Virtual Devotions

“I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” – Romans 15:30

Dear Friends,

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he closes by asking the Church at Rome to pray for him.  He asks specifically that they pray that he will be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea where he was headed with money for the church in Jerusalem.  He asks them to pray that his gift is acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem.  And finally, he asks them to pray that by God’s will, he will be able to visit them soon.

I am often asked by friends and family to pray for them or for a loved one.  Recently, a member of my church called me to ask if I would pray for her sister.  Upon making the request, she apologized for bothering me with her concerns.  I assured her that it was an honor, not a bother to pray for her sister.

This reminded me of a cartoon I saw in which a man sees his friend Bob coming toward him.  He thinks to himself, “Oh great!  Here comes Bob.  I told him I would pray for him.” Then he says a quick prayer in is head, “Dear God, help Bob. Amen.”  As he meets his friend he reaches out his hand and says, “Hey Bob, been praying for you!”

It is easy to tell someone we will pray for them when asked, but it is easier still to forget to follow through.  When this happens we can end up like the character in the cartoon and the next time we see the person we remember the promise we had made.  We may feel guilty or we may give a half-hearted prayer to cover our promise.

Prayer is a serious business and it should be handled with reverence.  As a believer, it is a privilege to approach the throne of grace in prayer.  Prayer is not only a privilege, but also a duty of the believer and if we fail to fulfill our promise of prayer to another we are delinquent in that duty.

 One of my seminary instructors gave the class a wonderful piece of advice one evening, which I will pass on to you now.  He warned us of the importance of agreeing to pray for someone.  He said that if ever anyone asks you to pray for him or her that we should write it down immediately and as soon as possible, begin praying for that person. 

This is sound advice to live by.  If someone asks you to pray for them, write it down immediately and begin praying as soon as possible.  Pray through out the day keeping that person in your thoughts continuously before God. 

Being asked to pray for someone is an honor and is not to be taken lightly.  When asked to pray for someone, be sincere in your promise and lift that person up to God Almighty

In Christ,

David

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” - 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Dear Friends,

Paul’s first letter to Timothy was written in the early A.D. 60’s shortly after being released from Roman prison.  Timothy had earlier been appointed by Paul to watch over the church in Ephesus, which by this time was about ten years old.   

The church at Ephesus had a number of problems that we can determine from the letter itself.  There were questions about worship, the appointment of elders, church administration and others.  But most importantly, in regard to the instruction to pray for kings and those in authority, was the issue of false teachers who were promoting controversies rather than God’s work. 

Paul did not want the authorities interfering with the church.  This is evident in his reasoning as to why we should pray for the kings and authorities – “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”   To understand this more fully, let us recall how Paul met two other evangelists of his day, Aquila and Priscilla.

In Acts 18, we read that Paul met Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, in Corinth, which is in Greece.  The text also tells us that the reason they were in Corinth was that “Claudius had ordered all of the Jews to leave Rome.”    The expulsion of Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 is also recorded in “The Life of Claudius,” a biography of the Roman Emperor written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a Roman historian who lived at the turn of the first century.  Apparently, Aquila and Priscilla fled Rome to Greece, which is where they met Paul.

In “The Life of Claudius,” Suetonius tells us that the reason the Jews were expelled from Rome was that they were rioting over the pronouncement of “Chrestus.”  This is believed to have been a misinterpretation of the Greek, Christos, or Christ.   As we have seen in The Book of Acts before, when Christ was preached, many Jews violently revolted against it.  Since the Jews and Christians were seen as one religion at this time, all were thrown out of Rome to stop the rioting.

So it is reasonable to assume that Paul did not want to see a repeat in the city of Ephesus.  If false teachers were stirring up controversies and disrupting the church, it could have spread to the point that it became a concern to the authorities.  Consequently, Paul instructed Timothy to pray for the kings and authorities.  Paul did not want the authorities to view the church as a threat to the peace of the city and praying for them would demonstrate they were not.  It might also quiet any disruptive talk against the authorities, and who knows, in doing so maybe some of those in authority would be saved.

Undoubtedly, you will hear these same verses preached in conjunction with the inauguration of Barack Obama.  Remember, all authorities that exist were established by God for His purposes, so regardless if you voted for him or not, it is your responsibility as a Christian to pray for President Obama and his administration: 

• Pray that God will use Barack Obama for His purposes.
• Pray that God will allow the governing authorities to understand that the church is an asset to the society and not a detriment.
• Pray that God will call Barack Obama will come to know Him more fully through His Son, Jesus Christ.
• Pray that God will keep His hand as the power the separates the church and the state.
• Pray that God will hold the tongues of us in the church from speaking out unfairly or disrespectfully of the new administration.
• Pray that God will guide us in the church to settle our own disputes and controversies in accordance to His Word.
• And pray that God will enable us to do the work set forth for us, to go into the world making disciples of all the nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In Christ,

David

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  Genesis 12:2-3

Dear Friends,

One of the items we read in the headlines on a daily basis is the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.  And from this conflict, I often hear people relating the events in Israel to Scripture and especially end times prophesy.

Today, a caller to a radio program I was listening to used these verses from Genesis 12 to justify the US support of Israel.   He said that the Bible teaches those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed.  Therefore, the US should back Israel.

Now, I believe the US should back Israel primarily because I believe Israel is our one true ally in the Middle East.  But I caution anyone who tries to use the Bible for this justification or to tie Israel to Bible prophesies.

Take today’s verse for example.  This quote is from God’s call to Abraham, then Abram.  Abram was living in Ur of the Chaldeans, modern day Iraq.  God called Abram promising him that God would make Abram a great nation, give him a great name and all the people of the earth will be blessed through him.

Now Abraham did go on to be the father of the Jewish nation.  But you could also say he went on to be the father of the Islamic nation as well.  After all, he did father Ishmael by the Egyptian servant girl, Hagar, before he fathered Isaac by his wife, Sarah.  And the story goes that the descendents of Ishmael went on to become the Arab people.  If this is true, couldn’t we twist the Scripture to say that we should support the Palestinians?

I hear lots of other references to the end times and Israel’s role in fulfilling Biblical prophecy.  All I can say is that I believe that the land of Israel will be a focal point for Jesus’ Second Coming, but beyond that, the Bible is not specific enough to tell us all that must occur before that day comes.   And certainly, as Jesus said, no one knows when this will occur except the Father.

So be careful about what you read and hear about Israel’s role in Bible prophesies.  Read the Bible yourself and see what it says.  Become a student of the Bible and you will be better able to discern what is and what is not Biblical. 

In Christ,

David

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. -  1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Dear Friends,

I read an article in Newsweek titled The Religious Case for Gay Marriage, which was the cover story in the December 15 issue.  While I appreciate that the author desired to approach the topic of gay marriage from a Biblical perspective, her arguments were misinformed and at times wholly inaccurate.

One of the mistakes that she made, which is often professed by people looking to deny the authority of Scripture on moral issues, is the idea that the Old Testament law, especially those laws found in Leviticus, should no longer apply.  The reasoning goes like this.  Since we no longer follow laws regarding such things as blood sacrifices, fabrics made of two different materials (Lev 19:19), not eating shrimp (Lev 11:10) or not cutting the hair on the sides of your head (Lev 19:27), why would we still follow the law regarding sexual immorality?  Shouldn’t these be thrown out with the others?

Well, no, it shouldn’t because not all laws have the same purpose and this is where an understanding of Old Testament law is required.  In ancient Israel there were basically three types of law; ceremonial, social and moral. 

Ceremonial law had to do with religious regulations, sacrifices, temple worship and being deemed ceremonially clean or unclean.  Because we are Christians, because there is no longer a Temple, and because Christ was the sacrifice for sins once for all (Heb 10:12), there is no longer a need for these ceremonial laws.

Social or civil law had to do with the society of the Jewish people.  Many of these laws were designed to distinguish the Israelites from the other pagan cultures around them.  Here we have the laws prohibiting the fabric of two materials, eating shellfish and regulating the style of haircut.  Because these laws were written for the Jewish people, they do not apply to us as Christians though many Jews still follow these laws.

Finally, we have the moral laws.  These are the laws such as respect your mother and father (Lev 19:3), do not steal (Lev 19:11), do not make your daughter a prostitute (Lev 19:29), and do not commit a host of sexually immoral acts (Lev 18:6-20, 22-23).  15 of 17 are heterosexual acts by the way.  These laws are timeless.  You would no sooner condone making your daughter into a prostitute than you would condone adultery.

So how do we determine what is ceremonial, what is social and what is moral?  The answer is the same we use for any Biblical question – consider the context within the passage itself and consider the issue in light of other Scripture.

For example, all of the sexual sins are grouped together so they should be considered within a single category.  This view is strengthened in the New Testament which states that sexual immorality in any form is sinful (1 Cor 6:9 and 1 Tim 1:10).  Thus, considering the context and in light of other Scripture, sexual immorality in all its forms is prohibited by the timeless, moral law of God.

And this is the most important part.  I will often hear the comment, “Who are you to decide what is moral and what is not?”  The answer simply is I am no one in this regard.  The one and only, absolute moral authority is God Himself.  And believing that the Bible is God’s infallible, inerrant, plenary revelation to mankind, it is perfectly clear what He deems to be moral and immoral.  If you choose not to accept the Bible as God’s word, then you or the society you live in will decide what is moral and what is immoral and the same question can then be turned to you.  Who are you to decide what is moral and what is immoral?

In Christ,

David