Category: 260 Devotional

Romans 15 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

 The Example of Christ

¹ We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ² Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³ For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

⁸ For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,⁹ and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

¹⁰ And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹ And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

¹² And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

 

Reflection

1. Paul reminds us of the attitude we must have if the unity of the body of Christ is to be preserved. We are to “bear with the failings of the weak”. For Jesus’ sake, and for the sake of our fellow believer, we “please [our] neighbor for his good, to build him up”. We are to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed” us.
2. Jesus opened His heart and welcomed us when we were sinners, hostile toward God, clothed in the filthy rags of our own pretentions of righteousness, and despite our flaws. This is how we are to relate to others. And just as Jesus’ redeeming love has begun to transform our lives, so in a loving, accepting community of faith, the sinful and the weak will also be transformed.
3. Paul concludes this passage with a vivid prayer (v. 13). Consider these words, and try to picture this reality. How can we become those whose lives overflow with joy, peace and hope?
4. Spend time praising God for the joy, peace and hope we have in Christ. Think of a person to pray for with v13.

Romans 14 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

¹ As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ² One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess to God.”

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

 

Reflection

• The Bible contains many clear commands. But it is also silent or ambiguous about many moral issues. These “gray” areas have always been a source of dispute and conflict among Christians. What principles should guide us when our actions are criticized by others or when we feel critical toward them?
• Paul launched into the very heart of the issue. “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions”. Paul reminds us that the church of Jesus Christ is God’s family. Here every child of God is to experience welcome, and so feel the great value God places on him or her. The church of Jesus is home; it’s where we can relax and be ourselves, knowing that here we belong. And here we are loved.
• Therefore, acceptance is one of the most important gifts you can give another person. And one of the most valuable gifts you will ever receive.   
• However we may differ from others about issues the Bible does not label as “sin”, and however passionately our convictions are held, our brother or sister in Christ has been accepted by God. And we are to welcome him or her too.
• Thank God for His gift of acceptance to you. And ask God to help you give freely and gladly the gift of Acceptance to someone this week.

 

Romans 13 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

 Submission to the Authorities

¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴ for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God,an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹ Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

 

Reflection

1. In this passage, Paul commands Christians to fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, and respect your leaders.  For Christians submission is a choice we make freely, gladly. We live as good citizens of our nation, because we are citizens of Jesus’ kingdom, and represent Him here on earth.
2. What is your obligation as a citizen to Canada and to the kingdom of God? In what specific ways can you respect your leaders?
3. Find a list of names of your local officials (mayor, city councillor) as well as your MPP and MP. Pray for each one of them by name.  Pray that God would use them to lead wisely and justly.

 

 

Romans 12 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

A Living Sacrifice

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Gifts of Grace

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

 

Reflection

1. The Old Testament worshipers brought animals to the temple, to be killed and laid on the altar. Paul reversed the imagery. He encouraged Christians to bring themselves to the altar and live for God. This is one of the wonderful things about worship. We do worship God when we go to church, when we pray, when we raise our voices in song. But we also worship God every day whenever we do anything that pleases Him.
2. Paul then told us “bythe renewal of your mind”, we may be transformed to become, just like butterflies, beautiful and new. What is to be transformed is the way we look at life: the values, the thoughts, the motives, the viewpoint from which we evaluate choices. In short, we need to see everything from God’s point of view. Then, “you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete”.
3. Pray with the Scripture (vv1-2): In view of God’s mercy, may I present my body as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God, which is my reasonable service. May I not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of my mind, that I may prove that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. (Ken Boa, Handbook to Prayer)

Romans 11 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Gentiles Grafted In

¹¹ So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. ¹² Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you,although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. ²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. ²³ And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

 

Reflection

1. Farmers in Bible times grated cultivated olive trees onto wild stock, to improve the quality of the fruit. Paul pictured God, grafting wild Gentile branches onto cultivated Israel’s roots – an act of amazing grace. And Paul is warning the Gentile Christians not to develop an air of superiority over Jews. Gentiles are in God’s grace only by virtue of a miracle – God’s miracle of “grafting” them into the salvation tree.
2. This image is a reminder. The natural branches lost their place because they failed to understand grace. We dare not lose sight of the fact that salvation is a gift of God, a demonstration of pure grace.
3. Arrogance is always an enemy of grace. The arrogant person assumes that there is some virtue or quality in himself that wins God’s approval. The fact is that there is nothing in any man or woman that merits praise. We are all sinners. We all fall so short that all we can rightly do is fall humbly to our knees.
4. If you notice the slightest hint of arrogance in your attitude, be afraid. You are rushing headlong away from grace and away from God.

 

Romans 10 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

The Message of Salvation to All

⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶ But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

Reflection

1. The central affirmation of the early church was “Jesus is Lord”; everyone else was saying “Caesar is Lord”. At their baptism, first-century Christians would make the public confession that “Jesus is Lord”. Why is public confession important in addition to the belief in one’s heart?
2. What is one major way your confession of Christ as Lord has influenced your life? Who or what are some gods that compete with your allegiance to Christ?
3. As a short exercise today, say aloud twenty times: “Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, is Lord.” How did it affect your heart?

 

 

Romans 9 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

God’s Sovereign Choice

¹ I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh. ⁴ They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

 

Reflection

1. These verses illustrated clearly Paul’s love for the people of Israel.  In order for his people to have God’s salvation, he’s even willing to bear their punishment.  How deep his love for them!  This is just like Christ – willing to sacrifice Himself for us. 
2. How do you care for those unbelieving people, especially your family, relatives, and good friends?  In order for them to receive salvation, are you willing to sacrifice your time, money, energy and comfortable life? 
3. How do you care for your fellow people, whether they may be in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan or anywhere in the word? What about those Chinese immigrants in Toronto, Canada?
4. Ask the Lord to place the burden of a specific group of people in your heart.  (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Toronto immigrants…)  Use this passage to pray for their salvation.  Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to respond to the burden in preaching the gospel among your fellow people.

 

 

Romans 8 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Future Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

 

Reflection

1. In vv18-25, Paul used a bold metaphor to illustrate the sufferings in the world that is the pregnant woman’s labor pains, birth pangs. These are signs of an imminent and glorious birth – the “redemption of our bodies”. This is certainly a different way of understanding groans and suffering. Christians thus are able to realize that there is no comparison between the present hard time and the glorious future (v18). And they wait with eager longing (v19) and with patience (v25).
2. How would this understanding help you better prepare to face the harsh situations in life at present time?
3. In vv 26-30, when we pray, we are never “on our own”. The Spirit at all times is praying in and for us. Therefore, prayer involves not just God’s listening to us; more importantly, rather it is the Holy Spirit’s active intercessory presence in our lives.
4. How do you pray? How can you experience the Holy Spirit’s active intercession for you? How would this encourage your intercession for other believers?

 

Romans 7 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

The Law and Sin

⁷ What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

 

Reflection

1. There is no use looking for a “secret” to the spiritual life that exempts us from trouble and conflict, defeat and doubt, despair and inadequacy.  No doubt we are “at war” (v23).  There are fierce difficulties with the resurrection life.  Have you uttered the cry as Paul did: “Who will rescue me”?  
2. Read slowly:

God uses failure, sickness, breakdown, sin, personal tragedy, and sorrow to reduce His people to usefulness.  Unless the servant of God learns to depend utterly on God and to forsake self-dependence of any kind, he or she remains too strong to be of much value.  – Robert C. Girard

1. Prayer

Lord, I come humbly to you and admit that I am weak, cold and easy to fall into sin.  Depending on myself, I will only be worse and sink deeper. Thank you for your salvation and the continued deliverance that I will be able to overcome sin and temptation.  Thank you, Lord.

 

Romans 6 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,^[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Reflection

1. In the passage, Paul warned that even though Christians are set free, they can become enslaved to sin by yielding to temptation. As believers, we should learn to yield ourselves as slaves to righteousness. Obedience to sin yields unfruitfulness, shame, and death. Obedience to righteousness results in progressive sanctification and the abundant eternal life.
2. “But what do you have to show from your former lives besides shame?” (v21, The Voice) This is a fair question. What does anyone get out of sin? A momentary thrill? An instant of satisfaction? A sense of power? This is what sin offers at best – and with sin comes a sense of guilt and deep dissatisfaction. When add endless death to the list, sin doesn’t seem to pay well at all.
3. Search yourself for an area where you don’t walk in freedom but continue to struggle with sin.  When do you easily give in to temptation?  What comfort, relief or pleasure does the sin give you?  What pain or discomfort does it bring?  What do you fear you would lose if you gave up the sin?
4. Pray and ask God to take over your struggle and unresolved problems.  As you determine to obey God’s command, ask God for freedom from these bondages.