October 26, 2023 | Be On Mission
Paul's Love for the Christians of Rome
Scripture: Romans 15(NIV)
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jew] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”
10 Again, it says,
“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Devotional
In the concluding section of today’s reading, Paul told the Roman Christians of his plan to visit them. He wrote this letter to them while he was in Corinth (in modern day Greece) during the end of his third missionary journey. He was headed to Jerusalem, where he would be arrested and eventually sailed to Rome as a prisoner to stand trial before Caesar.
Paul hoped that he wouldn’t be hassled in Jerusalem, and would sail as a free man to Rome on his way to Spain. As he saw it, God wasn’t done with him. He had more places to go, more people to win. He looked forward to meeting the Roman Christians for the first time, saying, “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.” He asked them to pray for him now, and trusted that they would support him later as he ventured onward to Spain.
But alas, he was arrested in Jerusalem and arrived in Rome as a shackled prisoner. His hopes were dashed. Was God done with Paul after all?
Hardly. While under house arrest in Rome, Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Then or afterward he wrote 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. From his prison, Paul witnessed to the guards, encouraged the believers, and sent the workers to the mission field.
Life doesn’t always work itself out according to our scripts. The twists and turns, ups and down, wins and losses are all part of the journey. Some of them set us back. Some of them just set us in a different place with an altered plan to carry out the same purpose.
How has God brought you to where you are right now in order to prepare you for what is in front of you? What is He calling you to do with it? What is next in your life?
Poem
Strong For A Purpose
Use your strength to lift another
Help a brother
Love a mother
Use your gifts to be a lifter
Aid a sister
Truss a lister
Use your talents, build the Body
Help the shoddy
Banish folly
Use your life not for your own
Truth be shown
Make Christ known
