Thoughts on Romans 12; "Be Patient in Tribulation"

Paul knew about tribulation. Paul's life seemed to constantly be, in some way or another, in danger, and he eventually died at the hands of the Romans after being held prisoner for years. In 2 Corinthians 11, he tells those he is writing to that, "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?"

After all these trials, it is Paul who tells us, in Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

This verse is filled with so much hope. Yes, things may feel bad. But think about what is in store for us through the gift of Christ's salvation. All the blessings we have in this life, surrounded by hardships and mingled with trials of small or large proportions though they may be, are still nothing -nothing- compared to the joy that will be ours when we stand before God in His glory. It was "in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." Patience. "Be patient in tribulation"... for we have hope.

Sometimes, things are hard. We may not have been shipwrecked or beaten. But sometimes the sin of our human flesh just weights us down in various ways. We let fear chose our actions for us; we end up in a selfish argument; everything just seems to crumble all at once. But through it all, no matter how big the trial may feel to our hurting hearts, we are told to have patience. For we have hope. Hope in the Savior who will not neglect to finish the good work that He has started. Hope that these things are not the end of the story. Hope in Him. A hope that is not seen, but sure just the same.

"Be patient in tribulation", for we have hope.

Thoughts on Romans 12; Do What is Honorable

I hope you have each had a blessed Sunday dwelling in our Lord's word today :)!

In Romans 12:18, we are told to "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all".

We are called to be peacemakers. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3, “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Now, "keeping the peace" doesn't mean that if someone does not believe as we do in the bible, we drop all convictions so that those convictions don't clash with this person. Each of us will be held accountable to God in the day of judgement, when God shall judge the secrets of men (Romans 2), and he who "knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin" (James 4). We have to stay grounded in God's word, no matter what others think that word really means (or even if they just think it doesn't matter). If God has not convicted them of the same thing, that doesn't mean we are not being held accountable. Now, the Lord may be calling you to share those convictions, but always in a peaceable way :).

Convictions do come differently to people, though. And 1 Corinthians 10 gives us an example of how this may play out;

"“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved."

Paul did not consider it to be unlawful to eat meat that was sold in the temple. But some of the early Christians did, and Paul's explanation was simple. It was okay to eat it; but if doing so was offensive or was a stumbling block to any of the believers you were dining with, avoid it for their sake. 

This isn't to mean that you are to be a different person around different people; it means that part of what makes you who you are as a Christian should be to care more about others than yourself. If you disagree on core biblical truths, never compromise. But if it's just a simple matter, like your friend doesn't listen to certain music, even if you find nothing wrong with the music, don't play it when she is around, as that will be a stumbling block to her conscience! This could go further to include things that might not have anything to do with "doctrine" at all. One person may be fine with certain things, like their living room being trashed by the toddler toys all day long, and only cleaned up when the little one is put in bed for the night. Others may want it kept cleaned up throughout the day. While it may be okay to leave the toys out at the first house during the day, if you don't help keep things picked up in the second, you will be causing frustration, which will not keep the peace.

"Do what is honorable in the sight of all" -not changing who you are, but, through Christ, being characterized by your thoughtfulness of others. 

"For from Him and to Him and for Him are all things".

Thoughts on Romans 12; Be Constant in Prayer

I randomly picked up the Kendrick brother's new book, "The Battle Plan for Prayer" and skimmed a couple of paragraphs in between talking about plans for Tori's birthday with Mama the other day. My eye happened to land on an explanation of this verse, and it was one of the best I've ever seen before, right up there with a short story about a kitchen-woman who explained to many clergymen who argued for hours what the verse meant to her (the story has stayed with me for years... I wish I could remember which book I read it in, haha!).

The word constant means "Steady in purpose; resolute; persevering. Steady in faithfulness; loyal. Continually recurring. Invariable; unchanging. that which is permanent or invariable." And then we come to the math definition, which we shall leave out of this post for multiple reasons... haha ;).

Being constantly in prayer is not an action we are doing. We aren't supposed to lock ourselves in our closets 24/7 from salvation to death doing nothing but praying. BUT, it is, again, a matter of the heart. We are to be prayerful at all times. Steadily coming before the throne with our requests, confessions, and praises. It should be a continually recurring habit, permanently ingrained in our day.

We can be constantly singing, constantly forgetting, constantly cleaning the same messes. That doesn't mean we are doing those things every moment, but that they are an expected, accepted, and unchanging part of our day. And in that way, we are to be constant in our prayers; never letting them slip to the side as unimportant, but always making communion with our Father a prominent part of our life, always thankful for the privilege, and always rejoicing in the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).

Prayer is one area where I fall and fall again. It can be easy to pray at meals and before you go to bed as something to mark off your list, and then not think of for the rest of the day. But my hope is that each of us may become more enthusiastic about this great privilege we have been given :).

And I'm curious; who has been able to see "The War Room" :)? I haven't yet, but I've heard only good, and look forward to getting to watch it, as I know the Kendrick brothers are wonderful at getting biblical truths across in moving films :).

Blessings to you,

Bri :)

Thoughts on Romans 12; It's About the Heart

 At first reading, the chapter of Romans 12 can seem like just a list of things that we should and should not do. "Do not be conformed to this world", "be constant in prayer", "live peaceably with all" and other commands pepper the passage in quick secession. But when you dig deeper, you can see that there is more than a command to do something stated in these sentences. What is really being given is what a changed heart looks like.

"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

If we are, by nature, a teacher or a giver, it is just ingrained in us to teach or give. We were given gifts in our personality that make us who we are. But "the one who does acts of mercy" can do it without cheerfulness. We can feel that it is the only choice we have, but grumble the whole time we do it. But Paul, through the inspiration of Christ, tells us that we MUST have cheerfulness in the act. And the only way we can fullfill that command is for Christ to fill our heart with His joy in those acts.

It isn't enough to hate evil. We have to turn from in and delight in what is good. But our flesh has a heart of stone. We cannot truly delight in the good of the Lord until he has broken our hearts to His will. 

Over and over again in the chapter, we are pointed again and again with each command to the second verse; "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." We must be open to the conviction of God, so that we may truly delight in his will. We must be given a new heart, starting with accepting Christ as the Lord and Savior of our hearts and repenting of all that grieves Him. Then it will seem joy to serve others and honor Him. And these verses show us what that will look like :). 

 

Introducing; Thoughts on Romans 12 Series :)!

Hey y'all :)!!! First off, thank you to those of you who took a look at my shop after I posted the link earlier this week :).

Secondly, and most importantly, this new series :)! I've seen bloggers participate before in the October blogging challenge held at write31days.com, and thought that it sounded fun, but haven't ever wanted to give the commitment to take part in it, especially since I didn't have a topic idea.

But this year I've decided to share throughout the month some thoughts I have had while getting to know Romans chapter 12  :). As many of you know, when my bestest friend and I went through an online group study of the book of Romans together almost three years ago, it was really special to me, and Romans has since then been my favorite book of the bible :). Romans 12:12 stood out to me one morning as I went through my bible reading during a time when I was being convicted over how much I needed to learn about true rejoicing (and still do might I add. I don't think the important lessons are ever truly completely learned!). "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer", the verse tells us. I wanted to commit the verse to memory, and, being maybe slightly a perfectionist ;), I decided I'd just learn the whole chapter, haha :).

As I got to know the passage more and more, there were so many thoughts I wanted to write down that I just felt were too long to be written into the margins of my study books, and too insignificant to be made into blog posts, so I didn't even bother. I have made an effort to get back to memorizing scripture this year, and part of that has been re-learning passages that I haven't reviewed even once in maybe two years (not something I recommend to keep something fresh in your memory ;)!). This brought those thoughts back up, and I decided that I would share them here even if they weren't "important" blog posts. When I saw a link pop up again for the October blogging challenge, I knew that this was the perfect topic, and decided to join :). I don't plan on going in order or anything, so this series might seem really random at times ;). But I am looking forward to getting to share with you over the month :)!!!

What is your favorite book of the Bible :)?

Rejoicing in Hope,

Bri :)


Series posts:

1. Introducing; Thoughts on Romans 12 Series!
2. It's About the Heart
3. Be Constant in Prayer 
4. Do What is Honorable
5. "Be Patient in Tribulation"
6. Romans 12:9 
7. A Living Sacrifice
8. "Contribute to the Needs of the Saints" 
9. "Contribute to the Needs of the Saints, part 2"
10. "Contribute to the Needs of the Saints, part 3"
11. "Contribute to the Needs of the Saints, part 4"
12. "Do Not be Conformed to this World"
13. "Let whatever you do be done in secret"
14. Appealing to Believers
15. A Way to "Rejoice with those who rejoice"!
16. Thoughts on Romans 12:11
17. Brotherly Affection
18. Coals of Fire
19. Outdo One Another
20. Showing Hospitality
21. Ways to Serve Hospitably in the Home
22. By the Mercies of God
23. Thoughts on Romans 12:15 
24. Working Together
25. Verse 18 
26.  Avenge Not Yourselves
27. "Do Not be Haughty" 
28.  Short thoughts on Romans 12:6-8
29. Forgiveness  
30. Genuine Love
31. Final Thoughts on Romans 12