Romans. .Week 2. .Discussion

Hello. .hello! Hope your week has gone well! 
I’ve been able to spend some time studying the spiritual gifts the last couple weeks. .
and even took an online inventory to help me identify my own gifts!!

Some things that I learned in my study of Spiritual gifts. .

1.) Every person with the Spirit of Christ living within them. .
is bestowed with a Spiritual gift or gifts. .
to use within the body of Christ (the universal church made up of all believers). This may be different than just the personality traits that you possess that you use for your daily jobs and have possessed from birth.

2.) The main purpose of the gifts. .
are to help strengthen and build up the living church, so that God’s work is carried out.

3.) We are not all given the same gifts. .
or the same capacity to use the gifts. .
so comparing what gifts we are given, vs gifts that other believers are given. .
is not a good plan.

4.) The gifts are like a muscle. .
in order to build the gift within ourself. .
we should be exercising the gift on a regular basis as God gives us opportunities.
 (and I will tell you. .He HAS given me opportunities over the last few years to start exercising my gifts!!)

5.) Like all other things that God blesses us with. .
we should work to steward our own spiritual gift(s) to the best of our ability. .
and I suspect that if we DON’T use our gifts. .
that we will have to explain to God on judgment day. .
why we didn’t choose to make the most of them!!

There are 4 places within Scripture. .
that discusses this concept. .those scriptures include. .

Romans 12:6-8;
1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30;
Ephesians 4:11;
and 1 Peter 4:9-11. .
I encourage you, when you have time. .to check those short verses out. .
just so you are aware that the bible makes mention of them in several locations.

If you are interested in learning more. .I encourage you. .
to check into this podcast series. .by Chip Ingram. .
 http://livingontheedge.org/podcast/Daily-Radio. .
you should be able to download them to your Kindles, Nooks, Ipods, droid phones etc, or listen directly off your computer. .
if you don’t have a podcast app on your device. .
search up a free one in the app store. .
and then when the app is installed search for Chip by name and the same list that I have included above from his website. .will come up and you can download for free there!!
Another great tool from technology! You can also do it via Itunes for free.
There are 4 messages. .and they are 50 minute messages divided into 2 parts each. .
I thought he did a great job of breaking down the gifts. .
The messages are from the series Your Divine Design going back to Sept 26-27 for part 1, which was a general overview. .
The meat of the series was Sept 30-Oct 1 talking about the different Spiritual gifts and helping you identify your primary gift. .
The next 2 podcasts talked about the gifts on a little different level and talked about developing the gift in your life. .
and the final two, which I listened to in an afternoon while cooking and doing laundry. .
talked about how people abuse those gifts as well on a number of different levels. And that was a very enlightening message to me, based on some study and conversations that my husband and I have had this week stemming from things outside of this particular study on Romans. .
The series would make great listening for commute time or as you do laundry!

Something else I was intrigued by. .
Pull out your bibles and look at the discussion placement of those gifts within the context of Romans 12. .
First Paul tells us to be a LIVING sacrifice to God. .
Offering our self. .ALL of our self. .for His use, to PLEASE Him. .

IS our spiritual WORSHIP??

 Have you ever stopped and thought about it that way??
Next Paul tells us that God actually gave us each some things within ourselves (spiritual gifts). .
to use as we perform OUR part of the “body” of Christ. .
Finally as he finishes chapter 12. .
Paul outlines some characteristics that should be apparent if we are living AS a holy and acceptable and living sacrifice to God!! If you don’t know ANY thing else from the book of Romans by the end of the month. .
you should KNOW these things. .
they should be at the top of our list of things to ask God to help us improve in our own lives!

If you are interested in completing a spiritual gift inventory yourself. .
this is the site that I used. .
http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/test/adult 
There is another tab at the top of this page labeled “spiritual gifts”. .
that does a nice job of explaining the gifts. .
it is quite similar to the way that Chip explains them in his podcast series. .
and resembles the other web sites that I studied over the last couple weeks as well.

SO. .the discussion for the week was. .
What did you learn about God this week out of the book of Romans??

There were a lot of qualities that I appreciated this week. .
For instance. .God is a God of endurance and encouragement and hope and peace (found throughout chapters 15-16). .
and those things spoke loudly to my heart this week. .but the part that I loved the best. .

was found in chapter 8. .verse 26. .
The Spirit helps us in OUR WEAKNESS. .and prays FOR us. .according to GOD’S will!!
How awesome IS that?!?

Romans 8:26-27 In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us^[l] with unspoken groanings. ²⁷ And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The “saints” are us, you know!! And then Paul goes on to remind us. .
that we KNOW. .
that all things work together for good for THOSE who LOVE God. .
those who are CALLED according to HIS purpose!! I think that is one of the most misquoted scriptures that I hear!!
People tend to stop after the “all things work together for good” and forget that God only promises that to those people that He calls His children!

There have been many times. .
when I find myself just babbling the same 5 words in my prayer because the situation is so intense that I just can’t get beyond those words. .
yet at the same time. .
I have just felt a comfort in my soul. .
knowing that the Spirit is already ON IT. .
communing straight with my heavenly Father on MY behalf. .
praying for the best solution to the problem. .
in accordance with the will of God. .and as the chapter continues. .
Paul reminds us a SECOND time. .that Jesus Christ himself is interceding for us. .
So the Spirit intercedes from WITHIN us. .FOR us. .
and Jesus, the 2^nd person of the Holy Trinity intercedes for us from His place in heaven at God’s right hand. .
and then Paul goes on to remind us. .
that NOTHING will EVER be able to separate us from the love of GOD IN Jesus Christ our Lord!!

And if that doesn’t just make you want to jump up from your chair and shout HALLELUIAH. .I just don’t know what will!!

Looking forward to hearing your responses over the course of the weekend!!
 Have a GREAT one!!
Love Melanie

Romans. .Week 2. .Fast Fact

Good morning. .hope your week is treating you well so far!!

True to my word Monday. .not a lot of information forthcoming this morning. .

I did hear this song last week. .
thinking that it went along so well with our challenge to put off the old creature and put on our new nature in Christ. .
if you have time listen to the song as you read the lyrics scroll across the screen. .
for me. .
I can really appreciate the words better when I am quiet as I listen and read to the tune. .
hope this is just what you all need this morning!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSyLqbP8Z4I Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave

So this morning. .the fast fact is. .

If you could change ONE thing about yourself. .what would it be?

Ready. .GO!

So. .how difficult is THAT??
One thing?? JUST one?? After some careful consideration. .
My answer is this thing. .

My tendency to make an assumption and BLOW before completely assessing the situation. .

Yikes!! I’m not as bad to other people. .
but within the confines of my own home. .look OUT!!
Next month. .we will get to dear James. .in 1:19. .
he reminds us to be. .Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. .
I CONSTANTLY get those mixed around. .I have read books on fixing that. .
I have tried fixing that in my own power. .
but what I am discovering is this. .it is from an overflow of the heart. .
when I am frazzled, stressed, distracted, worn down, or annoyed about something else. .
that tendency is worse. .
as I focus more on my relationship with God. .and try to abide in Him. .
that extra patience just comes more naturally. .
I’ve been able to stop mid sentence recently. .
and even apologized for blowing before I had the whole story. .humbling indeed!! 
And. .as an encouragement to you all. .there are some things about myself. .
that a few years ago would have topped the list. .
that God HAS changed in me. .
one step at a time friends. .one step at a time!!
If we’ve taken any time at all to analyze our hearts over the last few days of discussion. .
maybe it won’t take too long for you all to come up with something!!

I’ll take it one step further today. .
Start committing that ONE thing to God. .every day. .
and see if He doesn’t make a miracle out of it in your life!!

Enjoy this middle of the week day!!

Romans. .Week 2. .Assignment

Romans has a LOT of basic stuff in it. .

I encourage you. .don’t start skimming through it because it sounds too familiar. .

try to read it every time as though it were the first time that you have seen it before!!  

In our email bible study discussion from last week's notes. .

the ladies hit on the topic of our behaviors. .

which I wanted to take back to chapter 2 for a bit. .Let’s dissect the sin of “Judging”. .

we have probably all been on the judgment side of someone else’s thoughts. .

but I’d dare to say FREQUENTLY. .

we are on the JUDGING side of the coin. .

Its so human, isn’t it??

So much so. .that, now, in all three books that we have studied. .

it is a hot topic for the biblical authors that pen out God’s voice. .

But WHY do we judge??

Anyone ever thought about that??

I really hadn’t until the last couple days. .why do I judge??

I came up with some reasons. .

jealousy. .anger. .having some knowledge that others may not have. .

to name a few of my personal reasons. .

but as I continued to ponder that through the day. .

I could trace each of those excuses down to ONE prime reason for my judgmental attitudes when they occur. .it’s PRIDE!!

Don’t believe me. .consider some of your own situations and see what you think about it. . 

From my perspective. .

Jealousy. .generally goes back to a PRIDE issue that won’t let go of the fact that they are something that I am not. .or they possess a quality that I wish I had, but don’t. .

anger. .is a PRIDEful attitude. .that they aren’t doing things the way that I see fit. .or they said or did something that hurt my PRIDE (when you really stop and think about it. .not my feelings. .but my PRIDE!)

Knowledge deficit on the part of another. .goes back to a PRIDE that I consider myself better than they are based on the choices they make. .or the way they live their life. .or sometimes just because I know that they don’t know God. .and I do. .

PRIDE. .it’s an attitude issue. .and it can sure be an UGLY one!!

 

If you remember back. .

PRIDE of life. .was one of the reasons that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (they thought they knew better=Pride). .

and 1 John 2:16 reminded us to put aside the things of the world. .including the PRIDE of life. .

So then. .can we get rid of a deep rooted, human attitude issue like pride on our OWN??

 I can’t!! Pride. .is a DEADLY attitude. .many scriptures tell us throughout Old and New. .

that PRIDEFUL people will not inherit heaven. .That God detests a prideful heart. .

So. .if we know that we have a root evil of pride in our hearts. .

should we take a passive approach. .and hope it goes away in time??

I’m thinking not. . 

Pride is much like a cancer to our souls. .

if we allow it to stay. .it will eat our lives away. .so then WHAT??

 I think that one thing we each need to do. .

is to ask God. .in His divine Sovereignty. .

to remove that cancer of Pride from our hearts!!

That would also be an example of praying in line with God’s will. .right?? 

We KNOW He doesn’t like pride. .

we know He tells us He will answer any prayer that we ask in line with His will. .

so. .it seems to me. .that we should ask. .in faith. .

and wait for Him to deliver. .

and surgically remove that prideful attitude that roots our judgmental attitudes in our lives. .

Anyone vote that God CAN do that for us?? 

I heard a great description of sanctification yesterday. .

the preacher described our life as this (the concept was his. .the words are mostly mine). .

When we accepted Christ’s gift of eternal life. .we MOVED. .

we moved from our old neighborhood. .to a new one. .

We moved from that street of evil deeds and thoughts and death. .to a new street. .

in which God was King. .we lived in a house of abiding in Christ. .

and all the new clothes that we should put on as a child OF Christ.

BUT. .on our way home from work. .we get to the old turn off street. .

and we have to stop and think sometimes. .

which way we are supposed to be going to get to our new home. .

Sometimes we even forget long enough. .

that we find ourself in the DRIVEWAY of our OLD house. .and have to TURN around. .

and drive back to our new house. .

Such as it is with sanctification by Christ. .We have to take it captive in our mind. .

and go forward onto the right street. .sometimes we WILL go back. .

make the wrong choices, do the wrong things, slip back into an old sin. .

It’s not easy. .it’s a process!!

 But. .if I have a new house that promises LIFE. .why. .oh WHY. .

would I want to go back into that old house. .and camp out again??  

It seems that the things I have come across over the last few weeks. .

are constantly reminding me about how important our MINDS are in our process too. .

Not to be missed in the book of Romans either. .

where I circled the word “mind” a LOT. .But finishing up this comment. .

I will go back into Romans 12. .which several people commented on. .

12:1 says. .Do NOT be conformed to this world. .

but be TRANSFORMED by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
How do we DO that??

We must be in tune to what God TELLS us His will is. .via the bible. .

and then be DOERS of that. .I think that it is fair to say. .

that the majority of people (Christians I think as well) in our society today. .
let the WORLD tell us what is acceptable. .

we fill our mind with the world. .
books, TV, media, drama, sports on and on and on. .
but fail to fill our MINDS with the BIBLE. .to let GOD tell us what is acceptable. .

to renew our minds so we are READY to act like people that want to glorify God. .
 

Romans 12 does a REALLY good job. .of telling us WHAT we should look like. .

Not sure about you all. .but I miss the  marks noted there. .

more often than I would like to admit (Pride?? uh, yeah!)

We also should go back to 12:3. .
where Paul reminds us NOT to think of ourselves more highly than we should. .

we need to EACH take some time and do an ASSESSMENT based on God’s word. .

an assessment of what our strengths are. .and where our weaknesses lie. .

so that we can ask GOD according to His will. .
to make us into the Christian women. .

that He wants us to be. .so we can be effective for HIM!! 

One of the women noted how hard it was to teach our CHILDREN not to judge. .
when it is so easy for us, as adults to do it. .
Without even thinking it seems. .

My reply was this. .

We take that approach in youth group. .
much the same as I take in this bible study. .

we HAVE to be in the Word of God. .

with an attitude of WANTING to be transformed by it. .

it is not something that we can MAKE our kids do. .

it’s not something that I can make any reader of this study do. .

that desire to be transformed HAS to come from within. .you. .and me. .and our kids. .

we should pray. .that our kids can see us demonstrate that. .

and that they will desire the same attitude and change in their own life!

And THAT. .takes us out of control. .but take heart. .it puts GOD in control. .

Pssst. .He is anyway

 Raising kids in today’s culture is H-A-R-D!!! 

And finally. .

about the first day that we started our study over 2 months ago now. .

I advised you to be on the alert. .

the alert for Satan to start getting in the middle of your study time, and throwing distractions. .

what I failed to warn you about. .

Is that the evil one. .
also intends to attack us in any and every part of our lives. .
our thoughts. .our families. .our relationships. .
our careers. .our choices. .our hearts. .and our MINDS!!

 My own personal opinion is this. .
God allowed Satan to attack Job in EVERY part of his life, without taking Job’s life (I think we read about this the first month with 1 John). Job’s response to all of the attacks, if you recall. .
was to the Glory of GOD! He made choices EACH time Satan attacked. .
and we find that each time. .
Job made a concentrated effort to believe GOD. .and to trust GOD. . 

Sometimes. .in my own life for sure. .
I believe with my HEART. .that God allows us to be tested. .
to see what we are made of. .
a couple weeks ago. .my choice was to walk what I talk. .
Am I going to trust God to take care of what He says He will. .
or will I make an effort to fix it myself and botch it up (Like Abraham and Sarah did by sending Abraham to Hagar to have their son in the flesh. .instead of waiting for God to come through).

Sometimes I make the wrong choice. .
the ungodly choice. .
a dishonoring, hypocritical choice. .
God still loves me. .He still forgives me. .
and hopefully I am convicted and learn how to be stronger the next time. .
and perhaps. .I learn, that I CAN’T be stronger in my own power the  next time. .
but GOD can make me stand (Romans 14:4). .and He will. .if I involve Him.

 

Our Spiritual life is a BATTLEGROUND ladies. .
not a PLAYGROUND (courtesy of my preacher).
Satan will tempt us. .and distract us. .and make people hurt us. .
and God will allow that. .
His love is not a PAMPERING love. .it is a PERFECTING love. .
God is sanctifying us. .He is molding us each day that we ALLOW Him to do that. .
so that we will look more and more like Jesus every day that He leaves us on the earth! Are you looking in the mirror. .
are you seeing more and more of Jesus Christ. .
and less and less of your own self reflection??
If not .I would stop RIGHT now. .and pray about that!!  

And IF we persevere. .
IF we push through strife and distraction and attitudes. .
and continue seeking God in everything we do in life. .
THIS verse should fire you up. .

 

Revelation 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 

 

SOO. .this next week. .read Romans. .
with the intention of seeing who God says He is. .
There are a LOT of scriptures in these 16 chapters. .that identify God to us. .
It would take me 1/2 a notebook to get them all noted. .

So. .I am asking you to write about the ones that impact you. .who does God show Himself to be. .in your mind this week! Be prepared to share some of them next weekend. .

 

 Pray for God to reveal Himself to us each. .
in His word this week!!
Blessings to all! Melanie

Romans. .Week 1. .Discussion

Good morning!
I am hoping that you have been able to make it through the book of Romans this week. .
It takes quite a little while to get through it. .
If you have not made it all the way through. .
I IMPLORE you. .
to take some time this weekend to brainstorm some ways to fit the extra reading into your schedule for the next three weeks. .
There are TOO many GREAT things in this book to skimp out on it now!!
 I’ve got a page of things that I want to look into this month. .
And I encourage you to let me know if there is something that you just don’t understand. .

Has anyone else noticed. .that a lot of this book is review for us??

Many themes from both 1 John and Galatians are showing up in Romans. .

walking by the Spirit, loving our neighbors, differences between what worldliness looks like in contrast to what Christians are expected to demonstrate, sin and the fact that we are all totally not worthy of the gift of eternal life, faith as the ONLY key to salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Abraham and the circumcision covenant, Jews and their enthusiasm for being right with God, and their inability to do that with anything they try. .

I’m not sure what you all think. .
but I feel like Paul took many of those themes that we have already studied to some degree. .
and expounded on them in full details here. .

As I’ve poured through my notes and highlights from the week. .
I just kept coming back to chapter 2. .
And the word ATTITUDE seemed to be front and center. .

Chapter 2 was prefaced by Paul talking about foolishness and sin. .
God created EVERY person with the truth of HIM wired right into their/our hearts.
Every person. .Every where!!
He gave them the truth in their hearts. .
and a will to choose what they would believe about their creator. .
the truth. .or a lie. .
He deems that anyone that chooses their way. .
as opposed to God’s way. .has NO excuse. .
and God abandoned them (1:24).
Paul goes on to talk about all the foolish, sinful things that they (the non-Christians) turned TO as they turned away FROM God. And they turned away. .
All because of an ATTITUDE. .

But in chapter 2. .
Paul flips the conversation to those who FOLLOW God. .
and takes the opportunity to remind us. .
that we are NO better than the ones that God abandoned. .
We judge others for their wickedness. .
all the while our own hearts harbor the very same wicked ATTITUDES. .
As we continue reading. .we see that those who won’t get a control over those attitudes will only find trouble and calamity (v 9). .

And isn’t interesting. .that 2:16 finds Paul explaining to the Roman Christians. .
that the day is coming. .when God, through Jesus. .
will judge our SECRETS?
God judges the things that NO ONE else knows about. .
all those thoughts or motivations that we try to keep hidden from view by portraying an image that we want people to have of us. .
hiding those dirty little attitudes from everyone. .
except for God!! What ATTITUDES. .
are responsible for keeping secrets (2:16)??
Judging others (2:1)??
Being stubborn and insisting on doing things OUR way (2:5; 2:8)??
Feeling good about our righteousness (2:17-20)??

I’m not sure what you all think. .
but pride comes to my mind. .
I know I tend to have my own struggles with a proud attitude. .
but in doing a little study through scripture. .
I’m going to bet. .
that pride is a pretty high up attitude issue for L-O-T-S of folks. .
Because PRIDE is addressed abundantly throughout the entire bible!

So, where DOES pride stem from? Let’s see. .

The pride of your heart has deceived you.. Obadiah 1:3

But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride. .Daniel 5:20

Your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God. .Deuteronomy 8:14

The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. .Proverbs 16:5

Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. .Proverbs 18:12

So, it seems like pride. .
is an attitude that afflicts the heart. .
and attitudes ingrained into the heart. .
are tough to get rid of on our own!!

Peter tells us via John Mark. .in Mark 7:20-23. .
 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

God tells us that we don’t have to be tied to those attitudes any more. .
The people in Paul’s day. . struggled with heart issues as much as we do today. .
and God shows in verses 2:28-29. .
that we are not Christians just because we were born to a Christian or because we went through a ceremony that says we are a Christian. .
A true follower of Christ. .is one whose HEART is RIGHT with GOD. .
and that the true symbol of Christianity. .
was a circumcision, not of our flesh as an outward sign. .
but of our hearts. .
BY God’s Spirit. .

So in taking a moral from the lesson to the Romans regarding their attitudes in chapter 2. .
I’ll ask you. .
This weekend. .ask God to search your hearts. .and show you. .
any ATTITUDES that need adjusted by the Spirit of God. .
and then be obedient to that conviction to follow God’s leading and refining! Let’s start being mindful of those wicked little attitudes that creep out of our mouths and in our actions via our hearts. .
and prayerfully ask God to keep cutting them away. .
until our heart is TOTALLY right with the Spirit of God. .
a process called sanctification!!

Our assignment for the week. .
was to read through Romans. .Share what jumped out at you this week!!

As I already mentioned, lots and lots of things made me think and lots of things got underlined and marked up. .
but going back through tonight. .
what really spoke to my heart over the last few weeks. .
was that Paul wrote to the Roman church that he desired to see them in person to encourage. .
and also to BE encouraged by their faith (1:12)!!
He mentions it at the beginning of his letter. .as well as again at the end of his letter (15:32). .
As believers in Christ. .we are meant to ENCOURAGE one another in our FAITH. .
I find it encouraging to see what makes you each tick. .
what sticks out and speaks to you from week to week. .
I get encouraged to see people take hold and start growing. .or progressively grow. .
I’m always encouraged to know that I am not the only one that struggles with things. .
and I was encouraged to have someone pen me a note this past week to say they were encouraged to be reminded. .
that I am human, just like everyone else. .
with the same attitudes, failures, fears, and issues as every other human!!
And THAT encourages me!!

I’m eager to see where God has taken everyone else this week!!
Enjoy your weekend! Love Mel