The Civil War, two world wars, the Great Influenza, the Great Depression, floods, storms, and hurricanes. How did they survive? How did they endure in such challenging and uncharted territory? Our encouragement to endure comes from the Lord. It’s true, it’s a gift, and it’s the mark of the “with-God” life. Such endurance sets us apart. Paul even whispers a…
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Romans 15:1-6 Encouragement to Endure
In Relation To One Another (Romans 14)
How we treat each other matters—it matters to God. Specifically, how we treat other believers reflects a message (good or bad) to the watching world. Our character is on display. Shouldn’t they know us by our love? Here, as Paul is drawing to the end of his letter, he finds it necessary to address a concern for the church in…
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How Now Should We Live? (Romans 13)
We’ve journeyed through twelve powerful chapters of the book of Romans, and now we must face the question: How now should we live? I found the answer by reading the chapter backwards. No, not sentence by sentence, but thought for thought as follows: As we review this chapter, it would be well to keep in mind Paul’s admonition to the…
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Romans 12:9-21 Marks of a True Christian
We could easily pass by these passages and say, “That’s nice. I’ll do my best, but I can’t make any promises.” And many have read these verses and done that very same thing. Not you. We belong to Christ and should care how the community we live in sees us. Not to impress them, but to honor the Lord. The…
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United in Faith, Grace, and Purpose (Romans 12:3-9)
The beauty of taking our time in Romans is how we can see the big picture with the benefit of small powerful pieces – each piece fits perfectly. There is no coincidence that we’ve moved from the doxology at the end of Chapter 11 and the call to consecration in verses 1 and 2 in Romans 12. Now it fits…
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