- Eva Conner | Transformation From the Inside Out

Romans 15:14-22 – Sharing God’s Grace

August 2, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

Sharing God’s grace with each other is our mission.

14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. 15 Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, 16 I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. 17 So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.

18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. 19 They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.

20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. 21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says,

“Those who have never been told about him will see,
and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.

Romans 15:14-22

I love Paul.

The apostle Paul truly had God’s love working through him in his ministry. We also see the power of the Holy Spirit in Paul. What a transformation! He went from hating those who followed Jesus to loving each of them dearly. He tells these Roman believers in verse 14 above that they are full of goodness. They are also good students because they learned so well they are now able to become teachers. We should all go from being students to teachers in the Word so that many others can learn and become teachers.

Paul was truly a special messenger from Christ Jesus. He was given the wonderful message of grace and the Gospel of salvation. Catch the wording in verse 16 above. Paul is offering up the followers in Rome as a special offering to God. These dear people were made holy, as are we, by the Holy Spirit.

Did you ever think of yourself as an offering to God?

According to these words above, we are offerings. Also according to these words, we should be excited and enthusiastic about all that Jesus is doing through our service. Paul goes on to say that he will not boast about anything except what Christ has done through him, which is huge. Paul brought the message of reconciliation to the Gentiles – to us! We were once lost and could not find God and then Jesus dies on the cross for each of us. He reconciles us to the Father. And Jesus gave this message to Paul to share with us.

Reading on in these verses above, miraculous signs and wonders and the power of the Holy Spirit turned hearts to God. Are we in a different time period today than Paul was 2000 years ago? No. When Paul performed signs and wonders, Jesus had already ascended to Heaven. We are the same as Paul in our standing with God. Remember that God does not play favorites so the work He did through Paul’s life and ministry, He will do for you and for me.

We should all be praying for miraculous signs and wonders to happen through us.

For Paul and the disciples, miraculous signs and wonders were commonplace. They knew they had the power given to them by Jesus and in the form of the Holy Spirit within. They walked daily in that power. We are given that same power. I encourage you to start dreaming big. No dream is too big for God. Paul’s dream was to spread the Good News (the Gospel) to as many people as he possibly could in his lifetime. And he probably holds a record even today for the number of miles walked for Christ. In a book titled “A Man of Grace and Grit – Paul” by Charles Swindoll, it is estimated that Paul walked 13,400 miles – on foot!

Note: This is a really great book if you want to learn all you can about the man named Paul. Aside from Jesus, Paul is my favorite person and the second person I want to meet when I get to Heaven.

Paul’s ambition was to preach the Good News where the name of Christ was never heard.

This should be our ambition as well. There are people all around us, probably even in our own families, who have never heard the true and accurate message of grace. So many people are caught up in bondage. Religion can be a form of bondage. If a church does not preach the message of grace, it can easily create bondage. God will put people in our paths who need to see Jesus. People who need to hear Grace. It’s our job to share Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to help the person accept Him. Did you catch that? We are not called to make sure a person accepts Jesus. We are call to just plant the seed and share Jesus and His love and mercy with others.

We are also called to share grace with those who are saved.

Believers can get caught up in erroneous thinking that keeps us captive. The message of grace sets the captives free so there are more harvesters in the planting field. The more people we can get out of personal bondage, the more people we have to sow seeds into others. God’s ways are so beautiful. He could do it all alone but He desires to co-labor with us. Let’s co-labor with Him today to share the Good News with others.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Romans 15:1-13 – Live Putting Others First

July 31, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

We must not live to just please ourselves. We are called to live putting others first.

We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. ²We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. ³For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” ⁴Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

⁵May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. ⁶Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. ⁸Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. ⁹He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:

“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing praises to your name.”

¹⁰And in another place it is written,

“Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles.”

¹¹And yet again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
    Praise him, all you people of the earth.”

¹²And in another place Isaiah said,

“The heir to David’s throne will come,
    and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”

¹³I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:1-13

Be aware of where another Christian is in their walk.

In this chapter, Paul continues to stress the importance that Christians be sensitive to one another. If we are stronger in our faith, we must be considerate and refrain from doing things that may make a newer Christian stumble, even if they are things that are allowable. We must truly put others first to build each other up in the Body of Christ. We will live putting others first.

We must not allow our freedom to cause another to sin.

In Christ Jesus, we each received abundant grace. We also received the gift of righteousness. These are free gifts that we did not earn. Jesus did not put strings or conditions on the abundant grace that we received. Therefore, we need to be careful to not put strings or conditions on grace where another is concerned. If we do as Jesus commanded and love one another, it brings honor and unity. This is the life that we’re called to live in the Body.

Jesus should be our example of living that we aspire to reach. He was truly selfless in all that He did. He served others freely and willingly and lovingly. His Word gives us hope and encouragement as well as instruction for living. In all areas of our lives, we need to look to the Scriptures for our answers and advice. We need to look to Jesus for our patience and encouragement as well. He gives us all these things and more. We can only live in complete harmony with each other within Him. If we try to live with one another in our own strength, we are going to fail. But when we live with one another in His strength, we will have great success.

He desires for us to join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father.

Jesus will always glorify the Father. This is one of the reasons He came to earth to live among us – to reveal the goodness of His Father. When we live in harmony and unity with one another in the Body WE reveal the goodness of the Father to the world. This is pleasing to Him. Therefore, it should be one of our goals.

Acceptance is also another attribute we’re called to have.

It doesn’t say agreement. It says acceptance. We do not always have to agree with one another but we need to honor and respect each other’s opinions. That is as long as it is not an opinion that violates Scriptural truth.

Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show God’s faithfulness in the promises He made to their ancestors. He also came so that the non-Jews, the Gentiles, might give glory to God as well.

We need to rejoice in the name of the Lord. He is our hope. Our Savior. Our Redeemer.

When we were lost and without hope, He came to be our hope. He came to redeem us from our absolute lost and dark lives. For this and so much more, we need to lift up our voices and praise Him and never stop! He is the source of all hope and He will fill us with joy and peace when we trust in Him. Then we will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Recall that when Jesus ascended to Heaven to sit at the Father’s right side, He sent another who resides within us. This is the Holy Spirit. He is our Advocate and our Comforter. He will glorify Jesus as He teaches us all that we need to know. The Holy Spirit reveals the Word to us as we read it. He reveals Jesus to us. He is the power that we have within to show the love and mercy of Christ on earth.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Romans 14:14-23 – Aim for Harmony

July 28, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

Let’s aim for harmony and unity with one another.

¹⁴I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. ¹⁵And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. ¹⁷For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.¹⁹So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

20 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. 22 You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

Romans 14:14-23

All foods are acceptable.

Paul is stressing the importance of not getting caught up in things that do not matter like the food we eat. He tells us to be supportive of others who may have weaker faith. We know it is okay to eat all foods but others may not know this yet. If we argue with other believers about such issues, Paul tells us we are not acting in love.

We are all called to act in love in all situations.

How do we do this? With the power of the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 17 above. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God is in our hearts. We know this because Jesus tells us so.

20 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Luke 17:20-21

The Kingdom of God is already among us.

It is in us. We reflect the Kingdom of God to non-believers in our actions. We reflect the Kingdom of God to believers. As our sinful nature dies little by little, we are made more and more like Christ. It is as we grow to be more and more like Christ that we are able to show more and more love in all situations.

Romans 14:18 above tells us if we live a life of peace and goodness and joy in the Holy Spirit, we will please God. It also says that we will please man as well. It’s a side effect of pleasing God. Pleasing God should be our main goal. I just want to clarify that we should not make pleasing man our goal. In Galatians, Paul gives us this advice:

10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Galatians 1:10

When we try to please man, we will always be disappointed and miss the mark. So aim for pleasing God and let God take care of the rest. Further instruction in these Romans 14 verses is that we live in harmony and build one another up. Again, this is only possible when we live through the Holy Spirit.

Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat.

Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions.

If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

Yes, this last paragraph is word for word from the Scripture above (Romans 14:20-23). I could not have phrased it any differently than Paul. Follow your convictions. It is the Holy Spirit within guiding. Learn to hear Him as He nudges.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Romans 14:1-13 – Do Not Be a Roadblock

July 26, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

Do not be a roadblock to a sister or brother in Christ.

Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

10 So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say,

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’”

12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

Romans 14:1-13

Romans is our guidebook for life with Jesus.

Some of Paul’s instructions are not easy to read but they will make us more like Christ. The process of becoming more like Him is called sanctification and this should be our goal in life. Let’s look at the instructions in Romans 14.

The first one is not to argue with others over inconsequential matters, especially those who are weak in their faith. We need to understand where another person is in their faith and not create a roadblock for them. Paul goes on to give us an example of food. You may know that it’s okay to eat anything while another person will not eat certain foods. We need to be tolerant of others.

When we are tolerant, and not critical, of others, we are actually strengthening their faith.

These verses are very humbling. We each will be accountable to God. No one can do it for you. You and you alone are responsible for your actions. All believers together make up the Body of Christ with Christ being the head. If we want to be strong in the Body, we all need to be strong. Therefore, it is to our benefit as well to strengthen and build up one another in Christ.

These issues that Paul mentions in the Scripture above are neutral things that really do not matter – food and days of the week. Paul knew that if we get caught in the weeds arguing over petty matters such as these then we will not grow as a Body in unity. Therefore, he cautions us against needing to be right. He tells us to be sensitive to others. This is the command that Jesus gave to us as well when He said to love others more than ourselves. When we care about the other person more than ourself, then it’s not important to be right.

What is important is to see Christian growth in a sister or brother.

Paul goes on to say that we should be living for God in all that we do. When we live for God, we will be outwardly focused and not inwardly focused. We need to help one another stand strong. Our main job in this world is to spread the Good News of salvation found only in Jesus Christ. If we get caught up within the Body of believers in petty issues, our attention is diverted from those around us who are non-believers. Those people who God purposely places near us so that we can share the Good News. And this is exactly what the enemy wants. When we’re too busy trying to get our sister or brother in Christ to see our view on an insignificant issue, then we are not doing the work that we’re called to do and souls could be lost.

Outward focus vs. inward focus. Life vs. death. It’s our choice.

Looking more closely at the last three verses above, these words should create fear and trembling within each of us. Every knee will bend and every tongue will confess and give praise to God! Each of us will give a personal account to God. His Word tells us that He not only forgives our sins but He also forgets our sins. So if we have to give a personal account to Him and it is not our sins, then what is it? I believe that we’ll be accounting for how we stewarded His Word and the Great Commission. We will be accountable for the lives we touched (or didn’t touch). This is so incredibly humbling for me to think about. Me. God. I will be before God. Just me and Him. You will be before God. Just you and Him. This verse alone should make us want to make sure that no one stumbles.

So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

These are Paul’s words. Do not become a roadblock.

Stay in the Love and the Light Always,

Eva

Romans 13:8-14 – Clothe Yourself in Jesus

July 24, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

We all have dark deeds in our past. Clothe yourself in Jesus.

8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Romans 13:8-14

Paul urges us to wake up for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

We are not guaranteed a tomorrow. And we cannot get back yesterday. All we have is this moment right now. Living holy lives requires one thing – keeping our focus on Jesus. When we keep our focus on Jesus, we cannot help but live pleasing lives in our Father’s eyes. Let’s look more closely at these words of instruction from Paul.

Owe nothing to no one. If we borrowed something from someone, we need to repay them. The only thing we should owe is love. This is our instruction. Live in love. When our focus is on Jesus, we are focused on love because He is love (1 John 4:8). Paul goes on to say in verse 10 that love does no wrong and it fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes.

Paul isn’t pulling any punches here. He’s urging people to live in the light. When we choose to remain hidden in darkness, we remain in shame and guilt which is not the life God intends for us to have. Jesus came to remove darkness from our lives. He wants to clothe us in His righteousness. In Genesis, we see a preview of how He will eventually clothe us through sacrifice.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

Genesis 3:8-11

21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

Genesis 3:21

When Adam and Eve fell into sin, they were suddenly aware of their nakedness and their shame.

They were afraid and hid from God. I imagine this made God very sad when they hid from Him. He still loved them immensely and He sacrificed an animal to make clothes for them. He clothed them to hide their shame. This was a foreshadow of how Jesus came to clothe us in righteousness permanently. Look at verse Romans 13:14 above. Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Jesus become the strength you need to avoid temptation.

12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Jesus is our strength in our weakness.

Paul tells us in these two verses in First Corinthians to be careful not to fall when we think we are standing strong. We are incapable of standing strong in our own flesh. When we think we are standing strong, we will fall. It’s inevitable. Reading on to the next verse, what a relief to know that God is faithful and that He will not allow any temptation to be more than we can stand. But this is only when we stand in His strength. He is the way out.

We see people fall at times. How do we react when this happens? Hopefully we are each showing the love of Jesus by not sharing in gossip, even if we are sharing under the pretense of asking for prayer. Social media can be a good tool if used correctly but it can be pure evil and destructive if used incorrectly. We each have temptations in our lives. We each have things in our past we are not proud of and things we would not want spread among family, friends and strangers. When we see this happening in another person’s life, we have the power to step up and do what Jesus does.

Jesus loves unconditionally.

Jesus shows us over and over again in His Word how to love others. It is not our place to judge another person’s sin. It is our place to offer love and compassion. Our world is filled with too many people who delight when another person falls into shame. Social media is used to bully and kick those who have fallen. If those of us who profess Jesus Christ as our Savior stand strong against this bullying and shaming, we can make a change. When we live transformed lives, we can bring about transformation in our little corner of the world.

Stay in the Light and the Love always,

Eva