Have you ever felt like your life was just stale? Felt like there was nothing in it. I know it may sound strange, but some times that is how I feel, even though I know God’s Spirit is in me. Believe me, it’s not God or His Holy Spirit, I have come to that knowledge of truth.  I do recognize that the problem lies within me, and the decisions I make.

Let me share just a little of my testimony of faith with you.   I truly believe God has been with me since I can remember, but I didn’t respond to His Spirit.  And there is evidence in my life that points to God Himself, the Great Creator!   I can see God’s unchanging hand in my life down through the years.   On one occasion I was without a job for over three years, and I prayed to God for doors to be open for me to get a good paying respectful job.  This was during the 1990 census.   I responded to the ad for an administrator’s assistance. I was very nervous about applying for this type of job with no experience.  I desired and needed this job bad. I prayed and ask God to help me, mostly to give me strength to go and apply for this job.  I needed boldness to walk in that office and talk with this person, which was the administrator.  I fasted and prayed before I went.  I dressed properly and walked in that office like I had years of experience, and that was with the help of the Lord.  The administrator asks me to have a seat, I sit and the first thing he asked, do you have experience?  I didn’t lie, first of all I was trusting God for the job.  I said no, but I truly believe I could do the job.  He justl ooked at me.  He asked me, how fast you type.  I told him and he sit up a time for me to take a typing test.  I was so nervous!  I took that test but didn’t type as fast and accurate as I should have. My next appointment with him was even more nervous.  I walked in and he asked me to have a seat, I sit and he said, “Claudia, if I give you this job would you prove yourself faithful and be here as needed?”  I said, yes sir I will.  I had the job because God provided for me, it was not because I had years of experience.   These are times when I know God is with me, and when I get in situations and when I feel like I do today, I stand firm on God’s Word.  Yes, today I felt stale, but I am so sure in my inner-man that God is with me and He will provide, and He will see me through this pocket of time.

The question was “Where am I going?”  This is when the Word of God has to take effect in our lives.  Scriptures such as, “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” (Philippians4:19).  Back during the interview I stood on this scripture, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strength me.” (Philippians 4:13). Where am Igoing?  Where is my life headed now?  What am I to do now?  These are questions that come to my mind.  The ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life now is to take care of the elderly.  I do it with all my heart and strength, because God is leading me.  God is my way!  My life belongs to Him and only to Him.  My heart, spirit, and soul are pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,  (Philippians 3:14).  God’s Word is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrows, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, (Hebrews 4:12).  This is why we must trust in God’s Word with all our hearts; and lean not unto our own understanding.  We must acknowledge Him in all our ways, so He can direct our path, and make it easier for us when time like these come upon us.  We must not be wise in our own eyes, we must fear the Lord, and depart from all evil.  God is righteous and want righteous people to live for Him. Please don’t forget that God love you and He sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins, so you wouldn’t have to live in or under condemnation.  We are told that once we receive Jesus as our Savior, then we no longer live under condemnation.  Read Romans 8:1, it says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  I am living for the Lord, therefore, I am pressing each and every day for the Kingdom of God.  When my life gets upside down, then I look inside my spirit and I connect with the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17).  Right now I am on my way to the Kingdom of God in my inner-man, so I can find that peace and joy.   Finally, my friends,  I say to you, when you are in a dark place of confusion, and you know Jesus is your Lord and Savior, reach within and find that peace and joy, and trust God always. Now for those who don’t know the Lord, then please accept Him today as your Savior and He will see you through hard times. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you always and forever. 

You Are Loved

Where Am I going?

Have you ever felt like your life was just stale? Felt like there was nothing in it. I know it may sound strange, but some times that is how I feel, even though I know God’s Spirit is in me. Believe me, it’s not God or His Holy Spirit, I have come to that knowledge of truth.  I do recognize that the problem lies within me, and the decisions I make.

Let me share just a little of my testimony of faith with you.   I truly believe God has been with me since I can remember, but I didn’t respond to His Spirit.  And there is evidence in my life that points to God Himself, the Great Creator!   I can see God’s unchanging hand in my life down through the years.   On one occasion I was without a job for over three years, and I prayed to God for doors to be open for me to get a good paying respectful job.  This was during the 1990 census.    I responded to the ad for an administrator’s assistance. I was very nervous about applying for this type of job with no experience.  I desired and needed this job bad.  I prayed and ask God to help me, mostly to give me strength to go and apply for this job.  I needed boldness to walk in that office and talk with this person, which was the administrator.  I fasted and prayed before I went.  I dressed properly and walked in that office like I had years of experience, and that was with the help of the Lord.  The administrator asks me to have a seat, I sit and the first thing he asked, do you have experience?  I didn’t lie, first of all I was trusting God for the job.  I said no, but I truly believe I could do the job.  He justl ooked at me.  He asked me, how fast you type.  I told him and he sit up a time for me to take a typing test.  I was so nervous!  I took that test but didn’t type as fast and accurate as I should have. My next appointment with him was even more nervous.  I walked in and he asked me to have a seat, I sit and he said, “Claudia, if I give you this job would you prove yourself faithful and be here as needed?”  I said, yes sir I will.  I had the job because God provided for me, it was not because I had years of experience.   These are times when I know God is with me, and when I get in situations and when I feel like I do today, I stand firm on God’s Word.  Yes, today I felt stale, but I am so sure in my inner-man that God is with me and He will provide, and He will see me through this pocket of time. 

The question was “Where am I going?”  This is when the Word of God has to take effect in our lives.  Scriptures such as, “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” (Philippians4:19).  Back during the interview I stood on this scripture, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strength me.” (Philippians 4:13).  Where am Igoing?  Where is my life headed now?  What am I to do now?  These are questions that come to my mind.  The ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life now is to take care of the elderly.  I do it with all my heart and strength, because God is leading me.  God is my way!  My life belongs to Him and only to Him.  My heart, spirit, and soul are pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,  (Philippians 3:14).  God’s Word is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrows, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, (Hebrews 4:12).  This is why we must trust in God’s Word with all our hearts; and lean not unto our own understanding.  We must acknowledge Him in all our ways, so He can direct our path, and make it easier for us when time like these come upon us.  We must not be wise in our own eyes, we must fear the Lord, and depart from all evil.  God is righteous and want righteous people to live for Him. Please don’t forget that God love you and He sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins, so you wouldn’t have to live in or under condemnation.  We are told that once we receive Jesus as our Savior, then we no longer live under condemnation.  Read Romans 8:1, it says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  I am living for the Lord, therefore, I am pressing each and every day for the Kingdom of God.  When my life gets upside down, then I look inside my spirit and I connect with the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  (Romans 14:17).  Right now I am on my way to the Kingdom of God in my inner-man, so I can find that peace and joy.   Finally, my friends,  I say to you, when you are in a dark place of confusion, and you know Jesus is your Lord and Savior, reach within and find that peace and joy, and trust God always. Now for those who don’t know the Lord, then please accept Him today as your Savior and He will see you through hard times.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you always and forever. 

You Are Loved

The Recipients Of The Letter To The Romans

“To all in Rome who are beloved ones of God, called as saints,” Romans 1:7.

How the church in Rome came to be established is a matter of conjecture. The church there existed for some time before Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans, for the faith of the Christians there was already well known to churches all over (cf. Romans 1:8). Paul certainly did not start the church in Rome. He had never been to Rome prior to the writing of his Letter to the Romans, though he desired to see it (cf. Acts 19:21; Romans 15:23,24). Peter is not a likely candidate to have founded the church in Rome either. Eusebius’ statement that Peter went to Rome in A.D. 42 and spent twenty-five years there is doubtful. There is not enough evidence to show the correctness of the statement. It does appear that Peter did go to Rome, but not until later in his life and perhaps not until after Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment around A.D. 61 to 62. Had Peter been in Rome prior to that time and with Paul during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, it seems unlikely that Paul would not have mentioned Peter in the greetings of his prison epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.

It is thought the church in Rome may have been started by the visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, who were present in Jerusalem on Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:10,11). Upon their return to Rome they then spread their new found faith in Christ and founded the church there.

It has also been suggested that the number of Christians whom Paul greeted in Romans 16 may have contributed to the founding of the Roman church. Possibly Paul knew many of them from his missionary journeys in the East. It is thought that in the course of their lives and work they had moved to Rome, where they then helped to build the church there in the form of small congregations which met in their homes (cf. Romans 16:3-5,10,11,14,15).

The membership of the church consisted of both Gentiles and Jews. Romans 1:5,6,13 and 11:13 support the presence of Gentiles in the church. Romans 2:17f; 4:1 and chapters 9-11 support the presence of Jews in the church. It is thought that the majority of the members were Gentiles.

Date And Place For The Writing Of The Letter To The Romans

Paul wrote the letter while in Corinth in A.D. 57. Romans 15:25,26 indicate that when Paul wrote his letter, he was about to leave for Jerusalem with the contributions collected from the Gentile Christians for the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Acts 19:21 and 20:1-3 indicate Paul had decided to return to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, of which he spent more than two years in Ephesus. He returned to Jerusalem by first going through Macedonia and then Greece, to collect the contributions of the Gentile churches there. He spent three months in Greece, the chief congregation of which was in Corinth. While there in Corinth it is believed Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans. The end of Paul’s third missionary journey has been dated as A.D. 57.

Occasion And Purpose For The Writing Of The Letter To The Romans

Paul’s letter was not written to address a particular problem within the church in Rome. Rather, it seems he wrote to the church to pave the way for his forthcoming visit to Rome and for his future mission efforts. He desired to visit Rome to enjoy the fellowship of the Christians there and to encourage them in the faith and to be encouraged by them (cf. Romans 15:24; 1:11,12). At the time of his writing his letter he saw his missionary work in the East as being finished. He believed it was time for him to push on to the West to plant the gospel of Christ in new lands where the gospel had not been brought before, particularly to Spain (cf. Romans 15:23,24). He had desired to see Rome for quite some time (cf. Romans 1:10-13; 15:23; Acts 19:21). After taking the Gentile’s contributions to Jerusalem, he planned to visit Rome on his way to Spain. He hoped to make Rome his homebase for his missionary work in the West as Antioch, Syria, had been for his work in the East. He desired the church in Rome to give its aid to support his mission efforts in Spain (cf. Romans 15:24). For the church in Rome to serve as the homebase for his mission outreach and to give its solid support to his spreading of the gospel in the West, the Roman church itself needed to be firmly founded on the saving gospel of Christ. For all these reasons it appears Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans.

Carrier Of The Letter To The Romans

A Christian woman and sister in the faith was most likely the one who carried and delivered Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. She was a respected deaconess in the church in Cenchrea, which was a seaport of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The fact that her home church was in Cenchrea adds support to Corinth as the place where Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans. The important place and service of the Lord’s Christian women in his church is enhanced by the fact that the delivery of this most important letter in the New Testament was entrusted to a woman–Phoebe (cf. Romans 16:1,2).

Theme Of The Letter To The Romans

The Gospel Of The Righteousness From God, Romans 1:16,17

As noted earlier, in Romans six Paul has been explaining how justification by faith makes the believer dead to sin and dead to the law. We left off answering the question “..Shall we sin because we are not under the law?” Paul then offered two illustrations to help us explain our relationship to both sin and the law. He first discussed the servant/master relationship. He wanted us to know that “..to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are..” ..Whether this is to sin or righteousness. In other words, the Christian does not hate sin because the law taught him to hate sin – he hates sin because he serves another master. We either serve sin or we serve Christ

For use in preparation for Lesson 14 – Our Great Temptation!

Lesson Text:

Romans 7:1-25

Lesson Goal:

To help the student understand the true purpose and function of the law and to warn the student of the dangers of submitting to the influences of the law.

Lesson Overview:

In Romans six Paul has been explaining how justification by faith makes the believer dead to sin and dead to the law. In Roman’s seven Paul continues with a full explanation of the

purpose and influence of the law as Paul raises three questions:

Three Questions Concerning the Law

I. The Question of Its Legal Authority 7:1-6

A. The Principle Stated 6

B. The Example Cited 2, 3

C. The Conclusion Asserted 4-6

II. The Question of Its Moral Integrity 7:7-12

A. The Principle Stated 7a

B. The Example Cited 7b-11

C. The Conclusion Asserted 12

III. The Question of its Present Influence 7:13-25

A. The Principle Statedn13a

B. The Example Cited 13b-24

C. The Conclusion Asserted 25 (and all of chapter eight)

The Context:

Paul lays down his argument in Romans 1-11 as he builds to three peaks. The first peak is found in Romans 3:21-26 where in verse 21 Paul, with great joy and enthusiasm, presents the good news: God has provided the righteousness which all men lack and which God requires for eternal life. In Romans 8:1-17, we come to the second peak of the book when Paul tells the Christian that God has provided the means for righteous living which all Christians lack. Finally, in Romans 11, Paul tells us of God’s work among His people, the Jews, in bringing about their righteousness by means of the Gentiles in His sovereign program for His people. In each case, only after Paul demonstrates the need for righteousness and man’s inability to produce it by his own works does Paul introduce the righteousness which God provides and produces. In Romans 1:18–3:20, Paul demonstrates the universal sinfulness of all men, Jews and Gentiles. Man’s desperately sinful condition is summarized in Romans 3:10-18, where Paul employs the Old Testament Scriptures themselves to prove his point that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Romans 7:14-25 is similar to Romans 3:10-18. These verses sum up the Christian’s utter inability to live righteously, in his own strength. Rather than citing the Old Testament Scriptures here, Paul refers to his own experience as we read of his final cry of despair in Romans 7:24. The darkest hour of Romans 5-7 comes just before the dawn of Romans 8.Romans 5 begins by assuring the Christian of the certainty of salvation and of its many blessings in which we boast. The basis for our struggle with sin (in Adam), as well as the basis for our victory over sin (in Christ), is exposed in the last half of chapter 5. Romans 6 stresses the necessity of living righteously, not in sin as we once lived before our salvation. Romans 7:1-6 speaks of our death to the Law and the freedom this grants us to be joined to Christ and to produce the fruit of righteousness. In Romans 7:7-13, Paul establishes the goodness of God’s Law and the wickedness of sin. Now, in Romans 7:14-25, Paul brings us to the root of the problem, the cause of our constant defeat by sin: our own flesh, the “body of this death” (verse 24).

I shall return with more; please share if you like, thanks.

I will post it soon to my website, eblog, blogfrog, and xanger site. Looking for it soon, and join me too. Thanks!

You Are Loved,
Claudia

“Casting all your cares upon Him for He care for you.”
(1 Peter 5:7)

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Always: Always Love

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2

The word “always” occurs nearly 100 times in the Bible. It’s often used by Paul to describe certain Christian behaviors we should manifest. We’re to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), “always confident that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6), “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:10), and “always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

In Christ, we “always” have all sufficiency in all things (2 Corinthians 9:8) and should be zealous in good works “always” (Galatians 4:18). Our speech should “always be with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6) as we await the day we’ll “always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Paul “always” prayed for his friends with thanksgiving and love (1 Thessalonians 1:2). There should be no breaks in our love for others and no blackouts in the consistency of our Christian lives. Our model, Christ, “always lives to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25).

To Christ we are to be always coming; upon Him always relying; to His precious blood always looking.

Love and Blessings coming your way,
Claudia

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

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1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (NKJV)

•  Read I Corinthians 13:13

The Greatest is Love

Faith: Without it, there would be no Christianity, or any other religion in the world for that matter. We talk of coming to faith in Christ, and living a life of faith, and we often laud those in Scripture and in modern times who are known for their faith.

The Value of Faith

The value of faith cannot be disputed. In fact, Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God, must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (NKJV). Without faith, we couldn’t come to Christ, and without faith, we couldn’t walk in obedience to him. Faith often motivates us to move forward even when the odds are against us. In a sense faith is closely related to hope.

The Value of Hope

Hope keeps us going when the situation we face seems impossible. Hope is the expectation that we will obtain something specific we desire. Think of how life would be without hope. Hope is there for the single mom who doesn’t know how she is going to feed her children and keep a roof over their heads. She might give up, if it were not for the hope that some type of breakthrough is right around the corner. Hope is a gift from God that can bring joy in the midst of very difficult circumstance. Hope encourages us that victory is imminent.

I wouldn’t want to live a life without faith, and I wouldn’t want to live a life without hope. However, in spite of how wonderful, important, and life-changing both faith and hope are, they pale in comparison to love. The Bible states that love is greater than both faith and hope.

The Greatest of These is Love

What makes love so amazing? For starters, it is what motivated the Father to send His only Son to die for us. Without love, there would have been no redemption for mankind. Not only would we be without love, but without the redemption that was precipitated by love, there would also be no faith, and no hope. You see, nothing else matters, without love. It is foundational for every other good thing in our lives.