Romans 16 “Be Wise In What Is Good”

“For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple in what is evil.” (v.19)

Here Paul concludes his letter to the saints in Rome by commending their obedience to the principles of the Gospel, and declaring to them that it is well known to all, which gives him great joy (As it would any shepherd). He is speaking here of an obedience that is motivated by love, that flows from a new heart, which now desires and is empowered to be obedient to the Master’s voice, and to follow His statutes.

Then, at the end of our text, Paul cautions them to, “be wise in what is good, and simple in what is evil.” Great advise here. Understand what is good, and what the LORD requires of His children, but be simple minded, have a lack of knowledge, when it comes to evil and do not become wise in it.

In other words, what you don’t know concerning evil, won’t hurt you. But do not go looking for it, for if you play with Fire you’re going to get burned. 

Help us Lord to be obedient to your voice, to be wise when it comes to doing good, and be ignorant in the things that are evil. Amen.

The Truth: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.” (1 Peter 1:14)

Romans 15 "The Scriptures Provide Comfort"

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (v.4)

I have found tremendous comfort in the scriptures. It never seems to matter what I’m going through, in time, God provides His comfort through His WORD to my heart. Patience is the key though and more often than not, His timing is far longer than we might desire to wait. But as scripture tells us, “let patience have it’s perfect work, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).

The scriptures also fill us with comfort through the many examples of recorded patience, grace and forgiveness extended to others who were sinners just like us. The prodigal son, the women at the well, the thief on the cross, Paul’s conversion, Peter’s denial, etc. As Matthew West wrote in his song Grace Wins, “There's a war between guilt and grace, and they're fighting for a sacred space, but I'm living proof, Grace wins every time.” 

Therefore, as we wait for our prayers for others to be answered, be encouraged by His grace in your life and in the life of those around you, and know that He is working, that He is faithful, and take comfort in the scriptures which are examples for us for our learning, our comfort, and our encouragement. For we serve a mighty God and nothing is impossible with Him. 

Have a great day!

Deuteronomy 10 "What God Requires of Israel"

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good? (vv.12-13)

Through Moses, God gave Israel 5 basic requirements that were expected of them as the people of God. They were: Fear the LORD your God: God requires from us a reverential honor towards Him; not a fear that would make us shrink back, but a heart that so honors God that we would be hesitant to offend Him. To walk in all His ways: He requires us to live our lives after the pattern He has set for us; to walk on His road not on our own. To love Him: This means the love He expects isn’t a love that just happens, but it is a love that comes from a decision to set our affection upon Him. To serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul: This requires us to serve Him, to see all that we do as service unto Him, and to do all that we do as if doing it unto Him. To keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes: He requires us to not only know His word, but to keep it – in the sense of possessing it in ourselves, and in the sense of protecting it. 

Why? For your good: every command of God is given for our good. They are never given so He can exercise His power, or so He can feel important. Every command He makes is with our best interest in mind, even if we cannot sense it or understand it.

God required this conduct from His people because they were/are His special possession. Though heaven and earth belong to God, He set His focus and attention on Israel beginning with their fathers. Being chosen – having the special attention of God focused upon you – is a place of great privilege, but also a place of great responsibility. And Israel had a special responsibility to obey. 

Therefore, because of God’s greatness and His choice of Israel, the people were to "circumcise their hearts" (10:16). Meaning, the work of taking their/our hearts (inclined after the flesh), and giving their hearts over to pursuing the spirit. Circumcision was a physical sign of the covenant; as a metaphor, it also signified submission and consecration in the cutting away of the flesh. But here it signifies a change of heart, from one of seeking after the flesh to one of seeking after the Spirit spirit.  

The Truth: "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8) 

Deuteronomy 9 "God's Unmerited Favor"

Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you. (v.3)

Here in chapter 9 Moses is telling the people it’s time to crossover the Jordan River and to possess the land promised to their fathers. He describes the land as; having nations greater and mightier than they, great cities with high walls and a people strong and tall like giants. (v.1-2) However in our key verse, he also reminds the people that, God will go before them as a consuming fire and destroy each nation and bring them down so they (Israel) can drive them out. (v.3) 

It was a battle too big for Israel, but not too big for the LORD. By themselves, the job was impossible (without Me you can do nothing, John 15:5), but in God the battle could not be lost (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Philippians 4;13). God was calling Israel then to a partnership in winning the battles. He will destroy them does not contradict you shall quickly drive them out and destroy them quickly. 

So, was God going to do it, or was Israel going to do it? Both, really – God was calling Israel to be workers together with Him (2 Corinthians 6:1). Why would God do this, because of Israel’s righteousness? Absolutely not! As David wrote in the Psalms, “There is non righteous, no not one.” (Psalm 53:1-3) In fact in verse 4, Moses cautions them not to have the least thought of their own righteousness, as if that were the reason for God’s favor. It was for the wickedness of these nations that God drove them out - not wanting the Israelites to show mercy to the Canaanites. He wanted Israel to be a unique army of judgment against the Canaanites and their culture, which was so depraved that it deserved this kind of judgment.

Archaeologist William F. Albright, in his book From the Stone Age to Christianity, describes what the primary focus of Canaanite religion was: sex. The featured idols recovered by archaeologists are hundreds of nude female forms in sexually suggestive forms, as well as male idols associated with homosexual cults. Thus the Canaanites were replaced by Israel. 

Scripture tells us, all whom God rejects, are rejected for their own wickedness (Romans 2:8); but none whom he accepts are accepted for their own righteousness (Romans 3:20). Thus boasting is forever done away with through His grace and unmerited favor. For if not for Jesus Christ we all would be rejected. Thank God for His Son and His unmerited favor.

The Truth: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Romans 12 "Overcome Evil With Good"

From the archives:

 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (v.21)

How many times have we all thought of getting revenge, make someone pay, returning evil for evil? It truly is our nature to lash out rather than show leniency or to take the higher road. However, Paul is telling us here, we must rise to that God-like point as Christians and overcome evil with good. 

CH Spurgeon put it this way, “The text appears to give us a choice between two things, and bids us to choose the better one. You must either be overcome by evil, or you must yourself overcome evil. One of the two. You cannot let evil alone, and evil will not let you alone. You must fight, and in the battle you must either con­quer or be conquered. It (the text) inculcates not merely passive non-resistance, but it teaches us active benevo­lence to enemies. "Overcome evil with good," with direct and overt acts of kindness. If any man has done you a wrong, do not only forgive it, but also avenge it by doing him a favor.”

The longer I live the more I realize the power behind this great truth of returning good for evil. It demonstrates true Christian love and can possibly bring about a change of heart and soul. As the prophet Micah put it, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Have a great day!

Deuteronomy 8 "The Discipline of God"

"As a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you." (v.5)

The idea of discipline for the purpose of training is quite biblical. In today's text we see the Lord's discipline of His people to prepare them for right living. In it, God describes the Promised Land in vivid detail as a rich and abundant land (vv. 1, 7-9). But between these verses comes the somewhat surprising description of God's preparation of His people for their arrival. The Lord has led them through the wilderness to “humble” and “test” them (v. 2). Verse 3 again identifies God's humbling action as He let Israel feel hunger, then fed them with manna. They wandered for forty years in the desert and yet they were never in want of food, water, or clothing. 

Why did God allow Israel to experience such hardship? The answer is provided in our key verse for today. All the hardship experienced by Israel was a demonstration of God's fatherly discipline, meant to train them to trust His goodness and provision when they entered the land. Indeed, such divine discipline was intended not as punishment for doing wrong, but as training for doing right, so that they might learn to “live and increase” in the land (v. 1). 

As with the Israelites, we too need God's training, discipline, and education - which begins with humility. Some never even make it past this first essential step. If we are not humble and not teachable, there is then no point to the rest of any of God’s education. Israel had to rely on God beyond their own knowledge (which you did not know v.3), and beyond their own ability. While that kind of discipline is never easy to accept, it makes one truly grateful for His goodness and provision along the way.

LORD, thank you for Your hand of discipline in my life, for training me up in "the way" I should go.

The Truth: "Do not take the LORD's discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by Him, for the LORD disciplines the one He loves." (Proverbs 3:11-12)

Deuteronomy 7 "Command To Conquer"

"Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them." (vv.9-11)

Israel was holy in their standing before God before they were holy in their conduct. They were set apart unto God by His choosing (God has chosen you to be a people for Himself) and were then called to live as chosen people. Their election meant the LORD set His love on them which became their motivation for total obedience. It took 40 years of wondering in the desert but when they really believed God loved them, and began living with that belief as a conscious fact, they (and we) found it so much easier to obey – and to utterly destroy anything that would damage that relationship of love.

Over many generations the Canaanites had demonstrated their hatred for God. Now, using Israel as His instrument, God will repay them with judgment. Their recollection of God’s faithfulness to them in the past would give them hope for their struggles ahead. God's promised He would go before Israel and fight for them (the great and awesome God, is among you), but He would not drive all the enemies out at once.

However, the LORD their God would drive out those nations before them little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 

Sometimes to our frustration, this is the way God often works in our life. He clears things away little by little even though we might prefer it all at once. But, just as God wanted Israel to grow spiritually in the process of taking the Promised Land, so He wants to grow spiritually as we walk in faith with Him as well.

The Truth: "We walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) 

Deuteronomy 6 "Do What Is Right"

“You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you…” (v.18a)

Doing what is right and good seems difficult for many people today. Why, because they can’t see what’s right from what is easier, or they can’t see what is good from what is beneficial, or doing right may cost them something they are not willing to concede. Consider the following.

Many years ago, a young hotel clerk in Philadelphia explained to an older couple that no rooms were available for the night. But instead of turning the pair out into the pouring rain, the clerk insisted that they take his own room. The next morning the man thanked the clerk and told him he deserved to be the manager of the finest hotel in America. 'Maybe some day I'll build one for you.' The clerk simply smiled. Two years later, however, he found himself in New York as the first manager of the new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel! The couple he had befriended was Mr. and Mrs. William Waldorf Astor. Talk about doing right!

God's law was given to guide the moral behavior of His people, not simply to enlighten their minds but to set a standard of what is right and acceptable in the sight of the Lord. Therefore, we need to know and affirm what the Bible teaches, especially in these days when truth is defined as whatever feels right to any given person in any given situation.

The Truth: "But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good." (2 Thessalonians 3:13)