Out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

 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 the lost house of Israel. It was only later that healing came to the Gentiles.) When we are around a group of people that do not believe, we sometimes act like we are ashamed of the gospel. We are afraid we will be attacked for standing up for what we believe; and so sometimes Christians will participate in things they know is wrong. What is the saying – if we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything? We don’t have to be preachy, but we do need to stand firm in our beliefs. Father thank You for the gospel. It truly is good news, and it certainly has power for salvation to us who believe.