Category: Romans

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Big Hugs

I’m a person who loves to give hugs! Plain and simple – I feel hearts connect with a hug.

My hugs aren’t those tiny squeezes with a pat on the back, those remind me of burping a baby. Hugs should be genuine, huggers should be bold and not timid. Yesterday was a good day for hugging. Family came, neighbors stopped over, dear friends visited and even some new acquaintances came.

I think the hardest thing for me during our last months of social distancing was not being able to hug. People were so cautious and even timid about touching. I understand…but for someone who loves to hug it was a very isolating time.

I want to tell you about a man who experienced a life changing touch. He was a man with leprosy. He wasn’t allowed to connect with society. In fact, he and others like him had to live outside the city and announce to all who came close “unclean, unclean”. It was his warning to stay away, social distance, as it were.

Can you imagine the loneliness and despair?

But one day something happened. A man came outside the city and a large crowd followed Him. He was teaching up on a hillside; His words were dynamic, His presence was inviting. One of the things this man said that day was this:

“Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.” Matthew 7:7-8 CEV

The leper continued to listen and then this happened:

“As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds. 2 Suddenly a man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus. He said, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”

3 Jesus put his hand on the man and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man’s leprosy disappeared.” Matthew 8:1-3 CEV

This leper encountered a healing touch – no longer unclean, no longer an outcast!

You and I didn’t have leprosy but we were just as unclean as this man. Our disease was worse than COVID, our disease was sin. It separated us from a relationship with God, the Father. “Unclean, unclean”! But the Father wasn’t willing to accept our condition and made a plan for our redemption.

“Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. 7 No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. 8 But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. 10 Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life.” Romans 5:6-10 CEV

” Now that we are at peace with God” no longer do we have to shout “Unclean”, we are redeemed!

Let me tell you, when I reflect on the depth of God’s love for me I feel Him giving me the biggest and best hug ever. When He hugs me our hearts connect and I know that I am loved!

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God’s Heart

Recently I spent the day with a group of ladies from Desert Christian Fellowship. They had invited me to be their guest speaker. The theme for the day was Bold Women of the Bible – one of those women was Mary, the mother of Jesus.

I talked of how Mary stood at the foot of the cross and watched her Son die. Her innocent Son had been condemned to death, a horrible death . She was faithful and stayed by His side through it all. I was overcome with emotion as I talked to these ladies, I put myself in Mary’s place. As a mother, I could imagine the pain.

How her mother’s heart must have ached!

Now stop and think how much the Father’s heart must have ached while Jesus hung on the cross? A Father whose whole character is love saw His Son brutally murdered. He could have rescued his Son but He didn’t.

God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son, knew that a perfect sacrifice was required to redeemed mankind from their sin. That sacrifice would be Jesus.

“Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ERV

His heart was aching as His Son was being tortured but because of His love for us He didn’t intervene.

“Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us. 7 Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person. 8 But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.” Romans 5:6-8 ERV

God’s heart, his character, is pure love. His heart ached because sin separated Him from those He loves, from us. Don’t ever think it wasn’t heartbreaking for the Father to experience His Son’s death, it was. He endured it because of His unconditional love for us.

“ Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.” I John 4:10 CEV

He made a way to give us new life, to see us redeemed, it was the way of the cross! That’s God’s heart!

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Golden Arches

Sometimes I just get so overwhelmed by the glory of God. Take yesterday for example. As we were coming up the drive to the campground I was taken back by the beauty of the golden leaves of the aspens. I’ve been waiting weeks from them to turn from green to yellow to gold.

So beautiful!  Almost majestic.

Driving under the branches of the trees, as they stretched across the road before us, I was stirred in my thinking to some verses in Psalms.

“Gates, proudly lift your heads! Open, ancient doors, and the glorious King will come in.
8 Who is the glorious King? He is the Lord, the powerful soldier. He is the Lord, the war hero.9 Gates, proudly lift your heads! Open, ancient doors, and the glorious King will come in. 10 Who is the glorious King? The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King. ” Psalm 24:7-10 ERV

The King of Glory is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

“On his robe and on his leg was written this name: King of kings and Lord of lords” Revelation 19:16 ERV

Revelation goes on to say in chapter 20 that we will rule and reign with Him. The majesty and splendor that are His are unrivaled in all the universe but we have an open door policy to be in His presence whenever we choose. He does not turn us away.

We are welcome there because we, too, are called the children of God and we share in the inheritance of Jesus, our brother, who died for us.

“And the Spirit himself speaks to our spirits and makes us sure that we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, we will get the blessings God has for his people. He will give us all that he has given Christ. But we must suffer like Christ suffered. Then we will be able to share his glory.” Romans 8:16-17 ERV

Christ suffered by denying Himself and putting His love for the world ahead of His own pleasure. That’s what children of God do, we act like the Father.

I have imagined the heavenly throne room. The streets are gold that lead to His throne, I can only imagine that there would be columns and arches of gold too. After all, it’s the Father’s throne.

“ With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16 ERV

We come boldly to the Father’s throne with grateful hearts because we are His children, we’re royalty!

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Which Trail?

This summer Dave and I met a very nice couple from the Phoenix area. They camped at our campground for two weeks. They are avid hikers. Their energy is something to be envied.

The first night we met them, it was close to dusk. They stopped to talk and ask us about some hiking trails in the area. That day they had been out on a trail, a long loop, around the lake and back woods. They admitted that they had taken the wrong fork and instead of being a 6 mile hike as they had planned, they ended up hiking almost 16 miles.

Wow!

They said they had seen some of the most beautiful country and were glad that they had that experience.

I can’t say that has always been the case for me. Life has taken me down some trails I didn’t expect or want. However, the thing that has always been true is I have never been alone. Even the times I was off doing my own thing, not asking the Father for His direction or His purpose, He never left me alone and He won’t abandon you either.

Case in point: Remember Jonah? In complete and utterance disobedience, he ran from God. God told him to go to Nineveh and preach. Jonah went to the docks and got on a ship headed to Tarshish, in the opposite direction. He was running from the Lord. Even in that, God didn’t abandon Him.

“I had sunk down below the underwater mountains; I knew that forever,  I would be a prisoner there. But, you, Lord God, rescued me from that pit. 7 When my life was slipping away,  I remembered you—in your holy temple you heard my prayer.” Jonah 2:6-7 CEV

The Father doesn’t approve of our disobedience but He won’t disown or abandon His children. For that we should be extremely grateful.

“What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side,[a] speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? 36 It is exactly as the Scriptures say,

“For you we face death all day long. We are like sheep on their way to be butchered.”

37 In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Have you been on the wrong trail? Do you feel you are out there all alone? Do what Jonah did and cry out to the Father for help; He is there and He will rescue you!

He will guide you back to the right trail. Nothing can separate us from the love of God!

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Redemption

Sometimes we, Christians, use words the rest of the world doesn’t really understand. I think redemption is one of those. Redemption, in its simplest terms, means to buy back; to purchase something that had originally been yours and had been lost.

That’s exactly what happened to the human race.  God had created man in His image and His desire was to have a loving relationship with us. Adam disobeyed God and that relationship was broken. Sin entered and the communion between God and mankind was interrupted. But the good news is God immediately put a plan into motion that would restore the relationship which had been lost – redemption.

“ Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.” Romans 5:19 CEV

We discussed yesterday how precious and valuable we are to the Father. He would go to any length, and He did, to see that we were redeemed. His love for us is unconditional and His grace is unfathomable. He sees us with a pure and loving heart.

“No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. 8 But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger.” Romans 5:7-9 CEV

I was once again overwhelmed by the absolute love of God in my morning reading. The Apostle Paul had such a grasp on God’s love and grace that he included the message of the good news, the Gospel, in everyone of his letters. 

He was a man who knew the Scriptures. He was devout in his religious commitment, but he was misguided in his actions. He pursued the Christians, he had them arrested, imprisoned and persecuted. He even had a place at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. God changed his heart, and his life was changed. He was redeemed and that became his message.

“[The Father] has delivered and  drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 AMP

The Father saw each and everyone of us down through time and He loved us. He put the plan of redemption in place. Christ willing gave His life to pay the price of our sins and that dear friend is the price that purchased our redemption.

“ Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us, for it is written [in the Scriptures], Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified);” Galatians 3:13 AMP

We have been redeemed!

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Jumping In

Have you ever noticed how much fun kids have jumping? It can be jumping in to a pool or jumping in a puddle; they like jumping on trampolines and jumping rope. They have to be told not to jump on the bed and the furniture. Jumping houses have become a favorite at backyard birthday parties. Yes, jumping seems to be a favorite pastime for kids.

Now, some adults seem to enjoy jumping as well but it’s a different kind of jumping. They like jumping to conclusions. This kind of jumping can be quite dangerous.

Without much background information and little research, snap judgements are made and conclusions are improperly drawn. Reputations can be ruined and discontentment can surface when we jump to the wrong conclusion.

The religious leaders of Jesus day jumped to the wrong conclusion about Him.

They had been waiting for the “coming Messiah”. It had been prophesied by their prophets for hundreds of years. They talked in their synagogues of His coming – would He deliver them from Roman oppression?

But when He came, they accused Him of blasphemy. They said He came from the wrong region of the country, that He had a devil because He could do miracles and that the Messiah wouldn’t associate with sinners who drank wine or had scandalous reputations. They jumped to the wrong conclusion.

“Later, Jesus and his disciples were having dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and other sinners were also there. 11 Some Pharisees asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?”

12 Jesus heard them and answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. 13 Go and learn what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others.’ I didn’t come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13 CEV

You know, I jumped to a few wrong conclusions about God’s love myself. I felt I had to be good enough to earn God’s love and if I messed up God would distance Himself from me. I felt my relationship with the Father was based on my good merit and didn’t understand His grace.

“But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam’s sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God’s gift of kindness to many people.

16 There is a lot of difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God’s gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times. 17 Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.” Romans 5:15-17 CEV

I had jumped to the wrong conclusion. God is gracious, loving and kind. He is forgiving. He desires to have relationship with us.

Let’s all jump to the right conclusion – God is love; jump into relationship with Him, the conclusion will be acceptance and an abundant life in Him.

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More Love

The last two days I have had these words in my mind and on my heart – More Love.

Think about those two words in connection with our relationship with God, the Father. Can we earn more of His love? Is it possible that He loves someone more than He loves us?

The answer to those two questions is an emphatic no!

Something we need to realize, and it goes beyond human understanding, is that God is love, period. There is no greater or lesser degree of His love displayed because of our efforts or goodness.

“God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him.” I John 4:8CEV

Water is wet. That is a definitive statement. I know this is an inadequate example, but water doesn’t get any wetter because someone is rich or poor, tall or short, good or bad. Water is wet.

God is love!  He can’t get more love from anywhere – He is love. We, however, can understand the depth of His love more as we develop in our relationship with Him but that doesn’t mean He loves us more.  The Apostle Paul prayed this prayer for the Christians in Ephesus, and it is for us too.

“So I bow in prayer before the Father. 15 Every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name from him. 16 I ask the Father with his great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you.” Ephesians 3:14-19 ERV

One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is John 3:16.

“ God loved the people of this WORLD so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.” CEV (emphasis mine)

We are all included in the “world”, so we could accurately read that verse like this: “For God so loved Kristi (add your name) that He gave His only begotten Son…” God, in His love, is unwilling that any of us should perish, His love has been poured out to all.

More Love!

It’s not possible for Him to love anymore than He does right now. It’s not possible for anything to separate us from His love.

“I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:38-39 CEV

Don’t ever entertain the thought that God doesn’t love you. That’s not possible for if God ever stopped loving us, He would stop being God. He cannot deny who He is.

My prayer for you is the same as Paul for the Christians in Ephesus – I pray that you will understand and come to know the height, the depth and the breadth of God’s love for you.

God is love and He loves you!

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In My Own Little Chair

Did you every see the 1960’s musical by Rogers and Hammerstein called “Cinderella”? It was one of my favorites.

I would dance around the living room and spend days singing the songs from the musical score. The one that struck a particular cord took place in the great kitchen, next to the hearth. There sat Cinderella in a small wooden chair. She lifted her head and her voice as she sang:

“In my own little corner, In my own little chair, I can be whatever I want to be. On the wings of my fancy I can fly anywhere, and the world will open its arms to me…”

This morning,I am at home in my own little corner, in my own rocking chair and as I sat down those lyrics began to fill my thoughts. We are only home for 36 hours and then we’ll return to the mountains. For years, I’ve sat in this chair praying and writing, it’s from here I have been able to encourage all of you to be all our heavenly Father has created us to be.

“What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side,speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? 36 It is exactly as the Scriptures say,

“For you we face death all day long. We are like sheep on their way to be butchered.”

37 In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:31-39 CEV

God is on our side, how can we fail? “In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us”. Those are life changing words! Those are the words that encourage us to be more – more loving, more bold, more forgiving, more courageous!

More of who God wants us to be without shame or timidity. We aren’t given the promise of a battle free life but we are given His word that we will be victorious in those battles. Young David had to face Goliath, Peter faced down the pharisees, Paul encountered persecution in nearly every town but all of them were victorious.

“I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.” II Corinthians 2:14 CEV

Find your own little corner, your own little chair and sit there for a while. Wait on the Lord to show you what His plan is for your day and then follow it. The Father is on your side and He will see that you succeed.

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A Hiding Place

The Hiding Place    

Our campground has a mascot of sorts. We have inherited a female grouse. Some of the camp hosts call her Charlene and others call her Greta but either way she has become comfortable living here.

She sits on the equipment and vehicles. She walks into our campsites without fear but when she senses someone new or a situation is she uncomfortable with, she hides.

Her brown speckled body disappears from view. Most of the time she conceals herself in the tall grass but other times I’ve seen her squat down right next to a rock, which is the same color as she is, and you don’t even know she’s there.

Camouflage is a wonderful means of protection! God’s design is amazing.                                                                                                                         

Have you ever wished you could hide? Have you been scared or uncomfortable and felt you just wanted to blend in with the scenery and escape detection? Maybe you’ve been frightened by someone or perhaps situations in your past have you hiding from shame.

Where do you go? What do you do?

“You are a hiding place for me. You protect me from my troubles. You surround me and protect me, so I sing about the way you saved me. Selah” Psalm 32:7 ERV

“You can go to God Most High to hide. You can go to God All-Powerful for protection.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety, my fortress. My God, I trust in you.”
3 God will save you from hidden dangers and from deadly diseases.” Psalm 91:1-3 ERV

The Lord has promised to be our refuge, our protection. One verse tells us that He will be the lifter of our head. Maybe that phrase doesn’t mean much to you, but it does to me.

“So many are saying,  “God will never rescue him!” Interlude 3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. 4 I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain. Interlude” Psalm 3:2-4 NLT

There were things I was ashamed of in my life and whenever I would start to think about those things, I would feel my head drop. I wouldn’t want to look people in the eye. Then the Lord showed me that He took my shame because I was forgiven. It was as if He took my chin in the palm of His hand and lifted my head so I could see into His eyes of love.

He doesn’t just hide us; He completely blots out our past and makes us brand new.

“For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” Romans 10:11 TLV

Shame and fear have no power over us; we are forgiven, we are free, and we are covered by His wings.

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All’s Forgiven

I hope you never tire of me telling you about the goodness of God. I never get tired of seeing His lovingkindness in action!

My morning Bible time still has me reading about the Israelites and their journey through the wildness on their way to the Promised Land. These people…they are consistently inconsistent.

They profess their love and faith for the Lord and then they murmur and complain. They say they will be devoted to their God and then they build a calf of gold and have an orgy. I don’t think there is a time they go more than a couple weeks without veering off on their own and ignoring what God has said.

But God…but God, is always faithful!

“Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, “I am the Lord God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted. 7 I keep my promises to my people forever, but I also punish anyone who sins…” 8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped the Lord. 9 He prayed, “Lord, if you really are pleased with me, I pray that you will go with us. It is true that these people are sinful and rebellious, but forgive our sin and let us be your people.” Exodus 34:6-9 CEV

The Lord declares that He will always be loving and faithful. He will keep His word. He also says that He will forgive their sins and transgressions. He does hold them responsible for their acts of disobedience and that is why He gives them a priest to offer sacrifices of atonement.

He gives them a way to repent and to be restored by His mercy.  He does the same for us.

The Lord has always known the shortcomings of men. He knows that we fall short, and He has given us His plan of forgiveness and grace. 

“All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.” Romans 3:23-24 CEV

Jesus is that heavenly plan.

The plan of sacrifice in the Old Testament could never completely cleanse the sins and transgressions of men. The blood shed by the animals only covered their sins. But the blood of Jesus completely cleanses us and puts us in right standing with God, the Father.

“The Law teaches that offerings and sacrifices must be made because of sin. But why did Christ mention these things and say that God did not want them? 9 Well, it was to do away with offerings and sacrifices and to replace them. That is what he meant by saying to God, “I have come to do what you want.” 10 So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all. 11 The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God’s right side, 13 and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power. 14 By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God.” Hebrews 10:8-14 CEV

When we get hung up on how unworthy we are, how many times we have failed, we are focusing on our efforts to be good enough for God. Switch focus! Salvation is never based on our efforts; it is entirely dependent upon what God has done for us!

It is His lovingkindness, His mercy, His grace! It is His blood; He is the fulfillment of the plan. He is our salvation!

The Father’s love is unconditional. His plan is for all. Walk in the grace and mercy that He has provided. It will bring joy and peace to every day.

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