JMD Devotional 239 Romans 13:7-10 The Sin of Neglect

Render to all men their dues. [Pay] taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due. Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one's fellowmen, meeting all its requirements].
The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet (have an evil desire), and any other commandment, are summed up in the single command, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.

Neglect is the failure to give proper care or attention to somebody or something. Neglect is not caring for something properly. Neglect is not caring: the absence of love. Letting yourself get into excessive debt is a sign of not loving your future self’s well-being or that of your family. Stealing from your employer, either through pilfering, or through half-hearted service, betrays not loving your benefactor, which is doubly grievous in the light of our Lord’s command to love our enemies.
Adultery is a very widespread sin in that you injure your own soul, you corrupt the soul of the person in cahoots with you (leading them to ruin (how ‘loving’ is that?)), you neglect to protect the daughter (or son) of the other person’s parents, you have in fact spread cancer to every extended relationship and undermined social order. There are no victimless sins. True love does no wrong; but the miserable, selfish indulgence we call ‘love’, that neglects the well being of all others in the pursuit of pleasure, murders its object of ‘affection.’

Dear God,
Cultivate genuine love in our hearts for You, ourselves and others. Expose the selfish, manipulative and deceitful motives that masquerade as ‘love’ in our lives. By Your divine influence, help us to love the unlovable: I ask You again, help me to truly love myself, for without that love all of the others break down. Help me to love and respect all other human beings, leaving judgment to You. I confess to being so unloving. Transform me, Lord.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
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Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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JMD Devotional 238 Romans 12:16-21 The High Road of Humility

Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.
If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.

Years ago my wife and I spent a lot of (well needed) time in marriage and family counseling. There were so many areas of friction in my household. I can remember going around and around trying to justify myself to my counselor for blowing up or overreacting to something somebody else did that provoked me. “They pushed my buttons…”, “If you only knew how irritating they could be…”, “Their actions show they don’t respect me…”, “My rights…”, but I was just wasting my breath. My counselor was wise enough to know that my home should not be a minefield but a nurturing sanctuary. There was no justification for my having “buttons” to push or for wearing “reactive armor”. He often had to remind me, when I attributed my outburst to something a child said or did, that I was the adult. He had to remind me of my role as provider, protector, father, husband, Saint and about servant leadership. There wasn’t room in my home for my family and my ego; I had to decide which was worth keeping.

Dear God,
I have dug so many holes in the pursuit of self-importance; but Your grace, love and forgiveness are filling them in. Help me to fully accept and receive Your acceptance so that I quit striving for it elsewhere. I cannot earn what is most valuable; I can only receive grace as a gift. Help me to quit withholding grace in an effort to make others ‘earn’ it, remind me of my own spiritual poverty. Help me to be generous, like You, with my acceptance, love and forgiveness: heal my relationships.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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JMD Devotional 237 Romans 12:1,2 Semi-Autonomous People

I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

The Mars rovers have proven to be fantastic machines that have continued to function long beyond their ‘two-month’ mission. Communication with the Earth is not constant nor is it in real-time; as it takes about 8 minutes for a command to span the distance. Sometimes dust storms block the radio signal; there are many interruptions. If these rovers were just ‘dumb remote-controlled toys’, they would run over cliffs, crash into boulders or get flipped on their back like a helpless turtle; but they are not. They are semi-autonomous robots, meaning that they have the internal smarts to avoid damaging moves and to make routine decisions but they also answer to commands from mission control. Mission control sets the overall vision and direction, plans the next destination, but the rover responds to its terrain and works out its own way to get there. Christians are not micro-managed by God. He has given us the internal smarts and expects us to use them in accordance with His program and guidance. Our success is never a threat to Him; rather He rejoices in our doing well in difficult circumstances. We may not know why we are rolling around in the desert; but we do know that God values our perseverance and that He has an important purpose for our lives. We participate in that divine mission through a combination of internal routines (choices) and divine input.

Dear God,
Thank You for not making me a puppet or a mindless android. I appreciate that I can live and breathe and feel and make millions of decisions for myself. I acknowledge that You reserve for Yourself the right to define morality for me, and to express Your will through me. Help me to keep on track, to be on mission for Christ, and help me to creatively execute Your commands as I participate in Your plan. May my success reflect well on heeding Your guidance.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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JMD Devotional 236 Romans 11:29, 17-23 Religion and Politics

29 For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]

Some prominent TV ministers have an affinity for putting their foot in their mouth. It is very dangerous to claim to know the mind of God; our puny minds do not have near the RAM. Since we do not have the capacity to know it all, we use another operating system called faith. Faith in God and faith in His Word. But there is latitude in the interpretation of that Word; mandating humility; God distributes knowledge and each of us knows only in part. When speaking before the public, remember our ignorance outweighs our knowledge, and avoid making divisive statements. Common wisdom says that the subjects of politics and religion foster conflicts. However, it is impossible to take the Bible very seriously without pondering the nation of Israel, the disbelief of the Jews in their Messiah, and their place in prophecy and the world today. God invented all of the ingredients of dynamite, and this is the high-grade stuff. Israel will trouble the whole world in the end times. In Paul’s letters, he expounds how the Gentile (non-Jewish) church is used of God to make the Jews jealous, as a tool to ultimately draw them back to Himself. They are His chosen people, as are we. Paul calls Israel the natural olive tree, and we are ‘grafted in’ Christians. Restraint must be used on how blunt truths are communicated; some may not have been meant to be shared at all except for sober meditation and introspection within one’s own heart. Share the truth in love!

17-23 But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches and pride yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root [that supports] you. You will say then, Branches were broken (pruned) off so that I might be grafted in! That is true. But they were broken (pruned) off because of their unbelief (their lack of real faith), and you are established through faith [because you do believe]. So do not become proud and conceited, but rather stand in awe and be reverently afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], neither will He spare you [if you are guilty of the same offense]. Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you--provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away). And even those others [the fallen branches, Jews], if they do not persist in [clinging to] their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

Dear God,
Many times I thought I was serving You, but my message was wrong. I have been legalistic, critical, homophobic, negative, self-righteous and insensitive: please forgive my many wrongs! Help me to follow Your lead in what ‘truths’ I share, and what will benefit the hearer, and what will best express the love of Jesus to all people. May Israel obtain the peace and inheritance that You long to give her; and may there be harmony between her and the Gentile Church; one Church, one Lord, one Faith and one baptism: for Your glory. Help us to do Your work in Your way; following our Master in gentleness and humility. Guard my lips! And Lord, help me to believe that there is hope for everybody; that You can graft broken branches back in as good as new. Praise God!
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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JMD Devotional 235 Romans 11:33-36 The Exception to All Rules

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)! For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor? Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).

Good psychology tells us not to be co-dependent, which is true, rational advice in the human context. In the physical realm, maturity is gauged by a decreasing dependence on our parents. But Heaven has a different set of physics. Spiritual maturity is gauged by how much we depend on God in every area of our lives, and this dependence should be increasing as we grow. The world has no kind words for failure; but people only enter heaven by giving up on their own resources; God must conquer our stubborn wills. Spiritually, being conquered by a loving God is the greatest victory imaginable! We are to trust in, cling to and rely on Jesus Christ because He breaks all of the rules (in the human sense) because He is the Rule and Ruler of life. It is not only O.K. to be co-dependent with God, it is absolutely essential. The triad of principles I live by are:
to be totally committed to, completely dependent on and fully submitted to God and His presence in and His will for my life.

Dear God,
You are my All-in-All, my panacea, my oxygen, my life. As songs have well said, You are my Great Obsession. My shelves are empty because I am sold-out to You. You are my Pearl of Great Price, for which I gladly sell all of my other possessions to obtain. You are the Treasure I ‘stumbled’ upon in a field. Rule me, Lord. Your will is the very best thing for my life; continue to conquer this independent spirit. It is all about Jesus; may my life be about what its all about as well. In You I live and move and have my being: You are my life! Glory to God!
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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JMD Devotional 234 Psalm 145:8,9 Unconditional Love

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].

My biggest mistake in parenting was in making my love and favor ‘conditional’. I withheld grace to my children (and spouse) when their performance slipped. That withholding creates a downward relational spiral that inspires less authentic ‘performance’ (i.e. either superficial compliance or grudging obedience) that does not contribute to a wholesome relationship. The people around me need unconditional love, free and clear of manipulative strings and prenuptial agreements. It is so counter-productive. My family needs to know that I love and accept them with no “buts”. I have to resist turning every situation into a ‘teaching’ moment; sometimes a hug and the words, “That’s O.K.”, “I accept you,” mean so much more. Right up until Judgment Day, the sun will rise upon the saints and the wicked, rain will give them a drink, the wind will cool their brow. God blesses us all every day without exception in a multitude of ways. Reflect His amazing grace in your unconditional love for others in recognition that God has expressed it to you. Take yourself out of the picture; then people will be free to respond to holiness.

Dear God,
Please restore the simplicity of unconditional love to my relationships. Help me to express Your grace and to not withhold my favor and kindness from anyone in need. May I leave judgment to You; that will come on the day You determine. Help me to lead by good example. Help me to quit trying to control people. You are sovereign and I am not: teach me my role. And thank You for loving me in my imperfection.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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JMD Devotional 233 Psalm 145:1-7 Geysers of Praise

I WILL extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever [with grateful, affectionate praise]. Every day [with its new reasons] will I bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You]; yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable. One generation shall laud Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wondrous works I will meditate. Men shall speak of the might of Your tremendous and terrible acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall pour forth [like a fountain] the fame of Your great and abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of Your rightness and justice.

What kind of blindness keeps our eyes from seeing the glorious works of God in our lives and all around us? When our hearts are dry and bitter, when all we see is grey, when we think we have nothing to be joyful about, we are in a sad state indeed. Because God does not sleep or slumber; Jesus told the Pharisees that He constantly works because His Father is constantly working. Sin has blinded our eyes to God’s glorious fountains of grace all around us as we die of thirst. We dig broken cisterns when a true fountain is within an arm’s reach. In the tsunami of 2005, a baby hippo was orphaned when its mother was washed out to sea. It bonded with a giant tortoise and the two have been inseparable for a year. God had pity on the orphaned animal; how much more pity has He had on you that you did not recognize? He has blessed us, He has blessed us, He has blessed us: pray for eyes to see His works in every day things. The miraculous surrounds us!
There should be geysers of praise to compliment the fountains of blessings.

Dear God,
Give us eyes to see Your blessings and works that we may praise Your glorious name. Forgive our sins whether they are willful, latent or inherited---remove the blockage that stops up our thanksgiving and gratefulness! Wash away our iniquity and anoint our vocal chords to speak of what is positive, good and true about You. You are worthy of all praise; we (I) am (are) recipients of every good thing and they are all from Your hand. Blessed be the Lord God Almighty.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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