Your soul was meant for worship. You were made so that your heart’s greatest desires would be met in standing in awe of the glory of God. God’s glory, was manifested to us first in His creation, but later, most fully in the person of Jesus Christ. The ultimate display of the glory of Jesus Christ was given to us in His gospel; the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection in power of Jesus. Therefore, you were made to worship Jesus and Him crucified. We begin as Christians at the foot of our crucified savior, but we are quick to move away; placing our hope in other things either our deeds or the means of grace that are intended to point us back to Him.
My burden for us all is to fan the flame of our faith by drawing near to Jesus, crucified, buried, risen in power, and fix our eyes on Him always. My hope, prayer, and eager expectation is that as He is lifted up as the ultimate object of worth and all sufficient for our need and desires in His Word; that you will experience Him thus in your heart. My personal prayer is that God would bless this preaching of His Word for your edification and strengthening of faith with joy. Over the following weeks, we will be walking through Paul’s letter to Rome, the book of Romans. I have no idea how long this will take, but safe to say somewhere between 3 weeks and 3 months. Please join me both in self-study of this portion of God’s Word and in prayer that God’s blessing be added to it.
Before we begin, I must share my personal conviction that too often my writing does not seek first the blessing of God. This has been an internal conviction born out of a conversation with a friend in ministry and his confession/conviction of a lack of extended prayer seeking the Lord. As I listened to His study of historical great men of God, and how they would pray for hours every day, God wrought conviction much my own prayer life was lacking. This internal conviction was confirmed again last Friday in a loving rebuke by another friend and confirmed by the topic (random) of a guest pastor at my church last Sunday. Sometimes when God speaks to me – He shouts! We are encouraged to pray in petition of God for the giving of the Holy Spirit, who is our true Teacher. God, the Holy Spirit, is the only One who can reveal who He is.
Luke 11:9-13 – “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Much of what will be revealed through Romans will be deep truths of God. These are truths that would never be accepted by sinful (natural) man, but is the Truth of God. Pray with me then, that God would prepare our hearts to receive His Truth, to guide us into His Truth by His Spirit that dwells in us as believers.
John 16:13 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
1 Corinthians 2:12-14 – “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
As I take this day to prepare my own heart and wait for the LORD, I encourage you to rest your hope likewise in Him.
Psalm 130:5 – “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;”
Grace and Peace,
Adam
Following the Way 