The Devotional - R054

The Devotional

Comment:

One of the favorite responses of our medical corpsman on the last ship I was on was; “cheer up shipmate, your condition will only last seven days.” If it lasts any longer than that come back and see me and we will take a closer look.” In most cases he was right, most every sniffle and sneeze will disappear in seven days. Let me take this a step further. We live in a drug and alcohol dependent world, if you’ve not started; stay away and if you have STOP! We also live under the watchful eye of human government; if we fail to be politically correct about our physical, mental and spiritual illnesses and conditions we can pay a fine or end up in jail. In some areas of our nation certain groups of people have less rights than the mongrel wandering the streets. Let me be point blank about this… IN YOUR HEART, that is your conscience, WHERE YOU get along with yourself and others! You know that our national freedoms and conditional laws to control the inalienable rights of human life; has in this day of our lives become DISGUSTING. Why? Because we are starving for lack of the Living Word of God in our land.

Challenge: Romans 15:22-33

If one were to travel as the Apostle Paul did your desire to visit many places along the way would be intense. Yet for various reasons you could be delayed or even prevented from certain places. Political unrest, funds, transportation and a host of other events and obstacles often change our plans. Simply looking at this from a secular view we can see how this works out, and all too often we will satisfy our selves with human reasoning. Like just wait seven days and all will be better.

However, we are not looking at a secular novel where all things turn out in accordance with the human writer. The Apostle Paul did not get to go to Rome, the real Author of the Book of Romans had other plans for the apostle and the real Author is God who reveals His Will to man through God the Holy Spirit. He is not another God or a god, the Holy Spirit is of the Godhead or the manifestation of our ONE Creator God. The other manifestation of God to us is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, or as Israel sees Him – Messiah, John 1:18.

God had other plans for the apostle, he did eventually go to Rome, but not by the way he had explained to these Roman Jews here in Romans 15:22-28. He came as a prisoner of Rome which as a nation ruled Jerusalem in that day. Acts 21 begins the record of trials and trouble that the apostle Paul faced and the last chapter of Acts records his journey to Rome via Malta and the beginning of his ministry in Rome.

You see the apostle’s desire to go to Rome was not based on his own private reasoning. It was based on God sending him to do one thing. Romans 15:29 – But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. He says that he has yet to visit those in Judea, but he already knows there will be opposition there. This is the only reason that God will send you or me to visit places, that is if we are waiting on Him – Matthew 28:18-20.

Let me say that when we express to the world around us as the disciple of Christ (at that time) Peter said in answering the question that Jesus posed to him. “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And we answer, “You are the Christ/Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Matthew 16:13-20. This is the faith/rock that builds the Church of Jesus Christ. Today the message in most churches across this nation is nothing more than false doctrine. Be comforted false teacher, your message will not send you to secular prison today.

But standing on the rock of FAITH in Jesus Christ/Messiah, the Living God; that will send you to jail. Today we citizens of the United States fear God in all the wrong ways. We fornicate with one another, we commit immoral acts with one another, we murder one another, we backbite one another, we are untrustworthy with one another and the list… do you want to read it Romans 1:18-32 reveals to the reader that the unrighteous standards of a fallen community or nation is under the watchful eye of God. Yet in His mercy because He loves us, He offers His Righteousness in place of our unrighteousness through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus/Messiah – Romans 1:16-17.