Click here for the Romans 1:8-10 PODCAST
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. ~ Romans 1:8-10
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world."
The first of the seven characteristics needed to serve well is that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul has been demonstrating since the very first word of this epistle, the servant of the Lord must have firm faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without the Lord Jesus, there is no point to our endeavors to serve God and others. Only the Lord holds the keys to effective servant leadership.
The second of the seven characteristics needed to be the servants that we want to be is prayer. In v.8 the Apostle highlights his prayer for the believers in Rome, even though he had never met them. It is a shame that most think of prayer as a crisis event. They think, “I'm in trouble, I had better pray.” But, prayer is conversation with our Maker who knows everything. It is wise of us to seek Him to know the One who knows all of the secrets of a successful life.
The Apostle Paul began this prayer with: "I thank my God." This introduces us to the third of the seven characteristics of the biblical servant , and, that is being grateful. Being grateful is a learned characteristic. The alternative to gratitude is complaining. Rather than complaining, it is better to go to the Lord with our needs and while telling Him about our needs, make the effort to be thankful. There is a silver lining in every cloud, only discovered by him is looking for it.
Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation. When we make it a habit of thanking God, we will be most effective at serving Him which is an effective antidote for complaining. Gratitude is the soil in which joy flourishes.
In addition to being in relationship with the Lord and developing that attitude of gratitude, our growing faith in the Lord Jesus enables us to serve best. This is the fourth characteristic that enables us to be the servants that we want to be.
At the end of v.8 the Apostle accentuates the idea that the faith of the Roman believers was being noticed all around the world. It was the faith of the Christians in Rome that got the attention of the Roman world.
Our faith is like the modulator on a transistor radio. The finer the tuning to the frequency the better we hear the station. It is the same with our faith in the God of the Bible. That which fine tunes our faith in the God of the Bible best is the Word of God. It is imperative that when we read the Bible, we do so in order to meet with God. Instead of just studying His Word, we must learn to become more and more intimate with Him. This only happens in the context of relationship with God. And, the more His Word gets into us, the more we generally are enabled to hear Him with our hearts. And, this is when our faith in Him grows.
In v.9 of today's passage we read, "God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times."
The phrase: "whom I serve in my spirit" is key to our understanding of how our walk with God works. The Apostle Paul had been raised in Judaism and he knew religion intimately for himself. He knew the externals of religion. In fact, Paul understood how religion serves the flesh. And, the flesh is the sinful desires that we all have within us, even though we may have been "born again." To religious people, service is external and superficial just like religion. True service is a heart thing. True service happens when our hearts are engaged with God and others and we do it with the right motivations.
In v.10 of today's passage we read, "and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you."
These four characteristics that we have considered help us to hone in on the will of God for our lives. All that we desire in this world is merely echoes for the will of God for our lives.
In Romans 12:1 we read, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."
Literally translated, the last four words of this verse means "logical and reasonable service." The last section of the book of Romans is about service and it makes a lot of sense that Paul would write what he did here in Romans 12:1.
It is not only reasonable for man to be available to God, it is also logical for our existence. Frequently this word translated "worship" is translated "service" in the Bible. Service and worship are synonymous. The greatest worship that we will ever render to God and to others is to serve Him. Paul says, "I serve Him in my spirit," and, his spirit was full of the Holy Spirit.
When we are filled with God's Spirit, we will be granted the heart of the Lord. As a result, we discover, like the Apostle Paul, we will be engaged in praying for those we serve regularly! This is why the church in Rome flourished. The late Mike Yaconelli, founder of Youth Specialties once said, "The power of the Church is not a parade of flawless people, but of a flawless Christ who embraces our flaws. The Church is not made up of whole people, rather of the broken people who find wholeness in a Christ who was broken for us."
