Reading Paul’s letter to the church in Romans 15 reminds me today that those of us who are strong in the word and in our walk with Jesus have an obligation to set aside our own desires and our own... Continue reading →

Reading in Romans 14 Paul was cautioning the church that we need to be careful about how we manage our own personal convictions. Both for the sake of ourselves and for the sake of others. Because the gospel is about... Continue reading →

Reading Romans 13 today reminds me that we are all that we are all under authority, both spiritually and under the laws of the land. God said that he set authorities in place for our good and the authorities are... Continue reading →

Reading through Leviticus chapter 16 initially brought an interesting sorrow for me as I read a completely opposite message from what I am used to reading in the New Testament. The sorrow didn’t last long, and it actually turned into... Continue reading →

Reading in Romans 11 Paul reminds us as Gentiles that the hearts of the Jews were only temporarily hardened by God because of their disobedience, and God is using it as an opportunity to bring in the Gentiles in while... Continue reading →

Reading in Romans 10 was a very different shift focus from the emotions that Paul had expressed in chapter 9. Although he was obviously still very passionate about salvation for the Jews, he was now pointing toward all of the... Continue reading →

Reading in Romans 9 this morning I could feel the anguish in Paul as he desperately grieved for the salvation of the Jews. After all, he himself was a Jew and he grew up with so much passion and fire... Continue reading →

Reading in Romans 8 Paul spends a lot of time talking about our mindset between walking in the spirit versus walking in the flesh. Naturally, when we are interacting with people our flesh is constantly there interpreting thoughts, motives, attitudes... Continue reading →

Reading In Romans 7 this morning Paul used the covenant of marriage as the Jews knew and understood according to the law, as an analogy to explain how a marriage dissolved by death freed a woman to marry another without... Continue reading →

Reading In Romans 6 this morning Paul was explaining the relationship we have between sin and grace under the new covenant. There was (and still is) a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation commonly made among believers that just because our sin... Continue reading →

In Romans 5 Paul explains how sin came into the world for all of us through one man, Adam. And he contrasts that our freedom from that sin came to the world for all of us through one, Jesus. This... Continue reading →

In Romans 4 Paul gives several examples where God considered people righteous simply because of their faith. He showed that in Abraham’s case, he was considered righteous before circumcision even existed. This was an important point because the Jews were... Continue reading →

Romans can feel so turbulent to read as Paul goes back and forth about the law of the Jews vs the covenant of the New Testament Christian Gentiles. Obviously, Paul had grown up studying the law. He was extremely educated... Continue reading →

In Romans 2 Paul exposes the tendency we all have to look at the sin of other people comparatively with ourselves while justifying or sometimes even doing the very same things in a different form at the same time. Paul... Continue reading →

In Proverbs 8 wisdom and understanding are personified voices speaking to us as if they are living beings speaking directly to us, and telling us all about their nature, their history and begging us to pay attention to what they... Continue reading →

Message/Application: In Acts 28 this morning I couldn’t help but notice that when Paul and the shipwrecked crew of men landed in the unknown little island of Malta, the people immediately showed them extraordinary kindness. They warmed them by a... Continue reading →

Message/Application: Today the story that came up in my reading in Acts 27 today is one that has been on my mind for the past week or more as my family has been going through our own personal storm, and... Continue reading →

Message/Application: Today as I read through Acts 26 I could see that Paul was appealing his case to King Agrippa, who was an expert in the Jewish law. Once again Paul was not appealing his case for the sake of... Continue reading →

Message/Application: Today my focus was on Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else for it is the source of life.”  So often I hear this scripture directed toward a stance of protecting our hearts from the damage of other... Continue reading →