Below are discussion and thought prompts for DRs and personal devotionals.

Read Romans 1:3-15

This past Sunday was really a continuation of the previous Sunday’s message: “The Son of God in Power” (Romans 1:4). So it was similarly titled: “The Son of God in Power in Paul.”

If you recall, we considered the heart of Paul. We considered who Paul was when we first met him in the book of Acts: one eager to kill believers and “breathing out threats and murder” (Acts 9:1) and a “violent man” (1 Timothy 1:13).

Yet, after his dramatic conversion, we met him in Romans 1:8-15 as the loving, tender, and servant-hearted apostle of Jesus Christ who lived to pour his life out for believers he hadn’t even met!

The message concluded with the only explanation for such a radical change: The Son of God in Power (Romans 1:4) exercising his authority over all things; even the heart of a bloodthirsty lover of violence like Paul.

Paul’s change was simply irrefutable evidence that Jesus Christ is risen and seated high above every ruler and authority and able to do all that He pleases with the universe that the Father has handed over to Him. Once more, Ephesians 1 tells us that this very Jesus has been given to us – the church – in order that His power would be directed toward our good as His very body!

This is what Paul meant when he prayed in Ephesians 1:

“… having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know ... what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body…”

Finally, at the end of the message, I asked everyone spend time with the Lord considering a sort of three-layered-prayer.

1. Ask the Lord to reveal any places in our lives where we need to acknowledge “Jesus You are greater than this.” (I.e., in what areas in our hearts and lives have we essentially yielded belief in Jesus’ authority and power over to belief in lesser powers, be they human power or weakness, sin, Satan, or “just the way things go.”)
2. Pray that Jesus – through His authority and power - would further manifest His good rule into those areas we feel God has put His finger on in #1 above – not least of which, those areas in our own hearts where He should be honored as the Almighty Son of God with our faith.
3. Pray that the Lord would show us how we are to participate in His good rule being further manifest into those areas – whether through confession, praise, prayer, talking to others who love Him, scripture reflection, or any other way that He deems wise. (NOTE: If you sense him pointing you in any direction, consider just pursuing one or two ways at this time so as not to stretch yourself too thin!)

The DR or devotional “assignment” this week is essentially simply to continue to pray, reflect on the three prayers above – and if in a DR – discuss how you feel the Lord may be speaking to you and invite others to draw you out and comment as you feel you have faith for.