Day 58 - Romans 15:30 - 15:33

30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. 31 Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem. 32 Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.

33 And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.

Terrie's Comments:

We need to pray for those who are spreading the gospel around the world.  As we do this we are joining with them in their journey.  

Tori's Comments:

I had to go back a day to make sure I didn't miss something after reading the first sentence in this passage!

This solidifies the need of sharing prayer requests. I myself have bought into the lie one too many times that I just need to take care of myself and keep my problems between me and...nope, just me.

Paul didn't think the believers would accept the donation? What, as in pride or generosity for those even poorer than them? Two opposite extremes and I can't tell which one he's talking about.

"And we will be an encouragement to each other". Just a nice thought.

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 57 - Romans 15:22 - 15:29

22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.

23 But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. 24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

25 But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there. 26 For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. 27 They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially. 28 As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain. 29 And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together.

Tori's Comments:

I am really enjoying these looks at how believers should treat one another.

Terrie's Comments:

A number of things strike me about this passage

-Paul was finished his work in certain regions.  He was eager to visit the believers in Rome to have fellowship and to give them the privilege of providing for him financially.

- He was taking a financial gift from one group of new believers to another group of believers to provide for believers who were poor among them.  They were not providing money to everyone in their community who were poor... it was poor believers.  This is part of what made the church attractive is because they took care of each other in every way.  When we try to provide for everyone in the world it can be daunting, but if we try to care for those in the church it is much more manageable a task.  Much of what we are asked to do in the Bible is directed to how believers should treat believers.  We have ended up missing the point in many cases because the church as a whole is so focused on taking up the social causes of the world that often they are not caring for those believers around them properly.  We are supposed to spread the gospel to the rest of the world so that they become a part of the body of Christ.

- I love the last line of this passage... it sounds so confident!  I am SURE that when I come, Christ WILL RICHLY BLESS OUR TIME TOGETHER.  

I am loving the prayer nuggets this week!  Definitely need to add some of Romans into my prayer strategy.

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 56 - Romans 15:14 - 15:21

14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. 15 Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, 16 I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. 17 So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God. 18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. 19 They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.

20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. 21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says,

“Those who have never been told about him will see,
    and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

Terrie's Comments:

verse 19 stands out to me today... They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God's Spirit.  Paul relied fully on the Holy Spirit to give him power to perform miraculous signs and wonders and the Holy Spirit moved on Paul's behalf. 

I find it interesting that Paul also was following a plan that he found in scripture.  In my own life this has happened many times.  It would take a while to write the accounts out here so I won't bore you with them for now :-)

Have the scriptures ever jumped off the page at you to give you direction or instruction?

Tori's Comments:

"Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me"

Giving literally ALL the glory to God...

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 55 - Romans 15:8 - 15:13

8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:

“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing praises to your name.”

10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
    you Gentiles.”

11 And yet again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
    Praise him, all you people of the earth.”

12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne will come,
    and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”

13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Tori's Comments:

Do I overflow with confident hope? I know I let fear control my actions waaay too often.

Terrie's Comments:

Verse13 is a great prayer to pray for all our brothers and sisters in Christ!  I LOVE IT!

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 54 - Romans 15:1 - 15:7

1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

Terrie's Comments:

I feel like Verse 5 is a great prayer for me... God please help me live in complete harmony with everyone.... as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus!

Tori's Comments:

"We must not just please ourselves."

Guilty. 

Accepting each other as Christ has accepted me certainly can be a task, though. But having JUST learned the importance placed on unity, I see it is necessary.

And in doing so, we point to what Christ has done for us <3

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!