GOOD MORNING, SAINTS! GOOD MORNING, SINNERS!

Posted on February 2, 2018 by randscallawayffm
Romans – “Therefore…”
 
Many years ago Randy and I attended a convention of workshops for pastors. There were many great leaders we are interested in hearing and gleaning from their experiences. One, in particular was Max Lucado. The room filled quickly to overflow into the hallway. Pastor Lucado came into the room after all were settled in seats and shouted a hearty, “Good Morning, Saints!” An equally hearty response by all gathered was, “Good Morning, Pastor!” Then, without hesitation, Lucado shouted, “Good Morning, Sinners!” The crowd was taken aback and slowly responded with a quieter “Good Morning.” Randy and I smiled at each other. We know we are sinners saved only by God’s grace. We are saints only by the grace and generosity of Jesus Christ, His Son who died for our sin.
 
I think of this when I come to the passage where Paul explains the phenomenal grace of God. Some are flippant and irreverent and say that Paul is telling people to sin more so that God can give more grace. He sets them straight with what God intended. Read carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully. Let’s see what we learn so God can help us and we can help others.
 
Romans 3, The Message
 
1-2 So what difference does it make who’s a Jew and who isn’t, who has been trained in God’s ways and who hasn’t? As it turns out, it makes a lot of difference—but not the difference so many have assumed.
 
2-6 First, there’s the matter of being put in charge of writing down and caring for God’s revelation, these Holy Scriptures. So, what if, in the course of doing that, some of those Jews abandoned their post? God didn’t abandon them. Do you think their faithlessness cancels out his faithfulness? Not on your life! Depend on it: God keeps his word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth. Scripture says the same:
 
Your words stand fast and true;
Rejection doesn’t faze you.
 
But if our wrongdoing only underlines and confirms God’s rightdoing, shouldn’t we be commended for helping out? Since our bad words don’t even make a dent in his good words, isn’t it wrong of God to back us to the wall and hold us to our word? These questions come up. The answer to such questions is no, a most emphatic No! How else would things ever get straightened out if God didn’t do the straightening?
 
7-8 It’s simply perverse to say, “If my lies serve to show off God’s truth all the more gloriously, why blame me? I’m doing God a favor.” Some people are actually trying to put such words in our mouths, claiming that we go around saying, “The more evil we do, the more good God does, so let’s just do it!” That’s pure slander, as I’m sure you’ll agree.
 
We’re All in the Same Sinking Boat
9-20 So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:
 
There’s nobody living right, not even one,
nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
They never give God the time of day.
 
This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.
 
God Has Set Things Right
 
21-24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
 
25-26 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.
 
27-28 So where does that leave our proud Jewish insider claims and counterclaims? Canceled? Yes, canceled. What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.
 
29-30 And where does that leave our proud Jewish claim of having a corner on God? Also canceled. God is the God of outsider non-Jews as well as insider Jews. How could it be otherwise since there is only one God? God sets right all who welcome his action and enter into it, both those who follow our religious system and those who have never heard of our religion.
 
31 But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don’t we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it.
 
Romans 3 He chose the nailsWhat do we learn?
–We are all sinners.
–God is generous with His love for us. So He sent His Son to save and redeem us as His own.
–By believing in Jesus as Savior as the Truth, Way and Life, we are saved. Jesus becomes Lord of our lives from a heart of gratefulness for His gift of eternal love for us. We love Him because He first loved us…and laid down His life for us.
–We are humbled, not proud, of what God has done for us.
–Our lives should confirm what God has done in us. We trust and obey His Word with a heart to please God in grateful praise for what He has done in us.
–We are saints, made holy by God…only God. We are not saints because of anything we do or say, only because of God’s grace through the sacrifice of Jesus, His Son.
 
“Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. the sinless one took on the face of a sinner so we sinners could take on the face of a Saint” – Max Lucado.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for saving my soul. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for loving me so much that you thought I was worth dying for. I give you my life. Continue to transform me to be more and more like you intended for me to be. We praise You as the One and Only who can give life eternal. Help me. Help those around me. In Jesus Name, Amen
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CHURCH GOING VS CHURCH BEING

Posted on February 1, 2018 by randscallawayffm

Romans – “Therefore…”

Be careful when you hear words like, “I have been going to this church since my parents and grandparents, it is my church.” “No, I don’t attend, but my parents were Baptist, so I’m Baptist.” “We will not consider moving the building or us, it’s always been here and always will be.” “We should call all the people who left our church and beg them to come back.” “We will consider those for office in the church who have proven themselves to follow all our rules and have become like us.” “Come to our church, we have the greatest band in the community.” “Come and see what we have done to improve our building and parking lot.” “I attend every chance I get because my mom goes there, it’s our family church.” “We send money to poor people in third world countries…after the church bills are paid.” “Let’s send those worn out resources we don’t use anymore to the mission field, I bet they could use them, then our mission outreach is checked off our list for this year.”

Be cautiously wondering when your hear board members’ comments concerning finances or the work of the church…”We made a profit this year, look at our bottom line! We made money.” “Our pastor deserves a boost in income, let’s send him to a workshop.” “Why doesn’t our pastor visit more? I have a cousin in the hospital and he didn’t know to visit her.” “Pastor, you need to speak on the topic of tithes, we need to raise funds for new carpet and windows.” “When are we going to pave the parking lot?” “My family has gone here for three generation, no we are not going to repaint the youth room. It was good enough for our kids, it’s good enough for your kids.” “It’s too costly to raise money to send people to build something on foreign soil when we need to keep up the building here.” “No, just no.” “If others want to come, they know we are here.”

Be prayerfully evaluating a pastor who makes comments about church. “Wow, we fooled them again! We raised enough money to pay off the van we already purchased. Thanks for hiding it in your garage, Steve, until the church came through with the funds!” “Tell the band to rev it up when I walk on stage.” “Make sure the plants don’t hide the view of the worship leader or me.” “Follow the script and say what I told you to say or you’re out.” “We are good at smoke and mirrors.” “What a performance, band!” “Don’t look better than me!” “My sermon is the main event, don’t forget that.” (Yes, yikes!, but I’ve heard all of these statements and more in God’s church at some point in my life.)

Paul reminds the religious elite, the Jews, that their religion won’t save them, either. Let’s listen in…

Romans 2 mark of GodRomans 2, The Message
Religion Can’t Save You

17-24 If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.

25-29 Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God’s ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don’t you see: It’s not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It’s the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.

What do we learn?
–It’s because of us, as God’s church, that others are down on coming to worship with us. Many are not down on God…just His church. We are judgmental, unholy and sometimes unkind.
–Motivations of our hearts is key and must be evaluated daily. WHY do we do what we do? WHO are we in Christ? WHAT are we doing when He asks us to join Him in His work? Do we respond quickly or wait for a committee meeting?
–Are we tired OF the work or IN the work? Are we giving up? If we are, we are probably doing the work on our own steam.
–Do we do what we do because it makes us feel good? Is God’s work done so others will think more highly of us as a noble people?
–Be the church God requires of us as individuals with his mark on our hearts. Then do what He asks when His invitation to join Him in His work is given. We will only hear His invitation when we first spend time being with Him. Ask, what do YOU want, Lord.
–Do we have the mark of God on our hearts?

Dear Heavenly Father,
We repent of times when it was all about us not all about You. Being the church means being with You first, understanding Your love, then acting on that love. Our hearts ache for those who say hurtful, unkind things in Your church as we strive to be Your church. Help us to quickly see the danger from the evil one who plants evil thoughts of selfish indignation in church people who have missed the mark…the mark of You on their hearts. Help us to see when it is us and repent quickly. Thank you, Lord for inviting us to BE your church before doing anything of value or significance as Your church. Do not let us become complacent or habitual doing church. What a sin that is! You have made that clear throughout the ages! Help us, Lord.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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HE IS GOD…AND WE ARE NOT

Posted on January 30, 2018 by randscallawayffm

Romans – “Therefore”…

“He did it!” “Everyone else was doing it!” “I’m sorry.” These are the three stages of confession after being caught in a crime on the school playground. As children of God we humans seem to say, or at least think, the same things. We point fingers at others to take the heat off others looking at our sin.

We tell God with our behavior that since everyone else is doing it, it must be okay. Then most of us come to our senses and admit that what we are doing is not what God said and we repent with regret, not wanting to do it again. We are not God and it is not our job to judge, yet it is an easy sin to fall into. We need help to avoid it. God’s Holy Spirit will and does help us. Call on Him. He is God and we are not.

Romans 2 judgeRomans 2, The Message
God Is Kind, but Not Soft
2 1-2 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.

3-4 You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

5-8 You’re not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it’s going to blaze hot and high, God’s fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what’s coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God’s side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!

9-11 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you’re from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.

12-13 If you sin without knowing what you’re doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you’re doing, that’s a different story entirely. Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.

14-16 When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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WORLDVIEW VS. GOD’S REALTY

Posted on January 29, 2018 by randscallawayffm

Romans – “Therefore…”

The world at large does not think like the people of God, people who choose joy in following the leading of His Holy Spirit. We are “wack jobs” for passionately following the God of creation according to the world. Even in the church, worldview has wreaked havoc. Society has affected the church at large more than the church as affected society. But God is still God no matter what others choose to think. God is a gentleman when it comes to sin. It’s our choice to sin or to obey and trust Him for the outcome of glorious growth in us. He will give us the outcome of our choices. What do you choose?

This isn’t a new dilemma, Paul wrote to the Romans about the difference between worldview and God’s reality with the outcomes of both. Since we are only taking a section at a time, it is good to read ahead and review what was written before the section to stay focused on the intent of the writing of God’s Truth written from a place of love for God’s people.

Romans 1 truth to liesRomans 1, The Message
Ignoring God Leads to a Downward Spiral
18-23 But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

24-25 So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

26-27 Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either—women didn’t know how to be women, men didn’t know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.

28-32 Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s face. And they don’t care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

What to do…
–SEE the basic realty of God for it is plain and simple.
–God created all. He is in all. He is over all. There is nothing that He has not created.
–God is power and strength.
–God is a divine being who is real. He is NOT a man made piece of clay or metal.
–Worship GOD alone and no one or nothing else.
–Do not mock God or trivialize what He has done, is doing and will do.
–Find direction in life from God.
–Don’t trade God for any shiny object that distracts us from God.
–Know God. Be still before Him. Listen to Him.
–Love God with all our hearts, minds and souls. Love others like HE love us.
–Don’t award sin.

Dear Heavenly Father,
You are God and we are not. We worship you alone this morning in the quiet of this room. We are Your people. Thank you for Your salvation. Now it is time to listen to You, follow You and trust in Your direction with focus for our lives. Help us to be helpful to others searching for Your Light in this dark, confused world.
In Jesus Name, Amen

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I THANK GOD FOR YOU!

Posted on January 28, 2018 by randscallawayffm

Romans – “Therefore”

Here we are, on mission, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We only have a few days left. We reflect on our journey here with thanksgiving in our hearts and praise for the Master. We thank God for all the friends we have made from the very young to the more mature. We thank God for seeing those in person whom we have written to, prayed for and loved from a distance.

We think of YOU, the people who read this everyday, often, briefly or “bank it” to read later with prayers of humble thanksgiving. We pray that our God in You will use this as an encouragement by God’s Holy Spirit to not give up doing what is good in God’s eyes. We pray that what is written is helpful to you. We pray for you when God calls you to our mind with thanksgiving, prayers for protection and provision, and prayers for His grace lived out in you to be a blessing to others.

We thank God for our family and friends who pray often for Randy and I. We thank God for those we’ve not met for opportunity to tell the story of Jesus.

As Paul begins each letter, he thanks God for those to whom He is writing. It is refreshing that he begins with, “I thank God through Jesus Christ for ever on of you. That’s first.” What a positive way to begin a letter to those you love because of God’s love for you. “That’s first.”, Paul writes. Is that what is first when we shoot a fast email, text or Facebook message to a loved one who is a family member or friend, even a co-worker? What a concept to stop and thank God for them before telling them what you want to tell them and to let them know that you thank God for them. What value and encouragement that must give to them!

Yes, I thank God for you. That’s first. Now, let’s dive into the next section of Paul’s letter to the Romans to learn more and to put into practice what Paul has learned from God and his experiences, led by God’s Holy Spirit.

Romans 1, The Message
8-12 I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. That’s first. People everywhere keep telling me about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank him. And God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son—the Message!—knows that every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you. The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so want to be there to deliver God’s gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes! But don’t think I’m not expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me as I do to you.

13-15 Please don’t misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I’ve made plans for Rome. I’ve been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God’s work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities. But something has always come up and prevented it. Everyone I meet—it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple—deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that’s why I can’t wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God.

16-17 It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: “The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives.”

Romans 1 prayers for youWhat do we learn?
–FIRST, thank God for all the people He puts in our path on this journey.
–Speak words that are Truthful, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and Kind (THINK) from a foundation of God’s love in us, our love for Him and our love for others.
–Be wise and discerning. We can ask God for wisdom and discernment and He will provide.
–Be excited as you tell others you are happy to see them.
–Tell others specifically you are are praying for them.
–Be truly thankful for all the people God gives us.
–God’s people who are gratefully expectant expect nothing in return for kindness to others but it seems we do get something in return…there love and kindness back to us! “You have as much to give me as I do to you.” This is all part of the Love God, Love Others revolution.
–The more we love God and realize HIS love for us, as Paul did, the more profoundly and deeply we love others.
–Will ALL people love us back? Not always, but we love anyway. Some people we have to wait on, forgive more and extend grace in the wait. Pretty sure that’s what God did for us.

Dear Heavenly Father, 
I love you with all my heart, mind and soul. You teach us to love by your love for us. I thank You for being with us, leading and directing us wherever we go and wherever we stay. I thank you for the readers of these words today. I pray You will encourage each one as You have encouraged us with Your message through Paul. Continue to transform our thinking so we will behave more like you desire for us. Help us to love like you love…without conditions.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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PASSION WITH WISDOM,  THEOLOGY AND APPLICATION

Posted on January 27, 2018 by randscallawayffm

ROMANS – “Therefore…”

Great Christian parents will discipline their children with a reason for good behavior. They train their children with words of wisdom such as “that is not okay to behave like that because of these possible bad consequences” and then they carefully explain the why of obedience with good behavior so they can learn. Parents explain that it is best for all of us to live together in harmony when we obey and help each other. It’s Biblical.

Paul’s letters are written like a parent to a child. He explains all the benefits of being a child of God. He carefully outlines who we are in Christ now that we believe. Then Paul’s letters to the churches take a turn and rise to a peak with the infamous “therefore”. Therefore is there for a reason. Paul, knowing the Law of God coupled with an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, tenaciously pursuing the mind of Christ, explains to believers how they should now behave.

Do we behave like we say we believe? Paul takes on this task of explaining the new way of life for believers.

We begin with Romans. Paul’s letter to the Romans is a piece of exuberant and passionate thinking. This is the glorious life of the mind enlisted in the service of God. Paul takes the well-witnessed and devoutly believed fact of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and thinks through its implications. How does it happen that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, world history took a new direction, and at the same moment the life of every man, woman and child on the planet was eternally affected? What is God up to? What does it mean that Jesus “saves”? What’s behind all this, and where is it going?

These are the questions that drive Paul’s thinking it seems. He takes logic and argument, poetry and imagination, Scripture and prayer, creation and history and experience, and weaves them into this letter that has become the premier document of Christian theology. Amazing grace through Jesus, our Savior and Lord is profoundly explained. Let’s dive in with Paul’s introduction…

Romans 1 not ashamedRomans 1, The Message
I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God’s friends.

2-7 The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God’s Son. His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ! And I greet you now with all the generosity of God our Father and our Master Jesus, the Messiah.

Reflect…
–Paul is a sinner, saved by grace, and is now a devoted slave/servant of Jesus Christ. How devoted as a servant am I?
–Jesus is declared as Messiah. Jesus was sent to save us. Think deeply about these simple yet profound words. Jesus saves. The Son of God left heaven and glory to save you and I.
–We all have the urgent task to obediently trust Jesus.
–We are who we are because of the gift of salvation through Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Speak to our hearts, minds and souls as we read through your servant’s letters. Help us to think more like you so we will “therefore” behave more like you taught us. Yes, speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
In Jesus Name, Amen

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A HOSTAGE FOR HOPE

Posted on January 26, 2018 by randscallawayffm

ACTS – The Acts of God

Is there someone in your life journey that no matter what is going on they seem unflappable, unstoppable as they relentlessly pursue God’s best without wavering? Think about this person or persons and let’s figure out what characteristics are developed in them. What parts of Jesus do we see in them that keep them focused and tenacious in what God has invited them to be and to do? Go….

1. We see a sinner saved by the grace of God and are humbled by Jesus’ work on the Cross for them. This is what drives them.
2. We see a great love for God and a knowledge that without God nothing is possible. But with God, everything is possible if He wills it to be done.
3. No authority or power on earth deters them from speaking God’s Word with boldness but smothered with God’s love for the salvation of others.
4. Truth is always spoken in love, with the love of God behind each word, longing for God’s salvation for others. End goal.
5. They speak wise words that are helpful, like a salve that heals and comforts.
6. They do not put you down but lift you up with their encouraging words that give you courage to help others, too.
7. Their words and actions are contagious. You want to be where they are, doing what they are doing.
8. They have troubles in their lives, too, but it does not stop them from being the person God created them to be.
9. They are always ready to sweeten any conversation with the wonderful love of Jesus. You see Jesus in their faces.
10. They do not manipulate our emotions for personal gain but persuade us to Christ because of their authentic love for us and others. They give hope to the hopeless.
11. They love like Jesus loved, without thought for themselves.
12. They help without being asked to help. They listen first and then work to meet a need with kind actions. Their door is always open.

These are but a few of the characteristics and behaviors of the people who have passed through my own life. All of these characteristics are found in Paul as he struggled to stay alive through beatings and being a prisoner. He had good times and bad times but all the time Paul loved God and others with all that was in him. He was a hostage for hope…the hope of Jesus Christ.

Read our final episode of God’s Actions in and through Paul and see what you see.

Acts 28 RomeActs 28, The Message
1-2 Once everyone was accounted for and we realized we had all made it, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The natives went out of their way to be friendly to us. The day was rainy and cold and we were already soaked to the bone, but they built a huge bonfire and gathered us around it.

3-6 Paul pitched in and helped. He had gathered up a bundle of sticks, but when he put it on the fire, a venomous snake, roused from its torpor by the heat, struck his hand and held on. Seeing the snake hanging from Paul’s hand like that, the natives jumped to the conclusion that he was a murderer getting his just deserts. Paul shook the snake off into the fire, none the worse for wear. They kept expecting him to drop dead, but when it was obvious he wasn’t going to, they jumped to the conclusion that he was a god!

7-9 The head man in that part of the island was Publius. He took us into his home as his guests, drying us out and putting us up in fine style for the next three days. Publius’s father was sick at the time, down with a high fever and dysentery. Paul went to the old man’s room, and when he laid hands on him and prayed, the man was healed. Word of the healing got around fast, and soon everyone on the island who was sick came and got healed.

Rome
10-11 We spent a wonderful three months on Malta. They treated us royally, took care of all our needs and outfitted us for the rest of the journey. When an Egyptian ship that had wintered there in the harbor prepared to leave for Italy, we got on board. The ship had a carved Gemini for its figurehead: “the Heavenly Twins.”

12-14 We put in at Syracuse for three days and then went up the coast to Rhegium. Two days later, with the wind out of the south, we sailed into the Bay of Naples. We found Christian friends there and stayed with them for a week.

14-16 And then we came to Rome. Friends in Rome heard we were on the way and came out to meet us. One group got as far as Appian Court; another group met us at Three Taverns—emotion-packed meetings, as you can well imagine. Paul, brimming over with praise, led us in prayers of thanksgiving. When we actually entered Rome, they let Paul live in his own private quarters with a soldier who had been assigned to guard him.

17-20 Three days later, Paul called the Jewish leaders together for a meeting at his house. He said, “The Jews in Jerusalem arrested me on trumped-up charges, and I was taken into custody by the Romans. I assure you that I did absolutely nothing against Jewish laws or Jewish customs. After the Romans investigated the charges and found there was nothing to them, they wanted to set me free, but the Jews objected so fiercely that I was forced to appeal to Caesar. I did this not to accuse them of any wrongdoing or to get our people in trouble with Rome. We’ve had enough trouble through the years that way. I did it for Israel. I asked you to come and listen to me today to make it clear that I’m on Israel’s side, not against her. I’m a hostage here for hope, not doom.”

21-22 They said, “Nobody wrote warning us about you. And no one has shown up saying anything bad about you. But we would like very much to hear more. The only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anything good to say about it.”

23 They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him.

24-27 Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: “I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet:

Go to this people and tell them this:
“You’re going to listen with your ears,
but you won’t hear a word;
You’re going to stare with your eyes,
but you won’t see a thing.
These people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.”

28 “You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they’re going to receive it with open arms!”

30-31 Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.                                                                                                                                                     

Acts 28 story goes on

 

Dear Heavenly Father, 
Thank you for all of the saints, sinners saved by grace, that you placed in front of me to help in my journey. You are still putting Your people in my life to help me grow and mature to be more and more like you. Use me to do the same for others. Help us continually be transformed by Your Holy Spirit who lives in all who believe. I love you, Lord with all my heart, mind and soul. 
In Jesus Name, Amen

 

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TAKE HEART!

Posted on January 25, 2018 by randscallawayffm

via TAKE HEART!

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TAKE HEART!

Posted on January 25, 2018 by randscallawayffm
ACTS – The Acts of God
 
Truth. We had only five dollars left in the bank account after paying our tithes…were we at the end of our financial health? No, we were rescued with unexpected money to help us through the coming days until the next payday.
 
A few days after our second son was born, I hemorrhaged and almost bled to death but I was rescued by my sister-in-law, a great surgical nurse who saved me.
 
Years later, Randy almost died from a fungal disease that we had never heard of before coming to Ohio from our native Oklahoma, but he was finally rescued by a top doctor in her field of study who came in with the right diagnosis and medications to save his life.
 
Because of those harsh medications, it hurt his heart and kidneys which caused a near heart attack later while in ministry in Indiana but he was saved again before more damage was done.
 
We were cut off at the knees by a pastor who could not tell the truth. This broke our hearts and caused us doubt our very being, but God, once again, came to the rescue with hope, restored joy of His salvation and healing.
 
These are but a few times that God has intervened in our lives. Through it all, an enormous amount of prayer, of crying out to God for help were said by us and others on our behalf. God answered and gave us peace that HE was in control through it all. His voice spoke to our hearts through His Holy Spirit in those times of distress with peace and resolve that He was in control and would provide. I testify to His greatness today and always. We would not be here today without God’s rescues.
 
I imagine, if you reflected on your own lives, you could think of the “shipwrecks” on your own journeys and look back at how God acted with a rescue as only HE could do. Praise Him. Praise Him loudly and praise him without ceasing. To God be the glory for all the great things He has done (is doing and will do)!
 
Take heart. He is not finished with us, yet. Paul, led by God’s Holy Spirit, spoke over the crew with God’s plan of rescue. Read the whole story slowly and deliberately and watch how God works in every detail. Then praise Him again! We would not be where we are today without this rescue! God works in all the details. God says in His Word that he even delights in the details of our lives!
 
Take heart. He is working on a rescue for you today…even before you know you need it. (Smiling.)
 
Acts 27 shipwreckedActs 27, The Message
A Storm at Sea
27 1-2 As soon as arrangements were complete for our sailing to Italy, Paul and a few other prisoners were placed under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, a member of an elite guard. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.
 
3 The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there.
 
4-8 Out to sea again, we sailed north under the protection of the northeast shore of Cyprus because winds out of the west were against us, and then along the coast westward to the port of Myra. There the centurion found an Egyptian ship headed for Italy and transferred us on board. We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course. After much difficulty, we finally made it to the southern coast of the island of Crete and docked at Good Harbor (appropriate name!).
 
9-10 By this time we had lost a lot of time. We had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing. Paul warned, “I see only disaster ahead for cargo and ship—to say nothing of our lives!—if we put out to sea now.”
 
12,11 But it was not the best harbor for staying the winter. Phoenix, a few miles further on, was more suitable. The centurion set Paul’s warning aside and let the ship captain and the shipowner talk him into trying for the next harbor.
 
13-15 When a gentle southerly breeze came up, they weighed anchor, thinking it would be smooth sailing. But they were no sooner out to sea than a gale-force wind, the infamous nor’easter, struck. They lost all control of the ship. It was a cork in the storm.
 
16-17 We came under the lee of the small island named Clauda, and managed to get a lifeboat ready and reef the sails. But rocky shoals prevented us from getting close. We only managed to avoid them by throwing out drift anchors.
 
18-20 Next day, out on the high seas again and badly damaged now by the storm, we dumped the cargo overboard. The third day the sailors lightened the ship further by throwing off all the tackle and provisions. It had been many days since we had seen either sun or stars. Wind and waves were battering us unmercifully, and we lost all hope of rescue.
 
21-22 With our appetite for both food and life long gone, Paul took his place in our midst and said, “Friends, you really should have listened to me back in Crete. We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there’s no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you that there’ll not be a single drowning among us, although I can’t say as much for the ship—the ship itself is doomed.
 
23-26 “Last night God’s angel stood at my side, an angel of this God I serve, saying to me, ‘Don’t give up, Paul. You’re going to stand before Caesar yet—and everyone sailing with you is also going to make it.’ So, dear friends, take heart. I believe God will do exactly what he told me. But we’re going to shipwreck on some island or other.”
 
27-29 On the fourteenth night, adrift somewhere on the Adriatic Sea, at about midnight the sailors sensed that we were approaching land. Sounding, they measured a depth of 120 feet, and shortly after that ninety feet. Afraid that we were about to run aground, they threw out four anchors and prayed for daylight.
 
30-32 Some of the sailors tried to jump ship. They let down the lifeboat, pretending they were going to set out more anchors from the bow. Paul saw through their guise and told the centurion and his soldiers, “If these sailors don’t stay with the ship, we’re all going down.” So the soldiers cut the lines to the lifeboat and let it drift off.
 
33-34 With dawn about to break, Paul called everyone together and proposed breakfast: “This is the fourteenth day we’ve gone without food. None of us has felt like eating! But I urge you to eat something now. You’ll need strength for the rescue ahead. You’re going to come out of this without even a scratch!”
 
35-38 He broke the bread, gave thanks to God, passed it around, and they all ate heartily—276 of us, all told! With the meal finished and everyone full, the ship was further lightened by dumping the grain overboard.
 
39-41 At daybreak, no one recognized the land—but then they did notice a bay with a nice beach. They decided to try to run the ship up on the beach. They cut the anchors, loosed the tiller, raised the sail, and ran before the wind toward the beach. But we didn’t make it. Still far from shore, we hit a reef and the ship began to break up.
 
42-44 The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so none could escape by swimming, but the centurion, determined to save Paul, stopped them. He gave orders for anyone who could swim to dive in and go for it, and for the rest to grab a plank. Everyone made it to shore safely.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your daily rescues, large and small. Thank you for loving us so much you died for us and rose again to save us, the greatest rescue of all!
In Jesus Name, Amen I believe.
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THAT’S WHAT I’M PRAYING FOR…

Posted on January 24, 2018 by randscallawayffm

ACTS – The Acts of God

What God does in Paul and through Paul is nothing short of amazing and wonderful in spite of the prison “jewelry” he must wear while preaching boldly about what God did in him. His testimony is compelling to King Agrippa who admits he is almost persuaded to become a Christian. Paul’s response, “That’s what I’m praying for, not only you but everyone” gives me hope this morning about the lost people in my life that I pray for every day.

Do we loose our hope when it takes years for some to say yes to God? Do we forget to pray for the lost people in our past we no longer see anymore? Do we pray for those who are confused and searching who we work alongside? Do we pray for those at church that attend but are not growing in an intimate walk because they have never accepted Christ as Savior and Lord? Do we give up praying for the lost over the years when it seems their will to say no…is no?

Do we still love them enough to keep praying and not give up? There was a young man in my youth group many years ago who stopped me in the tracks of my thinking when he said, “Susan, will you still love me, even if I don’t buy in to what you are saying?” “Will you still pay attention to me and be my friend?” My response was a sincere, “YES, of course I will. But know that I will continue to pray for you until I can pray with you.”

How long as it been seen we prayed MORE for lost people and less for their/our immediate needs? I’m asking this of myself. Are our prayers focused more on our needs, wants and health and less on the souls who are lost? It’s time to evaluate. Yes, we can ask God for anything. Yes, nothing is too hard for Him. That’s why we pray to him. We trust God to meet all our needs. But a stronger, more fervent effort must be to pray for our lost loved ones, lost acquaintances, lost leaders who are in authority over us, lost people everywhere! God is listening. God is working before we pray but wants us to realize the need for us to pray heightens our awareness of the lost people we need to speak to when prompted by the Holy Spirit.

Yes, that’s what I’m praying for…today. Go tell the story of what God has done in us. And pray even more for the lost who might be convicted of making a decision for life eternal.

Acts 26 prayerActs 26, The Message
“I Couldn’t Just Walk Away”
26 1-3 Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: “Go ahead—tell us about yourself.”

Paul took the stand and told his story. “I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

4-8 “From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up—and if they were willing to stick their necks out they’d tell you in person—knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors—the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries—it’s because I have held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the ones standing trial here, not me! For the life of me, I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.

9-11 “I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers—I had no idea they were God’s people!—into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.

12-14 “One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

15-16 “I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

“The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I’ve handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.

17-18 “‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.’

19-20 “What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change—this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life—right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.

21-23 “It’s because of this ‘whole world’ dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves. But God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I’m standing here saying what I’ve been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I’m saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen: One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God’s daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing.”

24 That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: “Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!”

25-27 But Paul stood his ground. “With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying. The king knows what I’m talking about. I’m sure that nothing of what I’ve said sounds crazy to him. He’s known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn’t done behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don’t you, King Agrippa? Don’t answer that—I know you believe.”

28 But Agrippa did answer: “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!”

29 Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”

30-31 The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, “There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.”

32 Agrippa told Festus, “He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested the hearing before Caesar.”

Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray for the lost around me, related to me and those whom I have not met but will. I pray for our lost leaders in churches, local, state and national government. I pray for bosses over Christian workers. I pray for opportunities to tell what you have done in me. 
In Jesus Name, Amen

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