new, but now it applied in a new way. Paul teaches that the law was there to protect us from sin and guide us toward a relationship with God. Now that Christ has come to teach us more about faith, we have new freedoms, but also renewed and expanded responsibilities.

When God led the Hebrews out of Egypt (Exodus 13), they had no society, no rules for living together as a community. God gave them His law to teach them how to live with Him and each other. It took time for them to put their trust in God, and not to blindly struggle on their own.

When Jesus came, He continued the teaching that had been given. It wasn’t a new law – Jesus said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). It was a new way of seeing how we were connected to God and each other, and our duties for living together as His children. We must continue to study and learn, applying God’s law for us in our lives every day.

Eternal God, we are grateful for the rules You have given us, a framework for our relationship with You and all things. Help us to see that Your law is not to punish us, but to lead us all to salvation. Amen.

Paul’s Letter to the Romans contains an amazing amount of teaching on a variety of important things. This week we have focused on the opening of Chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, which speak of being made right with God. This is essential for our relationship with Him, and our own well-being.

Have you ever been estranged from a family member or friend because of something that happened between you? In many of these situations, neither party wants to remain separated but neither is sure how to remedy the issue. That’s our human limitation. The offended party is afraid of being hurt again if they make the first move, the other is afraid of being refused forgiveness.

God isn’t bound by any human limitations, He is all loving and all knowing. God has been making the first move as the one who has been hurt by our words and actions, well aware that we might sin against Him again, but wanting to mend the relationship none the less.

We can rely on God’s everlasting love to be there for us, ready to forgive and renew our relationship when we return to Him. Unlike people, God will never hold a grudge and our connection will be as strong as the day He created us when we accept His forgiveness in faith.

Loving Lord, we come back to You with the sorrow of our sins, but You lift that burden from us and restore us to our place in Your family. Help us to show others that we are justified by our faith in You, and to share Your love with all the world. Amen.

In Romans 5:1-5 Paul tells us that we have been justified by faith, made right with God by His grace through Christ’s sacrifice for us, and blessed by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Paul is teaching how we are connected to God, but also how the Trinity – God in three persons – is part of our lives. This is a hard concept and many have attempted to explain it, with varying degrees of success.

God loves us so much that He makes every attempt to be in relationship with us. We are all made differently and we all react and learn differently. God created us and knows this, so He reaches out to us in different ways. God is part of the lives of the early Hebrews, leading them out of slavery in Egypt. They knew the presence of God as He watched over them in the desert and made them His people, as recorded in Exodus.

Later, God came to live among us as a human, as we read in the Gospels. Jesus walked with us and taught that love for Him and each other was our most important task. He modeled a life of connection, learning and acting in the best interests of others.

When He ascended, He promised that God would send the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us (Acts 1-2), and at Pentecost the disciples received this blessing. The rest of the New Testament tells of the faithful going out to the world in the strength of the Holy Spirit to spread the Good News of salvation.

While we may find it somewhat difficult to see God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit as a single entity, the point we need to understand is that God is trying to reach us and teach us in the best way possible for our situation. As many churches celebrate Trinity Sunday tomorrow, consider how God is present in your life, loving and leading you to a closer connection to Him and His world.

Gracious God, we are grateful for the ways You connect with us, to show us Your love and Your plan for our lives. Help us to listen to Your guidance that we may be loving representatives to all the world. Amen.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. 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. Romans 5:1-5

“We glory in our sufferings”…wait, that doesn’t sound like any fun. Does God really want us to suffer? Jesus told us we would face difficulties when we followed Him. Evil exists in our world and when we stand against it, evil will push back. Jesus knew this and taught us to be ready, not to be surprised when bad things happened to us.

The children of Israel faced this lesson when they left Egypt. Life in the desert was harsh! They were free, but they had to struggle for everything. They complained “Wasn’t it easier when we were slaves in Egypt? We weren’t free but at least there was food and water!” They were reluctant to give up their comfort for what they wanted and they didn’t trust God to be with them and provide what was needed.

God doesn’t send us suffering to punish us, but He does use difficult circumstances we encounter to teach us to be stronger and more faithful. When we face trouble in our lives we find we are not sufficient in and of ourselves. We need the love and support of others. Most of all, we need to rely on God, knowing that He is with us when times are tough, just as when times are good. God knows our sorrows and doesn’t want us to suffer needlessly, but we have to be willing to go to Him and accept that the way is not always short or easy. Let God and his people help you when life is hard! You can’t do it alone!

God of all things, we face opposition in our lives every day. Help us to see that we need Your love and care to endure the evil that confronts us. Let us be courageous in our faith to stand strong against sin and bring back all who suffer. Amen.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5

Before we knew God’s love, we had no hope. Then we learned about how much He was willing to do for us, the gifts already here in our lives, even coming in human form to die for us – and we saw the proof of His love.

How can we ever return that love? What can we do for God? There is nothing we can give God other than our thanks and praise, but we can show our love for Him by our obedience to His will and sharing the love we have received with all the world. God wants us to be part of His kingdom work and to let others see His love through how we treat them.

Let God know you love Him and His children through your prayers and your outreach. Tell everyone the Good News, spread His word everywhere and let the world know how much God loves us all!

Loving Lord, we cannot save ourselves; our only hope is in You. Help us to be faithful followers of Jesus, to share the love You send through Him to all our brothers and sisters here. May our work in Your name bring the world to You. Amen.

And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
Romans 5:4

Paul has put together a list of traits and behaviors for Christians that will teach us to follow in Jesus footsteps. He begins with “suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3) and continues that character and hope are the next phases. Why do we need to suffer to grow?

It’s not a matter of “needing” to suffer, and it certainly isn’t God sending trouble to make us stronger. The suffering Paul speaks of is a direct result of sin in our broken world and comes to us through poor choices – sometimes our own, sometimes due to others. When we experience suffering, God is there with us and can use that experience to deepen our faith and strengthen our relationship with Him, producing endurance, character and hope.

God’s presence with us in times of trial teaches us not to give up. Because He is constant and unchanging, we are taught to be steadfast and faithful through trouble; and because He is always there, we have hope for the future.

Gracious God, we are comforted in our suffering because You are with us. Help us to learn and grow through all our experiences that we may love You and others more, and make disciples of all the earth. Amen.

And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.
Romans 5:3

Paul writes that we should boast in our suffering. Some people really take that to heart, although not exactly in the way Paul intended. We are not to wallow in suffering or compare our suffering, but to know God is with us through it all, continuing to mold and shape us in everything we experience.

We know that Jesus suffered with us and for us. I’m sure it frustrated Him every time the disciples didn’t get the lesson, and broke His heart when we rejected Him. He prayed to be spared the suffering He would experience on the cross: “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”” (Matthew‬ ‭26:39‬). Jesus knew human suffering, that is the very reason He understands everything we go through.

Jesus was willing to suffer on our behalf, willing to endure humiliation and pain for our sins. What are we willing to go through for His sake? God never sends suffering but in our fallen world it is a constant. Jesus doesn’t say we should seek suffering, but when we are faced with difficulties we must trust in God to bring us through, stronger and wiser than we were before.

Loving Lord, we are frail, weak, and prone to failure, and because of this we suffer here on earth. Help us to see beyond our temporary pain to our eternal home with You. Amen.