Nov 10: Matthew 4, Jeremiah 19, Psalm 89
Nov 11: Matthew 5, Jeremiah 20, Psalm 90
Nov 12: Matthew 6, Jeremiah 21, Psalm 91
Nov 13: Matthew 7, Jeremiah 22, Psalm 92
Nov 14: Matthew 8, Jeremiah 23, Psalm 93
Nov 15: Matthew 9, Jeremiah 24, Psalm 94
Romans__7
Scripture
Romans 7:16-25-
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Paul is talking about the battle between his flesh and his Spirit. They wage war against each other.
Understanding-What does it mean?
Jesus is our Rescuer and the One who gives us hope to overcome our fleshly desires.
Jesus lived the verse, “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41).” His obedience on the cross despite His own inward struggles as a man, is why we are able to conquer and defeat sin and death as well!
When tempted to sin, RUN (don’t walk), to the One who rescues us from it-Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
At one of our ministry leader’s meetings, Pastor basically broke down the above verse and said that we can’t blame the devil for acts that we do because it was our own evil desire that enticed us. The devil tempts, but he can’t make us do anything. Our own evil desires are what entice us away. So how do we defeat these evil desires?
Here are the 5 things that help me because yes, I am human and get tempted also. No one is exempt. Not even Jesus was.
- Run to Jesus and confess it. Don’t continue to meditate on it and don’t run away from Jesus due to shame. He understands temptation because He was tempted the same way we are. Confess to the Lord that you need His help. The Holy Spirit always comes through.
- Run to God’s Word. Encourage yourself away from the temptation through His truths. God’s Word is our offensive weapon against the evil one’s attacks. We must wash our minds clean daily with the Truth in His Word. Jesus always used God’s Word in the correct context when tempted by the devil and the devil left him.
- Put up safeguards to guard your heart and mind. Don’t go closer to the temptation. Run away from it just like Joseph in Genesis 39:12. He RAN away naked leaving his cloak behind when his master’s wife kept tempting him to sleep with her and she started becoming aggressive with it. Joseph’s integrity and pleasing his master (both earthly and in Heaven) was more important than sleeping with that woman.
- Remember the consequences of the sin, not the pleasure of it. We usually know the harsh consequences if it was a sin committed in the past or if it was a learned consequence from someone else’s sin.
- Confess your struggle to another Spirit filled person to pray for you and even consider going to a Christian counselor if needed. The more we shine light on the darkness, the less likely darkness will overtake and overcome us.
We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness (Romans 6)! We are God’s chosen and we are holy and dearly loved. (Col. 3:12).
Let’s live in that truth!
-Michelle Gaddi
Romans_6
Scripture
Romans 6:6-7 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Observation
From https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/romans-6/Knowing this, that our old [self] was crucified with Him: The death of the old [self] is an established fact. It happened spiritually when we were identified with Jesus’ death at our salvation.
- The old [self]is the self that is patterned after Adam, the part of us deeply ingrained in rebellion against God and His commands. The system of law is unable to deal with the old [self], because it can only tell the old [self] what the righteous standard of God is. The law tries to reform the old [self], to get him to “turn over a new leaf.” But the system of grace understands that the old [self] can never be reformed. He must be put to death, and for the believer the old [self] dies with Jesus on the cross.
- The crucifixion of the old [self]is something that God did in us. None of us nailed the old [self] to the cross. Jesus did it, and we are told to account it as being done. “In us there was nothing even to sicken and to weaken our old man, much less to murder him by crucifixion; God had to do this.” (Lenski)
- In place of the old [self], God gives the believer a new man– a self that is instinctively obedient and pleasing to God; this aspect of our person is that which was raised with Christ in His resurrection. The New Testament describes the new man for us.
- The new man, which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness(Ephesians 4:24).
- The new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him(Colossians 3:10).
Understanding
However you want to say it or break it down, the bottom line is [the good news] that we are free in Christ, because of Christ’s death on the cross. Able to walk in freedom because of Jesus’s death on the cross. Surrounded by Him, delivered by Him, liberated…children of God. This is the good news!...and there’s a world needing it, searching for, hungry for it. So, let’s go share it!
Life Application
Cool Stuff Does Require Bribing Some Friends. JMay we be purposeful today as we go about – whether within our homes, in our workplaces, schools, when we go to the grocery store…whatever we do, may it be for God. With a heart bent towards His will, with heart/ears open to hear His voice and eyes open to opportunities to share God’s love with others. ReiTo check out the discussion or to join in click here.
Romans_5
Scripture Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Observation-What does it say? As Paul opens up the letter to the Roman church, we see several instances pointing to our inability to connect with God on our own. Paul even exposes a prideful attitude within the Roman church, who were in the practice of judging others for actions they were also committing (chapter 2:1-16). In chapters three and four, Paul encourages them to seek God through faith, like Abraham did, and not to rely on works.
In chapter five, Paul points back to the old testament, comparing Jesus to Abraham. Paul highlights the foreshadowing of the story of Adam and how it was a metaphor for what Jesus would do through his death on the cross. Adam, the first man, introduced sin and death into the world by not obeying God’s command. Jesus, the Son of Man, though his obedience to God’s command, reintroduced us to community with God. But, the grace we receive through Jesus is much more abundant than the death we have in Adam.
Understanding-What does it mean? I really struggled with English class all throughout school, especially grammar and spelling. My spelling and grammar were so bad that I failed most of my writing assignments on that alone. This became very discouraging and made me completely apathetic towards English. But this apathy made me miss out on some of the better parts of writing and stories, like the many literary devices, such as foreshadowing. As I have gotten older, I love to read a book and be pleasantly surprised when I get towards the end of the book and have the “ah ha” moment. For me, the “ah ha” moment is when I read a sentence and finally realize why something else was written at the beginning.
What's incredible about the Bible, is the amount of “ah ha” moments you can have. The story, written by so many different authors, over hundreds of years apart, uses all kinds of literary devices to help us understand God’s awesome power and love for us. In comparing Adam and Jesus, we get a taste of the foreshadowing that is used throughout the old testament. It’s a little glimpse of how much God loves us. He took such care, and paid so much attention to the little details.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Before we were even a twinkle in our parents eyes, God planned out how he was going to tell us he loved us. He orchestrated all the parts, all the players, to make this great story that we get to take part of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=300&v=7_CGP-12AE0&feature=emb_logo
Life Application Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for the love you have displayed since before I was aware of it. Help me to use my life to share this story with those around me.