Month: June 2023

Luke 10:21 – At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.” (NLT)

Today’s passage follows the story of Jesus sending out seventy-two disciples to share the message that the kingdom of God was near. When they returned, they shared with Jesus that even the demons obeyed them when they used the name of Jesus (Luke 10:17). People were hearing and seeing evidence that God was doing a new thing. As a result, Jesus is filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Jesus then thanks the Father that this new thing has been revealed to the childlike. This tells us something of faith, and Jesus spoke of this in Mark 10:14-15 – “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

Contrast this childlike faith with that of the wise and clever that Jesus spoke of in verse twenty-one of today’s reading. Jesus is thankful that the kingdom was being experienced by the childlike, but the wise and clever could not experience the kingdom. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 1:24-25 – “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength”.

God’s plan of salvation seems to be foolish by the ‘wise’ of the world. God’s foolishness, however, is wiser than the wisest of human plans. This passage always makes me think of my faith – and how it is that I come to God. For all my understanding, and even for my education (for which I am thankful), none of those things gets me any closer to God. It is only when I seek God like a child that I can approach the kingdom.

Recently, I was able to spend Father’s Day weekend with my grandchildren. One of my youngest, three years old, still has a childlike approach to the world. He see’s the world  with wide wonder. His honesty and approach to life are lessons for me, and for all of us!   

Today, let us approach the things of God like a child, and experience the wonder of God’s kingdom!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Romans 8:26 – In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (NIV)

Have you ever encountered a circumstance or situation in your life that was so difficult that you just didn’t know how to pray about it?  I suppose that is truly a rhetorical question, for we all have had such times.  During those difficult times, have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to pray for you?  The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, and it might seem strange to be asking God to pray for us, but that is what this passage suggests that we do.

Imagine the very Spirit of God interceding for us when find ourselves in troubling times.  We must, however, stay connected to God through God’s Spirit. An awareness of God’s Spirit not only guides us through each day, but helps us when we can’t find the words we need to pray. 

Thank God for God’s Spirit here with us!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Romans 7:7 – Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” ⁸ But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. ⁹ At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, ¹⁰ and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. ¹¹ Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. ¹² But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

¹³ But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

¹⁴ So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. ¹⁶ But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

¹⁸ And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. ¹⁹ I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. ²⁰ But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

This passage continues where we left off last week.  Paul now explores what he has hinted at previously in this letter, that the law actually serves as a means of bringing more sin into our lives.  Because we have this natural desire in us to deviate from what is right, our sinful nature sees the law and says “Hey that sounds good!”  To sin, the law is like wood to a termite.  What good, then, is the law?  It helps us to recognize sin.  We are all sinful, and our nature is fallen.  The law allows us to see this more clearly.

In verses 9 and 10, Paul states that learning the law stimulated the power of sin, and he died.  He is speaking in spiritual terms.  The law promises life – if we can obey the law.  However, who can keep the law at all times?  Yet, the law is holy (verse 12).  The law, which is holy, does not cause us to be separated from God.  It is our sin that separates us from God, not the law.

Verse 14 is critical to understanding this passage: “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.”  In chapter 6 of Romans Paul writes that we are all slaves to something.  All too often, humans are slaves to sin.  In the remaining verses here in chapter 7, Paul writes about wanting to do what is right, but his sinful nature takes over.

Let’s consider verse 16: “But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.” The law offers to us a paradox – if we continually hold the law before us, even though we know the law is good, it stimulates our sinful nature.  If not the law, what then should a Christian look to as a guide to live by?  We should look to Jesus.  The law holds before us what we should not be doing.  Instead of looking at what we should not be doing, we should look at how we should be living, and Jesus is the model for how we should be living.   

Posted by Ramón Torres

Romans 7:1 – Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? ² For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. ³ So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

⁴ So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. ⁵ When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. ⁶ But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. (NLT)

The people of ancient Rome had a saying that the laws of Rome would apply to them only until they died!  The Apostle Paul, having been familiar with the saying, uses it in this passage as sort of a tongue in cheek remark.  His point is that we were formerly married to the power of the law. We have now died to the power of the law, and consequently, we are now free to belong to another.  That other – Jesus.

It wasn’t just the Jews who clung to religious laws in ancient times.  Many pagan cultures had various laws to follow.  Following these laws was their attempt to make things right with their gods.  As Christians, we don’t cling to any law, we cling to Christ.

We should note from verse four that the result of dying to the law is a harvest of good deeds!  (Other translations have bearing fruit for God).  Paul often mentions good deeds.  These good deeds are not our attempt to please God, but as Paul notes in verse 6, the result (or harvest) of a ‘new way of living in the Spirit.’  As Paul tells us in chapter five of Galatians, living in the Spirit produces a change in our lives (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).  These changes are not seen just by ourselves, but by others through the harvest of our good deeds.

Are you living a new way in the Spirit of God?  A great way to measure our spiritual health is to take a look at ourselves.  Are we producing a harvest of good deeds? Today, let’s strive to live in the Spirit! 

Posted by Ramón Torres