Romans

One of the bedrock verses of my faith has always been Romans 1:18-20:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

It seems like the more I learn about creation, the more in awe of God's creative ability I am. Everything from the billions of stars in the sky to the intricate machinery inside of every living cell is a miracle that borders on the unbelievable.

Acts 31

The end of Acts actually really confused me the first time I read it. I wanted to know what happened to Paul but ended up reading through the rest of the letters in the New Testament without finding out. The last verses of Acts are just:

30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, [11] and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

I wonder why Luke (inspired by the Holy Spirit) chose to end Acts this way. Maybe he wanted to reflect on the importance of Paul's life, rather than the fact of his death. Probably it's how Paul wanted to be remembered, preaching the gospel right up until the end.

Isiah 59

A stark reminder in verses 1-2 of Isiah 59:

59:1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.

So often we blame God for our problems, but the fact is that God is never too powerless to be able to do something about it. When we find ourselves in troubling times, it's either because God is testing us and wants to lead us through it, or we have turned our backs on God. If we want to see God's power in our life, first we must make sure we are within his will for our lives.

Acts 23

Apparently I was not aware of this fact (Acts 23:16):

Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.

I had no idea Paul was an uncle. Can you even imagine having a "crazy uncle Paul" who is always going on long journeys and getting in arguments with tons of people. I can imagine Paul's sister tried at times to isolate her son from her brother who was in-and-out of jail and always causing chaos.

And despite all this, Paul must have made a deep impression on his nephew. For here we see him desperately trying to save his uncle from getting into trouble once again. Can you imagine having this conversation with your uncle:

"But, uncle, they're going to kill you!"

Paul shrugs his shoulders and smiles broadly. "Isn't like they haven't tried that before... did I ever tell you about the time I was stoned?"

"But, uncle, you're not as young as you used to be. Don't you think you ought to be a little more careful?"

"Been reckless all my life, don't see any point in stopping now. Might as well finish what I started..."

I can imagine leaving that conversation deeply confused, and maybe even a little bit upset. What could possibly make this "Jesus" so important that it's worth losing an uncle over? And yet, Paul was such an incredible influence that maybe years after his death after I gradually came to realize the immensity of what he had accomplished. Maybe it would gradually start to make sense.

But even still, I can imagine calling him "my crazy uncle Paul" for the rest of my life.

Isaiah 46

Liked verses 3-4 of Isaiah 46:

3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4 even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.

It's encouraging to be reminded that got is with us on every step in our lives' journey. He was taking care of us from the moment we were conceived and will continue to do so until he finally brings us home to be with him in paradise. There's no aspect of our life that he's too busy to be involved in or simply can't be bothered with. He will carry us. And he will save us!

Isiah 40

Really liked these verses (Isiah 40:25-26):

25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.

Sometimes we need to keep in mind, not only is God the most powerful thing we can imagine, he is more powerful than we possibly could imagine. There's simply nothing we could conceive of that even holds a candle to how awesome God is.

Acts 15

Acts 15, starting with verse 5

But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

It's reassuring to know that God isn't worried with keeping up external appearances or purposely making following him more difficult than it needs to be.

Isaiah 30

Isaiah 30:1-2 says:

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, [3] but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;

2 who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

The Israelites' plan (to seek help from Egypt against the assyrian invaders) seems reasonable on the face of it. After all, if you think a war is coming, it doesn't hurt to have as many allies as possible. God condemns them, however, because they didn't make these plans with God in mind. God wanted the Israelites to rely on his support, not foreigners.

I wonder how many times I've made plans without even asking "is this what God wants" simply based off of what seems logical. As Christians, we should try and remember that God's will is an essential ingredient to any successful plan. I'm reminded of Proverbs 127:1

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

I need to remember not to make plans without consulting God first.

Acts 13

I feel as though an alternate title for Acts could easily "God takes bad things that happens to Christians and works them out for good" Acts 13 has an excellent example of this in verses 46-48:

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

If you read Paul's letters, it's impossible not to notice that his heart's desire was to see his fellow Jews become follows of Christ. And yet, at every turn he finds this wish thwarted. I can imagine it would be easy for Paul to be disappointed and complain "Why won't God let me reach these people?".

But instead of losing hope, Paul preaches to the gentiles without a lack of enthusiasm, sowing the seeds of the Christian church throughout the Roman empire. How much less would Paul have accomplished if he had been able to remain in Judea preaching only to Jews the whole time. Instead, because of Paul's willingness, God was able to take a bad circumstance and turn it into an even greater good.

acts 12

An interesting thing happens in this anecdote about Peter. After being freed from prison (where he would have presumably been executed), Peter goes to see his friends and this happens (acts 12:12-16):

When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

I struck me that Rhonda decided to explain away something impossible (that Peter had been freed) with something else impossible (that she had seen a ghost).

Recall that Jesus too was identified as a ghost, both when he walked on water and when he rose from the dead.

Unfortunately, I think this is a natural feature of human irrationality. For some reason we prefer explanations that (although equally absurd) don't give God the glory, blaming say circumstances rather than God's divine plan.

I would like to have a heart that is eager to believe in God's goodness, rather than to explain it away.

Isaiah 22

This verse in Isiah caught my eye (Isiah 22:12-13):

In that day the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for baldness and wearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”

The verse seemed familiar because Paul quotes it in 1 Corinthians 15 (verses 29-34):

Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? ³⁰And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die."^d]">[d] ³³Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." ³⁴Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

What this seems to me is the attitude of someone for whom there is no hope of eternity. Sadly, it has become one that pervades our culture: "since we all die someday, might as well have fun in the meantime". But it seems like a pretty poor idea of fun, always looking over one's shoulder waiting for the end to come.

As Christians, we should remember. The world may be partying now while it's night, but dawn is coming. Then it will be our turn to celebrate. And what a celebration it will be.

Acts 8

I continue to be impressed by the early church. As seen in acts 8:1-3, they were obviously affected by the stoning of Stephen:

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

You might think the natural reaction would be to go into hiding. After all, first Jesus and now one of his followers have been killed. But, instead, notice verse 4:

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Because of this persecution, we see that the Good News starts to spread throughout Judea, whereas before the disciples were only hanging out in the temple. God has effectively taken something awful and through the disciples faithfulness turned it into something good.

This is a theme we will see emphasized even more in the ministry of Paul. I need to remember, where I see persecution, God sees opportunity.