The 260 Journey

The 260 Journey
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  • Christianity
  • Updated Semiweekly

A life-changing experience through the New Testament one chapter at a time.

  1. 12h ago

    The Twenty-Seven-Question Exhortation Test

    Day 129 Today’s Reading: Romans 12 Romans 12:9-21 is some of the most powerful exhortations of the New Testament. I use the word exhort because it’s the right word to use with these verses. Exhort is a passionate urging to do something. Passion does not leave a lot of room for wordiness. Passionate words spill out of you because it has to come out of you. Paul starts the passionate pleas, and it seems he can’t stop once he starts. Each verse is packed with two or three exhortations that cut to the heart and that are so countercultural. Right after the challenge for us to use our gifts of prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and mercy, he goes into this long stretch of challenge for all of us. Though the gifts are limited to the gifted person, what comes next is about character traits to pursue and should be present in all of us: Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21) Wow! Twenty-seven challenges he rattles off like a drill sergeant. You can’t even catch your breath and examine how you are doing with “persevering in tribulations” before “be devoted in prayer” hits you in the face. We could combine a few of these character traits and make it twenty-five. So what if we made it a twenty-five-question test in which you rate how you’re doing on each one? Let’s say each one was worth four points, which adds up to one hundred points total. What would your grade be? I’m afraid of my grade on the character test. The Christian devotional writer Oswald Chambers gives us insight into what character really is: Character is the whole trend of a man’s life, not isolated acts here and there. . . . Character is the sum total of a man’s actions. You cannot judge a man by the good things he does at times; you must take all the times together and if in the greater number of times he does bad things, he is a bad character; in spite of the noble things he does intermittently. One of the first-century Greek philosophers, Plutarch, summarizes those words like this: “Character is simply long habit continued.”  I know this will sound redundant, but I think it’s worth it to list Paul’s exhortations: Love without hypocrisy Abhor what is evil Cling to what is good Be devoted to one another in brotherly love Give preference to one another in honor Not lagging behind in diligence Fervent in spirit Serving the Lord Rejoicing in hope Persevering in tribulation Devoted in prayer Contributing to the needs of the saints Practicing hospitality Bless those who persecute you Bless and curse not Rejoice with those who rejoice Weep with those who weep Be of the same mind toward one another Do not be haughty in mind Associate with the lowly Do not be wise in your own estimate Never pay back evil for evil to anyone Respect what is right in the sight of all men Be at peace with all men (so far as it depends on you) Never take your own revenge Do not be overcome by evil Overcome evil with good These twenty-seven character traits are so important in our life, especially in a society that promotes gift over character. If you get someone with a high gift and low character, you are in for a train wreck. In talking about the difference a strong and good character makes, the legendary Dallas Cowboys coach, Tom Landry, said: I’ve seen the difference character makes in individual football players. Give me a choice between an outstanding athlete with poor character and a lesser athlete of good character; and I’ll choose the latter every time. The athlete with good character will often perform to his fullest potential and be a successful football player; while the outstanding athlete with poor character will usually fail to play up to his potential and often won’t even achieve average performance. To stay in the sports arena, I’ll leave you with the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s words to encourage you: “Ability will get you to the top - but it takes character to keep you there."

    5 min

  2. 1d ago

    High Jumping or Pole Vaulting

    Day 128 Today’s Reading: Romans 11 There is a fundamental difference between a pole vaulter and a high jumper. A high jumper runs as fast as he can and leap as high as he can, and if he is good, he can get about seven-and-a-half feet. If he wants the world record, he aims for eight feet. His human effort and strength can only take him so far. The pole vaulter is different. He has to run too, but he does not trust his own two legs. He carries a pole and sticks that pole into a hole in the ground. He puts all of his trust in that pole not only to hold him but to raise him higher than what he could do on his own. He will go three times higher than the high jumper. The world record for a pole vaulter is more than twenty feet. You can try to leap on your own and do Christian high jumping, but you will only get so high. But when you run and then lean all of your weight on Jesus and His Word, He takes you higher and higher over things you could never get over on your own. That’s what we learn in Romans 11. This chapter opens with a story about Elijah who got caught high jumping when he should have been pole vaulting. He was depending on his own strength and insight instead of on God’s. Read how Paul tells the story in which Elijah is speaking at a tough time in his ministry: “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” (Romans 11:3-4) I love how Paul frames Elijah’s story of negativity. Elijah tells the Lord, “They have killed Your prophets, torn down Your altars, and I alone am left.” What are the Lord’s strong words, the divine response? This is an important question we always need to ask over our tough situations. When we ask that, we go from high jumping to pole vaulting. “What is the divine response?” Or, “What does God have to say about this?” Is there something in God’s Word we can hold on to? God says to Elijah that what Elijah is seeing is not the reality of the situation: There is not one person but seven thousand who have not bowed their knees. That means, Elijah, there are people just as committed as you, others who are no nonsense and no compromise. You are not alone. When you look with your natural eyes (high jumping), you are the only one. When you ask Me for the divine response (pole vaulting), I know a lot of people who are sold out to Me. God was telling Elijah the high jumper that he was 6,999 off! That’s what happens when we try to assess situations with fear and anxiety and with what we perceive. We will always be 6,999 off. We have a pole that takes us higher. It’s the divine response. It is God’s opinion of our situations. I love this story about a woman who tracked her spiritual pole-vaulting legacy. D. L. Moody told of an old Christian woman who habitually wrote two letters in the margins of her Bible—a “T” and a “P,” which stood for “Tried and Proven.” This woman received the divine response for every trial. She received a pole vault. Hopefully Elijah received a T & P when he realized that God knew more people than he did, and that Elijah was not alone. Always ask for the divine response, you will go higher.

    4 min

  3. 4d ago

    Don’t Change the Price of the Tickets— That’s Ticket Scalping

    Day 127 Today’s Reading: Romans 10 Today’s chapter contains one of the most well-known passages that brings people to salvation. Recently I was rereading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. It’s even better the second time. Lewis reminds us of the greatness of salvation. Consider his words: "Christ offers something for nothing: He even offers everything for nothing. In a sense, the whole Christian life consists in accepting that very remarkable offer. But the difficulty is to reach the point of recognizing that all we have done and can do is nothing." That is how amazing salvation is. And it was Jesus’ mission—why He came. Salvation is for humanity. Andy Stanley said it like this: “We are not mistakers in need of correction. We are sinners in need of a Savior. We need more than a second chance. We need a second birth.” Let’s read what Paul says about salvation, the second birth: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9-10). This is so simple, that’s what makes this incredible. The old Baptist pastor from Dallas, W. A. Criswell, said every time someone was speaking about salvation in the Bible, they could describe how to be saved in one sentence. Romans 10 is no exception. Here it is: Confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. It doesn’t get simpler and clearer than that. This is the ticket price into the stadium. This is the ticket to eternity, to heaven. There are people who will try to change the ticket price. That’s called ticket scalping. These ticket scalpers will say, “You have to be water baptized.” It doesn’t say that. “You have to speak in tongues.” It doesn’t say that. “You have to take communion.” It doesn’t say that. The thief on the cross could never have gotten to heaven if he let people change the ticket price. Some say you have to stop doing certain things before you can become a Christian. That’s not what this verse says. You don’t get good and come to Jesus. You come to Jesus, and He makes you good. Some people then cry, “What about their bad habits? They can’t become a Christian if they’re cursing, smoking, gambling.” They sure can. We can’t change the ticket price. Remember this: “God loves you just the way you are, and because He loves you the way you are, He refuses to leave you the way you are.” That means God wants to get us in His family, baggage and everything, and then He will deal with the junk that hurts and hinders our lives. But the ticket in to salvation is simple. Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord. “Lord” means He is the boss. He is in charge. He has veto power in your life. If you come to a point where what you believe and think is different from what God thinks, then God wins if He is Lord. And second, you must believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. Paul is careful that this is not just saying the right words, but that you also believe it to the core of your being. So you are saying the words because you believe them in your heart. That’s how we get to heaven. Some may say, “I’m not sure this is the way.” Will Houghton said, “If you decide you want to go to heaven then you have to go God’s way because it is God’s heaven.” Listen closely, if you wanted to come to my house, I think I can give you the best directions to my house. Because it’s my house. Heaven is God’s home. And God knows how to get to His home. He knows the best directions. If you want to go to heaven, let God give you the directions.  And God did, and they are simple.

    4 min

  4. 5d ago

    It’s Not Supposed to Happen Like That

    Day 126 Today's Reading: Romans 9 We now enter three of the most difficult chapters of the entire New Testament, Romans 9–11. We are venturing into, what we call in theology, election, predestination, and the Sovereignty of God. There is no way we can discuss with clarity all of these important words in detail in our brief time together, but we can at least introduce them. As we start today in Romans 9, let’s be challenged by the verses ahead. First, we need to brush up on our Old Testament stories to figure out what Paul is talking about. Paul starts with the Genesis story of Rebekah and Isaac’s children, Jacob and Esau, and something God did after they were born. That something had nothing to do with the children but with God’s character: There was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! (Romans 9:10-14) Remember the story of Jacob and Esau, the twins. Esau is the older and Jacob is the younger. Who is older is important. Why? The book of Genesis is a window into what cultures were like before the revelation of the Bible. One thing we see early on is the widespread practice of primogeniture—that’s when the eldest son inherited all the family’s wealth. That is how they ensured the family kept its status and place in society. The second or third son got nothing, or very little. And here is what I want you to see on the sovereignty of God. Pause for a moment first. What is the sovereignty of God? The sovereignty of God is God exercising His prerogative to do whatever He pleases with His creation because He created everything. He can do this because it belongs to Him. God does it by virtue of ownership.  For example, if you came into my home and said, “I don’t like the way you decorated this room. You should put furniture here against the wall.”  My response would be, “When you start buying the furniture you want to move and paying the mortgage, then we can consider your opinions and viewpoints. Right now your views mean nothing, because I am the owner.” God is in charge of this planet, so He can do whatever He wants. Daniel 4:35 puts it this way: “He does as he pleases” (NIV). That’s sovereignty. Why doesn’t that bother me? Because God is all wise, all loving, all powerful. I can trust His sovereignty. I don’t trust any man’s sovereignty, because they don’t have the character and nature to wield that kind of power. As Charles Spurgeon says, “Cheer up, Christian! Things are not left to chance: no blind fate rules the world. God hath purposes, and those purposes are fulfilled. God hath plans, and those plans are wise, and never can be dislocated.” Or Corrie ten Boom puts it simply, “God doesn’t have problems, only plans. There never is any panic in heaven.” So back to our verse: God chose not the oldest son to carry out His plans but the younger one. That is countercultural. We should be saying, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau,” not Jacob. Culture is not in charge of God. Throughout the Bible, when God chose someone to work through, He chose whomever He wanted, and in this case Paul reminds us that He chose the younger sibling in Genesis. Think for a moment of who else God chose.  He chose Abel over Cain. He chose Isaac over Ishmael. He chose David over all seven of his older brothers. Time after time He chose not the oldest, not the one the world expected and rewarded. Never the one from Jerusalem, as it were, but always the one from Nazareth. Then Paul finishes the sovereignty of God thought with these verses: So, what does all this mean? Are we saying that God is unfair? Of course not! He had every right to say to Moses: “I will be merciful to whomever I choose and I will show compassion to whomever I wish.” Again, this proves that God’s choice doesn’t depend on how badly someone wants it or tries to earn it, but it depends on God’s kindness and mercy. (Romans 9:14-16, TPT) Let me close with these powerful words from David Qaoud: “The sovereignty of God is a sweet pillow that you can lay your head at night. It is a beautiful truth not only that God is in control over all, but is also working everything out—the good and the bad—for your good, and his glory. This sweet doctrine is medicine for the soul that you can take in any season of life.”

    5 min

  5. 6d ago

    Bad News, Good News

    Day 125 Today’s Reading: Romans 8 Has anybody ever said to you, “I have good news and I have bad news, which do you want to hear first?” I always say, “The bad news first.” I want to finish on a high note. So that’s what we’re going to do today as we open Romans 8. Bad news and then good news: In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26) Here’s the bad news, Paul tells us: we don’t know how to pray. The greatest Christian on the planet admits he does not know how to pray right. That’s why he said, “we.” He included himself. Those whom you think are amazing at prayer, all those intercessors . . . they don’t know how to pray. None of us do. Not your pastor, professor, church mother, or older Christian. There is good news: we have help in the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit Himself intercedes for us.” How does He do that? Let’s jump over to Ephesians 3:20: “To Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” God takes our ask and makes it better and bigger than we can ever articulate in prayer. What a relief! We don’t have to be eloquent. We just have to ask and God will take that request, groan, or plea and make it bigger than what we just uttered. Paul is saying to us, "Say something, say anything, and God will get it right for you, because He goes beyond our ask." He takes our ask and goes further. God takes what we say and puts power to it. That takes the pressure off of you and me. We can be saved for ten minutes and still be powerful at prayer. Because it isn’t you, and it isn’t me. It’s God. Hymnwriter William Cowper’s words are true: “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” Why? Indeed, we don’t know how to pray. It’s also true that we have the best help to pray. With that understanding, Brennan Manning’s words are an important truth for us to remember: “The only way to fail in prayer is to not show up.” God is committed to taking my simple, silly prayer words and adding power to them. The power depends on whose hands in which it rests. I read a poem by an unknown author that fits our purposes here perfectly. I’ve changed up a few bits to make it more contemporary. A basketball in my hands is worth about $19. A basketball in Keven Durant’s hands is worth about $75 million. It depends on whose hands it’s in. A baseball in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball in Mike Trout’s or Aaron Judge’s hands is worth $19 million. It depends on whose hands it’s in. A tennis racket is useless in my hands. A tennis racket in Serena Williams’s hands is a French Open or Wimbledon Championship. It depends on whose hands it’s in. A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea. It depends on whose hands it’s in. A slingshot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A slingshot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends on whose hands it’s in. Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands are a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands. It depends on whose hands it’s in. Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse. Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce salvation for the entire world. It depends on whose hands it’s in. Your prayer is in good hands; it’s in God’s hands. The bad news is not that bad because the good news is really good.

    4 min

  6. Jun 23

    The Infection in All of Us

    Day 124 Today’s Reading: Romans 7 The Nuremberg war-crime trials were trials of some of the most wicked men who ever lived. They were responsible for the deaths of six million Jews during the Holocaust. One of those men was Adolf Eichmann, who killed millions of people in concentration camps during World War II. Holocaust survivor Yehiel Dinur witnessed Eichmann’s trial. He entered the courtroom and stared at Eichmann behind a bullet-proof glass. The courtroom was hushed as victims confronted their butcher. Dinur began to sob and collapsed onto the floor. Many assumed he was overcome by anger or bitterness. However, Dinur later explained to Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes that he had been overtaken by a horrific realization: “I was afraid about myself,” he said. “I saw that I am capable to do this I am . . . exactly like [Eichmann].” Wallace concluded the segment with these thoughts: “How was it possible for a man to act as Eichmann acted? “Was he a monster? A madman? Or was he perhaps something even more terrifying: was he normal?” He closed by telling his viewers that “Eichman is in all of us.” In a moment of chilling clarity, Yehiel Dinur saw beneath the skin. We are not morally neutral. We’ve often heard the question, “Why do good people do bad things?” The more appropriate question is, “Why do bad people do good things?” As Augustine said: “My sin was all the more incurable because I did not think myself a sinner.” This idea is what Romans 7 is all about—the infection called sin that’s in all of us. Paul makes it personal, by starting with himself (see verses 9, 11, 13-14, and 17). He reminds us that the great apostle is a great sinner. Sin is the potential evil in all of us. No one has sinned in such a way that others couldn’t also sin. We are all infected by this devastating disease. Listen to how Paul speaks of this disease: I’m a mystery to myself, for I want to do what is right, but end up doing what my moral instincts condemn. And if my behavior is not in line with my desire, my conscience still confirms the excellence of the law. And now I realize that it is no longer my true self doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin in my humanity. For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but willpower is not enough to accomplish it. My lofty desires to do what is good are dashed when I do the things I want to avoid. So if my behavior contradicts my desires to do good, I must conclude that it’s not my true identity doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin hindering me from being who I really am. (Romans 7:15-20, TPT) Listen to verse 18 again: “I know that nothing good lives within.” This is a powerful statement. Why? If Paul reached this conclusion, we all must reach this conclusion. Have you reached that conclusion about yourself? Have you ever, without hesitation or reservation, put yourself before God and said, “I do here and now solemnly believe and attest and vow and declare that in me no good thing dwells”? This hesitation is what holds people back from being born again. They still hold on to the idea that we are all essentially good people. Think about it. Why would God have to send His Son Jesus to die the awful death on the cross if you and I are more or less good and our goodness is what will get us to heaven? If that idea is true, then God is guilty of the worst case of child abuse in human history. It’s illogical. Someone once said, “God formed man, sin deformed him, education informs him, religion may reform him, but only Jesus Christ can transform him.” The transformation starts with the acknowledgment that “no good thing dwells within me.” Sin deceives us by making us think that we are good and that our goodness impresses God. Let me tell you what “religion” is. It’s humans exhausting themselves to impress God enough that He will invite them to His house in heaven to live forever. It’s the belief that we can influence God. Watchman Nee tells a story of watching a man drown while an expert swimmer who had all the ability to save him watched from the dock without moving. When it looked as though the man was going down for the last time, the swimmer jumped in to save the man. The swimmer explained his motive to Nee, saying that going any earlier would have drowned them both. “A drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself," he said. When we give up, then God takes over. He is waiting until we are at the end of our strength and we realize we cannot defeat the sin inside of us by sheer willpower. "I" is all over Romans 7 until Paul lets out a final cry in the penultimate verse: “What an agonizing situation I am in! So who has the power to rescue this miserable man from the unwelcome intruder of sin and death?” (verse 24, TPT). And then no more "I"s. The rescuer jumps in the water to save the drowning man who’s going under. Paul closes out the chapter by showing us who can rescue us: “The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does” (verse 25, MSG).

    6 min

  7. Jun 22

    There’s a New King on the Throne

    Day 123 Today’s Reading: Romans 6 There is probably not a better chapter in the New Testament that deals with the relationship between Christians and sin than Romans 6. That relationship is—there is no relationship. You have victory because sin is no longer in charge. There’s a new King on the throne of your heart. C. H. Spurgeon was right when he said, “Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it?” We can’t be a friend to sin. We have a new friend and our new friend is now our King: Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14) “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (verse 12). The word "reign" is a word for a king or royal who is in charge of a nation and has the throne. Paul is saying that when you get saved, sin is dethroned from the throne of your heart. Now King Jesus sits as the sole authority and He has no rivals. There may be fighters, but no rivals. There may be a coup here and there, but no one ultimately defeats this new King. Sin may be present and sin may fight, but sin will never again be king of your heart. Just because sin fights doesn’t mean it is in charge. Always remember that! Our sin leaves us in a knot, and we need God’s help to unties it. That’s what happens at salvation. He unravels sin and gives us new life. He undoes the knot of sin. Yet humanity tries to redefine the very thing for which Christ died and set us free. • Man calls it an accident; God calls it an abomination. • Man calls it a blunder; God calls it blindness. • Man calls it a defect; God calls it a disease. • Man calls it a chance; God calls it a choice. • Man calls it an error; God calls it an enmity. • Man calls it a fascination; God calls it a fatality. • Man calls it an infirmity; God calls it iniquity. • Man calls it a luxury; God calls it leprosy. • Man calls it liberty; God calls it lawlessness. • Man calls it a trifle; God calls it a tragedy. • Man calls it a mistake; God calls it madness. • Man calls it a weakness; God calls it willfulness. Paul goes on to say in verse 13: “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” This verse is important for our understanding of the new King in our hearts. Paul tells us three important things: 1. We surrender to a person. We do not surrender to an idea, a denomination, a church, Protestantism, or Catholicism. The Bible says, “present yourselves to God.” No church can fight off sin like King Jesus. 2. We surrender for a purpose. Paul said, “as instruments” not as ornaments. The purpose in our surrender, it leads to something—righteousness. What are the instruments? The members of our bodies. We surrender our minds, our hands, our creativity, our eyes—all to the King. 3. We surrender at a price. Don’t miss the part that says “as those alive from the dead.” There is something costly here. Jesus paid the price for our resurrection. As Ravi Zacharias said: “Jesus Christ did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive.” We were dead and King Jesus gave us new life. Something sin never did. Listen to what R. C. Sproul reminds us about sin: “I have committed many sins in my life. Not one of my sins has ever made me happy.” Our new King brings joy to us and tells us sin is not in charge anymore. The Message translation captures the concept of sin being rendered powerless when Jesus comes into our lives particularly well: You must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and fulltime—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God. (Romans 6:12-14) Wow! Sin doesn’t get a vote and sin can’t tell us how to live. There’s a new King on the throne.

    5 min

  8. Jun 19

    A Praise That Doesn’t Happen in Church

    Day 122 Today’s Reading: Romans 5 In today’s reading, we land on Romans 5 and see a different kind of praise. Praise that I don’t think is done in the church. It’s a new kind of praise for your repertoire. God gives us to much to praise. In Romans 5:1-2, Paul reminds us of the greatest thing to thank God for: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2). The Message takes the last phase, "exult in hope of the glory of God," and paraphrases it: “standing tall and shouting our praise.” We praise God that we have peace with God through Jesus. That last part is really important: “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Not through our promises or our good deeds, but through what Jesus has done on the cross. We don’t get anything from God unless it is through Jesus Christ. In June 2006, Warren Buffett, the world’s second-richest man at the time, announced that he would donate 85 percent of his forty-four-billion-dollar fortune to five charitable foundations. Commenting on this extreme level of generosity, Buffett said: “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.” Sorry, Warren, that just isn’t true. You may know a lot about investments, but you don’t know much about heaven. Religion says, "If I change, God will love me." The gospel says, "God’s love changes people." This is a blessing worthy of praising God. But it isn’t this praise that I struggle with. My problem is with the second praise: Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope. (Romans 5:1-4) Or as The Message says, “We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us.” Are you kidding me? Exult in our tribulations? I can praise Him for grace and peace—but not for tribulations. How can I exalt when things are falling apart? How can I worship when I’m crying on the inside? How can I dance when I am hurting? What I have learned is that praise has nothing to do with music. Songs may help, but we don’t need them to praise God. Praise goes deeper than a melody line. When we praise God in trials, it means we know something beyond the music. We see a little further than the present. What do we see? That something is on the other side of our painful situations, for “tribulation brings about . . .” something that could not come from music. Paul says that proven character is on the other side. Perseverance is on the other side. Hope is on the other side. That means the music in our church doesn’t have to be that good to praise Him. We can praise God for the other side of our painful tribulation. Romans 5:1-2 praise happens every Sunday. It’s the Romans 5:3-4 praise at which I need to get better. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “There are two times to praise the Lord: when you feel like it, and when you don’t.” Essentially, when we praise we are saying what David said in Psalm 34:1: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Let’s add Romans 5:3-4 praise to our repertoire this Sunday—and every day. Even in our tribulations, we can exult God.

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A life-changing experience through the New Testament one chapter at a time.

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