Faith | Paula Wiseman

STT: Romans

Romans is one of the cornerstones of the New Testament. In it, Paul lays out the key doctrines of Christianity in a logical progression. It's hardly a dry dissertation, though. Martin Luther touched off the Protestant Reformation when he grasped what Paul had written. The truths even make Paul stop and praise God. (See 11:33-36)

So how should you study Romans?

Slowly. Intentionally. Reverently. Just like any other study, right?

The book is roughly divided into three sections- Why we need salvation, how it's accomplished and how we should live as a result. A quick overview should answer those questions.

To go deeper, Romans lends itself to key word studies. Try tracking these words and recording what you learn about each of them:

Sin
Righteousness
Faith/ Believe
Hope
Grace

Another approach is to watch for all that GOD does.

Paul uses transition words like therefore frequently. Sometimes it's helpful to watch for the cause and effect on either side of the "therefore".

Finally, if you like to memorize Scripture, Romans is full of great material.

What's your favorite verse or passage in Romans?

Filed Under: Study Tip Tuesday Tagged With: Bible study, faith, gospel, grace, righteousness, Romans, salvation, Sin

A Football Lesson

By Paula

Last week, my son got moved from his spot on the kickoff team. The possibility that he would spend the entire game on the sidelines loomed. He was crushed. He said, "What have I done to make God so angry that He would do this to me?"

Wow.

His sensitivity astounds me, but he makes a fundamental error that many of us make. He assumes God MUST be angry, MUST be punishing him because something bad happened. He might be, but that's not always what's going on. As we tried to work through this, I asked him what else God might be doing.

His first answer – protecting me. Sometimes a setback serves to protect us. The thing is, because it works, we'll never really know what it was or how effective the protection was. At least not in this life.

His second answer – teaching me. Times of disappointment teach us more about ourselves and more about God than the good times ever could.

His third answer – making me stronger. It's a lot like teaching. Difficulties make us stronger.

His last answer – I don't know. Sometimes hard times have some other purpose behind them. Job never knew what purpose his trials served. Granted the scale is much different, but Alan may never know why he was moved off the kickoff team.

I told him in some ways, it's like his vaccines. When he was a baby, he couldn't understand why they were necessary. He only knew I let him hurt. Because I couldn't explain it, all I could do was comfort him until the hurting stopped. Now that he's more mature, he knows why he had to get the vaccines. For some reason we don't understand now, God let him go through this hurt. We may understand it later, but we can be sure God's ready to hold him close until the hurt goes away.

So Sunday night at church… he sang "Blessed Be Your Name".

There's a thing or two I hope he does know – what he's made of, how proud we are, and how much God, his Daddy, delights in him. Because He does.

Filed Under: Alan, Devotional Tagged With: faith, worship

When It Doesn’t Fit

By Paula

As Jesus worked His way toward Jerusalem for the last time, He concentrated on preparing the disciples for what was ahead.

Knowing what we do now, it's hard to grasp how utterly beyond their imagination His death and resurrection were. Experience, culture and presuppositions gave them an unshakeable picture of how the kingdom of God would happen. Their picture was vastly different from His. They had faith in Him. They believed His words, but they just couldn't fathom what He was about to do. It didn't fit.

I've been there. I have faith in Jesus. I believe His words. I know Scripture is telling me the truth, but I just can't… make it fit.

Here's how the disciples worked through that.

1. They stayed close to Jesus. Unlike the crowds who walked away, they knew He was their hope, even if they weren't sure how.

2. They kept listening. Jesus kept teaching. They didn't understand it, but they listened. Later, all those things made sense.

3. They got even more confused before it was over. The Last Supper. The Garden. The silent Saturday spent in hiding. During those dark, anxious times, the disciples were sure they had everything wrong.

4. The quest gave way to worship. Face to face with the risen Redeemer, the questions and the need for explanations faded away.

How do you work through faith struggles?

Filed Under: Devotional Tagged With: Christian living, faith, trust

GP: Will Montgomery

By Paula

Today, I am privileged to have Will Montgomery as my guest. I am hooked on Will's stuff. Pick up a copy of his new book, The Polar Bear. (It's on Amazon too.) I just finished it. Will makes exhortation hip and cool but he doesn't shy away from calling us out for our half-hearted Christianity. You'll want to check out his website http://www.writerwill.com/. He's on Facebook and Twitter too.

Will Montgomery Recently, I sat down for a visit with my high school principal and reveled in the fact that I wasn’t there for any number of the reasons that I used to “visit” with him years before. We joked about this different circumstance and proceeded to catch each other up on our ministries and lives. After discussing my impending missions trip to Portugal, he informed me that his newly married daughter and son-in-law had taken a position in Brooklyn, New York, to assist in building a church. He explained that after their nuptials, both of them had job offers in our hometown, but decided that they would step out on faith (translation: jump off a proverbial cliff) and take advantage of an opportunity that God had presented to them through a college chum. With no jobs and no place to live, they packed up their car with every belonging they owned and drove to the Big Apple. His daughter found a job immediately and the church membership went from thirty to thirty-two in one fell swoop.

“Amazing,” I commented, while shaking my head. I remember being petrified to give my life to the Lord when I was little, in fear that He would immediately call me to the mission field to live in a hut with a bunch of hungry Africans. But God doesn’t work like that, and it’s high time we understand this concept. Here was this kid (well, I remember her as a kid) who got married and jumped in a car with her kid husband and headed north; with love as their fuel, God as their GPS, and uncertainty as their future. And this type of behavior is exactly what God most often times requires of us. Sitting there in that moment, I envied the faith that these two were exhibiting. You see, faith is the action of belief. I most certainly can declare my allegiance to God till I’m blue in the face, but faith without works is dead. I understand that moving to New York to assist a church plant isn’t for everyone, but the reckless abandonment of the simple life that’s not centered around Christ is.

Remember, rarely are the doors God presents to us made of glass.

You think about that…

Filed Under: Guests Tagged With: faith, The Polar Bear, Will Montgomery

Moving Mountains

By Paula

"If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

This verse follows an account of the disciples' failure to heal a boy's epilepsy. They had accomplished great miracles before, but this time, they humiliated themselves. What was the difference? Their faith was in themselves, in their past success, in their worthiness to be God's agents, in their own faith. And they failed.

At first glance. this is a pretty discouraging verse. I can't move mountains, so my faith must be microscopic, right?

That's missing the point. It's about quality, not quantity. Even the littlest amount of faith can accomplish great things because of GOD, in whom that faith rests. Worrying about the amount of faith I have puts the focus on me. Then 'faith' becomes a system for trying to manipulate God into doing what I want. (If I just have more faith, God will…) God doesn't have to do what I want and He's already promised to do what I need.

My faith never moves mountains. GOD moves them.

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: faith, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, Matthew