The Bible in the Everyday.
Do you ever feel afraid or worried about parents, bosses, teachers, coaches, professors, or police?
Romans 13:3 says, “Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good and you will have its approval.”
Pretty simple: do your work, be on time, drive the speed limit, etc.
Bonus: Romans 12:21—“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Great advice. Make good choices—simple, boring good choices—and things will go so much better for you.
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Only God can judge a man’s heart. But we can observe signs. Does the tree bear good fruit? Jesus says only a good tree can bear good fruit. Jesus also said people will know you are His disciple by your love. But even bad people love those who love them. And idolators can string together a few good deeds that may pass for fruit. But there is another clue: sensitivity. When people surrender to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, they develop a sensitivity to things they missed before. Not sensitivity to human emotions, necessarily, but a sensitivity to the things of God.
“What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened, as it is written: GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF INSENSITIVITY, EYES THAT CANNOT SEE AND EARS THAT CANNOT HEAR” Romans 11:7-8.
A lost man is wrapped up in himself—his problems, his obsessions, his addictions, his fears. He is blinded by a “spirit of insensitivity.” He has blind eyes, deaf ears, and appears unreachable. But when the Holy Spirit reaches him and his soul is born again, he begins to look up and see beyond himself, first to the truths of God, later, perhaps, to the truths of this earth. Yes, he will be more sensitive to people, but like Solomon, he may also become sensitive to practical wisdom and insight about life and people.
I have seen the amazing changes that happen when God removes the “spirit of insensitivity” and leaves men sensitive for the first time. Believers not only become aware of emotions, intuition, and Godly wisdom, but some become sensitive to art for the first time, discovering previously untapped sensitive sides to their now-creative personalities.
When considering the state of a man’s eternal soul, consider: 1) Does he bear fruit? 2) Is he loving? and 3) Has the spirit of insensitivity been removed from his heart?
Pray for a heart that is more sensitive to God!
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How should we treat Jews? Simple question, right? Yet it has been a problem for centuries. The Israelites were taken captive several times, then kicked out of Israel for good in 70 AD, launching the Diaspora or “dispersal” of Jews around the world.
Ever a minority, Jewish people tend to have strong families and communities, and to work hard in businesses like banking, trade, law, and medicine. Such traits have made them successful and thus the object of envy. So-called Christians have been persecuting Jews for 2,000 years.
Paul is filled with intense sorrow over the people of Israel. He notes their eight blessings:
“To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. The ancestors are theirs and from them came the Messiah” Romans 9:4-5.
But Jewish people–like all people everywhere–wanted to earn salvation by works of the law. Those who reject Christ will be lost, but God will save a remnant.
“The elect will find salvation, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them … eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear’” Romans 11:7-8.
But Paul explains that if God can save Gentiles, He can certainly save Jews. Because when Gentiles find salvation, they are branches cut from a wild tree and grafted onto Israel—but Jews are the native tree (after all, Jesus said, “salvation is from the Jews” John 4:22).
“For if you were cut off from your native wild olive and against nature grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree? So do not be proud … a partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of Gentiles has come in. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” Romans 11:24-33.
We are to love Jewish people. Strong families and work ethic deserve admiration. And never forget that Jesus was Jewish! Jews are GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE, the “native tree” to which we are grafted in. Jews I know who have found Christ have become amazing believers.
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Did you know that the sixty-six books of the Bible were codified into a single book long before the chapter and verse divisions were added? Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury (and a key writer of the Magna Carta), first introduced chapters in the year 1228. The first Bible to be published with both chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible in 1560.
So why does it matter? It matters because a few of the chapter and verse breaks are awkward or unnatural. Sometimes you will find a verse break that happens in the middle of a sentence.* If you stop reading there, you might miss something. Some chapters break the same way, separating one passage from another to which it should have remained connected.
The chapter division at Romans 15:1 is such a place. Paul begins:
“Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not simply please ourselves” Romans 15:1.
When I read this today, I thought about walking through the airport with my mother, and the way I insisted on carrying her bags. But I suspect Paul is talking about something other than physical strength–don’t you? What does he mean when he says, ‘we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength’? You can read chapter 15 over and over to try to figure it out. But the answer is the previous four verses back in chapter 14, Romans 14:19-22.
“We must pursue what promotes peace and builds up one another … Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats. It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble” Romans 14:19-21.
When you read Romans 15:1 with those verses in mind, it becomes clear that Paul is saying we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength—what kind of strength? The strength that comes from a full understanding of grace and freedom. That is, we who are strong in Christ and in His grace, must carry the load for Christians who do not understand Romans 14:20—“EVERYTHING IS CLEAN.”
Does that make sense? To give you an example of this truth, the easiest analogy is always alcohol. Those of us who are strong in Christ and understand that ‘everything is clean,’ must carry the burden of those who do not have the same strength. Don’t try to change them:
“Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself before God” Romans 14:22.
(Notice the way Paul stuck that in the middle of the passage. We are not here to change other people’s beliefs.) Don’t try to change people. Instead, carry the burden for the weak. How? By not using your freedom in a way that will cause them to stumble. That is, by not drinking.
Am I arguing here that you cannot drink, or that it is wrong in every context? Absolutely not. I am using drinking as an analogy. Although Paul also mentioned not drinking (when he said, “It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble” Romans 14:19-21), he more often illustrated this point with the example of ‘meat sacrificed to idols,’ but that is a concept foreign to most of us today.
The point Paul is making is that YOU DO HAVE FREEDOM, because “Everything is clean,” but don’t allow your freedom to be a stumbling block to others. And the larger point I am suggesting is that we remember that chapter and verse divisions were added to the Bible more than a thousand years after its last words were written. When a passage is difficult or confusing, it is wise to look past chapter and verse divisions and look at the entire context of the passage you are trying to understand.
Dr. Gene Wofford, one of my college professors, used to joke that the chapter and verse divisions were penciled in by a little monk riding along on horseback, and when the horse hit a bump, the monk spilled a bit of ink and accidentally added a new chapter in some random location. Dr. Wofford was teasing, of course. Most of the chapter breaks are appropriate and well-chosen. But some of them—well, they could have happened on horseback. Keep that in mind when you read the Bible!
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Have you ever tried to play catch while wearing an eye patch? You need two eyes to see distance. You can compensate a bit by moving your head from place to place. But it’s easier and far more effective to have two good eyes.
Your soul has one eye. It sees negatives: you’re lonely. You’re a failure. You’re a flunkie. You’re an addict. You’re unemployed. You’re bankrupt. You’re barren.
But FAITH is like a second eye for your soul. Faith allows you to see hope. But you still see the negatives too. And “faith comes by hearing the word of God” Romans 10:17. You don’t muster it up on your own. You pray for God to speak and He does and HIS WORD in your heart gives you faith.
Faith gave Sarah and Hannah sons, though their souls KNEW they were barren.
Faith took Noah on a 100-year building project, though his soul could still see that the whole thing was crazy.
Faith encouraged Moses to live as a Hebrew though his soul knew he was giving up everything by leaving the palace.
And FAITH is what Abraham experienced as he stood over Isaac with a knife. He KNEW Isaac was the child of promise, AND he knew God asked him to give him up. Hebrews says Abe had faith God would bring him back. This situation was tricky—it was not a choice between faith in a word from God or focusing on discouraging circumstances like the others mentioned above. Abraham faced two opposing words from God. Yet Abe walked in faith and trusted in God’s merciful, kind heart. Sometimes that’s all you can do.
Your soul will always see negatives. But walk by faith; like a rifle shooter, sometimes it’s best to make faith your dominant eye, and close the weaker eye of the soul. And if you’re still struggling, REST in the knowledge that God’s heart is merciful and kind.
He loves you! Never doubt! Walk in faith! Praise Him for His goodness. It will never fail you!
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I remember being asked to pray in public as a child. I LOVED public speaking, but was terrified of public praying. What if you can’t think of something to say? What if you love your friends or family or students, but don’t know what to ask God for on their behalf? Does the Bible provide guidance? Absolutely. Find the scriptures.
Praying the scriptures will give you more confidence in your prayers. Not only that, bringing God’s own word to Him is like an attorney citing the law to a judge: you are more likely to get the result you desire when you can remind God of His own promises.
First, pray for people’s salvation:
“My prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved” Romans 10:1.
Then pray for spiritual growth:
“I am asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened will all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father….” Colossians 1:9-12.
Paul writes, “Brethren pray for us” 2 Thessalonians 3:1.
I’ll request it of you: PRAY FOR US.
Pray THAT WE—
When you are young it is difficult to see how powerful and how vital prayer is. We want to be men and women of ACTION. But prayer is ESSENTIAL. Jesus gave up sleep to wake up early and spend hours in prayer—and He is our example.
God, teach us to pray MORE and to PRAY THE WORD.
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Pictured–the “Wailing Wall” or Prayer Wall in Jerusalem.
My childhood friend Woodrow could walk on his hands, climb anything, and do crazy things with bicycles. He would have made an excellent athlete if his family had not driven him toward intellectual pursuits.
One day in 12th-grade English class, he shouted me down:
“The only reason you’re a Christian is because that’s the way your parents raised you. If you had been born in India, you would be a Hindu.”
Woodrow was convinced my faith was meaningless and entirely predetermined by the culture I was born into. What could I say to that? It’s a fair point. But I immediately saw the answer:
“That may be true, but I was NOT born in India.”
“But what if you were?”
“But that’s my point—God chose to put me here, with the family that I have. He blessed me with the knowledge of Christ and now I, or some missionary that I support, can go to India and share the Good News with them.”
Class ended and Woodrow bolted out the door, angry.
“Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For He tells Moses, ‘I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ So then, it does not depend on human will but on God who shows mercy…. But who are you, oh man, to question God? Will what is created say to the Creator, why are you making me this way? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?” Romans 9:14-16, 20-21.
My point is that God chose me—and all believers—to know Him and to share His love with others. Rather than obsess over the questions of predestination and free will, take a moment to thank Him and feel gratitude that you are part of the family of God. Yes, you COULD have been born into a tribe of idol worshipers. But you were not.
Praise God for His mercy; take the time to really reflect on what that means and how blessed you are. We owe Him our very lives.
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Has God done you wrong? Sometimes we look at tragedies and blame God because He did not intervene. We know He COULD have changed the situation, so we are mad because He did not.
If I hear you blame God, I will want to convince you God has a plan, and that there may be details you can’t understand right now. But Paul would not try to convince you or change your views. Instead, he says that even if you are correct, questioning God reveals a problem in your heart:
“Who are you, o man, to answer back to God? Will the pot say to the potter, ‘Why are you making me this way?’ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” Romans 9:20-21.
Who are you to question God?
I’m sure you can think of people on earth you might fear to question. But you flippantly toss blame God’s way, giving no thought to His overwhelming power and might and majesty. If you stood before Him, believe me—you would not question Him.
And Paul is not concerned with some personal tragedy. He is writing about the apostasy of the entire race of Israel, God’s chosen people. Paul writes, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying… I have intense sorrow and anguish in my heart. I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers….” Romans 9:1-3. Paul grieves the lost state of Israel, and says he would consider trading his salvation for theirs. But he chooses to trust God and defends Him: “For God has imprisoned all [Jews and Gentiles] in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all” Romans 11:32.
Paul trusts God’s plan.
He concludes:
“Oh, the depth of riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” Romans 11:33.
Praise God for His amazing wisdom and ways.
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“And Lord, please make me a good worker today, and a good friend to my co-workers. Help me to serve them, and COME ON, MAN! YOU TOTALLY CUT ME OFF! AT LEAST USE YOUR BLINKER! IT’S COMMON COURTESY! HELLO! WE’RE TRYING TO RUN A SOCIETY HERE! … um, okay, God. Sorry. I totally forgot what I was talking about….”
Have you ever heard your prayers interrupted that way? Or is it just me?
If you drive a car anywhere in this world, you will be offended sometimes. If you drive in a sprawling city like Houston, you may be offended every time you get behind the wheel. And if, like me, you drive 80 miles a day in the city, you may begin and end each day struggling to maintain your own peace of mind.
Driving is tough. Road construction seems to never end. Every night someone passes me with no lights on. Many cities now have criminals in highly organized races that will fly past you at well over 120 miles an hour. Until recently, I saw racing every night. And ladders—there are ladders everywhere! I see ladders on the freeways at least once a week, often twisted and broken, having been hit by at least one car before flying into the breakdown lane. And the freeway speeds in Houston are fast enough to get us all killed—80 seems to be the average. If it’s raining, the average drops to 79.
But the worst of it, by far, is plain old selfishness. People cut you off. They never use the turn signal. They wait until the last minute, passing up long lines, then cut to the front of the line without warning. No turn signal. No hand wave. These people need to just GET OFF MY LAWN.
I’m inclined to favor JUSTICE. I want bad drivers punished. If not, my flesh tells me to be angry—that I have a RIGHT to be angry.
But anger does me no good. It upsets my day, increases my stress, and will have only a negative effect on my driving. Not only that, but often I am trying to pray. In the mornings, I keep the radio off and try to spend my commute talking to God. So it’s a bit odd to hear myself quietly asking God to bless my family, suddenly fussing at the guy who cut me off, then trying to resume my prayer. It feels a little ridiculous, doesn’t it? And it’s not the other guy who’s being ridiculous. It’s me. I need to grow up and grab onto the peace and patience available to me as a child of God. Lately I’ve adopted the oddly comical step of praying the slogan on signs all over Texas: “DRIVE FRIENDLY,” as in, “God, help me to drive friendly.”
But the word of God is infinitely more helpful than a grammatically challenged* slogan from the Texas Department of Transportation. Surely we could find over 100 verses applicable to keeping your cool behind the wheel. But here’s a good one for today:
“Bless those who mistreat you. Bless and do not curse” Romans 12:14.
God, remind me to bless the bad drivers. To pray for them. To speak blessings over them. Help me to actually hope that YOU will bless them, rather than my usual hope that they will be ticketed! Change my heart. Make me an instrument of Your Peace.
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Have you ever seen a sports match that was one-sided—a BLOWOUT? Recently, the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79. In 2007, the Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30-3. In 1940, the Chicago Bears beat the Redskins 73-0. In 2000, Tiger Woods won the US Open by 15 strokes. And who could forget Secretariat who won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths!
Paul writes “in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer!” Romans 8:37. No matter what you face, if you are a child of God, you will win—and not just win by squeaking out a victory. You will win in a BLOWOUT. You will OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER.
Are you ill? You will conquer.
Are you dying? You will conquer.
Is your business failing? You will conquer.
Are you being sued for negligence? You will conquer.
Are you losing your house and all your assets? You will conquer.
That does not mean that everything is going to work out in this life. Innocent people suffer. Christians die. But in Christ, death has no sting, and even if you were to die in some painful way, Paul promises “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us in the future” Romans 8:18. Sometimes you will suffer. But as a child of God, you are on the winning team.
“If God is FOR us, who can be against us? … Who can bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies, who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised and who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things WE OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER!” Romans 8:31-37.
Praise God! If you are His child, you will win by a blowout!
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Household Words: 