#49 You can be grafted and re-grafted

"And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again." Romans 11:23

Paul is talking about how Israel started out as the hold olive tree. However, because of their unbelief, the branches, or certain people, were cut off the tree. In their place, new believers, or Gentiles, were grafted onto the tree. They don't support the tree, the tree supports them. If some of the old branches, or old believers, were to come back to belief and repent, they would be re-grafted. And they would grow and cultivate even quicker, since they were part of the natural tree to begin with.

This parable provides hope for all people. If you are new to the faith, God can simply graft you onto His tree, and you will grow and thrive. If for some reason you were with God, but then have fallen away, it's even easier to come back to God, even if it can seem harder. Some believers who have fallen away may feel that they don't deserve to come back; they knew God, then denied Him, so they have no right to be taken back. But God says that those type of people, as long as they change their belief, will come back to Him readily. Now there's no excuse!!

Lord, thank You for promising a way for all types of believers. Thank You that You are the tree that we can gain sustenance from, and that can help us grow and thrive. Help me to stay connected to Your tree, and not be broken off. I want to produce fruit for You.

#48 Knowing Christ is all it takes

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Romans 10:13

Knowing Christ is what it all boils down to. The Jews thought they were saved through knowing and obeying the law. But "Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes" (10:4). So by ignoring and denying Christ, they missed out on the big picture. By following the law, they are living by the law. By following Christ, we can live through Christ. The law is powerful and ordained by God, but I would much rather follow a living Jesus than a set of rules. Through following Jesus those rules should fall in place, but it's Jesus who is leading my life, not a set of rules. In a game of "follow the leader", Jesus is at the head of my line, not rulebook. What would be better, a set of rules for how to play the game, or a coach to teach you them? Or how about a textbook or a teacher to teach you what you need to know to pass the class? I would much rather have the real thing, the real person guiding me.

Lord, I want You to be at the head of my life. I know the Bible is not "just a book", you can use it to speak to me, but I don't want it to just be a book. I've been discouraged lately in my daily devotions and I don't like it. I want to be able to communicate to You through Your word. I will finish off Romans, then start up with the Life Journal in January with the Message Bible. I was really inspired with that reading plan, and maybe a new version will put a new spin on things for me. Thank You for giving me the Bible, and a desire to read, even if sometimes it doesn't get done. Help me to reach for the Bible first, instead of my book or the internet. Help me to make time, and help it to not just be something I fit in. I want to go to that first, commune with You, and make that my focus.

#47 God's got it figured out

"But who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it 'Why did you make me like this?'" Romans 9:20

This section of Romans talks a lot about how God predestines those who are going to love Him, and those who are going to hate Him. "Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden." (18). This doesn't really seem fair. I thought we were supposed to have free choice to decide to follow God? But God says that He knows what's going on, He's got it all worked out, He's the one that made us. So maybe it is like we still have the choice, but God, since He's all-knowing, knows what we will eventually choose, but did He create us that way? Hmmm... maybe tomorrow's reading will have more insight.

Lord, I don't understand it all, but I know You do. Thank You for having it all figured out.

#46 Jews can find Jesus

"...Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!" Romans 9:5

Reading about WW2 has opened my eyes to how much the Jews were hated, how they were blamed for Christ's death, how they were singled out. Jews have a unique heritage, Jesus came through them!! But even with them following all the laws, they still need to come to know Christ. They need to be shown how Jesus fills the prophesies of all the old testament prophets, how the savior they were looking for already came. Their heritage is awesome, and they should preserve that, but they need to know Jesus. Their image of Jesus most often is through "Christians" who throw His name around and use it for asserting their own purposes. But that's not how it's supposed to be. Jesus was one of them.

Lord, I don't personally know any Jewish people, but it amazes me to hear stories of Jews coming to know Jesus. Please help them to come to know You, before the end, through any way possible.

#45 Nothing can touch us!!

"...If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

Who can be against us? NO ONE, NOTHING!! If God lives in us, if we are co-heirs with Christ, if we are adopted into God's family, then we are "more than conquerors" (37) through Him. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (38,39). So while we may be touched by all the things listed, they can never separate us. Though we may suffer through and because of some of these things, God still loves us. Wow, you can't get much better than that.

Thank YOU Lord for promising to never be separated from me. Thank You for loving me so much. Help me to remember Your love and Your promise as I go through some of those things. Help me to keep my focus on You.

#44 What is now < what is to come

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

Many of us may suffer now, and may suffer in the future. But once we have a new body, and a new life in Christ Jesus, that's not even going to matter. That will be like a speck of dust in the wide ocean. We won't even remember it, it will be so insignificant. It may be all that we can think and dwell on at the moment, but the glory we will receive is infinitely better.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." Romans 8:28

God can also use bad situations to create good. While our earthly bodies ache, and catastrophes arise, that just might be what it takes in order to come to God. If we suffer some here, but come to know the eternal life in Jesus, it was all worth it.

Lord, help me to not question when things don't go well. If you are using that situation to bring me closer to You, or to maybe even bring someone else to You, help me to see it and realize it, and act according to Your purpose.

#43 We have life after death

"But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness." Romans 8:10

Our bodies are riddled with sin... acne, scars, wrinkles, arthritis, cancer, etc. They are slowly dieing, because of this sin. But even though our bodies may die, we can know that we have eternal life if the Spirit lives in us. We are "co-heirs" with Jesus, how cool is that?

Lord, thank You that we have another option than just staying in these sinful bodies. I can't wait to be changed in the blink of an eye, or resurrected to a new body, if I may fall asleep before You return. I can't wait to see Juliette again in her new body again.

#42 God will rescue me from my sinful nature

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:24,25

"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." Romans 7:18. Many of us may have the desire to be a good person, to do good things, but without Jesus living in us, we are unable to. We may do outwardly good things, donate to the poor, be nice to people.. but inwardly we may still hate, covet, and be an awful person. And God sees the inside. And it's usually the inside that tears people up. For example, depression can become a problem, when people try to do good, but keep feeling awful on the inside. On the outside they may look like everything is fine, but on the inside they have a huge hole where God should be. And it can only be filled with God.

But the good news, is even with how wretched of a person we may be, God can and WILL deliver us through Jesus Christ!! He gives us an out to that awful way to live.

Lord, thank You that You can fill that void in my life, that through You I can no longer just desire to do good, but can LIVE through You.

#41 Bound to God, not the law

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Romans 7:6

When we were bound to the law, we served because we had to, because that is what the law said. For example, say you had to become partners in a school project with someone. You didn't really like them, but you had to, in order to complete the project. You were required to get along, so you could work together. But then, after the project was completed, you were no longer required to get along, but suddenly you became good friends. You were no longer required to get along, so then you got along because you liked each other.

This might seem like kind of a silly analogy, but it just goes to show that when you are required to do something, our sinful human nature fights it. When you have to do something, you don't really want to. But if it is no longer a law, then you are under the new code, you serve according to love, not requirement. So when we die to the law that binds us, we are released from the hardships of that law too, and can serve God through the Spirit. Serving God and following his laws is no longer a burden, but it can become a delight.

Lord, this passage might have been somewhat confusing, but You have showed me that serving You can become a delight when it is no longer a burden.

#40 Eternal life is a gift

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

When we are slaves to sin, we earn death. All our impurities and unrighteous acts are like working at a job of sin, where, when we retire, instead of a pension, we earn death. However, eternal life is a gift. It is not something that can be earned. Even if we changed our acts to those of a righteous and pure nature, we still would retire with a pension of death. But that is what Jesus did--He stepped in and took our pension, what we have earned throughout our lifetime, and given us the gift of eternal life. Praise God!!

Lord, thank You for giving me the gift of eternal life. I don't deserve it, and I definitely haven't earned it, but You've given it to me anyway. Thank You for that.