My Faith View from Here - Daily readings and thoughts

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 2 Samuel 7:18-8:18, Proverbs 13:10-25, Ezekiel 16:43-63, Romans 8:26-39 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%207%3A18-8%3A18%2C%20Proverbs%2013%3A10-25%2C%20Ezekiel%2016%3A43-63%2C%20Romans%208%3A26-39&version=NASB1995 When Words Fail If I had to choose one chapter to encourage me, Romans 8 would be near the top of the list. Paul writes, “We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words... He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26 and 27). As a Jesus follower, I find those verses incredibly encouraging.  There are times when life hurts, when frustration is overwhelming, or when I simply do not know what to pray.  In those moments, the Holy Spirit is praying for me in ways I could never express, and He is praying according to God's will. Before going any further, I should explain one word. In the Bible, a saint is anyone who f...

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 2 Samuel 6:12-7:17, Proverbs 13:1-9, Ezekiel 16:22-42, Romans 8:1-25 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%206%3A12-7%3A17%2C%20Proverbs%2013%3A1-9%2C%20Ezekiel%2016%3A22-42%2C%20Romans%208%3A1-25&version=NASB1995 Love that Corrects Something caught my attention in our reading from 2 Samuel this morning, so I'm stepping away from Romans for a day. I've mentioned before that following Jesus is not always easy, and it isn't. Sometimes our struggles come because we choose to live differently from the culture around us. Sometimes they are simply part of living in a broken world where our bodies fail and life is hard. Sometimes our own poor decisions create painful consequences. There are also times when God lovingly corrects us to bring us back to Him. In 2 Samuel 7, God speaks to David through the prophet Nathan. David wanted to build a temple for God, but God told him that it would not be David who built it. Instead...

  Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 2 Samuel 5:1-6:11, Proverbs 12:20-28, Ezekiel 16:1-21, Romans 7 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%205%3A1-6%3A11%2C%20Proverbs%2012%3A20-28%2C%20Ezekiel%2016%3A1-21%2C%20Romans%207&version=NASB1995 Still Wrestling Marriage is intended to be a lifelong covenant, and when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse is free to remarry. Full disclosure.  I received a little help from AI to explain the next part because it helped me find the right words. If one spouse dies, the surviving spouse is free to remarry.  That is not considered adultery because the marriage covenant has ended with death. This is the illustration Paul uses in Romans 7 to explain our relationship to God's law.  Before Jesus' death, people lived under the Law of Moses.  The law itself is holy and good, so Paul is not saying the law has died or become worthless. Instead, through Jesus' death, we have died to the law's claim over us. ...

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 2 Samuel 3:26-4:12, Proverbs 12:11-19, Ezekiel 14:12-15:8, Romans 6 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%203%3A26-4%3A12%2C%20Proverbs%2012%3A11-19%2C%20Ezekiel%2014%3A12-15%3A8%2C%20Romans%206&version=NASB1995 The Free Gift So now that Jesus has died for our sins and we can be forgiven, does that mean we can go ahead and do whatever we want because it will have no eternal effect?  Paul asks exactly that question in Romans 6. “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1 and 2). Paul goes on to explain this in greater detail, but the basic idea is straightforward.  If we have genuinely decided to follow Jesus, why would we want to continue living the same way we did before we knew Him?  If nothing else, gratitude should move us toward a different way of living because Jesus willingly died for us. Does that mean we will stop sinning c...

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 2 Samuel 2:12-3:25, Proverbs 12:1-10, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Romans 5 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%202%3A12-3%3A25%2C%20Proverbs%2012%3A1-10%2C%20Ezekiel%2014%3A1-11%2C%20Romans%205&version=NASB1995 Grace Changes Everything When I was growing up in church, attending Sunday School each week and learning about the Christian faith, I would occasionally hear someone's testimony.  In the Christian world, a testimony is simply a person's story of life before they followed Jesus and how their life changed afterward. Many testimonies seemed to follow the same pattern. "I was lost in my sin.  My life had no direction and no hope.  Then I met Jesus. Everything changed. I had purpose, hope, and my problems disappeared." Whether that was what the speaker intended or not, that is often what I heard.  As a result, I sometimes questioned whether I was really a Jesus follower because I still struggled, even as a young pe...

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 2 Samuel 1:1-2:11, Proverbs 11:23-31, Ezekiel 13, Romans 3:21-4:25 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%201%3A1-2%3A11%2C%20Proverbs%2011%3A23-31%2C%20Ezekiel%2013%2C%20Romans%203%3A21-4%3A25&version=NASB1995 The Gift of Grace “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  In other words, not one of us is innocent.  Every one of us has lived outside of God's perfect will.  That means none of us can stand before God on our own because we all fall short. Yesterday I ended my writing by saying it sounded pretty hopeless, and Romans 3:23 certainly confirms that hopelessness.  I am thankful it does not stop there. The very next verse says we are “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”   By God's grace, we can be justified without personally receiving the justice we deserve. Verse 25 uses the word propitiation to describe what Jesus a...

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year) 1 Samuel 30:21–31:13, Proverbs 11:12-22, Ezekiel 12, Romans 2:17-3:20 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2030%3A21%E2%80%9331%3A13%2C%20Proverbs%2011%3A12-22%2C%20Ezekiel%2012%2C%20Romans%202%3A17-3%3A20&version=NASB1995 More than Appearances If you have not noticed yet, the book of Romans is deep. Paul packs an incredible amount of meaning into a few paragraphs. In Romans 2:17 to 29, he spends a surprising amount of time talking about circumcision. Circumcision was the physical sign that identified the Jewish people. God had called Abraham and set him apart for His purposes. Over time, Abraham’s descendants became the nation of Israel, and Israel was entrusted with God's law. The Jewish people knew the law, yet they still sinned. Paul highlights this conflict when he writes, “Indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcis...