THE BOOK OF ROMANS Friday – September 13, 2013 – Romans 15:7 “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” There is a story in Matthew 8 (and in Luke 7 and John 4) of a Roman centurion approaching Jesus with a request. His servant was ill and he believed Jesus could heal him. He felt he was unworthy of Jesus presence in his home but felt that Jesus need only speak the Word and the servant would be healed. Jesus knew that one day soon Roman soldiers would nail Him to a wooden cross and raise Him up to die, and here stands a Roman soldier asking for His help. Were it me and not Jesus, there would be a certain hesitance on my part to help this man, but Jesus accepted his plea and even commended him for his faith. John 4 tells the story of a Samaritan woman by a well. Jesus was born a Jew, and the Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans, considered them such a lower class of people that they didn’t even deserve the time of day, but this woman needed help. She didn’t even know she needed help, she thought she was doing just fine the way she was, to the point that she even questioned why Jesus would take the time to talk to her. She was so resistant to Him to begin with, many of us would have given up on her and gone our way, but Jesus stayed the course, softened her heart, and gained another convert for the kingdom. Luke 19 relates the tale of a tax collector who climbed up into a tree to see Jesus as He passed by. In his heart he knew who Jesus was, but he also knew how undeserving he was by virtue of his career. Jesus not only saw him up in that tree, and called him down, but invited himself into the man’s home and showed him the love of God. The book of Acts tells of a man who made a living hunting down those who professed a belief in Jesus, taking them prisoner and hauling them away from their homes and families. He stood by as one of the early deacons was stoned to death in the street, holding the cloaks of those who threw the stones. He was, in fact, on his way to another town seeking more believers when Christ confronted him. Rather than kill him on the spot, and stop any further arrests of His followers, Jesus spoke to Saul’s heart and turned him into one of the greatest preachers ever to walk this earth, the writer of most of the New Testament, Paul. Jesus was love in the flesh. He accepted every person, regardless of their background, career, reputation, color or their religious belief (or non-belief) and showered His love on them; and then He commanded us to do likewise (Matthew 22:37-40). He told us to not only love those who loved us, who were pleasant to be around and had the same political views as us, but to love those who are our enemies. Those who disagreed with us about politics and religion, those who it would seem a smart person would avoid, we are commanded to love. Paul knew what it was like to be loved in spite of one’s self, his background would have kept the vast majority of us from even approaching him, let alone telling him about Christ. When he wrote to the churches around the known world, he told them who he had been and who he now was. He told them what Christ had done for him, and he told them what Christ expected of them now. He said, “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” ‘As Christ also received us’; without reservation, without certain requirements being met, without any knowledge of who He was. He simply receives all who would believe and grants them the gift of eternal life. And tells us to receive each other in the same manner. He doesn’t tell us to clean up our lives so that we are worthy of His acceptance, He will take care of that. He doesn’t tell us to memorize certain verses and commit to a certain lifestyle, the Holy Spirit will take care of that. He doesn’t tell us to dress a certain way or have a certain look, for He will clothe us in His righteousness. He simply asks us to believe in Him, and we in turn should believe that He is able to change the worst man has to offer and make it holy. My prayer for today- Help me, Lord, to ignore the petty differences that seem so huge to me. Help me to see that we are all children of the same God, and one day in the not too distant future, we will all stand in total agreement, having been changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, having joined You in eternity. For these daily devotions/studies to truly apply to your life, you must first belong to God. He will welcome you because He loves you, even before you love Him. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Scripture tells us that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, (Romans 10:9-10). Won’t you confess today and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior? He is waiting with open arms…
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 07:54:07 +0000
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