Paul Email -13Nov2013- Kingdom Matter Romans 14

How you doin? WOW!!!!!!! Do I love God. I'm just amazed at how good He is. I love everything about Him. Romans 14 today.

Verses 4, "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." Don't judge or condemn. Got it. Verse 7-8, "For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." God is sovereign. He is indeed in control. Verse 9, "For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." WOW!!!!!!! That's some light reading early in the morning. Paul references Isaiah 45:23. Verse 12, "So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." I'm going to start getting in good with my defense attorney... Jesus. I want to know Him and Him to know me. That will be essential when He defends me.

Verses 13-16 speaks of stumbling blocks. I'm not going to talk about that because I may come off as condemning. I'm highly sensitive to certain stumbling blocks from a recovery perspective. Verse 17-18, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸ because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval." I love these verses. I'm sure if you read this daily devotional regularly, you will notice my desire to be FULLY aware, dependent, and led by the Holy Ghost. COME ON!!!!!!! It's the matter of the Kingdom of God. Verse 22 speaks of conviction. Verse 23 speaks of what not to do. "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." 2 choices. Faith or sin. I love it when God makes it easy for me. Now if I can just keep my eyes on Jesus and follow Him.

Verses 17-18 really strike a chord in my heart. I believe what I've prayed countless times, "Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven". This chapter is very instructional for me. To access the resources of Heaven here on earth, I need to live under the new covenant. "Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit". This chapter gives me a working knowledge of how the old covenant is fulfilled by the new covenant. All the commandments are summed up in one commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself". This chapter gives me something to work on/with. I saved the best for last. Verse 19, "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." WOW!!!!!!! Pretty simple. Make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification today. That's a good word.

PS   The Holy Ghost does not convict me so I can clobber my neighbor over the head with my conviction. He convicts me to draw me closer to Him.