Friday, January 15, 2021

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Today’s Reading: Romans 14

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).

 

The Roman Forum is a rectangular plaza surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. For centuries it was the centre of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, gladiatorial matches, and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city’s great men. The Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verse: Romans 14:17

…For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

What a contrast! …the kingdom of man (Rome pictured above) and the Kingdom of God. Man is impressed by great buildings, pomp and circumstance. God is impressed by humble people who pray, read His Word and worship Him consistently wherever they happen to be.

The emphasis in today’s reading is about food in Rome. Almost all of the meat and vegetables sold in the markets had been presented to the gods as a sacrifice. This offended the consciences of those striving to be pure before God, particularly the Jewish believers (remember the dietary laws we read about in Leviticus). Many new believers in Jesus who started off in peace and joy have had their freedom withered away by legalism. Paul deals with this issue in several of his letters, notably Galatians. Here in Romans he raises the same issue and warns believers against being bound up in rules about appropriate food and drink. While the legalist may strive for righteousness, he or she will never achieve it. This matter caused Paul to take a stand against Peter (read Galatians 2:11-21). Paul declared that Christ died in vain if righteousness comes through the Law.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I’m learning that holy living comes through Your Holy Spirit living within me, not from keeping religious rules and regulations, not eating certain foods, etc. Please fill me up more and more with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. By faith, I am truly free to be a faithful follower of Jesus in Your Kingdom! In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I don’t believe that when Peter and Paul disagreed they considered forming a separate religious denomination. As a teenager, I saw the once mighty soul-winning “Holiness Movement” almost destroyed by legalism (e.g. a certain way of dressing, etc.). Perhaps the “Old Order Mennonites” would be a modern example of outward religious dress codes. The main body of these precious people have moved away from these restrictions and are a great example of “peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The “holier than thou” attitude produced by my own efforts is a huge turn-off for those people with whom I want to share Jesus. Every morning I open my heart to a new infilling of God’s Word and His Spirit. Then I just live life to the full. What peace! What joy! Early in my Christian life, I felt that I was dragging myself around by the scruff of my neck, trying to live as I should. One day, when I was 20 years old, I said to God, “I can’t live this way anymore!” I heard that inner voice of the Lord say to me, “Good, now relax and let Me live in you and through you.” What a wonderful freedom! I began to experience “peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Yours for being filled, as much as our capacities will allow, with the Word of God and with the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, please grow my capacity. Amen!

David

15 thoughts on “Friday, January 15, 2021

  1. Lord Jesus, please grow our capacity. We are humble people who pray, read Your Word and worship You, with all consistency. May You fill our hearts everlasting with the glory of Your joy. Praying for all who are sick, weary and troubled, especially those fighting in the United States. May you find your strength in Jesus and cling to His cloak. In His mighty name, we pray. Amen. Thinking of sister Irene, today, and sending you much love, peace and joy, if you are still with us and able to read the blog.

    But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.
    Joshua 23:8 ESV

    The Strong Name Of Jesus With Lyrics By; Lyn Alejandrino Hopkins
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJf4LixNqRI

  2. Great music again Beverley, & the next song is one of my favourites! Have you seen or heard that Joni Erickson Todda contracted Covid19? She said she thought it was a death sentence when she first found out but prayers of people have brought her through. She still has some symptoms (you can hear in her voice), but she is a courageous lady & she trusts God’s plan for her. (amazing lady became a quadriplegic in her teens after a diving accident. Blessings all today. God is in control & He is love. Amen

    • I love Joni, Doreen. She is remarkable; had not heard about her covid. A true prayer warrior and example of clinging to the cloak of Jesus. She also went through cancer. I don’t know anyone who has gone through/lives with more, than she. She has done such great work for the Lord, spreading His seeds. I will continue to prayer for her full recovery from covid. God bless your day, dear sister-in-Christ! ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡

  3. Thank You, Lord God, for Your Word and Your Spirit. Help us live this day with You and for You. In Jesus’s great name, amen

    Here is a prayer from Anne Graham Lotz, from the prayer rally in Washington, DC:

    A CALL TO PRAYER

    October 30, 2020

    I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–all those in authority…  1 Timothy 2:1-2

    This past week, I was invited to participate in a prayer call for our nation that went out over the President’s Facebook page Sunday afternoon, October 25.  It had the potential for reaching a combined 89 million people. It was hosted by the President’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump and facilitated by Paula White-Cain. Other participants included Michele Bachmann, Cynthia Garrett, and Wanda Rolon.

    On this weekend before the election I thought it was worth posting as a means of encouraging your own prayers for our nation at this critical time.

    Pray with me…

    Father we bow before You . . . in my spirit I can feel overwhelmed as though darkness has descended on our beloved nation… as though we are living in a moral and spiritual twilight zone. The fog has come in and I am praying dear Holy Spirit, that You would breathe Your breath through the fog, and that You would clear it away as we pray. Clear away the deception – the mesmerizing spirits – Lord show us the Truth. Show us what is really going on.

    I pray, Lord, that You see each of us one by one. And so I pray for those who are wrestling with this dreadful disease – who have dealt with death. . . for those who are wrestling with disasters –whose homes have been destroyed, whose businesses have been destroyed, whose crops have been destroyed.

    Lord, on top of that there are so many things coming at us from every direction and from every angle and every level. Just chaos and confusion. It is overwhelming.  I believe, Lord, that You allowed this pandemic to put us – the whole world — on a Sabbath rest. You are trying to get our attention. It is time to look up – it is time to turn to You.

    And who are You? We bow before You and acknowledge that You are the Living God, You are the Creator of the heavens and earth. You spoke a word, and all of the world came into existence. You hung the stars in space, and You call them all by name. You stride the winds of the earth; the clouds are the dust of Your feet. You are Almighty. You are awesome. You are righteous. You are holy. You are glorious. And, oh God, wonder of wonders, You loved us so much that You got up from heaven’s throne; You left Your throne and You came down, and You dwelt among us so that we might see You and know You and hear You.

    We praise You for the Son of God, not God Junior, but Jesus who is God in the flesh, whose love for You and love for each of us sent Him all the way to die in obedience on the cross and shed His blood as the Lamb of God, sacrificed to make atonement for my sin and the sin of the world. That when we would place our faith in Him, we would not perish  – we would not be separated from You. We would not go to hell, but we would have everlasting life — a right relationship with You now and go to heaven when we die. Thank you that after His death on the cross He rose up from the dead. He ascended into heaven – He has opened heaven for us.

    So we look to You, Lord – we turn to You now, and we are reminded that You are a God of Your Word. Your Word is forever settled in heaven. You have said so, and Jesus said not one jot or tittle will pass away until all is fulfilled. Lord God, You are true, You are trustworthy. Your Word stands. And we believe, as  2 Chronicles 7:13-14 says. . . When you send a pestilence among us.. if Your people called by Your name would humble ourselves and we would pray and we would seek Your face and we would turn from all the wrong things we are doing. Oh God that we would repent and stop it – stop our sin – that You would hear and that You would forgive and that You would heal.

    So Lord God I want to confess our national sins, and I pray now as we confess . . .

    … our national addiction to sex, to money, to pleasure, to entertainment, to pornography, to technology, to drugs, to alcohol, to food, to television, to popularity, to ourselves. Oh God, we repent and we confess our foolishness in denying You as the one true living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable… living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning. We repent.

    … our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt. We repent.

    … our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves or that we are better than someone else or we are inferior to somebody else based on our skin color. We repent.

    … believing that our nation’s prosperity comes from our own greatness while refusing to acknowledge that all blessing comes from Your hand. We repent.

    … that we depend on military might and our weapons systems to protect us from harm and danger while we defy and ignore You. We repent.

    …that we have succumbed to the pressure of pluralism in our desire to be inclusive, honoring other gods as though You are just one of many. We repent.

    …that we have allowed material blessings that You have given us to deceive us into thinking we do not need You. We confess that we have valued our foolish pursuit of happiness through wealth and prosperity rather than measuring our relationship with You. We repent.

    … that we have marginalized truth and mainstreamed lies. We repent.

    … that we have become one nation under many gods, divided, polarized with license to sin and justice that no longer follows the rule of law. We repent.

    Oh God, we could keep on confessing and confessing – and we are so sorry, and we turn away from our sin. We ask please, Holy Spirit, that You would convict us of our sin; personal sins, national sins  – convict us and bring us to the foot of the cross, confessing our need of a Savior who shed His blood to forgive us.

    We thank You that You are righteous, and that Your cross states for all time that there will be judgment for sin. You do not tolerate sin. At the same time You are so gracious and merciful that You stepped in and took the judgment for us that should have been ours.

    So God, we bow before You as a righteous God who is gracious and kind and merciful, and we claim now Your Word that says if we confess our sin, if we turn to You, humble ourselves, pray, turn away from our sin – then You would hear our prayer and forgive our sin and heal our land.

    So we hold You to Your Word. Would You hear us? Would You forgive us? Would you heal us?  Oh God, for the glory of Your name. And I want to conclude, Lord, by thanking You for a president who would see the necessity of calling our nation to fall on our knees and pray. Thank You for President Trump. I pray your blessing on him and his family. We ask that within their hearts there would be peace, there would be an awareness of Your presence and that You would surround them with people who will give them wise counsel. Give them strength and energy and bless them as a family unit – that no division would come between family members…that they would support and encourage each other. I pray for the Vice President and for those in the Cabinet…all those who are our leaders, Lord God.

    This is a time to turn to You from the top right on down to the grassroots.  We hold You to Your Word. So we turn to You. We look to You. We thank You that when we do, You turn to us. Lord God, would You hear our prayer? Would You forgive our sin? Would You heal our land for the glory of Your great name? The Name that is above every name, the Name that one day every knee will bow before and every tongue will confess that You, Lord Jesus, are Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Savior, Redeemer, Yeshua, Lion of Judah, Lamb of God.

    You are our God, the God of our fathers, and we bow before You now claiming Your Word. In Jesus Name and for Your glory.

    Amen.

    • Wow Rob. I never once heard Trump say those words, only incite violence and call on his protestors to fight with strength, tell them he loved them, after they rioted and called them to go home and be peaceful. This is very contradictory to his words and actions and the video of him and his children watching it all unfold in a tent of their own on the grounds, as police officers were beaten and people died. Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend jumping up and down dancing, his daughter Ivanka calling the rioters American Patriots shows such contradiction to this. Trump has always used religion to get votes but he certainly does not act like a Christian. I thank there for being a prayer posting on his facebook page but the rest of his words, actions and lack of call for unity and peace and prayer goes unspoken. I have never seen him down on his hands and knees and prayer as this post says. I pray for God to reveal the truth. But indeed, I will pray because we are called to pray for all leaders. I pray for you and HJR and all those who support this American President after the violence he has instilled in the US and world. Even Pastors are no longer supporting him and that was well before this violence and chaos he caused. I am very disturbed this blog has turned into this now.

      • Beverlee, this is not a pro-Trump prayer. It is a cry to God for the nation. Please, I implore you, focus on God and His purpose for people, not on the individual personalities. By the way, I do not watch the CBC because I believe it is totally biased.

          • Beverlee….. I am very sad that you feel this way!
            Your comments were always insightful and wonderful!
            I agree with Rob..this beautiful prayer from Anne Graham Lotz was a cry to God for their country and indeed this world!
            Whether they ( or anyone for that matter) are pro Trump or not is beside the point!

            Please reconsider…I don’t know you but think of you as insightful and intelligent!
            Your participation in this blog was and is so valuable and looked forward to…..don’t make a foolish mistake!

    • The prayer from Anne Graham Lotz, from the prayer rally in Washington, DC was magnificent.
      Thank you Rob.
      All Leaders are so in need of prayer.
      May we humble ourselves, and put on the cloak of our Lord, in His peace, righteousness, and joy.

      Praise God that we are able to unite as one Body with The Lord as Head!

      Looking forward to listening to praise Music now.

  4. Amen Rob and thanks Beverlee Kay for your prayers, they are appreciated as we all need prayer
    I will continue to pray for our country and of the world, may God have his way and return us to His way, as David Barton says we need to Run to the Roar
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xo_MjvT6NOc
    I pray my comments and prayer requests do not offend others

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