Romans 4 – 7, Hobby Lobby, and Prayer Request

Romans 4 – 7

The essential question of Romans 4 is in the very first verse: “What did he (Abraham) discover about being made right with God? The answer is in verse 3: “…Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” Paul goes on to explain that this righteousness through faith is not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. Abraham’s true descendants then are those who have a right relationship with God that comes by faith.

Rejoice in the truth of Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us” and in the truth of Romans 5:6: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”

Paul then gives a great lesson contrasting Adam, through whom sin entered the world, and Christ, through whom God’s gift of forgiveness comes.

Why do we have the law? It is so all people could see how sinful they were. And don’t you love the contrast between the wages (what we earn) of sin being death, but the free gift (we can’t earn it) of God being eternal life through Jesus?

Tomorrow, we’ll read Romans 8 – 10, but there won’t be a blog post because I am joining Esther at Disney where her Sing Live group will be singing at Epcot. We are then going to spend Monday at Disney, hopefully at the Magic Kingdom where they have a new Fantasyland.

Monday’s reading is Romans 11 – 13. We’ll take up the blog again on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.

Hobby Lobby

Once again, the United States Government has overstepped their authority. One more step toward Socialism.

A Letter from Hobby Lobby Stores CEO By David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn't much bigger than most people's living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God's word. From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation's largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family. We're Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I've always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God's laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that's what we've tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week's biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We've not only added jobs in a weak economy, we've raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage. But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don't pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don't cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines. Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that's raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It's not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it's the same for everybody. But that's not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won't exempt them for reasons of religious belief. So, Hobby Lobby and my family are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don't like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit. My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that's a choice no American and no American business should have to make. The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church. Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media, pass this on to all your contacts. Sincerely, David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Prayer Request

Someone sent this prayer request:

Greetings
All,

I have a prayer request. There's a great lady I've known since I was a 
child. She's very sick. Some experts say she is terminal. She has survived 
many difficulties, has given her life to helping others, and has gotten little respect or help in return.


On top of that, she's being abused by those to whom she has given everything. It breaks my heart. Seems there's nothing I can do alone. But maybe, if we join in and lift her up together, God will heal her.

She's well over 200 years old, but way too young to die. 

Her name is " America" 


...and I love her. Will you please help me pray for her?

Thank You,

Bill Lusk

PLEASE KEEP THIS PRAYER REQUEST 

GOING.......................................

Until next time…