Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Personal Challenge

No matter how you look at it, if we desire to someday see God in heaven, we need Jesus. He is the only one who ever lived a sinless life. He is the only one who, being God, became a human being in order to connect humanity to God. He is the only one who gave His life for those of us who will always fall short of the glory of God. Jesus is our salvation. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 91:1 (90:1)

He who dwells in the help of the Most High Shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven.

Romans 3:10-12

As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Personal Challenge

Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that none of us deserve God’s presence in our lives. We do not deserve the grace and mercy that God chooses to pour out upon us. This is not as much to point out our depravity as it is to point out God’s great love and compassion for us, His creation. Our salvation from death is in Him, and Him alone. We cannot earn our salvation. God freely gives it to us. Glory be to God!

Psalms 89:47-48 (88:48-49)

Let my substance be remembered, as to what sort it is,
For did You create all the sons of men in vain?
What kind of man is there who will live and not see death?
Will he deliver his soul from the hand of Hades? (Pause)

Personal Challenge

God is eternal, we are not. God is all good, we sin. There are those times in our lives where we feel lost in the greatness of everything, and we call out to God asking that He remember us. He does. He always does. He desires that we walk with Him as Adam and Eve did in the garden. He cares for us and guides us through this journey of life. It is up to us to listen to Him and to follow Him. Glory be to God!

Romans 2:28-29

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Personal Challenge

Paul had to deal with the problem of the Judaizers in the early church trying to convince new Christians that they had to follow the traditions of their Jewish heritage before they could be truly identified as followers of Christ. Outward appearances were more important than inward presence. We have something similar happening in our churches today. We are seeing the rise of zealots that believe the church had a special, glorious heyday in the past, a golden age, that we must return to in order to be pure again. This is especially happening in both the Orthodox and the Catholic churches, which have people pursuing past traditions more than pursuing Christ. In Protestant churches this is playing out in a form of pursuing nationalism and believing the true Church must be a national church. Again, Jesus is not being pursued. We must all go back to pursuing Christ, and Christ alone. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 86:15 (85:15)

But You, O Lord, are compassionate and merciful,
Longsuffering and very merciful and truthful.

Encouraging Words

Our God is compassionate and merciful. He is longsuffering and truthful. He loves us so dearly and desires to bestow these characteristics upon us. He wants us to bathe in that love. Glory be to God!

Romans 2:11

For there is no partiality with God.

Personal Challenge

A sad thing that is happening in the church today is partiality. We are becoming divided because of personal commitment to politics, dogma, race, color, creed, sexuality, and a myriad of other issues. Jesus died for all of creation. “God so loved the world” is what the scriptures tell us. Paul reminds us here in his letter to the Romans that there is no partiality with God. If we truly love Him, if we follow His command to love Our neighbor… all of them, then how can we be partial. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 86:12 (85:12)

I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
And I shall glorify Your name forever;

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it is easy to slip into a lazy mode and halfheartedly give thanks and glory to God. He should always be the very center of our lives. When we give thanks to Him it should be with our whole hearts and being. I know that I so often miss this mark because I let the cares of this world get in the way. Lord, have mercy! We can begin correcting this behavior by thanking God for the little things in our lives knowing that He provides even them. Then we can move on to thanking Him for everything and giving Him the glory that He deserves. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Romans 2:1

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Personal Challenge

There is only one in the Christian faith that has the authority to judge another. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. I can never understand where people who profess to be followers of Christ also claim that by that following, they are called to judge others. The scriptures make it clear that we are to love our neighbor and let Jesus take care of any judging. We must always remember that in judging another, we condemn ourselves. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!