​Day 513: A Marked Lack of GratitudeRomans 1:21b
...nor gave thanks to him...
Thoughts for Today:This morning as I am writing this devotion, I hear my daughter and my wife in the kitchen (near my office) sitting down to eat a breakfast of oatmeal -- before they start Sherry asks Amanda, "Do you want to pray or shall I?" You see in our family we don't miss an opportunity to thank God for what we have -- even if it is oatmeal which Amanda doesn't particularly care for.

I met a friend for lunch yesterday. When the meal was served we paused for a minute of prayer as we gave thanks to God for the meal, our lives, and the time He gave us to spend together -- short, sweet and to the point. So what's the point? For my friend and I (including Sherry and Amanda) it's pretty simple: God has given us everything and it is to Him we offer praise and thanksgiving. A waitress, who was not our own, stopped by our table. She said, "I just wanted to thank you for praying, I just don't see people doing that anymore."

Isn't it a sad commentary on our country when we are so over-fed, filled, and content -- we don't find it necessary to say, "Thanks!" to God anymore -- that it is the exception not the rule when people pause for a moment before a meal to offer thanks to God?
Questions to Ponder:When was the last time you thanked God for what He has given you? Your health, spouse, home/shelter, country we live in, children, food to eat, police, fire department, freedom to worship, etc -- the list goes on and on. The problem I see with people in this country is just the opposite of appreciation: A marked lack of gratitude. Perhaps it is because I've done a lot traveled a lot internationally, but I am so grateful to God for how He chose to bless me with the life He gave me -- and I thank Him for it at every opportunity. How blessed are you? Count the ways. Have you thanked God?

​Day 512: Your Will, Not MineRomans 1:21a
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God...
Thoughts for Today:The world thinks -- if we make God less than He is by our words, definitions, thoughts and attitudes, then by doing so we render Him powerless over us. Unfortunately, denying God's existence won't reduce His grandeur or authority by one iota.

When my dog Abby was a puppy, we bought a twenty foot long leash and anchored it in the middle of the backyard. Abby would jump and run all around -- feeling completely free -- until she came to the end of the leash. She then experienced a harsh reality -- someone had authority over her. Death is the end of our leash.

Man foolishly pretends he has evolved into a sophisticated and highly moralistic society which has no need for such primitive concepts as God. How silly and tragic we must all appear to the Lord as we flounder about under our own self-generated illusions -- when in reality -- all we have has been given to us by the Father. Certainly we are more than dogs on a leash -- we were created in God's very own image and we have been given an opportunity to join God's family (thus becoming adopted children and heirs to His Kingdom) through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus -- for all who believe. Where do you stand on this issue? Ignoring God and by doing so hoping He ceases to exist?
Questions to Ponder:Paul writes in our passage today, "...they knew God but they didn't glorify Him as God." As believers we can fall into this same trap when we pray, "God I believe in you -- now give me what I want!" He is God and we're not. He knows things we don't and He sees things we can't. We must place our cares and concerns upon Him -- then trust Him. We honor and glorify God, not with just our words, but also our faith. Do you trust God? Have you prayed, "Your will, not mine"?

Day 511: Why Stand in the Middle?Romans 1:19-20
...since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualitiesÑhis eternal power and divine natureÑhave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Thoughts for Today:One evening, Napoleon was walking around with a group of his admirals who were discussing the existence of God. Napoleon stopped, waved his hand commanding silence, and pointed to the heavens, "Sirs, if you are going to get rid of God you must get rid of those." Napoleon was right.

Psalms 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalms 8:3, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place..." Paul and the Psalmist are saying the same thing, "...since the creation of the world God's invisible qualitiesÑhis eternal power and divine natureÑhave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made." In other words, if you want to see God -- then open your eyes and look around!

Robert Jastrow, an acknowledged agnostic, astrophysicist, and former director of NASA's Goodard Institute for Space Studies, etc. once said in an interview regarding his views related to the big bang theory, "There's a lingering uneasiness in my mind, however, as to whether we have unearthed the true meaning of all this. We step back and look at the whole thing, you feel impelled to ask, 'What is the purpose of it all?' Here's this extraordinary phenomenon of life and intelligence unfolding out of these beginnings, and it's a very progressive picture and moves from point to point in those upward, if you will, and onward, and you wonder if that really doesn't call for the existence of some entity that's watching over the situation, and nurturing it. And as I said earlier, I'm standing in the middle."

As a scientist he observed the hand of God revealed through the study of creation and the cosmos, yet he continued to "stand in the middle" -- between the evolutionists and the creationists.
Questions to Ponder:Paul writes, "what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them". So what's the problem? The ego of our own intellect. Have you been confused by the latest revelations of science? Do you try to explain the Bible within the confines of science? God is bigger than any theory a scientist can conceive. Dr. Robert Jastrow died on February 8, 2008 -- he no longer remains undecided on this issue. What about you? Have you decided? Are you standing in the middle?

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​Day 510: Reasons To Do What We WantRomans 1:18c
who suppress the truth by their wickedness...
Thoughts for Today:Whether it's "suppressing the truth" (NIV) or "holding it back" (KJV), men do so because of the desire to pursue their own way rather than the Lord's. Think about a helmsman holding a boat's rudder against the current, the flow of the water wants to take it one way but the helmsman is determined to go against it. It's not like man has any excuses -- all of nature testifies as to the existence of the Creator -- man just doesn't want to acknowledge an authority greater than him.

This last week my wife caught my eight year old daughter Amanda munching on some candy. But it wasn't like she was hiding -- what made it perhaps more shocking was her openness -- she was breaking a rule against eating sweets without permission right in front of the rule maker! My wife Sherry, "Amanda! What are you eating?" Amanda, "Candy." Sherry, "Who gave you permission?" (She thought perhaps I had in which case I would be due to receive another lecture on appropriate nutrition.) Amanda, "No one." Sherry, "Since when do you think it's okay to eat candy without permission?" Amanda, "Oh, I don't know. I got it from a friend at school and she gets to eat candy all the time -- so I thought I would have it now." It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out where this conversation is going next -- those of you who have children know -- a discussion on the negative influence of others.

Amanda is a wonderful child and she (for the most part) follows our rules, so I wouldn't consider using the word "wicked" from our passage today to describe her behavior. However, she did "suppress the truth". She "kind of knew" what she was doing was wrong (her words), but she wanted the candy anyway. Perhaps the most difficult thing for us all is to do what we know is right regardless of all the reasons we can muster to do what we want.
Questions to Ponder:What is the Lord speaking against to you now? Are you steering against the current? Are you willfully being disobedient to His will? What does the Bible say? Have you been suppressing the truth?

Day 509: Sin Against God and Sin Against ManRomans 1:18b
...from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men...
Thoughts for Today:The King James Version translates our passage today, "...from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men..." Ungodliness is sin against God. Unrighteousness or wickedness is sin against man. So what's the difference? When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the first four dealt with our relationship with God: 1. You shall have no other gods beside me; 2. You shall not make to yourself a false idol; 3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain; 4. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. While the final six dealt with our fellow man: 5. Honor your father and mother; 6. You shall not commit adultery; 7. You shall not steal; 8. You shall not kill; 9. You shall not bear false witness; 10. You shall not covet.

Ungodliness denies the character of God, His holiness and sovereignty. For example, when evolution is taught exclusively in our schools and is separated from creation, we deny God's very existence -- that is sin against God. Unrighteousness, on the other hand, denies the law and regulation by God. When a man drinks and drives, then crashes his car and injures or kills someone else, that is sin against man. Regardless of what the majority think, God will judge both -- sin against Him and sin against man. It is unavoidable.
Questions to Ponder:Do you follow the Ten Commandments of God? Before you answer too quickly consider: Number 1. How important is your standard of living -- have material possessions become your god? What about number 6? Jesus tells us that if we've ever looked at a woman lustfully we have committed adultery with her. That's a pretty tough law when in our society, lust is encouraged in every magazine advertisement and television commercial, and actual adultery is more commonplace than fidelity. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. We are all guilty, to one degree or another of both sin against God and sin against man. I guess the question is this: What will we do about it -- continue on or turn from our sin?

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​Day 508: The Wrath of GodRomans 1:18a
The wrath of God is being revealed...
Thoughts for Today:This verse is God's answer to those who say the Old Testament was about God's wrath while the New Testament is about God's love. Simply put: God is unchanging. God still hates sin -- then and now -- and God hasn't become any more lenient. The Gospel hasn't changed God's attitude toward sin. So what has changed? Christ died for us.

Not long ago, my daughter Amanda asked if I would help her build an obstacle course for our dog on our driveway. As we were gathering lumber, a splinter of wood became stuck deep in her hand. Using a pair of tweezers we tried to pull it out, but it broke off. She asked, "What should we do?" I answered, "We'll have to get a needle and cut it out." Trying to be brave she said, "I'll bet that's going to hurt." "That's right," I said.

God will not allow people to continue in sin any more than I would allow that splinter to stay in Amanda's hand. I wasn't going to say, "Well, I love you and I don't want to cause you any more pain or discomfort, so I won't do anything about it." No, just as I knew the splinter would soon become infected and therefore must come out, so too the wrath of God will deal with people who fail to embrace and allow the blood of Jesus to purify and remove the infection of their sin.
Questions to Ponder:Do you believe in God's wrath? Unfortunately there are a lot of people in the world today who do not. They believe they can continue on in sin and the God who is Love will also forgive. However, there is only one way to be forgiven our sin and that is with the blood of Jesus. Where do you stand? Covered by His blood, or with some alternative theory? On the day you appear before the Lord, when all foolishness is finally revealed, it will be too late to change your mind. Make a decision for Christ today or accept the wrath of God for all eternity.

​Day 507: One Faithful Act to the NextRomans 1:17
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Thoughts for Today:Righteousness comes from living by faith. The King James Version reads, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith..." In other words, righteousness (right living) is obtained by us as we live from one faithful act to the next. Therefore, faith is the beginning and ending point of right living.

When I was younger, I used to be a slave to cigarettes. It does not make me proud to tell you this because I consider self-control to be one of the finer fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24). As time went on, I came to feel like the verse from Proverbs 25:28, "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." Despite the fact I knew some extraordinary Christian men who smoked like chimneys (pipes, cigars, and cigarettes), smoking was not for me. I needed to separate myself from it. So now we get to the really hard part of Christian living -- it's not usually identifying which behaviors we need to end (we all know what those are), it's the stopping that's the problem. Or is it? You see I had no problem quitting smoking -- I had quit hundreds of times before, it was the starting I had a problem with!

I remember driving home on the freeway one day listening to praise music, and I thought, "Okay God, you want me to stop, but this cigarette has a lot of power over me, so I'll not have one right now, but if five minutes from now I still want one I'm going to smoke." Then I prayed with my eyes open (I was driving), "God please take the desire for cigarettes away from me and heal my body." Five minutes went to ten and then my body called screamed for nicotine. I prayed again, "I'll go five minutes Lord, but that's all I've got. Please take the desire from me." Ten minutes went to fifteen, then thirty, then an hour, then a day, week, month and years. I only had self-control for five minutes at a time, because that's all I could muster -- the Lord did the rest.

In our passage today, I think that is what Paul meant when he said, "Faith to faith." Our responsibility is to have faith to take our desire for right living to the Lord for His help; to do our part. Then when we struggle, have enough faith to take it to the Lord again and again if necessary. It's not a "12 Step Program" for recovery, rather it's a one step program which might need to be faithfully repeated 12 times -- one faithful act leading to the next.
Questions to Ponder:Right living is obtained by living from one faithful act to the next. What faithful act do you need to repeat to gain righteousness?

​Day 506: Establishing the Right PrioritiesRomans 1:16c
...first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Thoughts for Today:The Jews were God's chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6), "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." If we had been present when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), we would have observed a room full of Jews -- no Gentiles.

On Paul's first missionary journey with Barnabas in Acts 13:44, he took the Gospel first to the Jews: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles."

However, the Lord's specific instruction to Paul given through Ananais in Acts 9:15 was in reverse order -- the Gentiles first, next their kings, and then the Jews. "The Lord said to Ananias, 'Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.'" Paul would keep trying to minister to the Jews first, and continued to be frustrated as a result. I believe this is how we sometimes get upset in our own ministries -- we don't understand or aren't obedient to the Lord's plan. We serve the Lord our way first -- not His way.
Questions to Ponder:The Lord's plan was for the Jews to hear the Gospel first, then the Gentiles. It just wasn't the Lord's plan for Paul. Have you been feeling a little frustrated in your service to the Lord? Is your ministry floundering a bit? Could it be that your priorities are out of order? Perhaps you have been influenced by someone else's ministry direction, which isn't yours. What were the Lord's instructions to you specifically?

​Day 504: Pride or Humility?Romans 1:16a
I am not ashamed of the gospel...
Thoughts for Today:A few years ago at a Men's Retreat I spoke about worship -- our personal worship to and of the Lord. I began on my knees and explained, "This is where I do my best work. Not trying to do stuff for the Lord, but beginning in humble submission to His will, then letting Him lead." You see getting on my knees is the best way I have to express His lordship and leadership of my life -- and I am not ashamed to let everyone know (by doing so) that I worship Jesus.

We next sang a song and I raised my hands in praise. I encouraged the men to join me as I quoted Nehemiah 8:6, "Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground." Then I asked them, "Are you ashamed of the Gospel -- ashamed of Jesus? Are you too prideful to submit to Him?" Several of the men took hold of my witness that day and have made lifting of their hands and bowing before the Lord a part of their regular worship -- and have told me it has made a huge difference in their lives.

It all started for me many years ago when Sherry and I visited a small church and the pastor asked me personally, "Are you ashamed of the Gospel?" "Of course not," I answered somewhat offended. He asked, "Then why is it so hard for you to raise your hands in worship?" "Pride," I thought, "is the opposite of submission and humility -- its the reason I won't lift my hands." I resolved to change.
Questions to Ponder:How would you respond to one of your baseball heroes who has just hit a home run? Would you join in giving him a standing ovation? What about your favorite musician following a performance? Most of us don't seem to have much of a problem honoring men -- so why is it so difficult to honor God? Take a long hard look at your personal worship. Does it reflect humility or pride? Are you ashamed of the Gospel? What needs to change?

[Author's note: I am not suggesting a greater or lesser closeness to Christ is demonstrated in how we choose to worship Him. Only God knows the condition of our hearts. For me, because of my own pride issues, I sometimes need to express my submission and humility physically -- most of the time I do this privately. Today's devotion is my personal witness and is not meant to criticize or judge another's relationship with the Lord. In the assembly (church), I am also very careful that my own choice of worship is not offensive to others.]

Day 503: Eager or Reluctant?Romans 1:15
That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
Thoughts for Today:Paul isn't just willing to preach the Gospel -- he is "eager". There is a big difference between reluctantly willing and eager.

Pastor Ty and his wife Cindi love to tell the story of dinner one night at their home while watching Amanda for a few days (Sherry and I were out of town). The dishwasher was on the blink, so upon finishing the meal Ty got up and said, "Okay, everyone grab your dishes and let's wash them by hand." Their son Joshua (who is eleven) had the typical response, "Come on Dad -- do we have to -- oh, alright." Amanda on the other hand, enthusiastically jumped up from the table and said, "Oh boy -- we get to wash dishes -- I love washing dishes!" You see unlike Joshua, the younger Amanda considered it a treat when at home her mother would trust her with the "big girl" job of washing the dishes.

Like Amanda, I think Paul considered preaching the Gospel to be an honor versus a task -- it is why he was always eager to share with anyone who would listen.
Questions to Ponder:We have all been given the responsibility to share the Gospel. Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Some of us just don't pursue it with the same level of enthusiasm. Do you see this command to share the Gospel as a duty or a privilege? Are you eager or reluctant?

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