DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Fervent In Spirit

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Fervent Service
Romans 12:11
 
"... not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
 
We had a horse named Dusty. Dusty had a mind of his own and was a bit lazy. If I wanted him to gallop and he didn't want to, he just lolled along, and I had to spur him hard by kicking him in the ribs. People are the same way. If they don't have a heart to do something, they hold back and have to be continually prodded and spurred. But if there is a fervent spirit, they do it with gusto. Paul had been talking about using our gifts. I want to be zealous and hot in my commitment to serve the Lord – diligent to do what He has given me to do – so I don't need to be dragged, pushed, prodded, or spurred along to do them. One translation says, "Do not be slothful in zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord" (Recovery Version).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: A person who is fervent in spirit will exercise his gifts with zeal.
 
Have a "burning" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Philadelphia Love

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Philadelphia Love
Romans 12:10
 
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another."
 
Most often in Scripture we are called to love with agape love – the God-kind of love that gives without expecting anything in return (as in I Corinthians 13). But here, Paul urges us to love people with affection – tenderly cherishing one another, with phileo or human brotherly love. In some ways philadelphia love is more difficult to express than agape love because we have so many conflicting differences when we rub shoulder with people all the time. It seems like sometimes we can agape people without liking them very much. Paul shows what phildelphia love looks like. We tenderly cherish other people by honoring them with deference to them without demanding our own way. That goes against my fleshly desire to be right, but it is the way to develop affectionate relationships. People respond to this kind of love.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Affectionate relationships develop as we honor people by giving preference to one another.
 
Have an affectionate day.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Hating What God Hates

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Hating What God Hates
Romans 12:9b
 
"Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."
 
Abhor is a strong word. God calls me to abhor – have a horror of – what He calls evil. God hates pride and rebellion, and so should I. Instead, I find myself tolerating and excusing things in my life that I should abhor. Like Paul, I find myself doing what I hate (Romans 7:15). I need to grab hold of what is good and right and not let go. I need to love what God loves – humility, righteousness, cheerful giving, and people. Lord God, help me to hate what you hate and love what you love.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God calls His people to hate sin and love righteousness.
 
Have a "hate/love" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- True Love

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – True Love
Romans 12:9
 
"Let love be without hypocrisy."
 
Let love be real – not fake. In the context of exercising spiritual gifts, if they do not flow out of genuine love they become as clanging cymbals (I Corinthians 13:1). Ministries that are done out of false motives – grudging obligation, pride, or personal gain – are just noise, but service that is done with true love is beautiful music, and brings joy to the spirit of both the doer and the receiver. To use another analogy, true love emits a wonderful aroma, but fake love stinks.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Ministration of gifts needs to be exercised out of a heart of true love.
 
Have a "true love" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- What Is My Gift?

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – What Is My Gift?
Romans 12:6-8
 
"Having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."
 
The question is often asked, "What is my gift?" I think it is whatever a person enjoys doing – what he is comfortable doing, and what fits his personality. We are all created differently to fill a particular niche in our world, and we need the various abilities to cover all the bases. So if I have a fire in my belly to preach, I should preach. If I am a natural teacher, I should teach and not try to preach. If I find fulfillment in serving (ministry), then I should be content with that role. If I have leadership or organizational and management abilities, then I should use them to the glory of God. If I naturally feel other peoples' pain, then I should sympathize with joy in my heart. There are other natural gifts that are not listed, but are important. For example, some people are visionaries (entrepreneurs) while others are down to earth pragmatics. We need both because the pragmatics get done what the visionaries dream. The church needs everyone to function in their gifts whether preaching, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, or empathizing so the church can be healthy and whole.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Every member of the body is important because each member fills a niche to make the body complete.
 
Have a "gifted" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Healthy Church

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Healthy Church
Romans 12:4-6a
 
"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: ...."
 
Paul used the metaphor of the natural body to illustrate the life of the spiritual body, the Church. In his extended teaching on the Body of Christ (see I Corinthians 12), he makes the case that in a healthy body, every part is unique and important. When any part of the body does not function properly or is missing, the entire body suffers and in some cases dies. In a sick church, the members of that church are either not filling their places or have an overinflated opinion of their gifts and are proud (Romans 12:3). In either case, the church is sick and needs healing. Using the gifts God has entrusted to me in humility will help the church be healthy.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: In a healthy church, each member exercises his gift in humility.
 
Have a healthy day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Self-Image

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Self-Image
Romans 12:3
 
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
 
Having a healthy self-image is a struggle. On the one hand are those who have inferiority complexes and think they are worth less than dirt. Other people think they are the best thing that ever happened on God's green earth. Paul strikes a proper balance between these two. He tells me to not have a higher opinion than I should while recognizing that I do have value. Proper self-image comes from understanding God's opinion of me. I am valuable to Him – I am His child and am created in His image with the Holy Spirit living within me. Any value I have comes from the giftings that He has entrusted me with, so all the glory for anything I do or am belongs to Him – not me. Realizing that God has gifted me in certain areas need not end in pride, but can lead to a healthy self-concept.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: A healthy self-image is based in God's giftings in my life, and that leaves no room for pride.
 
Have a healthy day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Renewed Mind

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Renewed Mind
Romans 12:2
 
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
 
It is so easy to let my thinking be swayed by the paradigm of the world rather than by Kingdom principles. What seems logical to the worldly mind is often contrary to God's thoughts. In fact, the secular person often thinks the person who lives by God's paradigm is ignorant or stupid. The only way to stay focused on God's perfect world-view is to continually immerse myself in God's Word. A godly world-view cannot be shaped by a steady diet of the secular media – whether CNN, MSNBC, or even Fox News or conservative talk radio. They all present life through a secular lens, which is man-centered rather than God-centered.  If that is my main input, my mind will gradually conform to their worldly thinking.   I need to renew my mind daily with God's thoughts.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The God-centered mind is often at odds with the worldly mind.
 
Have a renewed day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A Reasonable Sacrifice

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A Reasonable Sacrifice
Romans 12:1
 
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."
 
I have a choice of what I will give my life for. I could sacrifice my life on the altar of pleasure, or for some cause, or fame, or success, or money, or popularity and acceptance, or self-fulfillment. In view of the greatness of God (Romans 11:33-36) and eternity, the only sacrifice that is worthwhile is giving myself to God. And in light of what He has done for me, it is the most reasonable.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Giving my life in sacrifice to God is the most reasonable offering  I can make.
 
Have a "sacrificial" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Greatness of God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – How Great Is God!!
Romans 11:33-36
 
"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
 
When Paul considered God's great plan of salvation, he was so overwhelmed with the awesomeness of God that he broke out in this great paean of praise. God is so great that the human mind cannot begin to fathom Him or His works, except what He has chosen to reveal. The well of His wisdom is so deep I cannot begin to plumb the depths. His riches of His love and mercy are beyond my comprehension. He does not owe me anything – not one red cent. He is all in all, from first to last, and He deserves all the praise and obedience I could ever possibly give Him. O God, how great You are!   I worship You!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God is too great for my puny brain to comprehend; I can only worship Him.
 
Have a praising day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God's Irrevocable Plan

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God's Irrevocable Plan
Romans 11:25-26a, 29
 
"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved .... For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
 
God has a plan and that plan is irrevocable. God never says, "Oops, I made a mistake." "God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19). According to God's plan, Israel rejected the Messiah so that the Gentiles could be saved. But He will again deal with the nation of Israel when the "time of the Gentiles" is completed. It will happen just as He has purposed. To think that I have a better plan is to be wise in my own estimation.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's plan for the future will happen exactly as He has said.
 
Have a trusting day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Humility and Faith

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Humility and Faith
Romans 11:20b-22
 
"Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches [Israel], He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God; on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."
 
This is a sobering passage – to consider that I could be "cut off." Salvation requires two things on my part: humility and faith. Humility to acknowledge that I am a sinner who has violated God's standards; and faith that Jesus died for my sins. ("What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).) If Israel failed on both counts – humility and faith – and was cut off, what makes me think that I am any different or better? Continuing in humility and in God's goodness (grace) assures my salvation. If I ever abandon humility and faith to trust in my own good works and righteousness, the consequence be the severity of God's judgment. "He who stands, take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Humility and faith are essential for salvation.
 
Have a humble and faithful day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God's People

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God's People
Romans 11:1-2a
 
"I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew...."
 
There are some groups who believe that the Church has replaced Israel, and that the nation of Israel has no special place in God's plan for the future of this world. This doctrine requires that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel be either denied or allegorized. Paul argues that the root is still there. Because of unbelief, some of the branches have been broken off and new branches of believing Jews and Gentiles have been grafted in through faith in Christ (see verses 17-20). It is true that believing Gentiles have become children of Abraham and receive His blessings. But that does not mean that God is finished with Israel. John's Revelation confirms that God will still deal with Israel after the rapture of the Church. In the meantime, Christians are a part of the elect whom God calls His people.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God has not forsaken His people, but He has opened a way for non-Jews to be branches of the root.
 
Have a "grafted in" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Hearing and Believing

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Hearing and Believing
Romans 10:16-17, 21
 
"But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?' So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: 'Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world" .....But to Israel he says: 'All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.' "
 
Hearing is requisite to faith. The issue, though, is not the hearing of God's word, but the believing. It is one thing to hear the boss' order to do something; it is quite another to believe it and act in faith to do it. Everyone has heard God speak through creation and conscience, but not all have responded to that word to produce obedience. We are "a disobedient and contrary people" who want to do things our own way. I need to be careful to respond to God's word in believe and faith that produces obedience.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Hearing precedes belief and faith that produces obedience.
 
Have a hearing day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Beautiful Feet

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Beautiful Feet
Romans 10:14-15
 
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tiding of good things!' "
 
Paul's driving passion was to preach the gospel "to the regions beyond" (II Corinthians 10:16). I think that is God's heart – that everyone would hear the good news of the gospel of peace. Jesus was sent by the Father to a foreign land – Earth. If I truly have God's heart, I will support missionaries and their beautiful feet as they go. I may not be able to go, but I can help send.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Missionaries have beautiful feet.
 
Have a "sending" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Whoever

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Whoever
Romans 10:11-13
 
"For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' "
 
The old Gospel song says, "Whosoever Meaneth Me." My name is "Whosoever." God has truly lavished the riches of His grace on me (Ephesians 1:7-8). I am truly blessed.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God saves by His abundant grace any and all who call on Him in faith.
 
Have a blessed day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Belief and Conduct

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Belief and Conduct
Romans 10:8-10
 
"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
 
Belief and Confession – they go hand in hand with each other. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). What is inside will come out. The goal is that my speech would give evidence to what I believe.  But I think the broader meaning is more than what I say.  The Greek word translated "conversation" in the KJV is translated "conduct" in the NKJV. (Compare Philippians 1:27 in both translations: "Only let your conversation [conduct] be worthy of the gospel of Christ....") Interestingly, the Greek word for conversation/conduct is where we get the word "politics." It refers to our citizenship; "to conduct one's self as pledged to some law of life" (Thayers Greek Lexicon). My language, to a limited extent, is evidence of my nationality. In the USA, English is the native language. I want my language and my "politic" or life-style to be public expression of the fact that I believe in the Lord Jesus am a citizen of his kingdom.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The conduct and speech of the Christian should give evidence of faith in the Lord Jesus.
 
Have a "Jesus-politic" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Just Do It!

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Just Do It!
Romans 10:5
 
"For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, 'The man who does those things shall live by them."
 
Paul's argument is based in Moses sermon to the Israelites recorded in Deuteronomy 30:11-16. There Moses tells the people, "The command which I command you today is not too mysterious for you nor is it far off" (vs. 11). In other words, it is not rocket science. It doesn't take some special spiritual knowledge that you have to go into heaven for, or visit some guru across the ocean (vss. 12-13). "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it" (vs. 14). It is a matter of doing what I know in my heart is right (vs. 16). I just need to live it. Making my actions match what I say and what I believe is called integrity. This is easier said than done, but it is a simple matter of obedience. As the Nike ad would say, "Just do it!"
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Living according to God's righteousness is not complicated but it is not always easy.
 
Have a simple day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A No-Brainer

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A No-Brainer
Romans 10:3-4
 
"For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end [completion, fulfillment or perfection] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."
 
I am ignorant of God's righteousness if I think, in my zeal for God (see vs. 2), that I can attain His righteousness by keeping a bunch of rules. I cannot live a perfect life, no matter how hard I try. But Jesus did. He fulfilled God's righteousness perfectly, both in His life and in His sacrificial death for atonement for sin. My only hope of attaining God's righteousness is not by external observance of the law, but by internal faith in Christ. Paul goes on to say, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness" (vs. 10), and "whoever believes on Him shall not be put to shame" (vs. 11). So I can strive to be righteous by my own works, or I can rest in Christ's perfect work. This is a no-brainer.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's righteousness is attained only through faith in Christ's perfect fulfillment of the law.
 
Have a faith day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Sincerely Wrong

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Sincerely Wrong

Romans 10:1-2

"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge."

How sad to have zeal – to be sincere – but be sincerely wrong.  There are people who are very sincere in what they believe.  There are Muslims who will die for their faith.  There are Buddhists and Hindus that devote their lives to being monks.  There are people in America who attend church every Sunday and are involved in the work of the church who sincerely think that their works will save them – like the Jews.  But it is not enough to be sincere.  God does look at the heart, but when we do not follow God's plan of salvation, sincerity of heart does not meet God's requirement of faith in His Son.  I want to be sincerely right.

TODAY'S THOUGHT: It is not enough to be sincere; following God's plan with a sincere heart is what pleases God.

Have a sincere day.   Love you.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Vessels of Mercy

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Vessels of Mercy
Romans 9:22-24
 
"What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"
 
This is a difficult Scripture to digest. That God would prepare some people for destruction and some for mercy does not fit well with my understanding of the love of God. But here's the deal. Opposites are necessary. Hot is only understood when compared to cold. Love is only understood in relation to hate. There would be no righteousness without evil. And so it goes: good/bad; beauty/ugliness; rich/poor; mean/kind; peace/turmoil. Mercy itself would have no meaning apart from the judgment of God's wrath. Vessels of wrath fulfill God's purpose to demonstrate His glory on the vessels of mercy. There could be no heaven if there was no hell. I am humbly grateful that God has chosen me to be a recipient of His mercy. Praise You, Jesus.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God created vessels of wrath to demonstrate His glory on the vessels of mercy.
 
Have a grateful day. Love you.