Daily Inspirations

  G oo d mo r ning . S o Abraham had two sons; but God chose Isaac. Paul then gives other instances whe r e God chose one over th e othe r . Remember tha t Reb e ka h ha d twins – Jacob and Esau . For though the twins we r e not yet bo r n and had not done anything good or bad , so that G o d ‘s purpose acco r ding to His choice would stand, not becaus e of works but because of Him wh o calls, it was said to he r , “the older will serv e the younge r .“ Isaac did not ea r n G o d ‘s choice , and neithe r di d Jacob. And of course we also d i d n ’ t . In t o d a y ’ s world, people would say tha t God was not fai r . He sho u ld ’v e been all inclusive. W e w o ul d ’v e hea r d all abou t it over the news media. God is evil; He is not fair! Wha t shall we say then? The r e is no injustice with God, is the r e? Never! But tha t is not how the news medi a would portray it. “I will have me r cy on who m I have me r c y , an d I will have compassi...

  G oo d mo r ning . Paul is getting r eady to tell th e Roman Christians something, and he want s them to know that what he saying is the truth, and tha t h e ’ s no t just being politically cor r ect. I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, m y conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I hav e g r eat sor r ow an d unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself we r e accursed, se p ar a te d f r om Christ for the sake of my b r eth r en , my kinsmen acco r ding to the flesh. T h a t ’ s p r etty st r ong. It sounds like h e would be willing to tak e their place; that h e would be willing to give up his salvation, if all of them could r eceiv e theirs. W ould we b e willing to do that, eve n if they we r e our r ela t ives? He the n talks abou t the ben e fit s of being Israelites. Remember tha t they a r e G o d ‘s chosen people ; an d yet without Christ, they a r e doomed. Remember also th e p r omise that God mad e ...

G oo d mo r ning . Anothe r one of our favorite verses: Wh o will sep a rat e us f r om the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or dist r ess, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or swo r d? Of course we al r eady know th e answer – nothing! What abou t all of thes e things that he ta l ke d about – tha t he actually experi e nced; di d they get him down? But in all thes e things we overwhelmingly conque r th r ough Him who loved us. W ait for it – for I am conv in ced tha t neithe r death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things p r esent , nor things to co m e, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other c r ea t ed thing, will be a b l e to sep a rat e us f r om the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lo r d. Whee doggies! As the cowa r dly lion in the Wiza r d of Oz said: “Ain ’ t nu tt i n ’, no h o w ! ” Notice tha t it does not say tha t we ba r ely make it th r ough – it says that we overwhelmingly conquer! W e d...

  G oo d mo r ning . What shall we say to thes e things ( F o r e k n e w , p r e d est in ed, conformed, called, justified , g lo r ifi e d ) ? If God is for us, who is against us? A statement of the form If…, then is called a conditional. The “ t h e n ” part is guar a nteed to occu r , p r ovide d tha t th e “If” part occurs. The r e is always a possibility that th e “If” part does not happ e n. My Bibl e says tha t the form of the condition (in G r ee k ) make s it clear tha t the r e is no doubt about it – the “If” part will ha pp en - God is defin i tely for us. The r efo r e , who ca n b e against us - no one! He who did not spa r e His own Son , but delive r ed Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him f r eely give us all things? If God di d the “most-ist” “ b e st-ist ” thing for us, how could He not give us “ l e sser “ things? Everything else is of no consequence compa r ed to Him giving us His Son . Who will bring a cha r ge ag...

  G oo d mo r ning . OK so we a r e called acco r ding to His purpose. Paul then gives the p r ocess by which we came to know God. They a r e all in th e pas t tense. For thos e whom He fo r ekne w , He also p r e - des t ined to become conf o rme d to the image of His Son , s o that He would b e the firstbo r n amon g man y b r eth r en ; and thes e whom He p r edes t ined, H e also called; an d thes e whom He called, He also justified; and thes e whom He justified , He also glorified . The r e a r e some questions conce r ning thes e verses bu t no definitive answe r . Is he talkin g about us as individuals, or the selectiv e g r oup of all Christians? Di d God personally know each of us in the ancient past , or simply know about us; again as an indivi d ual or as a g r oup? Is this p r ed e stin a tio n in the traditiona l sense? The p r ed e stina t ion he r e says to become conforme d to the image of His Son , not p r e - des t ined to salvatio n – ...

  G oo d mo r ning . Remember that th e Spirit testifies with our spirit tha t we a r e child r en of God; also having the firs t fruits of the Spirit we g r oa n within ourselves. In the sam e way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray a s we should, but the Spirit Himself inte r cedes for us with g r oanings too deep for wo r ds; an d He who sea r ches th e hearts knows what th e mind of the Spirit is, becaus e He inte r c edes for the Saints acco r ding to the will of God. Mos t of the time we d o n ’ t r ealize tha t all of this is going on within us. W e d o n ’ t have to be conce r ne d abou t whether or not the Spirit is praying th e right prayer like we d o when we pra y . My Bibl e comments: whether Paul means wo r ds tha t a r e unspoken or wo r d s that cannot b e exp r e ssed in human language is not clea r . And then one of e veryone ’ s favorite verses: and we know that Go d causes all things to work together ...

  G oo d mo r ning . Last time it said tha t we we r e waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the r ede m ptio n of our bod y . W e sing the Big Da dd y W eave song, “I am r e d ee m e d “, but we think of that a s our spirit or sou l being r edee m ed. W e d o n ’ t think about our body being r e d eem e d, but it is – it just w o n ’ t be mani f este d until the r esur r ection. Fo r in hop e w e hav e been saved, but hope tha t is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he al r ea dy sees? Remember f r om the book of Heb r ews, now faith is the assurance of things hoped fo r , the conviction o f things not seen. If you have $100 bill in your hand, you d o n ’ t have to hope that you will get one one da y . Faith is seeing that hund r ed dollar bill in your hand, even whe n i t ’ s not physically visible. But if we hope for wha t we do not see, with persev e rance w e wait eagerly for it. W e d o n ’ t “see“ our bodies al r eady r es ur r ec t ed,...

  G oo d mo r ning . Remember: we a r e suffering for Jesus. For I consider that th e sufferings of this p r esen t time a r e not worthy to be compa r e d with th e glory that is to be r ev ea led to us. For the anxious longing of the c r ea t ion waits eagerly for the r evealing of the sons of God. Even the c r eation gets in on the act. For the c r eation was subjecte d to futilit y , not willingl y , but because of Him who subjected it, in hope tha t the c r eation itself also will b e set f r ee f r om its slavery to corruption into the f r eedom of the glory of the child r en of God. For we know that the whole c r eation g r oans and suffers the pain s of childbirth together until no w . And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, eve n we ourselves g r oan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the r ede m ptio n of our bod y . I guess you could say for both the c r eation and ourselves; no pain – no ...

  G oo d mo r ning . OK, s o we have all thes e wonderful wo r ds tha t say tha t we a r e child r en of God. Is the r e any way othe r than just wo r d s that w e can know that we a r e child r en of God? The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that w e a r e child r en of God. Of course we d o n ’ t go by feelings; but the r e a r e defin i tely times when we “ f ee l something“ deep down inside of us. An d if child r en, heirs also, heirs of God an d fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed w e suffer with Him s o that w e may also be glorified with Him. The way that sounds in English, it seems like we d o n ’ t get the inheritance unless we do the suffering. My Bibl e says tha t the G r ee k construction used he r e doe s not set forth a condition but states a fact . In other wo r ds th e inheritance is not p r ed i cate d on the suffering, but the suffering is a natural r esult of being Christians. I t ’ s part of the “job d e s c r i p t i o n “. Now mos...

  G oo d mo r ning . How do you know that you truly a r e a Christian? All who a r e being led by th e Spirit of God, these a r e sons of God. T h a t ’ s p r etty clear; but sometimes it is ha r d to do. S p ea k ing as a mathematician: logically that doe s not mean that just becaus e y o u ’ r e not being le d by th e Spirit of God that you a r e not a child of God. It just guar a ntees that if you a r e being le d by th e Spirit of God, that you a r e a child of God. It could be true in r eali t y – but tha t is not the logical way to interp r e t this passage. I kno w , I know… Unfortunately I hav e hea r d various spea k ers interp r e t other scriptu r e s that wa y . For you have not r eceive d a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have r eceive d a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abb a ! F a t h e r ! ” My Bible says that adoption was co mm on amon g the G r eeks an d Romans, wh o grante d the ado p tive son all ...

  G oo d mo r ning . If Christ is in you , though the body is d ea d becaus e of sin, yet the spirit is alive becaus e of righteousness. Dea t h came because Ada m sinned. Just becaus e we a r e Christians, does not mean tha t our body will not die. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesu s f r om the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesu s f r om the d ea d will also give life to your mortal bodies th r ough His Spirit who dwells in you. This life is guar a nteed to us. Of course the life that He gives our mortal bodies will be diff e r en t when we a r e raised f r om the dead. Notice f r om yest e r da y and toda y the diff e r en t ways tha t Paul speaks abou t the Spirit. Sometime s he uses the phrase Spirit of God, an d sometimes he talks abou t the Spirit of Christ, almost alte r nating them. Is he doing that just for variety; saying tha t they a r e two diffe r ent Spirits; or is he emphasizing tha t They a r e th e same? Good question . So th...

  G oo d mo r ning . For those who a r e acco r ding to the fles h set their minds on the things of the flesh, bu t those who a r e acco r ding to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Fo r the mind set on the flesh is dea t h, but the mind set on the Spirit is life an d peace, becaus e th e mind set on the flesh is hostile towa r d God; for it does not subjec t itself to the law of God, for it is not even abl e to do so, and those who a r e in the fles h cannot please God . The mind set on the flesh not only is not able to subjec t itself to the law of God , it does not even wan t to. W e should b e seeking how we can better set our minds on the law of God, and not just on Sunda y . Howeve r , you a r e not in the flesh bu t in the Spirit, if indeed th e Spirit of God dwells in you. T rue, but some who p r ofess to b e Christians do not act that wa y . But if anyone doe s not have th e Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. That is the big diffe r enc e be...

  G oo d mo r ning . After chapter 7, it makes us feel like - woe is me! But afte r chapte r 7 come s – chapte r 8! The r efo r e : r emembe r the saying, if you see th e wo r d the r e fo r e , find out what it is the r e fo r . After th e doom and gloom: The r efo r e the r e is now no condemnation for those who a r e in Christ Jesus. A r e you in Christ Jesus? Then the r e is no condemnation . Y es you have messed up; bu t if you a r e striving to serve the la w of God, the r e is no condemnation. Fo r the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has se t you f r ee f r om the law of sin and of death. W e a r e f r ee! For what the law could not do; weak a s it was th r ough the flesh, Go d did: sending His own So n in the likeness of sinful flesh and a s an offering for sin, He condemne d sin in the flesh, so that the r equi r emen t of the la w might be fulfi ll ed in us, wh o do not walk acco r ding to the flesh bu t acco r ding to the Spirit. The...