II Corinthians 2

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, it was necessary for him to reprimand a certain member of the congregation. By extension, he was asking the congregation to also reprimand this individual. But the story doesn't stop there. Along with reprimands and discipline, must come forgiveness. In this letter, Paul is asking for the congregation to extend forgiveness to the one that needed discipline.

Just like with our kids, we can't always be telling others about what they are doing wrong. And we certainly can't refuse to give them another chance when they have sought repentance and changed their ways. Of course, we continue to be vigilant against sin in the church, but the situation is rectified, we must forgive and love the believer.

Is there anyone in your life that you are holding a grudge against when you should be forgiving?

II Corinthians 1

God doesn't promise that the Christian life will be free from turmoil and strife. In fact, most times the Christian is full of turmoil and strife. We are going against the grain of the world. God did design the church in such a way that we don't have be alone as we go through the hard times.

As a support network of believers, we are able to share the peace and comfort of God when we have it and we are able to accept it from others when we don't. Amazingly, we aren't all sharing the same experiences at the same time, so there is almost always someone that is having a great day to your bad one. And as believers, we are called to share our good days with those that need them in the hope that someone else will share with us when we are in need.

When is the last time that you shared a good day with someone in need?

I Corinthians 16

We are all called to different tasks within the church, but we are all called to the same church. Paul's closing reminds us that although we meet with a relatively small group of people in our individual churches, we are not alone. There are other believers and other churches out there.

When a fellow believer visits our church or community from outside, we should welcome them and help them on their journey. We should not be standoffish or a clique. The work of the Gospel is not about our small circle of influence, it's about a world that doesn't know Christ. That world cannot be reached for Christ if we that are believers do not get along with one another.

I Corinthians 15

Christianity is not a cafeteria plan. We cannot pick and choose which things we will believe and which we will not. Either we believe completely or we do not believe at all. Just as it was impossible for the Corinthians to say that they believe in Christ but not in a resurrection, it is impossible for us to say that we are Christian and yet to do believe the fundamental truths of the faith.

Too many people in our modern world want to believe that Christianity is just about being moral or good and they refuse to believe in the divinity of Christ. Too many people want to believe that Christianity is just a set of rules to live by and they refuse to believe in the life changing power of the Holy Spirit. Too many people claim to be Christian and yet do not even know what that means.

We cannot have it both ways. We cannot be Christian and yet not believe.

I Corinthians 14

"Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." That's really the point of this passage. Much has been made over speaking in tongues and whether it's valid or not and what this passage is really referring to, and while I have my opinions, I'll not go into that here. The point is valid regardless of what you believe with regard to tongues. The point is that there is a time and place for everything and that the church must recognize this. If there is not order and no consistency then the body cannot be effective.

If we are only talking to God and to other Christians, then there will be no growth. If we are only focusing on the lost, then there will be no discipleship. We have to find the time for both and allow both in the body, and we must do it in an organized fashion. We can't expect new Christians to understand as much or be as mature as those that have been believers longer, so we need a system for discipleship. We can't expect the lost to suddenly darken the doors of the church either, so we need to find a way to relate to them on their level and in their language.

I Corinthians 13

Almost everything that we do can be done in one of two ways: selfishly or selflessly. The outcome depends heavily on which of those you choose. I could teach in front of a crowd of people because I selfishly wanted to hear their praise when I finished, or I could teach the same topic to the same group because I genuinely wanted them to learn. Which do you think would be more successful?

People can see right through your motivations in most cases. It takes a pretty talented liar to fool others into thinking that you are more interested in them than yourself, and it's even more difficult over time. Paul is simply saying here that if your focus is on loving one another and putting other's needs ahead of your own, then you won't have to be misleading and you'll have success.

I Corinthians 12

The beauty of God's creation lies in the diversity. If everyone were the same, this world would be quite a boring place where only a few things ever happened. If we were all poets, who would paint? If we were all writers, who would perform?

Everyone has a different purpose that when put together with others forms a strong team called the church. Some of us are there to invite non-believers, some of us are there to teach believers, some are there to hold us accountable, and some are there to help through hard times. We can't succeed without everyone working together and recognizing that they complement the others.

It's not a competition against each other to see who is the most important or most gifted; it's a team effort where I ask you to help in the areas where I'm not strong and I help you in the places where you are weak.

I Corinthians 11

Jesus asked His disciples and us to remember His sacrifice by remembering the Last Supper. Specifically, He wanted us to recall, through the symbolism of the bread and wine, that He gave His body and blood as atonement for our sins. The point was not to create a ritual. The point was to create a way to remember.

We don't use rituals to tell stories or remember events very much anymore. In our highly literate, internet-based society, we can collect our knowledge on blogs and web pages rather than learning by rote tradition. In the time of Paul and Christ, though, the majority of people may not have been able to read at all, so they needed a way to help everyone remember the history of the church.

The Lord's Supper was just one of those mechanisms, but in Corinth it was twisted into a party. The Corinthians took the event of eating and drinking together and turned into something focused on eating and drinking rather than remembering that the focus should be on Christ. That's what Paul is admonishing them for. If you are looking to eat and drink for entertainment or nourishment do it at home. If you are remembering the sacrifice of Christ through the symbolism of food, then you are in the proper frame of mind for the Lord's Supper.

I Corinthians 10

Do not think that just because you go to church that you are on equal ground with the other members. Attending church is important, but it's not everything. And it doesn't guarantee anything. As a matter of fact, it could just be a false sense of security.

The Israelites in the desert all walked together. They all worshipped together. They all ate together. They all followed God together. Yet the Israelites did not all trust together. Some tested God, some ignored God, some worshipped idols. All of those died.

The same is true in our church family. We all hear the same sermons. We all eat the same spiritual food. We all walk together as a church. But we don't necessarily all have the same commitment to God.

Are you faithful to God or to your church? Are you following the Lord or your friends? Are you a believer or just an attender?

I Corinthians 9

Do you expect your ministers and church staff to earn a living without your help? Do you resent them for expecting your donations to help them survive? Or do you faithfully support their ministry as God has commanded?

Paul was not the first person to seek support from the churches where he preached. God established that precedent ages before with the priests in the temple. The people seek spiritual guidance from priests, preachers, and ministers. God seeks tithe from you to support them. Don't be so naïve as to think that the physical church can sustain itself without your material support. It simply cannot.

I Corinthians 8

We are all in the public eye. Some more than others; some less. But we are all being watched by others. Paul warns us here that while we are free from the law that doesn't mean that we are free to do anything that pleases us. We have a responsibility to build each other up.

In Paul's example, he talks about food sacrificed to idols. The food itself is not any different before or after it is sacrificed. At all times it is good to eat and healthy for you, but once it's been sacrificed, some people have a hard time seeing it just as food. To them eating it would be the same as worshipping that idol, so while it may not be a problem for you, it could be a problem for someone watching you.

Truly, we should each try to help one another grow in spiritual maturity, but we don't have to make any uncomfortable in that process. What are some things in your life that might be causing issues for others that are observing your life?

I Corinthians 7

Even good things can be a distraction and hindrance in your walk with the Lord. Paul recognizes this and tries to lay out for us the pros and cons of marriage.

On the one hand, it is good and ordained by God so that we are not alone in this world. It helps keep us from immorality by providing a release for our physical urges and it is an opportunity for us to have close companionship.

On the other hand, it draws our focus to the physical world and away from God. When you are married one of your primary concerns is your spouse; or at least it should be. If you are focused on pleasing your spouse, you may not be focused on pleasing God. This is a division in your attention that could be damaging to your relationship with God.

The most important thing to recognize here is that we cannot put anything before God. He provides things that make us happy and are good for us, but if we make them more important than God they can become something twisted and wrong.

I Corinthians 6

Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should. Christ has given us freedom from the law through His resurrection, but that doesn't mean that it is good for us to run around doing whatever we like. Of course, we are saved regardless, but we are not effective if we are living with sin.

The things that seem right and feel good in this world are just temporary. Even the things that we need to survive will not last. Paul reminds us that we have to eat every day to fill our stomach and we have a stomach for the purpose of eating. In the end, though, that is just a temporary way of getting us through this life. God is going to take both food and the stomach away and give us something better. So, if the things that are good and necessary in this life are not good enough to last, then why would even want to consider spending any time with the things that are not good or necessary in this life?

I Corinthians 5

Paul explains to the Corinthians the important distinction between immoral people of the world and immoral people in the church. We are called to be light to the world, and we can only share the gospel if we talk with and interact with the immoral people of the world. We are certainly not called to join them or to be like them, but we must interact with them on some level or else they will never know salvation.

The danger is that we must distinguish between that and the person that calls himself a Christian and yet is also completely immoral. The church body is for the saved; it's for believers. We must be careful to distinguish between those that belong and those that do not. And those that call themselves believers and are still living in willful disobedience and sin should not be tolerated in the church body.

Does that mean that we completely ignore them? No. If we are called to share the gospel with the world and to bring believers to Christ, then how much more should we work to reconcile a brother that has lost his way? Of course we do not ignore them. Paul is simply saying that we cannot gloss over it either. We cannot turn a blind eye to the sins within the church unless we want the church to crumble. We are not called to judge the world, only to share with it, but we must judge within our congregation and hold each other accountable for our sins so that we can build each other up.

I Corinthians 4

When you are in a right relationship with God, the judgment of men is far less meaningful. This doesn't mean that you are free to do whatever you want, but it does mean that when you do exactly what God wants in contradiction to the will of men, the judgment of men is nothing to fear.

Paul was continually arrested and accused of preaching the Gospel in contravention of the laws of the time. This was wrong by the judgment of men, but right by God. Paul kept his conscience clear by staying on the path that God had laid, and he didn't fear the judgment of men because it was nothing compared to the judgment of God if he had not done what was commanded.

Can you say the same in your life? Do you follow Christ regardless of the views of man? Or are you more concerned with how men will see your actions?

I Corinthians 3

We all have trouble perceiving things outside the dimensions of this world. We want to attach our ideas to something concrete to help us ground it in reality. As a result, there is a huge danger of us putting our focus more on the men and women that preach Christ than Christ Himself.

None of us have ever actually seen Christ in physical form, but we see other people all of the time. When we connect with another believer or enjoy listening to a particular preacher, that helps us ground our faith in the reality of this world. But we must be careful not to cross the line into actually putting our faith in those men and women. Every Christian is called to plant and water the seeds of faith in others, but only God can actually cause growth.

I Corinthians 2

We've heard it preached a hundred times: humility is the key. But do we really take it to heart? How many of us look at reaching the lost as a competition among friends? We try to notch our belts with converts or teach for the sake of hearing our own voices. How many of us are more concerned with being the most spiritual or the most knowledgeable rather than focusing primarily on sharing the gospel?

Paul gives us an example of what we should be when we approach the lost as he reminds the Corinthians that when he first came to them he was sure to not know anything. That doesn't mean that he literally knew nothing. Of course, we know that Paul was a very educated man in both the law and in secular knowledge. He was, quite possibly, the smartest man in the room at the Corinthian church, but he was resolved to not let that intellect get in the way of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that he wanted to know at that moment; the only wisdom that he wanted to impart was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Too often we get caught up in trying to solve side issues that don't really matter once you know Christ, but that we feel are important because their resolution hinges on our own knowledge and abilities. Too often we want to "teach" or "share" from our own experience so that we can share our experiences and build our egos rather than for the edification of the body. Paul challenges us to set all of that aside and to humble ourselves to the point of knowing nothing except Christ so that our faith relies solely on Him.

I Corinthians 1

It seems that the world we live in is not that much different than the world of First Corinthians. At the time that Paul wrote this letter, he says that the Jews were still looking for signs and miracles and the Greeks were looking for wisdom. How is that any different than our world where people watch religious channels and read self-help books in search of a miracle and the more intellectual among us debate the finer points of agnosticism?

The world doesn't change. The wisdom of the world doesn't change. And the gospel of Jesus Christ simply doesn't make rational sense. How could a man that lived and died 2,000 years ago influence my life today? It's foolish. Anyone that has any bit of logic in their head has to agree that it's foolish. But those that have actually believed. Those that have heard the call. Those that follow Christ know that His power can reach across space and time and He can very directly influence our lives here and now.

I think it's just amazing to try and imagine the amazing power of God. His foolishness is still more wise than the best we can come up with. His weaknesses are still stronger than the most power we can muster. And He continually chooses to shame our attempts at intellect by turning our thoughts of wisdom into folly. Will you be wise like your peers? Or will you be truly wise and follow Christ?

Luke 24

Christ was resurrected physically. That was hard for the disciples to understand, and hard still for us to understand. It is an important point, though. It's not enough for Christ to remain dead and return simply as a Spirit. If that were the case, then He would not be as powerful as death. He had to come completely back to life to prove His authority as God over creation.

When He first appeared, though, the disciples believed that He might simply be a ghost. After all, He had entered a locked room without anyone noticing. To prove His identity, though, He asked them all to see His crucifixion scars and to touch His flesh. And to remove any lingering doubt, He told them that He was hungry and asked for food. Eating in front of them, He dispels any notion that He was not physically alive since ghosts do not eat.

Luke 23

In order for Christ's sacrifice to take the place of the traditional Passover lamb, He had to be both innocent and put to death. How could that be accomplished, though? As it turned out, the Israelites were under the rule of the Roman Empire at the time and they shared legal responsibility for the citizens with the Jews. Therefore, Jesus was able to stand trial before the Romans and be declared innocent while still being sentenced to death by the Jews.

This is a critical role for the Jews to play. They were the ones that believed in sacrifice for the atonement of sins. They were the ones that had the relationship with God. They were the ones that were looking for a Messiah to bring salvation. They were the ones that had to actually perform the sacrifice. What the Jews did by demanding Christ's death was to fulfill the scripture. It wasn't a bad thing; it was a necessary thing.

The Romans could no more have sacrificed Christ than they could have performed the sacrifice of lambs or oxen in the temple. It would have been unthinkable, and it would have simply been murder. I can't completely understand how the sacrifice works or why it is necessary for the atonement, but I can say that I am glad that it happened so that we can all have salvation.

Luke 22

It's easy to stand up for your beliefs when you are surrounded by like minds. It's unbelievably more difficult when you are left alone. Christ told Peter that he would deny knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, and Peter was immediately defensive. Peter, sitting a room of believers, told Christ that he was willing to go to death with Jesus if that's what it took. In fact, Peter did end up denying Christ, though, as Jesus predicted.

I wonder, though, where were the other disciples when this happened. The twelve were supposed to stick together. They've been through a lot with Christ, and when He is finally arrested they are nowhere to be found. At least none of them could be found except Peter who was following Jesus at a distance. I'm sure that they were all scared about what was going to happen to Christ and by extension what would happen to them. It just seems odd to me that they all ran and hid. What if they hadn't? What if they had all followed Jesus? What if Peter was surrounded by friends when he was accused of knowing Jesus? Would he have responded differently?

I think that he might have, but we'll never know for sure. I can say for sure, though, that standing up for what is right is much easier when you have the support of those that believe the same as you. I believe that the biggest lesson to learn here has less to do with Peter and more to do with the other eleven. Christ has put us all in a body of believers for support, and when we go out alone or allow our friends to go out alone, it makes it immensely difficult for them to succeed. We should all be more like Peter: following Christ wherever He leads. We should all be less like the other eleven: watching our friends go off on their own and not being there for support.

Luke 21

God wants all that we have to give. He wants us to suffer for His sake. Now, don't misunderstand. God doesn't want us to be miserable, but He does want it to cost something to follow Him. How much do we value things that we are just given? We don't think twice about the air that we breathe or the water that we drink because we have a near ubiquitous supply, but what about a person in the middle of Africa where this is no drinking water? Or an astronaut on a spacewalk that has to rely solely on his equipment? Suddenly, the things that mean so little to us have become a great value to them.

The gift of eternal life is just that: a gift. But the relationship that comes along with it takes all of our effort to work through. The rich in the temple gave lots and lots of their wealth to God, and I'm sure that it was appreciated by God and the priests, but the widow who had nothing gave relatively nothing from a monetary standpoint, but she gave everything that she had to the relationship. She trusted that God would use her offering to provide for her when she couldn't provide for herself. The rich, on the other hand, almost make it look like God depends on them for survival. They've got it quite backward.

When you give to God, are you giving all of yourself and trusting Him to protect and care for you? Or are you giving from a place of security and treating God as if He needs you more than you need Him?

Luke 20

Some Sadducees tried to trap Jesus into a problem that they saw with the doctrine of a resurrection of the dead, and they intended to it by using an example of a woman who had been married multiple times as the result of her husbands' deaths. Christ quickly corrected them, though, by pointing out that there basic assumption was flawed. They had assumed that life after the resurrection would be the same as life right now today. Christ pointed out that it will not. There will be no marriage at that point.

Coupling this explanation with the fact that Christ's time on earth was nothing like the Jews had expected of the Messiah makes me wonder how many details we still misunderstand. How many things do we assume about heaven and God because of our limited, human perspective that will prove to be completely untrue? How surprised are we going to be when we get to heaven and find out that it's not what we expected? And will we recognize the signs of the end of the age or will we miss them the same as the Jews missed the signs of Christ's arrival the first time around?

Luke 19

Can you imagine what it would have been like when Jesus entered Jerusalem with a crowd of disciples singing His praises? Can you imagine what it would have been like to hear their shouts of praise and see Christ Himself sitting on the back of a donkey? Can you imagine how confusing that must have been for any of the Romans that might have been present?

I think it's interesting to note that Christ was followed and surrounded on His journey to the city by His disciples. I had always pictured from Sunday School that it was the population of Jerusalem that had come out to praise Him as He rode into the city. In fact, according to Luke, it was His entourage. That makes it no less telling, though, that when Christ is asked to quiet the crowd that He replies that the stones would cry out if His disciples did not.

Really the only question here, then, is whether you are part of the disciples, part of the Pharisees trying to quiet the disciples, or part of the citizenry of Jerusalem trying to remain unnoticed?

Luke 18

A relationship with God is not a formula that is satisfied when you check a list of items off of a to-do list. You can't simply say that you've done these things and not done these things therefore I have a relationship with God any more than you can say that about other people in your life. Sure the rules that God has ordained are important as they serve as boundaries for our relationship, but they do not define the relationship.

It's like this: in the business world, there are certain rules that the company has to abide by and there are certain rules that every employee must abide by. Just because you have not broken any of those rules and just because you might have done great things for the organization doesn't mean that you have any meaningful relationships with of the other employees much less the CEO. Those relationships are forged through communication and dedication.

The same holds true in our relationship with God. Just because the rich man had upheld all of the rules did not mean that he had any relationship with God. To have a relationship with God, he had to make God the most important thing in his life, and he wasn't willing to do that. The apostles were. They left their former lives behind to follow Christ, but the rich ruler was looking for another rule to follow, not a commitment to make. The question for you is, are you looking for more rules or are you looking for a commitment?

Luke 17

So many of us think that God is an eternal vending machine that we just ask and ask and ask for things with no regard for the actual person of God. Ironically, the ones that most often recognize God's power and are grateful for it are the ones who seem to be least familiar with Him. In this passage, Christ heals ten people with leprosy. He doesn't do anything directly. He just directs them all to go and see the priest and along the way they are healed. Only one of them recognizes or acknowledges anyway the power of Christ in this situation and returns to praise God.

The Samaritans were social outcasts who were not allowed to worship in the temple. Theoretically, the would be the least familiar with God since they were not part of the chosen people, but in this case it was only the Samaritan that returned to praise God for his healing. The other nine, presumably Jews, all just continued on with their day as if God had just given them something that they deserved. They asked for healing, God gave them healing, end of story. They forgot that they were only healed at the discretion of the Lord and for His pleasure.

When we ask for things from God, do we expect that He will grant them simply because we asked? Or are we ever grateful for any mercy or grace that He dispenses upon us as the Samaritan was?

Luke 16

Interestingly, Christ comments on the difference between believers and non-believers in a very different manner in this passage. Normally, when contrasts are made between believers and non-believers the believer is favored as being in a better situation and possessing more eternal assets. The non-believer is generally cast as a fool destined to an eternal death. In this case, Christ turns that on its head.

With the use of a parable about a dishonest man, Christ comments on the lack of worldly wisdom of many believers. He doesn't condone dishonesty. He doesn't encourage believers to start trying to manipulate people around them for personal gain. He just points out that everyone has been given a share of something that is not theirs. We are all managers working for God. Interestingly, non-believers often understand better what it takes to manage relationships with people and relationships with money than believes.

Perhaps as believers we are so afraid of the dangers of money and business that we never learn how to deal with it properly. Perhaps we believe that dealing with those things is inherently evil. Perhaps there is some other reason that I don't completely understand. Regardless, it seems clear here that Christ is telling us to learn how to do those things well. Our role in this world is not to be social outcasts. Our role is to make friends and share the gospel and we can't really do that if we are constantly being taken advantage of by non-believers.

Luke 15

There is an interesting contrast in the parables that Jesus shares in this passage. In the first, He talks about a sheep that wanders away and a shepherd that goes after it. In the second, He tells the familiar parable of the prodigal son.

I think it's interesting to note that in the first parable, the shepherd leaves the flock to find the one lost sheep. After that sheep is found, he returns to the flock and rejoices that his one that was lost is now found. This could be like you and me wandering around in the darkness and Jesus finally finds us and brings us back to His fold. The other believers and angels of heaven rejoice that the one that was lost is now found.

Contrast that to the prodigal son where the father did not go out in search of his son. The son left with his share of the wealth, squandered it, suffered, and then returned home on his own to find his father waiting for him. There was still celebration, but it was different. They celebrated the choice that the son made to return home rather than the success of the shepherd in finding his lost sheep.

I don't know for sure why these are so different on that one point except to say that sometimes God chases us and keeps out of trouble and sometimes He lets us go through a little bit of hard times so that we can choose to come back home.

Luke 14

I love how Jesus says things that capture the essence of the human spirit. As such, He is able to speak directly to us even across the barriers of time. We tend to become familiar with our groups of friends and almost clique-ish in many cases such that we forget the work of the Lord. In fact, we often even go so far as to fall back on the old excuse that we should fellowship with believers to eliminate temptation. The only problem is that that's not what Christ asked for.

Christ asked each of us to be sure to not invite our friends, family, or siblings to our dinners or luncheons. Now, He is not talking about a literal lunch or dinner, though. He is talking about the opportunity to feast on the Word. And He's not talking about our literal family and friends. He's talking about our fellow believers. He's sayin that we don't need to invite Christians to a party that's all about becoming a Christian.

Instead we should be inviting those that don't know Christ. We should be inviting those that do not know Christ, and therefore, cannot walk or feed themselves alone to our dinner parties and feeding them the Word of God. How many times, though, do we hide behind an illusion that we are trying to escape temptation by not associating ourselves with those that are in most need of seeing God's grace? And what does that communicate to them about God? The church? Christians in general?

Luke 13

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of God is like yeast. How can those two things be used as analogies for the kingdom of God? How does that make any sense?

The kingdom of God encompasses all believers, even those that remain here on earth, and when you consider that we are called to expand that kingdom by sharing the gospel, this starts to make sense as analogy. With just one man, Christ, the ministry of God's kingdom was started. It's just like that tiny mustard seed. Through the apostles, the Holy Spirit, and other converts along the way, this kingdom has been spread around the globe. It's no longer a single small seed unable to really support any one person; it's become a huge tree in which everyone can rest if they so choose.

As we continue to share the gospel with others, we are expanding the branches of the kingdom of God and allowing others a place to rest and relax from the stresses that we put on ourselves in everyday life.

Luke 12

The area where I live (DFW) is generally pretty affluent. There is a large population of well-educated, highly compensated workers, and each of us spends a decent amount of time thinking about what do with the money that we have earned. Some of us spend it on our families, some of us spend it on ourselves, and some of us just put it in the bank for later. How many of us are thinking past this life, though? How many of us are being strategic about sharing our wealth with others?

Jesus told a parable about a man that had so much that he didn't even have room to store it all. Rather than share the excess that he obviously wouldn't be able to use, he built new storehouses so that he could hoard it all for himself. I think that a lot of us are like that. We carefully guard the things in life that we treasure and we just figure out new ways to keep more stuff to ourselves as we get older. As with the man in the parable, though, the more important thing is to determine what we are storing up in heaven for eternity.

Luke 11

A question frequently asked by both those that have grown up in church and those that have is, "How do you pray?" On one hand, it seems kind of silly. God is our Father and friend, so we can just talk to Him like we talk to our best bud. On the other hand, it seems quite complex. God is the creator the universe and the most sovereign being in existence, so we must be sure to not confuse Him with our best bud. Thankfully, the apostles had this same question and Christ's response is recorded.

When Jesus modeled prayer for them, He wasn't trying to tell them to literally say these words over and over again. He was attempting to convey a pattern that should exist in our prayers.

We need to recognize the position and person of God. His name is holy along with His kingdom and His entire being. Acknowledge that first.

Second, only ask for what you need. In Christ's example, He asks for food for today without worry or concern over tomorrow. God is not a cosmic vending machine that's waiting for us to push a button so He can deliver a treat.

Third, be sure that your relationship with God is intact. Recognize that you are still a sinner and that you cannot approach the Most Holy God in a state of sin.

Fourth, once your relationship with God is intact, be sure that your relationship with others is as well. It doesn't do you any good to try and approach God when you are harboring sin against another person.

Fifth, walk with God daily. God is not going to lead us to temptation, but we must be willing to truly follow Him.

Luke 10

Anyone with siblings knows that the first time one is left in charge of the others can be a real challenge. Generally, the oldest is left in charge and they may feel that their newfound power and authority over the others is an opportunity to correct all of the mistakes of their parents. They can finally tell their younger siblings what to do, when to do it, and how to get it done. When the parents return, though, the younger siblings are quick to report on these abuses of power and it may be some time yet before they leave the oldest in charge again.

A similar thing can happen to us as believers. Once we realize that we have power, through Christ, over the spirits of evil, we can spend more time exercising power over them than we spend on telling others about salvation. We should rejoice and praise God that we are saved not flaunt our power. When we start to flaunt our power, even over evil spirits, we are giving in to the sin of pride. Generally, we are looking for attention from others as we try to raise ourselves to higher level.

Christ reminds His followers in this passage to remain humble and only exercise their power over the spirits when it is necessary and never from a source of pride.

Luke 9

Luke covers a lot of ground in this chapter. He really doesn't seem to be all that interested in telling the details of Christ's life as much as just making the point that Christ did miracles, his disciples did miracles, and that Christ is the Son of God. All of this is summed up pretty nicely in the stories of exorcisms, feeding five-thousand, and direct questioning of the disciples with regard to Jesus' true identity. The key here, though, is how the disciples handled all of these things.

The disciples were just getting to a point of understanding who Christ was when Jesus asked them what they thought about His identity. And when Peter answered that He was the Christ, the others could have laughed that off or chosen to turn away, but they didn't. When Christ told the disciples to bring Him the bread and fish so that He could feed the five thousand, the disciples could have laughed at Him, called Him crazy, and left before they were embarrassed by Him, but they didn't. And when Christ called each of them to follow Him, they could have come up with a reason why they couldn't do it right then, as did the people at the end of the chapter, but they didn't.

They key for the disciples and the key for us is that we have faith in Christ. He is who He claims to be, and there is nothing more important in life than spending time with Him.

Luke 8

Jesus decided one day to head across the lake to continue his ministry. On the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the lake) was a culture that was not strongly rooted in Judaism. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few people that didn't believe in God at all. This gives us a hint that Jesus was up to something that other prophets had not been called to do. He was going to preach and teach to Gentiles. He was not confining His message, His healing, or His salvation to the Jews.

This is very similar to the call that He has placed on us, but in this case, He's walking with the disciples to make sure that they understand what he is going to ask them for later. On the way over, though, the boat runs into a storm, and Jesus has to calm the waters. First, this reminds us that even when we are doing what God asks us to do, it doesn't mean that it will be easy. Second, it reminds us of who Christ is. The disciples were still trying to figure it out at the time, and this gave the an opportunity to see that He is not only in control of disease and death (they've seen Him heal and raise people from the dead) but He's also in control of nature. It's just one more clue for them that this is the incarnate God.

Luke 7

One of the most challenging stories in the Gospels is the story of the Roman centurion. It's challenging on a couple of different levels.

First, the centurion was not like anyone else that had approached Christ. For one thing, he wasn't sick. His servant was sick. For another, he didn't want Jesus to go into his house to heal the servant because he wasn't worthy to have Christ enter his home. This tells us that the man, despite being a Roman centurion, had great faith and great compassion. The amazing thing, though, is that he believed that Christ could heal his servant remotely. That testifies to a belief that Jesus was more than just a man and more than just a prophet. No one had ever done such a thing before – healed without being at least in close proximity.

Second, the centurion challenges us to recognize the order of the universe. The centurion recognized Christ as the head of a bigger organization. The commander, so to speak, of legions, and he expected that whatever Christ said should be done would be done. He didn't go to Christ as if he were putting money in a vending machine and expecting the soda of his choice to pop out. He approached Christ as the king of the universe. Someone he wasn't even worthy to speak with. Someone that could heal his servant, but only if it was something that suited Him.

Of course, Christ used this as an example of great faith and challenged all of us with it. Do you believe in Christ as the ruler of the universe or as a vending machine that we can just put in a few hours of church and expect to receive the miracle of your choice?

Luke 6

The letter of the law and the spirit of the law can sometimes be two different things, and God expects us to have enough sense to know the difference. When the Sabbath was commanded, the letter of the law says no work can be done on that day, but the spirit of the law was to make sure that everyone took a break. It's not good to work all day every single day. Everyone needs a break.

When Christ was feeding His disciples on the Sabbath by picking grain the Pharisees viewed this as evil because it was considered working. When Jesus healed on the Sabbath it was viewed as evil because it was considered working. Jesus countered them by saying that the spirit of the law was still intact and that letter of the law could be violated to save lives and prevent evil. The question is, how many things are you holding to and using to judge others where the letter of the law is more important to you than the spirit?

Luke 5

Many of us overlook one of the most radical things that Jesus ever did. He told people that their sins were forgiven. Not that they were forgiven for doing something to Him personally, but that they were forgiven for sins against God and against other people.

It doesn't seem that big of a deal to say, "You're forgiven," when you are the one that's been wronged, but what if you saw someone hit another person and then you told them that they were forgiven. Everyone would think you were a nut or a blasphemer or both. That's exactly what got the Pharisees all riled up. How could Jesus forgive someone's sin? It was plainly known to the Jewish leaders that forgiveness of sin came from the blood sacrifice through the high priest and could not be granted by a mere mortal. Yet here was this man offering forgiveness for sin.

The Bible says that Jesus understood their concerns and confusion and to address them He directly told them that He had the power to forgive sin. Further than that, He proved it by forgiving the paralytic man of his sin and the paralytic walked home. Now, we can't directly forgive sins, but we can show people the way to Christ so that their sin can be forgiven. We can be like the friends of the paralytic and bring our friends to Christ. So, the only question is whether you are like the Pharisees who believe that we should not associate with sinners at all or are you like the friends to the paralytic bringing sinners to Christ for healing?

Luke 4

The temptation of Christ was a pivotal moment in Jesus' ministry. It was really the start, and I'm not sure that I could go through what He went through. The good news for us, though, is that Christ went through it and came out unstained.

During this time, it's important to recognize the depth of the temptation that Christ went through. It's easy to gloss over these few verses and think that it wasn't really that hard, but in fact, Satan hit Him with everything that he hits us just all at once.

First, Satan tempted Christ with food. That seems like an easy temptation to resist when we live in a land of plenty and we can go grab a loaf of bread from the pantry anytime that we want. Christ was in the desert without food, and I think after a few hours (not to mention the days that Christ endured) that I'd be getting pretty hungry. Christ wasn't there to eat physical food, though, He was there to set the stage for the ultimate showdown with Satan. How often are we tempted with things that seem essential to our survival but really distract us from our purpose?

Second, Satan tempted Christ with money and power. The dream of all Americans is to be independently wealthy, and we easily recognize the power of money. Satan knew that Christ would have to build a group of followers in order to succeed, so offering money and power was not superficial at all. How much more quickly could Christ spread His message if He controlled the kingdoms of the world? How often are we tempted to think that forcing everyone to fit into our Christian mold is the right thing to do?

Third, Satan tempted Christ to challenge God. Satan reasoned that God wouldn't let Christ die and then, since they were in the middle of Jerusalem, the people that witnessed that miracle would all be believers. Why would Satan want to give Christ the chance to perform a major miracle and generate believers? Because He knew that Christ came to heal the people not make a spectacle of Himself and invite an audience. Christ's message was one of humility and stepping right out of the gate in pride would have tainted the whole deal. Have you ever been tempted to make your mission be about you rather than the people that you are sent to reach?

Luke 3

How can you tell the difference between a charlatan and a genuine preacher for the Gospel? I think that John gives us a pretty good hint here. John preaches to the people that they should not prize their earthly possessions over people, they should treat each other fairly, and that he is not the Messiah. That last point is where so many televangelists, teachers, and preachers in our society miss the mark. John has ever opportunity to take a group of people on a fun ride and act as their leader, but he gently refuses. John recognizes that he is not the Messiah, and he doesn't overstep his position. In fact, he notes to those around him that he is not even worthy to untie the sandals of Christ.

Are we willing to recognize our place in relation to God? Or are we trying to be God for other people? Many of us seem to believe that we can judge others and dish out penance as we see fit through our eyes, but we are not better than John. In fact, we might not even be worthy of John because we have forgotten our place in the world.

Luke 2

This chapter tells one of the most famous stories of all time: the birth of Christ. I really key in on a repeated phrase here - Luke repeatedly says that Mary treasured these things in her heart. I think that Mary was putting the pieces together from the beginning. From the moment that she first conceived Christ, I think she started trying to figure out what was special about Him, and I don't really believe that she innately knew.

Of course she knew how He was conceived, so she knew He was special. I don't think that she realized the message that He would share or the death that was going to come. Like most other Jews of the time, she was likely looking for a Messiah in the form of a warrior, so I think she was just as surprised as anyone to find out how things were really going to be. The key, though, is that she was listening and watching for the signs and she did not fight against it.

In your own life, are you trying to make things fit into your view of how events should unfold or are you quietly listening and watching and keeping your mind open to the way God wants things to work out?

Luke 1

I always find it interesting to look back over time and see the ways that God has worked to orchestrate events in my life. I'll bet that Mary and the disciples saw the same thing when they looked back on the life of Jesus as this book was being written. At the time, it was amazing to both Mary and Elizabeth that they would have children, but I don't think that either of them realized exactly what their children would do in life. Looking back after the crucifixion, I think that Mary saw how all of the events had been orchestrated and that as she shared her stories again with Luke she realized exactly why things had to happen the way that they did.

When you look back on your own life, can you see God's hand at work? You should. And when you do, then you also realize that that means that wherever you are now is the end result of the design that's always been playing out. So ask yourself, what is it that God wants me to do here, at this point? How can I be of service of Him so that He can continue to orchestrate my life?

Philemon 1

Paul had a need for assistance while he was in prison, and he had the authority to keep Onesimus with him for that reason. Instead, though, Paul chose to send Onesimus to Philemon because of some previous arrangement. This tells us a couple of things about Paul. First, we learn that Paul is highly respected in the Christian community and he knows it. He doesn't come across as a snob, but he is definitely confident in his position. Second, it tells us that Paul prefers to put the needs of others ahead of his own even when his needs probably outweigh theirs. Instead of keeping Onesimus for himself, which would have been completely justified, he took Philemon's needs into consideration and sent Onesimus away.

Are we willing to give up something that we really need for the benefit of someone else? Are our relationships that important to us?

Colossians 4

How do we, in today's church, treat outsiders? In some cases, we do a great job of inviting them in and encouraging them to join the fellowship, but I think in many cases, the church appears to be a clique where acceptance is difficult. We tend to look down on anyone that is not already attending our churches as if they are somehow inferior just because they haven't been to our church before. We treat them almost as children that are nice to have around for a while and then send home rather than as human beings that are in need of love, comfort, and relationships.

I'm just as guilty as anyone else. I tend to shy away from talking to complete strangers, but what if I am the only person that can reach them? What then? Paul exhorts us to extend grace to those that are new to church and to season our speech with salt. I think he's meaning that we leave out all of our churchy, preachy vocabulary and just talk in a manner that anyone can understand and at a level where anyone can participate. If we do that, then we don't leave any bad taste in anyone's mouth and we are likely to be able to start building relationships.

It's a rare situation where someone finds Christ through a complete stranger. Generally, it's the result of a relationship, so make sure that you are open to making new friends.

Colossians 3

What a challenge! No matter what we do, we are asked to do it not only with all of our heart but as if we were doing it for God. How much different would our world look if everything were done as if we were working for God?

Me? I spend far too much of my time, I think, trying to make sure that the people I work for are pleased and not nearly enough time thinking about whether or not God will be pleased.

Colossians 2

It happens over and over again. So called Christians are not satisfied with the gift of God and a relationship with Him. They believe that you have to work at this and start to impose their own rules over the situation. Seemingly good, these rules almost always degenerate into judgments against one another and divide the body. How can that be good?

Paul reminds us that the real connection must be to God and that we should be focused on what He wants us to do. Why should we live our lives in fear of doing something wrong when we are already forgiven for our sins? Sure, we are going to sin, and God is going to forgive us. Why focus on that? That's such a bleak way to look at Christianity.

The legacy of a believer is not about the things that he didn't do but the things that he did. And when you are doing the things that God asks, you don't have time to do the things that you shouldn't anyway.

Colossians 1

God has rescued us from the darkness and given us redemption. At least, if you are a Christian, that is true. And the prayer that Paul has for us is that we can now live a life worthy of God's gift. Is that even possible?

I think probably not, but it's definitely worth a try. We cannot hope to please God on our own, but when we do the work of the Father, I think that we might have a chance. Does this mean that good works are a requirement of salvation? Absolutely not!

The result of salvation is an indwelling of God's spirit – the Holy Spirit. And the natural expression of that Spirit is good works that bear the fruit of the Spirit. When we become Christians, we will naturally want to do good works. Not the other way around; doing what the rest of the world considers good works does not make us a Christian.

So the real question is why are there so many non-believers out there that don't see the good works of Christians?

Philippians 4

When you look around at the people living alongside of us, it seems no surprise when you someone struggling to make ends meet that they believe contentment will come with the next raise. It seems ironic to us, though, that someone with all the success in the world would still struggle with finding contentment. Paul says that he's been both in need and he's had plenty and he's found that the secret of being content doesn't have very much to do with what you have physically at all. It's all about Christ.

Can you be content to just know Christ and accept that sometimes you will have and sometimes you will want for physical things?

Philippians 3

Paul can recount, as can many of us, a litany of things that would make him seem qualified to preach the Gospel and by human standards qualify him for heaven. Paul, though, says that it is not any of that that matters. Without Christ, his achievements are no good. Without Christ, he would not be preaching the Gospel anyway. Without Christ, he would never find heaven.

Are we truly living with the understanding that it is only Christ that matters? Or are we caught up in the idea that we need to know more, do more, be more, and appear to be more? I think many of us want that appearance. I think that many people in the church want to look like good Christians more than they actually want to be good Christians, and those people are dangerous for the Gospel. Those are the ones that most damage the church when an outsider sees their behavior on Sunday as opposed to every other day of the week. Those are the ones that are the biggest challenge for others to overcome.

Philippians 2

One of the major themes of the New Testament seems to run in direct contradiction to our society: put others ahead of yourselves. Our country is founded on and values rugged individualism. We take care of ourselves and make our own way through the world. Yet this seems at odds with the example of Christ stepping down from heaven and giving up everything for us, and it seems particularly at odds with Paul's statement to "consider others better than yourselves."

Is our society completely upside down? Or are do we need to dig deeper into this passage? It's probably a little of both. The fact is that for many in our society there is but one focus: me. For those people, life is filled with the selfish ambition and vain conceit that Paul warns against, and while some of them will succeed for a while, most will have to realize that it's a futile effort if you are not building up others.

For the rest of us, we can see that our society, for all of its bluster about rugged individualism, wasn't really founded on the concept of working alone. Thrust into an untamed wilderness, the first settlers had little choice except to work together or starve. Later, as wagons moved westward, the best protection against the elements and animals was working as a team. So, although we talk about working alone, we are really meaning that we are trustworthy and reliable as individuals. We value the concept of being trusted to work alone, but we don't really expect people to work alone, in fact, we expect people to work together.

This is an important concept to understand because ties in with the "first shall be last" concept of Christ Himself. The best way to succeed is to help someone else succeed.

Philippians 1

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." What an awesome statement. How many of us can truthfully say that we believe that dying is gain? Not in the sense that we are suicidal, but just that we fully recognize the depth of the glory of heaven and the gain that we have by being there in constant communion with God. I think that most of us don't really recognize death as a gain, we are conditioned by our society, in spite of our Judeo-Christian heritage, to view death as something sad, and we are driven by our peers to obsess over earthly things rather than spiritual growth.

The really amazing thing is not that Paul made this statement while in prison. I think many people in prison would welcome the freedom of death. Especially if they were in a Roman prison; they would just be looking for some relief. The amazing thing is that Paul, fully recognizing the gain of heaven, also recognizes the job that is left for him to do here, but he doesn't see that job as something to hold to for personal gain.

Paul was one of the greatest heroes of the New Testament. A founder of churches and leader of the Christians. He could have chosen a life similar to that of a modern day televangelist. He could have had wealth, and followers, and people sitting around just looking for a reason to stroke his ego. Paul didn't want all of that, though, he only wanted to be with Christ, and he reluctantly accepted the fact that he needed to stay on earth to continue the work of Christ.

It's not that he didn't care for others and was selfish about wanting to go to heaven. He obviously cared a great deal about others. He just realized that as good as it was to be close to Christ on earth and doing the work of the ministry it was nothing compared to actually being in the presence of Christ.

Ephesians 6

Paul writes about slaves obeying their masters and masters treating their slaves properly. In the context of their culture, that makes perfect sense. Most of the Roman Empire was populated with slaves and those slaves supported the economy and technology of the time. In the present, we have outlawed slavery, but this same principle can be applied.

Although we are not strictly bound to a master, most of us do still work for someone much as the slaves of old did. Of course, we are free to change jobs generally at will and we are free to hire and fire our workers generally at will, but the principle of working for someone else is still in place. I think that this really cuts to the heart of the passage.

It's not about condoning or condemning slavery. It's about condoning the idea that we all work for someone here on earth and that we should all do that to the best of our ability. It's about recognizing the fact that many of us in management or higher levels of our companies have others that work for us, and we should respect them and treat them with dignity. Finally, it's about recognizing that even though hierarchical organizations and command structure are necessary here on earth, they do not exist in God's eyes. He sees us all as equally sinful and equally redeemed, so we should be careful to not be too prideful or too envious of our earthly situation.

Ephesians 5

In our hustle and bustle world, we go through life so quickly, that we tend to miss the opportunities that God puts right in front of us. How many times have you looked back on your day and realized that you completely forgot to pray or that you had a chance to tell someone about Christ and avoided it because you didn't have time? It happens more often than I would like to admit.

Paul admonishes that Ephesians here not only to avoid the sins of their society but also to identify those opportunities to share Christ. We don't have much time on this earth, so we must use what we do have to our advantage. Paul even goes so far as to say that a wise man will have his life in balance such that he can actually make the most of those opportunities and by extent, then, those of us that have other things in the way are foolish. Is your life in balance so that you can make time when opportunities to share present themselves? Is your life in balance such that when you share moral values with others they can trust you as being honest about your life?

Ephesians 4

As a church body, we each have different gifts and responsibilities. God has created this in His perfect plan, and when things are working together, then the system is really pretty cool. Unfortunately, we are not yet in heaven, so we can only approximate the perfect church in our sinful world, and that means that conflicts will arise and could distract from the perfect plan of God.

We are not supposed to pretend that conflict doesn't happen in the church or put on a false front that claims that everything is good when it is not. In fact, we are encouraged to truthfully deal with these conflicts and get them out in the open. Even so, we should also be aware that this could lead to anger. Sometimes conflicts cannot be resolved peacefully, and that is okay. It's okay to be angry.

"Be angry but do not sin." How is that possible? When you are angry at someone, do not cross the line into hate, do not cross the line into blaming and name calling, and do not let your anger simmer. If you are angry deal with it and settle the issue that day, and be sure that whatever words you speak are wholesome and designed to resolve the issue.

Ephesians 3

Paul's prayer for the Gentiles in Ephesus is that they would learn the truth of God and be able to enjoy their relationship with Him. Recognizing that they were not raised Jewish, he slowly introduces them to the idea that they are not an anomaly and that God has always planned to extend salvation to the Gentiles.

God created His chosen people, the Jews, for the purpose of communicating his presence, will, and nature with the world. He did not chose them solely for salvation. Recall that the first of the patriarchs were not even Jewish. Abraham and Isaac were not a part of any organized culture or religion, they just knew God. It wasn't until later that Israel was born and the Jewish religion was even later than that.

Somewhere along the way, the message was tainted and the Gentiles were believed to have no part in the inheritance of heaven, but Christ changed that and through revelation to Paul made it clear that the Gospel must be preached to the world. The question that we must ask ourselves after reading this passage is whether or not we believe that God can and will save anyone or if we try to keep the Gospel within our own circle of friends and make our judgments about who can and will be saved?

Ephesians 2

We were created to do good works. As Christians, we are commissioned to do good works. We are not saved by those good works. It's important to make that distinction. Good works comes after salvation. It is the resulting action from salvation and not the cause. As a matter of fact, before salvation Paul says that we are dead in our transgressions and sins. We are incapable of actually doing any good works. We are made alive by the spirit and by God's grace, and once we are alive, we are capable of fulfilling our purpose to do good works.

Don't be confused with whether we have to do good works or not. We certainly do not have to do anything for salvation, but realize that the natural result of salvation is good works. So, salvation that is not followed by good works may not have been salvation at all.

Ephesians 1

Paul says that when he heard about the church at Ephesus, he immediately started praying for them. He praised God that they existed and prayed for God to help them survive as a church. How amazing it must have been to be so excited about the creation of a small gathering of believers. I've never really experienced that. We almost have a glut of churches in our society.

Everywhere I turn there's a church of one kind or another. Most are some flavor of Christianity, but some are for other things. The point being that if one went away or another appeared it really wouldn't impact me very much. Even if I heard of a new church in some distant land where there were not very many believers, it probably wouldn't impact me the same as it did Paul. It's just not a significant event in my mind when I've been so de-sensitized to the existence of churches.

My prayer is that I would recognize the struggling churches and the new churches being started all over the world and learn to pray for them and their growth as we all try to live out the Great Commission.

Romans 16

It is of the utmost importance that we recognize those that help us succeed. Paul spent much of his time travelling, preaching, and writing letters, and as such he is credited with building and nurturing many of the earliest churches in the world. Thankfully, Paul recognizes that he didn't work alone.

As he closes this letter, I am reminded to share my thanks with all of those that have helped me over the years. Some have helped me succeed in my job. Some have helped me succeed in ministry. Some have helped me be a better parent. Some have helped me be a better husband. And some have helped me have more fun. The point is that we are not alone, and we do not live in a vacuum. We work together with others every day, and we always need to remember the help that they provide in our success.

Romans 15

The strong take care of the weak. We all know this, but do we handle it correctly? Too often the strong help the weak for the purpose of either becoming stronger or just so that others can see them. The important focus of this passage is to recognize Christ's example in this. Christ, God as man, was the strongest of us all. He was able to withstand all temptation and was without sin. And He definitely used His strength to help the weak, but not so that He would be stronger and not so that others would see. He did these things so that the weak would be stronger. He did these things to build us up.

If you are stronger than someone else, then help them. But make sure that you are doing it in a way that is truly helpful to them and not in such a way as to help yourself through them. We are not called to take advantage of other Christians but to build one another up.

Romans 14

Even within the boundaries of what would be considered appropriate behavior, there are things that can cause us to sin. For example, there are no remaining boundaries on proper eating behavior, but someone that eats in place of a relationship with God is in sin. We all have to eat, and we can all eat whatever we want, and some of us even use eating as a substitute for a relationship with others. All of that is okay (not necessarily sociologically or dietary wise, but it's okay in terms of your relationship with God). However, if you replace your relationship with God with eating, then you have moved into an area of sin with something that is really not generally considered sinful.

Now, if you have that issue and must be careful with what and how you eat for fear of damaging your relationship with God, then who am I to tell you any different? And if I do not have that issue, then who are you to tell me that I need to be more like you? The focus is not on the action – the eating, not eating, or anything else – the focus is on your relationship with God, and if we both have that, then we are both right.

Be careful here, because this is not moral relativism. This is not saying that just because something feels okay to me makes it okay. It's not saying that just because something feels wrong to you doesn't necessarily make it wrong for me. This is strictly within the confines of things that are already established to be okay morally. Things that are outside of the moral boundaries are wrong regardless of how you feel about them, and those things always damage your relationship with God.

Romans 13

We are obligated to follow both God's law and man's law to the extent possible. When man's law contradicts God's law, then clearly God trumps man, but until that point, we must obey both. As such, we should also recognize that God is going to hold the rulers to a different level of responsibility for their actions. They are obligated to devote their time to the people, and if they do not they have failed God and the people. Regardless, this is not our judgment to make. We are simply commanded to give respect and honor to those that God has placed in charge of us.

Romans 12

God has put together the largest team in history and called it the church. Each of the players perform different functions as we race toward the end of time and the ultimate goal of completing His mission of spreading the Gospel throughout the world. And just like the fact that not everyone on a sports team does the same thing, not everyone on God's team does the same thing. Some of us are made to work within the team building each other up, teaching, and helping to counsel those that have fallen. Some of us are made to stand on the front line preaching directly to those that are unbelievers or have never heard the Gospel. Some of us are made to stand between the two working closely with Christians and helping to nurture those that have heard the Word but have not yet made the commitment.

Wherever you are on this team, it is important, and without your position the team would fall apart. Don't think that those that preach are the most important or that those who travel to foreign countries are the most important. Without the support of those that teach and counsel and disciple, the preachers and missionaries would be no more than voices in the wind.

When we start to believe that some positions are more important than others, then we begin to grow envious of one another and we start to fight internally. Our Gospel is peace and love and salvation for man, how effective can that be when the observations from outside reveal internal strife, tension, and aggression? Learn to live in peace with others and allow the Lord to straighten out the details.

Romans 11

The Hebrews are God's chosen people. However, God chose to remove some of them and allow Gentiles to be brought into His family because of the unbelief of the Hebrews. At present, the Gentiles seem to have the market share on Christianity and many of us seem to believe that we have become God's chosen people. We've forgotten the history of this story. The Hebrews are still God's chosen people.

Let's not be arrogant about our position in the family of God. Sure, we are Christians. Sure, we are part of God's family. Sure, we are saved. Remember, though, that God was willing to cast off a portion of His chosen people and bring us (the Gentiles) in to their place. If that is the case, then what concern does He have for Gentiles who choose not to believe? We must stand in awe and humility when we realize that position that grace has afforded us in the family of God.

God choose as He wills, and He has chosen to show His mercy and grace to those of us that are Christians. This is not something for us to boast about or to be proud about. This is simply something for us to be grateful in, awed by, and humbled through. Thanks be to God for saving me.

Romans 10

Like so many "Christians" today, the Israelites were excited about serving God. They went to temple, said their prayers, memorized scriptures, etc. Like many "Christians" today, they understood the awesomeness of God and had such devotion to Him that they could make a true Christian question his own reverence. But it wasn't enough, and it's still not enough today.

Being excited about God and reverent to God is great, but God is not interested in that as your primary focus. God is interested in your relationship with Him and your acceptance of His Son as your savior. If you pass on the salvation and the relationship, then you've created a situation where you are trying to judge yourself through your zeal for God. You've exchanged the opportunity to actually be made righteousness for the illusion of righteousness. Don't try to make your own righteousness. Trust God and accept His Son so that you can truly be righteous.

Romans 9

Not everything in the Bible is something that we can completely understand. We are the creation of an infinite being, so we are limited by our position in the universe. Our perspective gets in the way. The question that Paul is wrestling with in the passage, though, is really centered on why the Jews are not the main target of his ministry. The Jews are supposed to be the chosen people, so why is Paul preaching to the Gentiles.

Paul asserts that the chosen people has little do with the physical lineage of anyone, and more to do with God's promises. God promised to bless Abrahams' descendants through Isaac, and the fact of that is that He didn't mean, literally, all of the physical descendants. God meant that He was going to bless those that followed from His promise and were born in faith.

So the natural question is, why not bless the others? To which the only sensible answer is, what position are we in to question God? God created each of us for a purpose, and throughout the Bible He has chosen to use people to show His glory. What if He chose that some would be saved to show His mercy and others would not to show His justice? I don't know that He did or didn't do that, the Bible seems to indicate both that He did and that He didn't and my brain can't really reconcile the two. The point, though, is that it doesn't matter.

God saved me and I praise Him for that. God commands me to share His gospel with others, and I try to be obedient in that. That's really all that mattes.

Romans 8

Because we were unable to fulfill the Law, Christ died for us. Even though we were sinners, Christ died for us. If God was willing to do this, give up His Son, then what would He not do for us? Paul hopes for us to understand that we are not slaves to Law and to our sinful nature. If we choose to accept Christ and live according to the Spirit we will still sin because we are human, but we will also realize the freedom and peace that comes from being a child of God.

We are not yet redeemed, that is our hope. And we wait for that day of redemption when we can be truly revealed as sons of God and heirs alongside Christ. Until then, we are weak and we must strive to allow the Spirit to drive us and not our sinful nature. The great thing is that the Spirit will help us through this. The Holy Spirit is our helper, and part of that help is interceding on our behalf so that we can turn from our sinful nature. God is always working for the good of the believers.

Romans 7

Our brains have difficulty processing negatives. In fact, I wonder if it's even possible for us to process a negative statement. Let me give you an example: do not think about an elephant in a tutu. You saw in your mind an elephant in a tutu, didn't you? Of course you did, you can't help it. It's almost as if your brain completely ignores the word "not." It's part of our nature, and it creates opportunities for sin.

Before I told you not to think about an elephant, odds are that you weren't thinking one, but the second that I told you not to do it, you did. And even now, you may still have some thought of an elephant in your head that you just can't get rid of. Why an elephant? Why is it wearing a tutu? Is it graceful? Sorry, I got sidetracked.

The point is, as a species, we are sinful, but our sinning tends to increase in relation to number of things that we are told to avoid. Thinking about an elephant is not all that important, but the second that we are told not to covet, to use Paul's example, we start to covet. It's a destructive cycle. The good news is that we can live through the grace of Jesus and step away from the legality of the Law. We can't ignore the Law, but we don't have to be bound to it, and we can live with assurance of salvation and forgiveness through grace. Because trying it on our own is going to be like trying to not think of an elephant, it's impossible.

Romans 6

Should we sin just because we are forgiven? Should we worry about doing the right thing since we are already saved?

These are things that we use to justify our continually sinful behavior and nature. Regardless of whether we are forgiven or saved, nothing has changed in terms of proper behavior. God still expects us to uphold His statutes and strive to cease sinning. Of course, we are forgiven for our sins and God realizes that we aren't perfect, but for us to continue to sin does not represent any change in our heart.

When we are united with Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. We have the ability to call on the Holy Spirit to assist in times of temptation. Although we can't, by natural means, help but to sin, we can by supernatural means avoid it, and that is part of the learning process. A sinner outside of a relationship with God doesn't realize that anything is wrong. He's always been a slave to sin, so he's just behaving the way that he always has. A Christian is a slave to righteousness, so it's glaringly obvious in his spirit when he has sinned and stepped outside of righteousness.

Romans 5

There are two landmark events in the spiritual history of man. The first is the introduction of sin. God gave a specific command to Adam, and Adam disobeyed that command. From that point forward man was enslaved to sin. Death was given reign over the world and man was powerless to stop it. Man still is powerless to stop it.

Further down the line, God gave man the Law. The Law was designed to help man recognize his sin and his ultimate fate of death. It revealed the despair of humanity. One man made a single mistake and condemned all of those behind him to a penalty of death. It seems unfair, but it's not all that uncommon. One man in the White House can order thousands to battle and death, one man in the Kremlin can devastate an entire continent with the push of a button, it's not all that unreasonable to think that decisions on a universal, spiritual scale could impact generations to come.

But it didn't stay that way. Much like decisions that we make in the physical world, change happens and new opportunities are presented. Through Christ, the reign of death was broken. Through Christ, the sin was forgiven and the opportunity for redemption was made available to humankind. So, through a single man humanity was condemned and through a single man humanity was saved.

The first Adam and the second Adam were both the direct offspring of God. The first was merely an image of God, and the second was the embodiment of God. There's a huge difference. In the first, God was creating a new kind of being; a human being. In the second, God was creating a way to relate to a human being. In the first, the condemnation was extended to all without discrimination, and in the second, salvation was provided only to those that believe.

Stop following in the footsteps of the first Adam, you can't possibly succeed. Start following in the footsteps of the second.

Romans 4

There are only two ways to go in a relationship with God: worker and taskmaster or child and father.

The worker receives the just recompense for his labor based on the quality and amount of work that is done for the taskmaster and there is always a separation between the two. In the case of God, the standard by which he judges the work is so far above the quality of work that we can produce, there is not only no hope of ever getting to know God, there is also no hope of ever being able to earn any beneficial wage out of the work. Just as you don't want to pay a service man who was unable to repair your car, God won't reward those that can't repair the world.

The good news is that our relationship with God does not have to be that of worker and taskmaster. God is willing to do the work as our Father and to treat us as His children. Just like with our own kids, He still has work for us to do, but it is work like chores. We can't be fired for not doing them, and we don't lose wages for doing them poorly. We remain in the family regardless and we still receive the inheritance regardless. It's just a question of the quality of relationship that we have with the Father.

As proof of this dynamic, Paul takes us back to Abraham and points out that Abraham was not justified before God because he followed the Law. He was not justified because of his works. In fact, Paul points out that Abraham was justified before God before the Law even existed. He was justified before there even was a notion of circumcision. The Law came much later with Moses and the circumcision served only as a reminder of the family that he had joined through his faith in God.

Therefore, Paul says that we are foolish to believe that we must do this or that to receive God's reward. God has never worked that way and never will. All that must happen is for us to realize that God can do as He wills and that we must believe that and allow God to direct our paths.

Romans 3

Some things exist only because we believe that they exist. For example, our economy is based on the belief that our money is worth something. There is not enough gold and silver in the world to back the amount of money that our treasury puts out, but we still continue to believe that a dollar is worth something more than the paper that it's printed on. If we stop believing in the value of our dollar, then our entire economic system will collapse.

On the other hand, there are things that exist regardless of whether you believe in them or not. They are absolutes. Gravity, for example, would continue to hold you to the earth regardless of whether you believed in it or not. As a matter of fact, no one even knew what gravity was until the 1680s. That didn't keep it from working before then even though no one believed in it.

God is like gravity. He'll be there regardless of whether we believe or not, and that testifies to the glory of God. The temptation of some, though, is to take this line of reasoning and skew it a little. They would say that when someone lacks faith then that increases God's glory when God is finally revealed to be true, so disbelief is actually just as good as real belief if not better. I've even heard some say that Satan is not really evil because He exists so that God can be seen as good. Without the contrast, they say, we wouldn't be able to recognize good and evil, so they are really both good in a sense.

What a convoluted, crazy way to view the world! We are already sinners. We are already condemned to death. Why in the world would want to forsake forgiveness in a vain attempt to do more evil so that God can be glorified. God is glorified regardless. Choose Him. Our faith in Christ is the only way that we can truly do any good at all.

Romans 2

What good is it to call ourselves Christian and then behave as a pagan? None. There is a story about Alexander the Great where supposedly a young man was brought before Alexander because he had fled in battle. Alexander the Great, of course, did not approve of this behavior and asked the young man his name. The young man replied that his name was also Alexander, to which, Alexander the Great responded, "Change your name or change your behavior."

So many Christians today need to understand this story. If you are going to have the name of Christian, then the behavior must come along with it. This is not to say that we are saved through our works because we are not; it is just to say that there is a certain behavior that comes from a relationship with God. If you are not exhibiting that behavior, then you may want to take another look at your relationship with God.

The statement that I have heard many times before, and that statement that Paul makes to the Romans, is that there are plenty of people in the world that are more Christian than the people that go to church every Sunday. Paul's statement is more along the lines of the fact there are plenty of people that are closer to God without circumcision than there are that have circumcision. In both cases, trust is being placed in the wrong thing. In one case it is likely a trust in church attendance and in the other it's the fact that they are physically circumcised. God is not looking for either of these. God is looking for a relationship which means communion with Him all the time and a circumcision of the heart.

Romans 1

People ask all the time about what will happen to those that die in some far off country and have never heard the Gospel. Will God condemn to the flames as a result of their disbelief? The problem, though, with this line of thinking is the assumption that there is disbelief at all. Paul tells us in this passage that God's nature and power are clearly visible to everyone and that man is without excuse.

Paul tells us that there are some in Rome that have believed even though Paul hasn't ever been able to bring the Gospel there. The Romans are almost like the people that we worry about. They are the ones that are on the fringe of the Christian movement at this time. They are the ones that no one has been able to reach, and yet they have heard of the Gospel and believed. Surely others have been there besides Paul and Paul was certainly not the only person preaching the Gospel. The point, though, is that God found a way to reach those that wanted to know Him.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis tells us that all of humanity has the same sense of right and wrong. He doesn't expand on that, but I think we all have to agree that it goes back to the fall of man in the garden. What else would be the logical result of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil except that mankind would then know the difference? This doesn't mean that man has any capability to behave one way or another, just that he knows the difference. I think that God also gave humanity a universal desire to have a relationship with Him.

We all believe in a supernatural power of some kind. For me, it's God and His son Jesus Christ. For others it might be something else. And for those holdout atheists that claim to not believe in anything supernatural, let me remind you that your beloved sense of reason is not to be found anywhere else in the universe. If you take God out of the equation and the universe is just a random event, then reason must also be supernatural (of course, if you leave God in, it's still supernatural, so it really doesn't matter). Regardless, we all believe in something more powerful than ourselves, and I wonder if God doesn't work with this to reveal Himself.

It's common knowledge that many different societies and religions share similar stories of creation, a flood, a messiah, a resurrection, atonement through blood, etc. Christianity certainly does not have that market cornered, but we still believe that we have the truth. How can that be reconciled? Some would say that the stories that exist in other religions are plants by Satan to drive those people away from God, but I wonder if that's really the truth.

Let me be clear before I continue. I DO NOT believe that all religions of the world are essentially the same thing. In fact, I recognize that most of the world's religions are based on a system of good deeds in return for a reward after death. Christianity and God is not about that. Christianity is about a relationship with God, and about the atonement through the blood of Christ. Without that belief, there is no reward. Period. God is very clear on this point, and I want to be as well.

I do wonder, however, why Satan would try to influence a group of people, that have never heard the Gospel, away from the Gospel. It seems like a waste of time to me. If they are already in the dark, why mess with them? And if that makes sense to you, then don't you have to wonder, where then did these near-Christian ideas come from? Does it make sense that they may have come from God? Does it make sense that, just like Paul tells us in this passage, that the people recognize the nature of God and were trying to have a relationship with Him just like the Jews?

Some people would say that that can't be true because the Jews were God's chosen people. To them, I would ask, chosen for what? They weren't the only people that God revealed Himself to. Even in the Old Testament, God spoke with people that were not Jewish (Balaam – Numbers 22). So why wouldn't He also speak or reveal Himself to those on the other side of the world? Could that be the reason that the stories are so similar?

At the same time, Paul reminds us that while every man has the ability to know God, every man also has the ability to recognize the difference between good and evil, and that in some cases, God has allowed man to choose evil and has turned man over to the natural results of that. Entire societies have been brought down by the results of disease, famine, war, earthquakes, and floods. Some of that, Paul attests, is the result of the evil of man and the judgment of God. What will be the result for our society? We have a near-Christian idea of God just like many others that we consider pagan. Collectively, we tend to accept the evil that men do as okay for them if it doesn't touch me. Generally, we turn our head when people make their own choices to ignore God. Will this result in our downfall? And what will that downfall look like?

Matthew 28

Who are we more like: the disciples or the soldiers and chief priests? The disciples did not witness Christ's resurrection, but accepted it as true and went to the meeting place where Jesus was supposed to appear. Some doubted, but they went anyway. On the other hand, the high priests did not witness the resurrection either, and they rejected eyewitness testimony and created a more plausible explanation.

Our society has become so focused on science and technology, I think that we tend more toward the latter in most cases. When we hear of an event that defies explanation we are not going to assume that it's true and that it's a miracle of God. We are going to look for a plausible scientific explanation and if we can't find, we'll make up a new theory to justify it. How can we do this and call ourselves Christian at the same time? How can we justify being closed to the idea that some things happen outside of the "normal" rules?

God can do anything. We need to be open to the possibilities and not closed off in a temple of reason and science.

Matthew 27

On the surface, this seems like a part of the Bible that doesn't make good logical sense. If Jesus was supposed to be crucified as the ultimate sacrificial lamb, then why is Judas portrayed negatively? In the Old Testament, the high priest was not portrayed negatively when he killed the sacrificial lamb. Nor was the man who brought the lamb or the man who sold the lamb. All of these people were understood to work in concert together so that the sacrifice could occur and the sins of the people could be atoned until the next sacrifice. If Jesus was supposed to be that sacrificial lamb, then why was Judas not appreciated, and why did he end up committing suicide?

We have to remember that none of the disciples understood why Jesus had to die. At least not at this point, they didn't. They wanted Him to stay with them and continue to teach them. Basically, they were selfish. Judas was selfish in that he wanted money and was willing to trade Christ for it. The rest of the disciples were selfish in that they didn't want Christ to leave them and then once He was arrested they were selfish in that they didn't want to be associated with Him. It's a bit ironic I think when you realize that all of the disciples had the same problem, it manifested itself in different ways, and it all served to the glory of God.

If Judas had not been selfish, He would not have betrayed Christ and started events in motion that ultimately led to His death: the atoning sacrifice for all of mankind. If the other disciples had not been selfish then perhaps they would have stood by Christ's side and forced a different outcome at the trials. Perhaps they would have reminded the crowd of Jesus' teachings and miracles and persuaded them to crucify Barrabas. Their selfishness kept them away and allowed events to continue unfolding so that Christ would be sacrificed.

Does this mean that we should be okay with sin in our lives? Or does this mean that it was really a sin for the disciples to be selfish? Or is it even more complicated than that? I don't know. I suspect that it is more complicated than that. Sin is sin, but God is able to use all things to His glory. Judas was wrong in betraying Christ because of His motivation. If he had done it out of the same motivation as the high priest, or the man who offered the lamb, or the man who sold the lamb, His outcome would likely have been different. He didn't work from the standpoint of saving the world, though. He worked from the standpoint of serving himself.

This passage doesn't seem to make sense on the surface and books have emerged that take that apparently illogical turn of events and try to make things different than they were. The fact remains, though, that there is no inconsistency with God, and this is just one more reminder of why everyone (including the disciples) need salvation.

Matthew 26

We've got to be honest with ourselves. If Jesus walked in right now and said that you need to do something for Him, would you do it? I'll bet that most of everyone would answer yes to that question. Even those that don't believe in God would probably obey because if Christ walked in the room, then their disbelief would go away pretty quickly. The problem is that that's not an honest answer. It's a hopeful answer. It's an optimistic answer. It's not an honest answer.

Look at the example of the disciples. Christ asked them to stay awake and pray while He was praying in the garden. These guys lived with Christ. They walked and talked with Him. They knew that He was the Son of God, and they couldn't even figure out a plan to keep each other awake. Peter and the others scattered to the wind when Christ was captured. And Peter even denied Christ three times after he specifically told Jesus that he would never do such a thing.

If the disciples couldn't keep it together when Christ asked for relatively simple things, then how arrogant must we be to think that we could? How prideful are we to think that we can do this on our own? We can't. We never could. And neither could the disciples. That's the whole reason behind Christ coming in the first place. Do you think things would have gone differently in this part of the passage if the disciples had stepped down from their pride and admitted to Christ that they couldn't do it alone? Would it have been different if they had asked for help? We'll never know for sure, but I'm glad that they didn't. It reminds me of what will happen in my own life if I start to get to sure of myself and start to believe that I have the strength to follow on my own.

Matthew 25

Are you taking care of others? Are you looking for people in need and trying to bridge the gap to meet their needs?

At the end of this chapter, Jesus wasn't just talking about meeting physical needs. Although it is important for us to do that, it is not the most important need for us to meet. We forget sometimes that meeting physical needs is often the first step in being able to help address the more pressing spiritual needs of humanity. Our society, and our churches by extension, has come to rely too heavily on the government to provide for the people in need that we tend to overlook them as we go about our worship surrounded by others that are just as well off as ourselves.

Meeting physical needs builds relationships and building relationships leads to the ability to meet the spiritual needs that Christ is also talking about in this passage. Have you fed someone with the meat of the Word? Have you given someone a drink of the milk of the Word? Have you invited someone to join you as a brother in Christ? Have you helped to clothe someone in the Armor of God? Have you walked alongside someone hurting with sin? Or have you shown the way to be free from the prison of sin?