Darkness and Light

 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32

Lord of all, our world seems so messed up, beyond redemption. But we thank You that nothing, no one is beyond your saving grace. Good CAN - and WILL - overcome evil. Help us to shine Your light in this ever-deepening darkness. Give us your heart for all of Your creation. Thank you for inviting us to participate in Your plan of redemption. Amen.

Hope

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Romans 1:29-31

Sounds about right, doesn't it? For something written hundreds of years ago, it's a pretty apt description of the world as we know it, too. People are always saying how things just seem to be getting worse and worse, but it appears that evil was pretty prevalent back in Paul's day, as well. "They invent ways of doing evil" - that phrase seems so apropos for our current situation; just when you think things can't get any worse, someone figures out a way to take evil to the next level. 

It seems hopeless sometimes - that no amount of good could ever overcome so much evil. I don't know why bad things happen to good people or why it seems that evil is allowed to run rampant and unchecked. And that's ok. (I used to think that I had to have all the answers, that somehow God needed defending. Pedantic would have been a good word to describe me. I know I still have a tendency to slip into that occasionally...sorry :) )

But I do know my Father. He's the God of hope, and I can trust Him. The truth of the matter is that we never have to be without hope. I peeked ahead to the end of the book and found this gem:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Truth and Lies

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 

Romans 1:24-27

There's a lot that could be said about this passage. A lot. But it's not the results that I want to address today; it's the cause. Not just of this particular issue, but all sin. "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served created things rather than the Creator..." (v. 25) 

When we exchange the truth of God for lies, everything gets messed up. One major element of my own journey to freedom the past few years has been identifying lies I'd come to believe and then deliberately replacing them with the truth. For example, for most of my life I believed I was worthless and undeserving of love. Shame coloured my whole world, but it was so insidious that I wasn't even aware of it - it was my normal. When God's truth finally broke in, and I started to believe it, everything changed. (You can read the whole amazing story here.) 

God of all truth, please open our eyes to the lies that have become a part of who we are. Guide us in your truth and teach us your ways. Thank you for the freedom that comes when your truth sets us free! Amen. 

The Wrath of God?

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:18-23

Hmmm. The wrath of God. This is something we don't talk about much as believers, but it's also what the rest of the world tends to focus on when they think about God. Maybe because we refuse to address it, so people are left to figure it out for themselves, left to assume that God is out to get them because they're "bad"? 

It would be so simple if God would just judge and punish "evil", and protect and reward "good", right? But it doesn't work that way. There are two seemingly-contradictory truths at work here: 1) God is holy and just and 2) God is gracious and merciful. That God is holy and just means that sin must be addressed and dealt with - no turning a blind eye or sweeping it under the rug. And the mother-sin, the sin from which all other sin flows, is when people deny God the number one position - in everything. That's who He is, and according to this passage, EVERYONE knows it. But "...although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."

God made us and knows us and loves us, and so His guidelines for living are the best thing for us. Period. And when we stop looking to God for how to live, the consequences aren't pretty - the Garden of Eden is exhibit A, and it all goes downhill from there. It really is that simple. 

So that's the bad news. The good news, the astounding news, the astonishing, beautiful, wonderful news is that it doesn't have to end this way. God provided full payment for this staggering sin-debt of ours. Paul writes a little later in this letter (Romans 6:23) that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Awesome, isn't it?

Thank you, Jesus. 

Good News!

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:14-16

First of all, verse 14 really struck me funny. Paul writes that it's his job to share the gospel with both Greeks and non-Greeks, with both the wise and the foolish. He says he's so eager to preach it to the Romans, but he never says whether they're among the wise or the foolish! (And in his word ordering, he kind of implies that the Romans - the non-Greeks - are in category B rather than A.) Just a little thing, no real significant spiritual meaning that I can see, it just made me laugh :) 

Ok, on to the more serious stuff. Three things here I want to mention briefly. 

1) Paul, in this and all his letters, is so EAGER to share the good news! The opposite of ashamed, he's bold and fearless and brave and intentional...why? Because he's absolutely convinced that what he has to share is indeed good news. AND he's being obedient - he's voluntarily chosen to become God's servant, or slave as he says in other letters. 

2) This gospel is powerful! We toss around the word "salvation" until it's kind of meaningless, but to literally be saved from death and eternal separation from God is pretty awesome! And even more than that, to be saved to relationship with God and everything that comes with it - the love and freedom and power and peace and all the rest...Good news, indeed!

3)The phrase "first to the Jew, then to the Gentile" used to tick me off a bit. But when I think of how the vast majority of the Jewish people refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah they'd been longing for, I don't envy them a bit. I'm so grateful that God extended this offer of salvation to "everyone who believes". What a gift! 

God of Good News, You are awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you for grace - grace that saves us from death and saves us to life; real life, abundant life, eternal life...Thank you! May we be so full of gratitude and joy because of Who you are and what You have given that it overflows and saturates all of our relationships with your gospel grace. Amen.

Kindred Spirits

11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. Romans 1:11-12

*There's so much in this first chapter of Romans that I think I'll spend next week on it, too :)  

I love what Paul says here to the believers in Rome, why he's so looking forward to seeing them: "that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." He had written earlier on that he gave thanks for them because of their great faith, which was being reported all over the world. (v.8) Something exciting was happening in Rome, and Paul wanted to get in on it! I think he was anticipating that incredible experience of being with "kindred spirits" in the truest sense of the phrase. Paul knew the joy of doing life with real brothers and sisters in Christ, and he didn't want to miss out. He was looking forward both to encouraging them and being encouraged by them.

I know just how he feels. There's nothing more delightful than worshiping with people who "get it" - who love God and seek His will and revel in His presence and power and live in His peace. I've had the privilege and pleasure of being a part of several faith communities over the years with whom I've experienced this awesome phenomenon, and I'm so grateful - life is so much sweeter when shared with family. Not bound by blood ties, necessarily, but by the bonds of Spirit kinship. 

Good Father, thank you so much for those people in my life, past and present, who have encouraged my faith and brought so much joy by sharing their passion for You. Please use me to be such a blessing wherever I go. Amen.

Man Plans, God Laughs

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. Romans 1:13

Just one verse today - because it stirs up in me a lot more questions than I tend to be comfortable with. Paul wants the believers in Rome to know that he did indeed want to be with them in person, that he had "planned many times" to come to them, but that he'd been prevented. Prevented by what, is my question. By God? By the enemy thwarting God's purposes? I've always figured that if anyone was in tune with God's will, it would be Paul. But then again, Paul was human, too. 

It turns out that Paul didn't make it to Rome until a couple of years after he wrote this letter, and in a way that he probably wasn't counting on. Paul finally arrived in Rome, but as a prisoner. But according to Acts, Paul was able to remain there, still as a prisoner, for 2 years and ended up having a fruitful ministry. (Acts 28:30-31) 

Reading the account of Paul's journey to Rome in Acts 28 reminds me a little of my own life - the unexpected twists and turns it has taken. Paul was travelling as a prisoner, they were shipwrecked on an island for 3 months, and on and on it goes. But it's very clear, looking back, that God's hand was in all of it, and it all turned out better than anyone could have planned. 

So here's what I take from this: God knows what He's doing. He takes things that look really bad and brings good out of them. So I can trust Him. Might seem a bit too simplistic, but I believe most truth is pretty simple. 

Lord of ALL, thank you. I believe You've got this - ALL of it. Thank you that I can know Your crazy, irrational peace right in the middle of my most hopeless-looking shipwrecks. Please help me live in Your peace today. Amen.

Pray Without Ceasing?

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. Romans 1:7-10

There's a lot in this passage I'd love to discuss, but it's verses 9 and 10 that sparked my imagination today. What must Paul's prayer life have been like? He "constantly" remembers the church in Rome in his prayers "at all times"? Wow. I can just imagine Paul's prayer list - all the churches and people he'd introduced to Jesus and encouraged and discipled and lived life with, as well as so many who had yet to hear or to respond to the message. He obviously believed in the power of prayer. My suspicion is that he had learned the secret to living in constant communication with the Father, like Brother Lawrence in "Practicing the Presence of God". That's why he could later exhort the church at Thessalonica to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17). 

Here's one more element of Christian living that has produced much guilt in my life in the past - but one that I'm learning to re-frame according to the grace I've recently found. Praying without ceasing seems an insurmountable task, doesn't it? It does when I think of it in terms of how I was raised to view prayer: a specific time set aside in one's day (the longer, the better) to humbly pray through a (long) list of concerns and requests, from immediate family to world hunger and everything in between, and to give thanks for answers received. For many years, I tried and failed to consistently implement this into my life. Talk about discouraging! While this kind of focused, disciplined prayer definitely has a place in the life of the believer, it's much easier to follow through when we're already living life in fellowship with God. And for me, that's simply about remembering and being aware of the fact that God is always with me. We all have a pretty much constant inner monologue (Right? It's not just me?) that I'm training myself to turn into a kind of prayer, to direct God-ward. 

And one more thing: I think it's pretty cool that Paul let the Romans know he was lifting them up in prayer. I love it when someone tells me they're praying for me - it makes me feel loved and humbled all at the same time. 

Challenge:

-to pray; to keep practicing the presence of God

-to remind people occasionally that I'm remembering them in my prayers

Without Apology

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scripture  regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 1:1-4

After Paul introduces himself as a servant of Christ Jesus, he quickly goes on to identify his Master. It would seem that Paul is particularly wanting to remind the Roman Christians that being a servant of Christ Jesus makes sense; it's not just some crazy, irrational whim. He reminds them that Jesus' coming was foretold centuries before His arrival by a variety of prophets, that His family connections are beyond reproach and that He did indeed rise from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul would go on in great detail about what it means to be a servant of Christ Jesus in the rest of his letter - perhaps this was his way of establishing his God-given authority to instruct them in such a firm, no-nonsense way. 

I have to boldly admit here that I've always been pretty afraid of sharing bits of my God-story with people who don't yet believe in Jesus. And when I've ever worked up the courage to do so, it's very often in a hesitant, apologetic manner. And although Paul is addressing believers here, I think I can take from this that I've also been given authority to share the Good News of Jesus, and that's it not complete and utter foolishness. While faith is certainly a significant aspect of our relationship with God, I can also take comfort in the fact that Jesus' life, death and resurrection are some of the most well-documented, historically reliable facts out there. (There are tons of good articles out there that go into this in greater detail, here's one:  https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/resurrection/resurrection-no-doubt-about-it/)  

Challenge:
-to remember that what Jesus has done in my life is indeed Good News
-to dare to share, with confidence and without apology

Who Am I?

I've decided to study the book of Romans this summer - I'm planning to spend a week digging in to each chapter. Here's what jumped out at me today:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God... Romans 1:1

This is the first sentence in a looooong letter that Paul is writing to the believers in Rome. Right off the bat, Paul identifies himself. Since he had never personally met this group of Christians, there are lots of things he could have said by way of introduction. Paul was a pretty impressive guy from his world's point of view: educated, influential, well-connected, etc... But Paul doesn't mention any of that. He sees himself first and foremost as "a servant of Christ Jesus". His encounter with Christ changed everything for him, set his feet on a completely different path. Now, instead of following his own inclinations and desires, his relationship with Jesus and his calling to serve Him determine his identity and direction. 

What about my identity? Who am I? For most of my life, it was based upon my achievements, my talents, my accomplishments. Or on my occupation, my position: student, wife, mother, leader; or what other people said about me...What I did, not who I was. But now, I'm learning to find my worth and value in whose I am.  I am a servant of Christ Jesus. He has saved me and called me and set me apart, too. 

The question I've been struggling with lately, however, is this: how is this actually playing out in my life? Do my choices reflect my calling? Are my thoughts, words and actions in line with what Jesus is inviting me to participate in? The answers to these questions don't determine who I am or affect my inherent value, but what's inside will come out in how I live my life. 

Challenge: 
- to be a little more thoughtful as I go about my day, taking notice of my motivation and behaviour, to see just how it lines up with what I say I believe.
- to allow Jesus to remind me who I really am, and to transform my life more and more in that direction

Welcome to The Joyful Word!

Welcome! You've somehow stumbled upon the very first post here at The Joyful Word - so glad to have you drop in!

This blog has a very specific purpose. I'm feeling a need to spend more and better time in God's great Word. "Disciplined" is not a word I would use to describe myself - far from it, actually. So this is my space of accountability. I hope to post five entries each week, in which I'll share what I'm discovering in whatever Scripture I'm studying. Nothing too long or too in-depth, just a few thoughts.

I'm pretty excited to be starting this journey. I grew up in the church, embraced a faith of my own at an early age, attended Bible college, worked in full- and part-time church jobs for most of my adult life and am currently the executive director of a ministry, so I think it's fair to say (and expect) that I have a respectable grasp of the Word. I love God's Word - I really believe that it's "living and active" (Hebrews 4:12) because every time I read it, I find something new, that applies to my current life situation. That's just plain amazing!

All that being said, I want to go deeper. I yearn to go deeper, higher. And you're invited.