Category: Romans

Posted in Ephesians, Luke, Romans

The Generosity of God

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” Romans 8:32

Any sense of entitlement in us will undermine our faith. God never gives to us because He has to; He gives because He wants to. The gospel starts by revealing to us that God owes us nothing but hell because of our sins, and then proceeds to show us His kind intention of adopting us as His sons and daughters. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

I was speaking in Uganda about entitlement and told a story where God revealed to me that I had been waiting for an apology from Him. I felt I had been mistreated just like Job and the older brother did (Luke 15:26-31), and that attitude was keeping me from experiencing the generosity of God.

After I was done speaking a woman found me and said I had to talk with her friend, Annette. Annette was laying on a mat on the floor of the church and was unable to get up because of crippling pain in her back. Through an interpreter, Annette told me that God spoke to her through the message. She had experienced a number of setbacks and had been angry with God. Now she was free because God showed her she needed to let go of her bad attitude.

I felt in my heart that God now wanted to heal her body, so I asked if I could pray for her back. After a brief prayer, I told her to move her back around and eventually told her to stand up. As she did, tears started to pour down her face.

“Ask her why she’s crying,” I said to the interpreter.

The answer was what I was hoping: “She says God is healing her back.”

Before my next teaching, she came to the front with the joy of the Lord on her face and gave testimony to what God had done in her heart and then in her body. Everyone then rejoiced in the generosity of God.

Sometimes we become focused on the outward miracle we need while having the wrong attitude in our heart. Do you feel God owes you something because of your obedience, sacrifice, or prayers? Why not lay down your disappointment, acknowledge that God is not in your debt, and focus on His generosity?

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not, also along with Him, graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32)

Posted in Romans

Taking Time to Give Thanks

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine – where are they?’” Luke 17:15-17

We glorify God when we recognize what He has done for us by giving thanks. God’s not looking for a repayment which would be impossible, but He is looking for our sincere thanks for the good things He does for us. How sad that Jesus would have to ask, “The nine – where are they?” Why didn’t they come back and thank Jesus? Probably for some of the same reasons you and I don’t spend more time giving thanks.

  1.  Maybe they were too busy. Now that they received their healing there were a hundred things they needed to do. They needed to return to their families; they needed to look for work; they needed to make up for lost time. Thanksgiving is a simple thing but it does take time which is a precious commodity. Make it a priority to devote time every day to just stop and give thanks to God.
  2. Maybe they had a chip on their shoulder. “God owes me…” When we feel like God owes us anything we start taking His blessings as payments for our devotion and service instead of that which He has freely given us out of His love and grace. Maybe the nine were angry at God because of their leprosy so when they were healed it didn’t produce gratefulness, but more like, “it’s about time.” It is good to remember that God owes you and me nothing. “Who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?” (Romans 11:35)
  3. Maybe they were overly focused on themselves. When our lives are all about us we miss the big picture and fall into the delusion that we are independent. Remember, every breath we draw comes from the God who made us, and we continue to exist only due to His mercy. He’s the sun we orbit around, so we need to be careful not to make ourselves the middle. There is no greater use of the breath He has lent us than to give thanks back to God.
Posted in 1Thessalonians, Colossians, James, Jeremiah, Psalms, Romans

Give Thanks

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1Thessalonians 5:18

Many times we aren’t sure what God’s perfect will is for a situation, so we waver between one direction and another. “God, couldn’t you speak more clearly so that I would know for sure?” Well, this passage is crystal clear and it’s right in the word of God; “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will…” The interesting thing about God’s will is that it is not as much about what we do, as it is about how we do what we do. Listen to this verse: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:23) Whatever you do! Praying, eating, playing, watching football, shopping…. whatever.

Our text doesn’t say “for everything,” evil does happen, but rather, “in everything.” How can we thank God in every single circumstance we are in?

We can always thank Him for His love which endures forever. God loves you and me right now no matter what we’re going through! How wonderful is that?

We can thank Him that He is in control. However bad things may seem, everything that is happening has at least been allowed by God and has not surprised Him. We can thank Him for always having a plan for good no matter how badly we have messed things up. (Jeremiah 29:11) We can thank Him for His wisdom which is able to work “all” things for our good. (Romans 8:28) He will use our trials (self inflicted or God ordained) to make us complete and content in Christ alone. (James 1:2-4)

No matter what is going on we can thank Him that our real life is, “hidden with Christ in God,” (Colossians 3:1) and that our real home is in heaven. We can thank Him for the forgiveness of our sins and for His guiding presence in our future. We can thank Him for the cross, and that whatever hardship we are going through is nothing compared to what He went through for us. We can thank Him for being good, for being our Father, for being our Savior – for being our everything. As the Psalmist has said, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His loving-kindness is everlasting.” (Psalm 107:1)

Posted in Romans

Believing God

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:18-21

There’s a difference between believing in God and believing God. Let’s look at Abraham’s process of believing God, so we can learn how to believe God as well.

He heard from God. “So shall your offspring be,” was a reference to Abraham gazing at the stars and hearing the voice of God. This is the beginning of faith – God speaking. (Romans 10:17)

He faced his circumstances. He was a hundred years old, and Sarah was barren – it would take a miracle. All human hope of the promise coming true was extinguished; it would take direct intervention from God. Faith never asks us to live in denial of our circumstances, but it often does ask us to believe God in spite of them.

He kept believing. The beginning of faith is exciting, but what if what was promised doesn’t happen right away? “He did not waver through unbelief.” He didn’t but he could have. He could have questioned whether God had really spoken at all, or whether He really meant what He said. He could have thought of all the others who had prayed and didn’t seem to be answered. It’s easy to waver through unbelief. He chose to believe God and to keep believing God.

What has God promised you? If nothing, then get into His word and ask Him what He has for you. Position your life to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit and you’ll be surprised at how alive Jesus is today. When He speaks, I encourage you to go from believing in God to believing God. Whether it’s for salvation, healing, restoration, provision, or a direction He’s leading you in. Time in His word and in His presence will purify our thoughts, so we can know the difference between what God is actually speaking and what we are only imagining. Take what is truly of God and believe Him for the great things He wants to do in us, for us, and through us.

Posted in Hebrews, Luke, Romans

Dealing with Differences

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“‘Master,’ said John, ‘we saw a man driving out demons in Your Name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.’ ‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said, ‘for whoever is not against you is for you.’” Luke 9:49-50

When I first came to Christ, I was part of a church that believed we were the only pure expression of Christianity in our city. Every sermon featured some way we were better than everyone else. We only used the King James Bible, for instance, and believed every other translation was defiled and leading people into heresy. We were “it,” and everyone else was deceived at some level.

Looking back, I feel sadness for how proud and blind we were; not just about ourselves, but about who God is. We had made the God of all grace so small and picky that if you didn’t believe exactly like we did you were on the outside. The truth is that we were small and picky, not God.

John is clearly proud of his rebuke of this man who wasn’t, “one of us.” Jesus had a wider circle of those who are with Him.

People come to me with accusations against Christian leaders across the body of Christ. Sometimes it’s about what a leader said and sometimes it’s about something questionable they did. I’m almost always in agreement with those who are bringing the charge, leaders are flawed and often say things and do things that are a little off. But once in a while the person bringing the accusation wants more than agreement, they want me to publicly renounce that leader and their group.

At this point I become a disappointment to them. Jesus is not ashamed to call me His brother (Hebrews 2:11) with all of my flaws and errors, so I want to be unashamed to stand next to brothers and sisters who love Jesus, but aren’t just like our group.

I understand and value the desire for truth and the need to be on guard against deception, but we must be very careful before pointing the finger at others lest we condemn someone who Jesus accepts and delights in. May God help us be humble and generous toward all those who are different from us. “Accept one another,” Paul says to Christians who were judging each other over minor differences, “just as Christ has accepted you.” (Romans 15:7)

Posted in 1Samuel, Romans

The World’s Mold

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within.” Romans 12:2 Phillips Translation

I was in Belize sitting at a picnic table with six fifth grade boys. We had just done a drama of Samuel coming to Jesse’s house to anoint the next king. Jesse didn’t know which of his eight sons it would be but he had decided which son it wouldn’t be. David, his youngest, wasn’t even invited to the party because someone needed to stay with the sheep.

So the question I asked these fifth graders was: “Give a time when you felt left out, lonely, or rejected.”

The boys spent a lot of time looking at each other, but no one would answer me, so I finally called on the one next to me. His answer was “never.”

“Let me get this straight,” I asked. “You’ve never felt lonely, left out, or rejected, in your whole life?”

Nope; and the funny thing was, as I made each answer, it turned out that none of them had ever felt lonely, left out, or rejected – amazing.

Then we moved on to the part of the story where God tells Samuel: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1Samuel 16:7)

“For instance,” I told them, “God knows that every one of you lied to me a few minutes ago. You might be able to fool me and each other, but God sees your heart, and you can’t fool him.”

These weren’t bad kids, they were just being squeezed by peer pressure to maintain a certain image so they didn’t want to be vulnerable in front of each other. When our time was ending I asked them to close their eyes and put their heads down.

“God saw David when man didn’t,” I told them. “He saw that David wanted to please Him so God chose him and poured out the Holy Spirit on him. If you want to please God and have God pour His Spirit on you, I want you to lift up your head and look me in the eyes.”

Do you know that every one of those six boys looked up without hesitation! They knew they had lied, but that’s not who they wanted to be. They wanted to please God and knew they needed the Holy Spirit to help them do that. What a privilege it was to pray over each of them.

Posted in 2Corinthians, John, Matthew, Romans

Hidden Treasure – Part Two

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44

Yesterday we saw that the treasure of God’s unconditional love is hidden from our experience when our identity is in our performance. The second treasure the gospel reveals is salvation in Christ, yet this remains hidden from our experience when we cling to unbelief.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of their sin “because men do not believe in Me.” (John 16:9) No one minds believing in the historical existence of Jesus or in the inspirational teaching and example He gave. What people struggle with is that He claims to be the Savior. (The name Jesus means savior)

To believe in Jesus as Savior means I’m not a good person who just needs a little instruction and encouragement. I am a sinner who needs saving. Really believing in Jesus means that I am no longer the hero in my own story which is why the self-righteous often persist in unbelief even when God has given them ample evidence that they are sinners.

Some people struggle with the simplicity of receiving salvation as a gift, yet this is the only way one can experience this treasure. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Think of someone who loves you and has bought you an expensive gift for your birthday. When they give it to you, you don’t try to pay for it, do you? That would be an insult to the giver. You say, “thank you,” and unwrap it and when they see you enjoying the gift they freely gave, it makes the price they paid worth it to them.

God saw our need and paid a very high price (the blood of Jesus) to get us an “indescribable gift” (2Corinthians 9:15) called eternal life. To own it we just have to admit we’re sinners and receive it with the faith of a child. When we begin walking in the relationship that is included in this gift, we bring joy to the One who purchased it for us.

Posted in Luke, Matthew, Romans

Hidden Treasure – Part One

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44

You can be in the field of church and seldom see the treasure that’s hidden in it. Without seeing the treasure there will be little joy in your faith and your Christianity will seem more of a burden added to your life, than that which removes every burden and gives you joy. So what is the treasure and what hides it from our hearts?

The first treasure the gospel reveals is God’s unconditional love for us, but it is hidden from those who have their identity in performance. It’s very difficult for humans to grasp God’s love because we are used to conditions. Paul says it would be rare for someone to die for a good man, but at least we can conceive of the possibility because a good person deserves to be loved. He goes on to explain God’s love: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

God doesn’t just love everyone; He loves you. Whether you’ve been good or bad in man’s eyes, He loves you. Whether you feel like a success or a continual failure, He loves you. And nothing you can do or fail to do can change that.

The prodigal son (Luke 15) represented the prostitutes, tax gatherers, and “sinners” who felt God would never want them near because of their bad performance. Even when the prodigal repented he planned on asking to be made a “hired man.” The hired man made the wages of a slave but didn’t live in the house. Yet when he returned he received an unexpected welcome and restoration to his father. The Father sees us, even when we’re far away, and when we take a step toward Him, He runs toward us. Is it hard for you to believe that this is how emotional God is over you every time you try to draw near to Him? Ask Him to heal whatever is keeping you from believing in His love.

The older brother missed the party because he thought his good performance earned him something. He represented the Pharisees and Scribes who were listening and thought they were better than other people. Self-righteousness will keep you busy as a Christian, but it will prevent you from experiencing the Father’s love and out of the party of His joy.

Posted in 1John, John, Philippians, Psalms, Romans

The Will of God

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and accomplish His work.” John 4:34

Consider with me three things about the will of God: the delight, the cost, and the result.

The delight. David said that when Messiah came He would proclaim, “I delight to do Your will O My God, Your law is within My heart.” (Psalm 40:8) In the text above we have Jesus saying that the will of God is His hidden food, sustenance, and supply. Jesus’ yoke was easy and His burden was light because He never measured Himself by anything or anyone else – it was enough to do the will of God. Life can be very complicated, but when your passion is the will of God the questions change. It is no longer “what will I choose to do,” but only, “what is the will of God so I can obey.” Deciding to do God’s will, whatever it is, answers a thousand other questions for you. For instance, you don’t have to decide whether to forgive someone or not. You always forgive because He’s forgiven you.

The cost. Jesus prayed, “not My will, but Yours be done.” He didn’t finish the work God gave Him to do until He said, “It is finished,” on the cross. He did work for us that we couldn’t do for ourselves which is why the beginning of us doing the will of God must be putting our faith in Christ. But there’s a cross for us as well if we really want to accomplish God’s plan. Romans 12:1-2 says, “In view of God’s mercy, present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” We must offer ourselves before God as a sacrifice willing to do anything, before we will be able to walk out the specific plan He has for us.

The result. Because Jesus obeyed He was given the highest Name and the greatest place in all the universe. (Philippians 2:11) When we do the will of God we end up sharing in His glory forever and ever. “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1John 2:17)

Posted in 1Peter, Romans

Pregnant with God’s Purposes

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“We know that creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time…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 with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Romans 8:22; 26-27

Effective prayer is like pregnancy. Humility recognizes that we don’t really know what to pray so it starts by asking, “God, what do You want to do in this situation?” As we open our hearts in sincerity and surrender, the Holy Spirit plants in us the very word of God concerning the situation we’re praying about and we become pregnant with the answer.

God’s Word to us, Peter says, is an imperishable seed that will stand forever. (1Peter 1:23-25) The only question once God has impregnated us with His purpose is will we persevere with Him in the place of prayer and agreement until heaven’s purpose becomes a reality on earth? There is a weight when we carry His purposes; there is an inward groaning when the very opposite of what we have prayed seems to be happening. Will we continue to travail until God’s full purpose is accomplished or will we give up and allow that vulnerable seed to be aborted before birth?

“If God wants to do something why doesn’t He just do it?” you may ask. He chooses to co-labor with us and has purposed that His plan will not be done on this earth unless someone on earth wants it, prays for it, and does whatever is necessary to birth it. Why else would He tell us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”

Are you just surviving day to day or are you pregnant with God’s purposes for your life? Women that are pregnant don’t do things others do and don’t eat things other people eat because they don’t want to injure the baby. They limit their freedom because they don’t want to put what they are carrying at risk. Are you conscious that your life is not just about you, but about the One you are carrying and the purposes He has for you on this earth?

Now that’s something to pray about!