It's All About God

Romans 1: 8 Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world. 9 God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son. 10 One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. 11 For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. 12 When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. 13 I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles. 14 For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike. 15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. 16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

In the book of Romans, Paul comes back to the basic part of His ministry's direction, which is all about God. In fact, God is mentioned 153 times either by word or the central theme of the letter. Paul's desire to emphasize the power of God through the message of the gospel is central as he speaks to man's sin, God's love, God's grace, and God's redemption. Paul wants to encourage us in our faith, as at that time he was encouraged by the faith of those in the Roman church. The impact of the church in Rome was known all over the world, and the power of the gospel message was central. His desire to preach that message to those in Rome was a priority for Paul.

Paul knew that there was great persecution for those of the faith living in Rome, but he would not back away from sharing the gospel, even though there was a chance he would be imprisoned or killed. Verse 16-17 says it all as it says, 16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

The message is the truth, and in Paul's hands, it remained an Undivided Truth that would not be compromised by the world's standards. Today we carry that message also and we share it in a world that has rejected it, and the ones who carry it, but the power of the message is still strong and working if we will release and see what God will do with that message. It is still very Good News!!

Today's Message,

David Warren