Episode 263-Focus on Jesus, Not Sugar

I’ve been reading and studying Romans 14 for several weeks. I thought when I first read it that it would an easy passage to talk about. I knew it related to my journey but in what way?

So I asked Jesus, “What is the message of Romans 14 for my listeners?” And He said, “Focus on Me, not on anything else. Not on sugar, not on food, not on diet laws, not on what to celebrate or not celebrate. Just focus on Me and everything will fall into place.”

Then it finally made sense. As a kid, I learned Romans 14:17 in the KJV, but I didn’t know the context of the verse. “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

The Amplified Version says it this way: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking what one likes, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Did you hear that? It’s not about eating and drinking what we like. It’s all about the Kingdom of God. It’s about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Nothing else matters but allowing Him to lead us.

The MSG adds, “God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as He sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy.”

That makes a lot of sense because verse 18 in every version talks about serving God. We have to get our focus right before we can serve Jesus. I know that was certainly true in my case. For most of my life, my focus was definitely on sugar and not on Jesus.

Romans 14:18 AMP says, “For the one who serves Christ in this way, recognizing that food choice is secondary, is acceptable to God and is approved by men.”

This entire chapter is about the freedom Christ brought. This was especially important to the Jewish believers. When Jesus brought us His freedom, it cancelled the rules about what foods are clean and OK to eat and which were unclean and shouldn’t be eaten.

I get it. I really do. All their lives they had lived by what their “church” told them was proper. They knew that Christ’s liberty had set them free from all of the rules, but they weren’t ready to make the switch just yet. This was causing arguments in the church. In this chapter Paul is trying to tell the new Christians that what we eat or don’t eat is not something that matters regarding our heavenly destiny.

I talk about this as well as my own journey with sugar addiction in this episode.

Overcomers Academy: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/

Episode 262-Time to Wake Up

It’s time for Christians to wake up to what’s going on in the world around us. The time is growing short. We are closer to meeting Jesus now than we were first saved.

In Romans 13:11-14 Paul gives a dire warning about the future and describes how we as Christians we are still always one day closer to meeting Him.

He tells us how we should live by describing a normal day. First we have to wake up to the spiritual issues around us. Romans 13:11 tells us to wake up from our slumber. Second, we have take off the old clothes we were wearing in the darkness. Romans 13:12 tells us to “strip away what is done in the shadows of darkness, removing it like filthy clothes.

Next we must dress for battle by “putting on the armor of light,” as it says in Romans 13:12. We also must know our enemy and how to defeat strongholds.

Finally, we have to know where we are going. We have to be dressed to run with Jesus. Romans 13:14 MSG tells us we can’t loiter or linger. We have to be up and about what God is calling us to do.

Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/

What is A Stronghold Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/what-is-a-stronghold/

Episode 261-Holy Spirit Glow

Do you want glow with the power of the Holy Spirit? It’s certainly something I desire. This is lesson 20 in our study of the book of Romans. We’ve learned that Romans is all about the foundations of the Christian life, how to follow Jesus, how to renounce our fleshly desires, how to renew our minds and how to transform our lives.

Now in the latter part of Romans 12 we learn about serving God. After we learn to lay down our selfish desires, we begin focusing on what God wants us to do with our lives. It’s then that He starts showering us with His grace gifts so we can do the tasks He has called us to do.

These aren’t gifts to hoard. They are gifts to be used to serve Him. This where Romans 12:11 TPT says, “Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward Him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill you with excitement as you serve Him.” The Message says, “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.”

Overcomers Academy link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/