Contemplative Bible Reading

Romans 12:3 (New Living Translation) 3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. The Apostle Paul writes to a group […]

[Read more →]

Romans 12:15-16 (New Living Translation) 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! A little different view of “harmony.” In music, to be in […]

[Read more →]

Romans 1:21, 12:2 (New Living Translation) As a result, their minds became dark and confused…Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. There are a lot of words between these two statements in Paul’s letter to the church in […]

[Read more →]

Romans 8:15 (New Living Translation) So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” God gives spirit, and spirit lives in us all. What kind of spirit do I want living in me? […]

[Read more →]

Romans 7:24 (New Living Translation) …Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? The above words are preceded by “Oh, what a miserable person I am!” Such is life as a human being in this world. What did I do? How did I get here? And… Who will free […]

[Read more →]

Romans 6:18 (New Living Translation) Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. I don’t like the use of “slavery” in Romans. In America, we often hear “slavery” and immediately stop thinking about what God is telling us and start thinking of American history, the Civil […]

[Read more →]

Romans 2:18 (New Living Translation) You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. Pardon the sermon. I don’t write those often, but here is one. In the letter to the church in Rome, Paul provides many words concerning THE LAW. In the last few hundred years […]

[Read more →]

Romans 1:17 (New Living Translation) This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight.. I try to notice sentences like this in the Bible. There is a big flashing blue light (remember K-Mart?) on the page. Pay attention here! The good news, the gospel, the (hi)story of the life of Jesus […]

[Read more →]

Romans 3:23-24 (New International Version) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. These verses are translated with different words and different punctuation in the many different English translations of the Bible we […]

[Read more →]

Romans 1:16 (New Living Translation) 16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This is early in Paul’s letter to Christians living in Rome. Paul isn’t ashamed of what he writes. He is […]

[Read more →]