Daily Inspirations

Good morning. Back to Abraham: without becoming week in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, and the deadness of Sarah‘s womb, yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. That is extremely hard to do. Even with some minor affliction, such as a little hoarseness, it’s hard to imagine yourself speaking clearly. In your mind, you hear yourself talking with that same hoarseness. And yet Abraham was able to look at the problem and believe that God was going to do what He said He would do, in spite of the problem. Some “faith” people say that they don’t have a problem, when obviously they do. That’s not what Abraham did. He said, I’ve got a problem, but my God is greater than the problem. It says that he grew strong in faith. Most of us would’ve grown weak in faith. He knew that he coul...

Good morning. David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Paul asks, was the faith credited to Abraham as righteousness while he was circumcised or uncircumcised? It was while he was uncircumcised; therefore, one does not have to be a Jew to have his faith reckoned as righteousness (praise God!). For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. It is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with Grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all. That reminded me of the old song: father Abraham had many sons… God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had ...

Good morning. Paul now gives what seems like a refutation to what James said. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works (uh-oh), he has something to boast about, but not before God. What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God (when He said that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens), and it was credited to him as righteousness. James also mentions this verse. He says that when Abraham offered up his son Isaac on the altar, that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the scripture was fulfilled which says that Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Christian say they believe, but don’t act like it. Abraham did act like it. He was offering up his only hope that his descendants would be as the stars of the heavens. Back to Paul: now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor ...

Good morning. Why did God display Jesus as a propitiation? This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over sins previously committed, for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. This is something that mankind was unable to figure out. How could God be a just God, and at the same time justify His people? We deserved total annihilation; and yet He wanted a people for His own. Someone had to pay for the wrath due us. And so the wrath of God fell on Jesus; the only one who did not deserve it. We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also? This brings us back again to what James said. God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. No matter what the Jews did, they were not able to receive justification thr...

Good morning. Before Jesus, your right standing before God depended on you keeping the law. Now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. Then one of those oft quoted verses: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Paul is saying that it is no longer through works that we are justified, unlike in the Old Testament. Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. My Bible says that the Greek for this phrase “as a propitiation“ speaks of a sacrifice that satisfies the righteous wrath of God. Once a year the high priest would bring the blood of a sacrificed animal into the holy of holies, and sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat (propitiatory) that was on the ark. This made atonement for all of the sins o...

Good morning. What good was it to be a Jew? They were entrusted with the oracles of God. That is actually a really big deal. The Jews were very meticulous in copying the Scriptures and in taking care of them. If they had been entrusted to anyone else, they would’ve been long ago lost forever. Paul then quotes the scripture that there is none who is righteous. By the works of the law no flesh will be justified (declared not guilty, but rather righteous) in His sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Of course that seems to contradict what James said that faith without works is dead; and that Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar. He also said that you can see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. How do you reconcile the two? Unlike some people, I don’t know everything. It is possible that James wrote his letter before he came to the full understanding of salvation. After all, it was years after the resurrection ...

Good morning. Speaking of the righteous judgment of God: who will render to each person according to his deeds. To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. Sometimes we don’t persevere, and give up. But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. We get upset because God does not zap them right away. As one fellow used to say: God will get them in the end – I’m not saying which end He will get them in, but He will get them in the end. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil (Jew or Greek), but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good (Jew or Greek). For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law; for it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the law will be j...

Good morning. Today you see politicians and others condemning certain activities; and then later you find out they were doing the same thing, and maybe even worse. This is from chapter 2 of Romans: therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. Oops! But do you suppose this, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same thing yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Of course we all say, get them God! But: do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? We so want others to get their just desserts now; but when it comes to us, we want God to be patient. If God judged us the way we want Him to judge others, we would be toast! But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrat...

Good morning. So God’s divine nature is clearly seen in what He has made. Then a verse that is so applicable today: even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and made their idols. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. People today may not serve physical idols like Paul was talking about, but they have other things that become idols in their hearts. And because they do not look to God as their source, they look other places to find meaning in their lives. They cannot believe in an all powerful, loving Creator, so they have to come up with some other explanation as to how everything came about. If there is no Creato...

Good morning. Paul was talking about the Gospel: For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “but the righteous man shall live by faith“. People like the gospel because it gives them their fire insurance; but they don’t like the demand that it puts on the way they live. We came into the kingdom of God by faith, and we are to live the Christian life by faith also. This same verse from the Old Testament is in the book of Galatians. There is where Martin Luther read the quote, and that brought about the Reformation. The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, having been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so ...

  Good morning. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. It had been Paul’s goal for a good while to get to Rome. The phrase “rest of the Gentiles“, just like the one from before when he said “obedience of faith among all the Gentiles“ seems to confirm that this church was mostly Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Even though this was Rome, the philosophy etc. of the Greeks was greatly admired. People who were not sophisticated were a lot of times called barbarians. And then a verse we should all live by: for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Remember what Jesus said to the Gentile woman whose daughter was cruelly demon possessed – I was sent to th...

Good morning. Well it only took two days to get through Paul’s first sentence. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all (don’t you mean y’all?), because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. How would you like that to be said about you - that your faith was being proclaimed throughout the whole world? Even when he was about to zap somebody, Paul started his letters saying something nice about the people. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. Other than perhaps family or for really good friends, how many people do we unceasingly pray about? This, and Paul had never met these people. He was praying though, that he might succeed in coming to them. We just saw at the end of the book of Acts that his prayer was granted, but not in the way that he w...

Good morning. We continue with Paul’s introduction. He was very famous for extremely long sentences. Speaking of Jesus – who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That plus all we did yesterday is one sentence. Until Jesus was raised from the dead, He was just an extraordinary man with miraculous powers. There have been numerous people throughout the ages who have performed miracles such as He did; but none of them were raised permanently from the dead. All three members of the Godhead are mentioned at work in this sentence. Paul says that his designation as an apostle came straight...

Good morning. Today we begin the book of Romans. He has not been to Rome yet. My Bible says that there is a verse near the end which talks about the collections that he was going to take to Jerusalem, which is the occasion near the end of Acts which got him into trouble. Paul basically introduces himself at the beginning and gives his qualifications for writing. He says that he was a bond servant of Christ Jesus. My Bible says that this is different from being a hired hand. He completely belonged to his owner, Jesus. Called as an apostle. There are too many people who are designated by others or even by themselves as apostles. The true ones, like Paul, are designated by God as apostles. Set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures. God did not make up everything as He went along. He had everything completely planned out and revealed it through hints to His prophets in the Old Testament. Concerning His Son who was born of a ...

Good morning. The Jews replied, we have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. That was good. They did not have any preconceived notions about him. Thank goodness they did not have cell phones back then. They could judge for themselves based on what he said. But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere. They came back another day, and Paul explained to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening. Just like all the places that Paul went, some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. Paul finished his presentation by saying, the Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, you will keep on hearing, but will n...

Good morning. The father of the leading man of the island was sick. Paul prayed for him, and he was healed. After this, the rest of the people on the island brought their sick to be healed. It doesn’t say whether or not Paul shared the gospel with them; but it certainly gave him a golden opportunity to do so. At the end of three months we set sail. What is ironic is that if they had stayed for the winter where Paul told them to, they would probably have gotten to Rome at about the same time, and they would have avoided all of the stress and strain they endured on the ship. Finally Paul makes it to Rome. He was allowed to stay by himself, with a soldier who was guarding him. I guess this was kind of like house arrest. During all of this, Paul did not say, woe is me. He knew he was on a mission. He called together the leading men of the Jews. He explained to them what had happened in Jerusalem and in Caesarea. When the Romans had examined me, they were willing to release me because the...

Good morning. Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on a certain island. Now God could’ve had them make it safely to Rome; but they may have gotten there before He wanted them to. Also there were some people on the island that needed to hear about God. After 14 days in the storm, the sailors realized they were approaching some land. Some of the sailors tried to escape in the ship’s boat; but Paul told the centurion that unless they remained in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved. I’m not sure why that is true. They finally run aground, and the ship is being broken up by the waves. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners so that they could not escape; but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention. One way or another all 276 persons made it to shore. The natives of the island received them with kindness and started a fire for them. As Paul was lay...

Good morning. So the ship was caught in a nor’easter, and they could not make it go the way they wanted. They gave way to the wind and sailed under the shelter of a small island. My Bible shows a map of where they were. Remember they were only a short distance from the city where they wanted to go. The island was south west of where they wanted to go – because they were hit from the north east with the storm. Of course there was no way to know exactly what path they went after that because they were in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The map just shows a squiggly line until they get to the island where they were grounded. The storm went on for many days and the and men lost all hope of being saved. So what did Paul say – I told you so. I told you not to go. Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, do not be afrai...

Good morning. When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion. Notice that “we“ returns. Luke has not been mentioned during the entire two years that Paul was at Caesarea. I guess it is safe to assume that he was in the area during this time. We will leave out the names of a bunch of places where they passed. They had sailed for a good many days and began to have trouble with the wind. This was a warning of what was about to happen. When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast (Day of atonement) was already over, Paul began to admonish them to not continue, because he perceived that not only would there be a loss of the cargo but also of their lives. The centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. They did not want to get stuck for the winter in the port where they were located. They actually were only going...

Good morning. Paul continues his message to King Agrippa. I declared, even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. That’s the same thing that John the Baptist told the Pharisees when they came to be baptized. He tells how the Jews wanted to put him to death, but he obtained help from God. I state nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. So Paul has given King Agrippa the gospel in a nutshell, tailoring it to both Jews and Gentiles. My Bible says that King Agrippa was allied with the Sadducees. Remember that his relative, the first King Herod, was extremely upset when the Magi said they were seeking the One born king of the Jews. While Paul was talking to King Agrippa, he was also talking to Festus, who was a Gentile. Festus sa...

Good morning. Well they had a big to do: The king and a bunch of dignitaries came together to hear Paul. Festus said, I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and since he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him. I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. He knew that the Jews had no case against Paul; but he didn’t want to let him go free and get the Jews angry at him. Since Paul had resorted to an appeal to Caesar, Festus had to indicate the charge. He was afraid that Caesar would want to know why Festus was wasting his time with such a flimsy reason. Paul starts out by flattering King Agrippa. I consider myself fortunate that I’m about to make my defense before you today; especially ...

Good morning. While everything was being prepared for Paul to go to Rome, King Agrippa and Bernice came to pay their respects to Festus. My Bible says that he was the last of the Herods. Festus tells them about Paul’s case. When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. We need to realize that the world does not understand what we believe. They think that we are talking about something completely different. They may not think it’s the same as this, but it is very different from what we truly believe. When I asked Paul whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters, he appealed to be held in custody for the emperor’s decision. I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said, I also would like to hear the man myself. His re...

Good morning. The Jews brought many and serious charges against Paul, which they could not prove. Paul said, I have committed no offense either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges? Why would he want to go to Jerusalem? He was standing trial right there, and they were unable to prove anything against him. Paul knew that if they had planned to kill him previously, they would probably do the same again as he went to Jerusalem. I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. My Bible says that as a Roman citizen, he could refuse to go to a local provincial court; instead he looked to a higher Roman court. I have done no wrong to the Jews as you very well know. If, then, I am a wrong doer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of these things is true of which th...

Good morning. Felix was given plenty of opportunity to turn his life over to Christ, but he refused. Why was Paul stuck there for two years? Why didn’t God set him free? God was preparing everything for Paul’s eventual trip to Rome. If he had been set free or had gone earlier, then what was supposed to happen would not have happened. My Bible says that Festus only lived two years longer before he died. Basically he was there only so that he could send Paul to Rome because Felix was not going to. So Festus arrives in Caesarea for his new job. After a few days by the seashore, he goes up to the big city – Jerusalem, not having a clue of the controversy that was about to strike him. The chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were urging him, requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time setting an ambush to kill Paul on the way). It would’ve been easy to give in to their demands, but inst...

Good morning. Paul continues describing what happened in Jerusalem and said, let these men themselves tell what misdeed they found when I stood before the council, other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, for the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today. But Felix, having a more exact knowledge about the Way put them off, saying, when the commander comes down, I will decide your case. He knew there was no real crime, and that it was simply jealousy that brought all this on; but he couldn’t just let Paul go or the Jews would’ve been tremendously upset. Paul was more or less under house arrest. Paul must have struck a chord in the soul of Felix, talking about the resurrection, because Felix and his wife came to listen to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. There was more than one man named Herod, and she was the daughter of one of them. As Paul was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became fri...

Good morning. The Jews were upset that “Paul got away“; so 40 formed a plot to kill Paul, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had done so. They wanted the council to pretend like they wanted to investigate him further, but they were going to attack and kill him while he was on the way. Paul’s nephew learned of the ambush, and came to the barracks to inform him. He asked that his nephew be able to tell the commander about the plot, and he was able to do so. The commander sent Paul with 200 soldiers and 70 horsemen to Caesarea, where the governor, Felix, was staying. They waited for the Jews to come down from Jerusalem for a hearing. The high priest, some elders, and a lawyer (went into a bar - well it sounded like the beginning of a joke) came to bring charges against Paul. The lawyer claimed that Paul stirred up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and was the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to desecrate the temple; and then w...

Good morning. Now Paul could’ve kept attacking the high priest; but he perceived that one group was Sadducees and the other Pharisees. These two groups were like Republicans and Democrats – they really disagreed with each other and only came together when there was a common enemy, like Jesus. I am a Pharisee, and am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead! This created quite a commotion because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. The Pharisees said, we find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him? They were about to slug it out when the commander stepped in and took Paul away from them. That night the Lord stood at his side and said, take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also. This seems to indicate that it was God‘s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem. It also confirms Paul’s desire to go to Rome...

Good morning. As they were getting ready to scourge Paul, he said to the centurion, is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and condemned? Remember when he was in the Philippian jail that when they sent to release him, Paul realized too late that he had the same defense. It was against the Roman law for a Roman citizen to be subjected to any kind of degrading form of punishment. The next day, the commander ordered the chief priests and the council to assemble so that he could find out why they were accusing Paul. He said to them, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day. The high priest commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the law, and in violation of the law order me to be struck? But the bystanders said, do you revile God‘s high priest? I was not aware that he was high priest; for it is written, you shall not speak evil o...

  Good morning. Paul begins giving his testimony; how he was trained under Gamaliel (which meant he was highly trained in the law); had men and women put into prison because they followed the Way; and was going to Damascus to continue doing so. He tells about getting knocked off his feet and his encounter with Jesus; how Ananias prayed for him to receive his sight and told him to get up and be baptized, and wash away his sins, calling on His name. Paul tells about returning to Jerusalem (probably several years later); praying in the temple; and falling into a trance. Jesus told him to get out of Jerusalem because they would not accept his testimony about Him. Paul disagreed with Jesus telling about all the bad things he had done against His witnesses, thinking that that would make it OK to stay – that no one would harm him. Jesus told him to go; for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was one thing to talk about Jesus to Je...