Romans

Hey everyone. Sorry I missed posting yesterday. Been trying to think through some things. I have decided that over the next few weeks, we are going to do a book study. Don't freak out! It's not going to be that hard. But I do think that often times we spend a little time on this verse and then a little time on that verse, jumping around all throughout the Bible. What I would like us to do is, over the next few weeks, we are going to go through the book of Romans. We'll take it a chapter at a time. And if it's a long chapter, we'll do it in parts. This week, we are going to start with chapter one. It is a short chapter. It will only take you five minutes to read it. But here's what I want you to do: pick out one thing that stands out to you and comment on it. Here's mine:

Romans 1:11-12

Paul talks about bringing a spiritual gift to those he comes in contact with, wanting to encourage everyone, but also wanting to encourage everyone else. This is something that I think we could do better at. Do we just go up to each other and ask, "Hey, I just want you to know that I pray God blesses you today, or this week. Is there anything I can pray for you about?" That's the kind of encouragement that I think we need to be about. We spend a lot of time together. But do we really take that time to get into each other's lives? Are we really fellowshipping with each other? Or are we just being superficial in our relationships? This is something that I want each of you to ponder.

You can feel free to comment on my thought, if you wish, but I do want to hear what stood out to YOU in this chapter.

Love y'all

Robbie

Rain

Rain... what can you say about it? We've certainly had a lot of it lately. I sit around when it's raining and think.... really? God, couldn't you just give us a nice sunny day? Couldn't we just not have to walk around and get drenched? Would it be too much to ask for a little bit of Sun?

This morning I was sulking, thinking about how much I hate the rain. Then I opened my bible randomly to Dueteronomy. I do this from time to time, when I'm not doing a book study. So, I'm grumbling about how it's pouring outside.... AGAIN! and I'm really starting to question whether or not I need to build another Ark. And then I see this: Dueteronomy 28:12.

So often we take the things of this world for granted. We dismiss the smallest of things and make big deals out of others. But more often than not, we forget that God uses ALL things for His glory. We sit around and ask God to bless us and our efforts, and in the midst of a blessing, we pass right over it. Today I was taught a valuable lesson and I was reminded of another passage of scripture. In Isaiah, God tells us that His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.

We need to remember this. Cause if we don't, we are going to possibly miss out on something that God is doing, something that directly affects us. We may be missing out on receiving that which we have been praying for. And in the future, maybe I'm not going to be so bummed out when it rains!

Tell me your thoughts.

Love y'all.

What do you pray for?

Hey everyone, it’s Philip Organ starting our blog thought for the week. Robbie is taking care of his beautiful family who needs him today.

What do you pray for? I know it seems like a simple question, but as I ask it of myself, I noticed that I pray for my family and our situations and stressors, I say a ton of “thank you for…”, and we pray for friends and family, especially when in need. One thing I noticed is that I don’t pray for the body at the Journey as often as I need to. Paul inspired me through Ephesians 3 (v. 14-21) in his prayer for the church in Ephesus, and showed me the importance of praying power and strength into those we serve at The Journey. I do pray for this team each week that we bring a servant heart, and a spirit of love and compassion as we have the privilege of leading. Likewise I need to be praying for those who receive the offering we give, that their hearts may be softened and open to the spirit of the Living God and respond to his overwhelming love, to have courage and power and walk away changed each and every week.

As Paul closes his prayer, his thoughts are so powerful? If God is able to do so much more than we can ask, or even imagine, then my simple prayers for our church, combined with all of yours, can bring profound change in this area of middle Tennessee to the glory of our Father in heaven, both now and in future generations. I commit to each of you today, that I will pray each and every week that our gathering of believers, both guests and regulars will receive the power of the Spirit.

So again I ask, what is it you pray for, and how does this passage speak to you?

Psalm 145

This week, we're talking about Psalm 145.

This is a GREAT Psalm. There are so many "nuggets" that one can take from this Psalm. I love the imagery that David gives. Just little things like him saying, "Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness!" So many times I've read that and passed right over it, never thinking about it. What David is saying here is, though everyone on earth will recognize God's greatness, he will be the one to shout it out, regardless of who else does or not. That's the way David was. He never concerned himself with what others were doing. He only focused on how he was worshiping. I'm not saying that we don't need to focus on other people. We do! Cause we're in charge of leading them. But we CANNOT worry about them until we are centered ourselves. Which goes back to last week's post and the question: How are we doing in preparing ourselves before we take that podium on sundays? I think we need to really investigate our boy, David. We could all learn a lot about worship from him. What are some other things that stand out to you in this Psalm? I'll give you one more for me. Verse 18. "The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth." The key words here are the last two! How many people call on the Lord when they need Him? Just about everyone. How many of them call on Him in truth? What does that even mean to you? What are your thoughts?