Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Romans 15:23-29,
“But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessings of Christ.”
Understand:
Paul shares is itinerary, his reason for going, and his plans for when he Got to Rome with his readers… he wants them to know what he’s doing and how much he wants to see them. Not only does he share his plans, but he wants the church in Rome to join in with the ministry to the Jerusalem church. It is interesting to note that Paul does eventually make it to Rome, but not when or in the manner he anticipated! Whether he ever got to Spain no one knows for sure.
Apply:
So what do we do when plans don’t work out like we may have planned? Just because our plans don’t work out the way we may have planned doesn’t mean that we don’t make plans; on the contrary, Christians should plan ahead, but they should also be flexible. Look at what Paul did here in this passage: He didn’t boastfully state this is what is going to happen. No, he was simply confident of God’s provision in his planning. Paul promised that his visit would be a spiritual blessing to the Roman Christians: I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ, that is, with Christ’s blessing to share with them (cf. Rom. 1:11–13).
We can and should make plans, and try to live by them as much as possible, but more importantly, we should look to be a blessing to others as we go. We should go in “the full measure of the blessing of Christ.”
So where are you going today—to work, vacation, a friend’s house, to the gym, shopping, school—you see the list of possibilities seems endless, and so do the reasons. But there is one thing we can know for certain as we go: we go in the full measure of the blessing of Christ. Will you be a blessing to someone today?
*From what you have just read and considered: What is a personal implication/application for your life today?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the Gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.
Inspiration and insight for the devotionals came from the following books: Reading Romans with John Stott; The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World (The Bible Speaks Today Series), Stott, John; Romans (The NIV Application Commentary Book 6) Moo, Douglas J.; Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey (Encountering Biblical Studies) Moo, Douglas J.; Believers Bible Commentary; The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, with the New International Version, Romans through Galatians; NIV Application Study Bible. The Cambridge Bible Commentary, Romans, Best, Ernest. Romans 8-16 For You: For reading, for feeding (God’s Word For You – Romans Series Book 2, Keller, Timothy.