Thursday, July 3, 2014

Romans 1:9

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Romans 1:9

9 For [gar] God [theos] is [esti] my [mou] witness [martus], whom [hos] I serve [latreuo] with [en] my [mou] spirit [pneuma] in [en] the gospel [euaggelion] of his [autos] Son [huios], that [hos] without ceasing [adialeiptos] I make [poieo] mention [mneia] of you [humon] always [pantote] in [epi] my [mou] prayers [proseuche];  KJV-Interlinear

9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,  NASB

Paul prayed for all believers everywhere, including people that he knew, but more importantly, for people that he did not know.  And that principle holds for us all.  All of history is designed around Christians, not the geographical boundaries of this planet.

Believers in Christ span the planet in all colors, cultures, races, and so forth.  Our true citizenship is heaven. 

And even though we do not know each other, we have one thing in common, we are members of Gods family and our true home is heaven, not this world, and, our destiny is in the next universe, not this one.

In our prayers, we need to mention all believers across the globe, even though we do not know them.

Christianity is the salt, the preservative of the earth.  Remove that salt and the world deteriorates.

Christians who advance in their spiritual lives are the salt with flavor and purpose and usefulness.  Christians who do not pursue their spiritual life, are the salt that has lost its flavor and usefulness.

A world that lacks salt is a troubled world, therefore prayer for all believers is necessary and appropriate, asking God to lead each and every person to and through their spiritual growth, even though we know that most folks will not pursue their spiritual life.

Blessing comes from God and from no other source.  Spiritually growing believers are the recipients of greater blessing.  More blessing from God means a better world for us all.  Less blessing means problems.  More believers advancing in their spiritual lives means more blessing flow from God.

Prayer needs to be repetitive, daily, and not once in a while, or only when you are in need.

All prayer is directed to the Father, in the name of Christ, and in the power (in fellowship) of the Holy Spirit.  That is the Christian design, which separates us from all others. 

Offer thanks no matter what your circumstances, make your requests for personal needs, pray for help and guidance for others, and pray for doctrine to be available constantly, for doctrine is our link to God and everything that matters in life.