Scripture: ^.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Romans 15:1-2 (NLT)

1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.

2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

Romans 15:5-7 (NLT)

5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.

6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Paul was addressing problems inside the church here. Seeing that we don’t ever have problems like this today, it may seem hard to identify with Paul, right? I don’t think so!! To my non-Christian friends: unfortunately this is not the case even in our churches. When Jesus accepted us as His forgiven children, we became perfect in Him, but unfortunately, as long as we reside here on this old sinful earth and live among the sin, and temptations to sin, we will struggle daily to live perfect lives before a holy God. Please be patient with us, and please align your lives with Christ, and not your struggling friend or neighbor. To my Christian friends: I bolded a few phrases in the verses shared, because I believe that until we practice getting along with our Christian brothers and sisters, we will never be able to influence the lost for Christ. For our example says a ton more than we could ever articulate with our mouths. as fellow Christians, let us build up each other in the Lord. We are beat up on all day long by the world, we truly need the love, encouragement and support of our Christian brothers and sisters who has God’s Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them. This will be just one example of us living in complete harmony with each other, with the end result being very powerful: then we can join together with ONE voice, giving praise and glory to God. Unity among ourselves, Christians, will bring unity and sweet harmony in our worship together to our Holy God. Please remember, God died for us and accepted us, while we were yet sinners, yet when we sought His face and surrendered our lives to Him, He accepted us. To follow Christ means that we must be willing to do just as He did – accept each other, build each other up, live in harmony together through the love that we display to each other.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, this becomes such a challenge for us, especially when we notice that others are not as perfect as we are! Please open our eyes so that we can be reminded again and again that You are the only perfect one. Often when we point a finger at the faults of someone else, we literally and very honestly have four pointing back at us. Please help us to learn to take the ‘board’ out of our own eye before we make any attempt to take the ‘spec’ out of our neighbor’s eye. Keeping our eyes fixed on You will help us to honestly deal with our unworthiness and our frail attempts at perfection, therefore having an impact on us looking down our noses at anyone else. You alone are God. Please help us never to attempt to take on Your role, but to do as Paul taught in this chapter this morning. Self-examination and correction will often help us to fix the problems/faults we see in others!

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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