In 1 Corinthians 1 & 2, we learn that Jesus is with us when we humbly surrender to Him. We do not lack any spiritual gifts as we rest in the Lord. God will strengthen us. It is okay to have days that we may feel weak, because it is Jesus who gives us strength daily to be blameless, fully forgiven before Him. God is faithful. Period. No questions about it. We are called by God into fellowship, into relationship, and into friendship with Jesus. We are called to walk with the Lord and keep falling more and more in love with Him. It's all about the Lord and His justifying, sanctifying, redeeming power and grace in our lives. We only boast in the Lord and His faithfulness. As the Spirit of God dwells within us, He searches us, teaches us, and matures us so we understand what has been freely given to us by God. We can do whatever God directs us to do because the power of Jesus is within us leading the way, all for God's great glory.

(Matthew 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19)

God promised to send a Savior who would crus the serpent. The final week of Jesus' life in human form was the ultimate fulfillment of that promise. Jesus' sacrificial journey to Jerusalem was the beginning of the end for Satan. Jesus is our eternal Prince of Peace and restores our peace with God. True faith means we trust and love Jesus with our hearts and lives no matter what happens on this temporary earth because we know we can trust Him - wholeheartedly - with every detail and every outcome.

In Romans 15 & 16, Paul reminds us that it is the God of hope who fills us with joy and peace as we entrust our lives to Him. Hope is a desire or expectation for a certain thing to come forth. We pray, we wait, and we trust the Lord for every outcome because our hope is in Him and He is faithful. We experience the peace and joy of the Lord because our hope is anchored in Him. As we move forward with Jesus and grow in Him, we join in unity together with other people who are passionate for Jesus around us. We encourage each other, bear each other's daily life burdens, and help each other. We serve others in the love of Jesus because He served us with His life. He gave us an example to follow. We join together in love, unity, life, and ministry. As we do, the world around us sees our love and unity - the world sees Jesus through us. We are to pour into each other out of the pour-over of Jesus within us. We need to be intentional about not letting divisions and tensions rise because that is what the enemy wants. The only thing that matters is Jesus and saving lives for eternity so we need to stay laser focused on Jesus and keep the main thing the main thing.

In Romans 13 & 14, Paul reminds us that God desires that all will hear His Word and have the option to repent and receive the Life that only Jesus gives. It's up to us to us to wake up every morning determined to not let pride and fleshly desires get in the way of what God wants to do through our lives. We need to surrender to Jesus every morning and follow wherever He leads trusting Him for every outcome. The opinions we have about the world around us don't matter. Saving souls for eternity matters. We need to stay laser focused on Jesus and keep the main thing the main thing. When we walk forward in the love of Jesus every day, the world will change - one person at a time. We will stand accountable to Jesus and we need to walk out each day trusting the steps Jesus leads us to. Jesus says the world will know us by our love and unity, so we need to stand firm in the love and unity of Jesus.

In Romans 12, Paul emphasizes the fact that God has been overwhelmingly merciful to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of Jesus, we are justified by faith in Him. Just as we receive mercies from God, we are to pour out mercy to others - not in our own strength, but in the strength that comes through our daily worship to the Lord. As we worship Him in our daily lives, He renews our mind and gives us strength to continue pursuing Him, heart and soul. We need to be reading the Word, spending time in prayer, and thanking and praising the Lord every single day. As the Holy Spirit works within us, He transforms us and gives us the strength to show the Lord's mercy to others. Our lives are to be a daily living sacrifice. Jesus didn't just come to victoriously conquer sin and death, He came to serve us through His body - His sacrifice on the cross. He came to save us from that sin and death. As we learn more about the Word of God, it needs to translate to living the Word of God, otherwise it will become nothing but puffed up knowledge. We need to serve the Lord through our lives for an audience of One - our Lord and Savior - not for the applause of others.

In Romans 10 & 11, Paul explains that the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as God's Son, our Messiah. However, the Gentiles received the message enthusiastically and the Gospel message of salvation continues to spread today. In Chapter 11, Paul looks at Israel's future restoration. God is not done with Israel. If you repent and surrender your heart and life to Jesus, you are spiritually grafted in spiritually to His holy nation - His holy root. You are grafted into His family. You are a child of God. If you have breath in your lungs, God is not finished with you. His plan is unfolding and He is returning - sooner today than yesterday. Much like Paul's transformation on the road to Damascus, Israel will see the glory of Jesus, who they pierced, and will weep bitterly in repentance just as Zechariah 12:10 says. God is moving forward and it's up to us to get up every single day and join His will and keep moving forward with our Lord and Savior, our Messiah.

(2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

Our lives should display the weight of who Jesus is - His glory - to the world around us as we live out His Word in our daily lives, through His power guiding and directing our steps and words. Jesus works within us to make us more like Him. We let Jesus do this work within us by trusting in Him, reading His Word, and praying continually. Noting on this earth will ever compare or satisfy like Jesus.

In Romans 9, the fact that the Lord had a plan for the people of Israel from the very beginning is confirmed: they were adopted by God, experienced His presence with them, received the Covenants, the Law, the Temple service, and His promises. The Lord has shown His faithfulness, justice, righteousness, and graciousness. Abraham's descendants are not just his physical descendants. Abraham's descendants include spiritual descendants. If you are born Jewish, that does not mean you are following Christ. If you are not born Jewish, that does not mean you are not part of the Lord's promises. It's a matter of the heart. It's been a matter of the heart since the beginning. Like Rahab, and so many others in the Scriptures, if you repent from sin and surrender your heart to Jesus, you are His child. You are spiritually grafted in to the family of God. You are His, for all eternity and our Almighty Father has us held tightly in His mighty hands.

In Romans 8, we are reminded that there is NO condemnation if you are in Christ Jesus. A mindset focused on Jesus brings life and peace. We need to set our minds and hearts on Jesus and His Spirit every single day. The Lord corrects us gently and lovingly, not in condemnation. When afflictions and suffering come, because they will in this temporary life, as you walk in the Spirit of Jesus - you will respond in the Spirit of Jesus. When we walk through painful life circumstances, we will receive the peace and joy of Jesus. As we trust our hearts and lives to the Lord, we walk in the Lord's incomprehensible and never-ended love for us. We walk believing God because we believe God. We believe God's faithfulness knowing God is faithful. We allow Him to work all the details of life together for His glory and yes, our good to. We live in the life and victory of Jesus. Nothing has the power to separate us from the love of God - nothing. We are to live with our shoulders back, our eyes fixed on Jesus, and in the power of His Resurrection. Stand firm and keep moving forward in the love of our Almighty Lord and Savior because you are His - you are a child of the Most High God.

In Romans 6 & 7, Paul dives deep into the topic of sin. If you are not living in the will of God for every area of your life, you are falling to sin. Everyone falls short of the glory of God. This is why we all so desperately need Jesus and His offer of righteousness. Everyone worships something or someone. If you choose to repent of sin and turn to Jesus, entrusting your heart and life to Him, you are His. Your life becomes worship to Jesus. He came to earth and died for us so we could be justified through Him and not experience sin and the death and destruction that follow sin. Clearly He wants good things for us. He loves us more than we can comprehend. When you choose Jesus, the sin within you dies away and you become alive and renewed in Christ Jesus. You are free to rest in Jesus and thrive living in His Spirit. The grace of Jesus gives us the freedom to choose to live in Christ Jesus. We serve Jesus not motivated by the law, but motivated by the love of Jesus and His Spirit residing within us. The motive of our service and worship matters. Are you worshiping to get "credit" for doing good, or because you simply love Jesus with all your guts. Motive makes all the difference in our worship and in our lives. It's all about the heart and who we are living surrendered to.