the Move with Justin Khoe
if you're looking more for conversations about the Bible instead of pre-packaged answers you're probably going to enjoy this show.this is our podcast where we vibe with the book, 10 minutes at a time.
the Move with Justin Khoe
S1E2 | If God Has a Plan...Why Is My Life So Difficult Romans 1:8-15
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Embark on a soul-stirring exploration with us as we uncover the essence of spiritual callings and the significance of sharing our inherent blessings. Through the Apostle Paul's intimate thoughts within Romans chapter 1, verses 8 through 15, we grapple with the profound responsibility that accompanies a divine mandate. As followers of faith, we distinguish between being disciples and apostles—the latter, as exemplified by Paul, bearing the gravity of direct commands from God. Reflecting on Paul's narrative, we confront the inevitable barriers that arise while pursuing these sacred duties. Are these obstacles mere life hurdles, or do they bear the marks of a more insidious spiritual warfare? Join us and find clarity in understanding that these missions stretch far beyond personal aspirations, aiming to fulfill a purpose much higher than ourselves.
In a world rife with darkness, the act of sharing our light is a testament to the power of collective upliftment. Our discussion illuminates the timeless metaphor of lighting one candle with another, celebrating the fact that such acts only expand the scope of our luminosity without diminishing our own flame. This simple yet profound principle resonates through our interactions, reminding us of our innate ability to spread positivity and joy. As we close this 10-minute journey, we invite you to carry forward the message—your light is a gift to be shared, not just a beacon to be hoarded. Tune in and let's inspire each other to pass the torch of our blessings to the world around us.*
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The Obligation to Spread Blessings
Speaker 1And I think that a lot of us can relate to this experience . We feel like Paul God's given us marching orders . We have a mission , we have something that we're supposed to accomplish , but then life happens .
Speaker 2Welcome to the Moon , where we're vibing with the book 10 minutes at a time .
Speaker 1Yeah , and the next 10 minutes we're going to be talking . Romans , chapter 1 , verses 8 through 15 . Did you read it ? I read it , did you ? I did it was good , it was real good . You read it , because if you're not reading it while we're doing this , you're playing yourself , you're missing out on actually the biggest blessing . So don't play yourself , we'll wait for you . Yeah , right here .
Speaker 2All right , let's go .
Speaker 1Welcome back 10 minutes , starting in 3 , 2 , 1 . So tell me about it . This passage is good , man . This is good For context . I thought something was rather interesting that's worth noting . Paul is writing a lot of letters in the New Testament to many different churches around Philippi , colossae , wherever but this book in particular is different because Paul actually doesn't have a personal relationship with this church . He has a burden for them and we'll get to that . He's interested in reaching out to them , but he actually didn't start off with hey , I planted this church and I'm coming back .
Speaker 2I know y'all yeah . You know , the thing that frames it for me is that he's on a journey towards them , having not known them . So why is he on a journey towards them ? And it's this idea of he's a slave , right , but this new kind of slave that actually has this identity as a son and he gets his orders from God . So , if you have this imagery of an indentured servant in the house of the master and the master tells him what to do , Go , do this . And the master and the servant goes and he has this order , this obligation to reach a certain set of people , and this is how he has the Romans framed I gotta get to you because I'm under this obligation , this order , yeah .
Speaker 1So he's moving forward , he's sent out . This is actually why it's so important for him . At the beginning of this text , the very beginning , he's like I'm an apostle , I'm a sent out person . It's different than being a disciple . I got a mission , I'm marching orders and I'm going forward . But something interesting happens , and I think that a lot of us can relate to this experience . We feel like Paul God's given us marching orders . We have a mission , we have something that we're supposed to accomplish , but then life happens .
Speaker 2Verse 13 , he says but thus far I have been prevented . So again , he's been given this marching orders . And what I find really interesting is verse 9 , where he's saying listen , I have been given this marching orders because God sees me . He appeals to God as his witness . He's like God is my witness , I pray for you , I think about you , and it's in keeping with what he's told me . So if I'm lying , god's a liar , he's my witness , he's seen this . But I haven't been able to get to you and it's because I've been impeded by some circumstances . Now , if I could draw attention that there is sort of like a precedent of him wanting to go somewhere and not getting there . We see an ax where he's like hey , listen , we want to go to Asia , but we've been stopped . Now that was the Holy Spirit that told him not here , let's go elsewhere , but in other places , especially in Ephesians , where he talks about we don't wrestle against flesh and blood , but we wrestle against powers , principalities , these spiritual things . So sometimes you might get an order and you're hampered because there's actual spiritual forces at work to keep you from accomplishing that which God has given you to do .
Speaker 1Yeah , there's sometimes where the reason of why we don't get to quote , unquote do what we want or maybe , more accurately , do what we're called to do , is because we just got some growing to do . We're like Moses in the wilderness , trying to take our own like , trying to do it aside from God , and sometimes the Holy Spirit's like whoa , no , you ain't ready yet . So I got to do this thing in your heart and in your life and I got to send you off to the wilderness for 40 years so that you can become the person that I want you to be , so that you can do the thing that I've called you to do . Sometimes that's the reason why , yeah , but that's not the case here .
Speaker 2No , the case here seems to be , because he has his marching orders , he's going , but he's prevented by something other outside of himself , right , and I think that this is where , then , we , as Westerners , are a little uncomfortable .
Speaker 1Yeah , because that's not how we view the world . It's simply concrete . It's what I can touch , what I can feel , it's what I can see , but that's it .
Speaker 2And then when we don't do that which we sense God is leading us , we then put the fault where yeah , on me . So then the thing isn't happening because I'm not good enough . I'm not good enough , talented enough . I have been behaving badly .
Speaker 1Ah , the reason why I'm not experiencing what God has called me to experience is because I have somehow forfeited on my end . I have given up the blessing that God has given me . Now God has perhaps withdrawn himself from me , mm-hmm , and now I don't get to enjoy what God has called me to be .
Speaker 2And see there's a short , short , short , short-sidedness on this , because then it's all about you . No , but that's not who it's about . That's not who it's about , because this obligation that Paul is under is not for his own sake , right , because he draws attention to this . I want to go there for something else , right , and talk to me a little bit about we mentioned it previously about the nature of blessing . The nature of blessing , what do you mean by that ? So we were talking about the Abrahamic covenant . We were talking about blessing is for .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah . So a lot of times when we think about blessings , we can even look at it not even as a blessing , but as oh , I'm gifted , I'm skilled at X , y or Z , and then we look at that as this thing that is for me . But I remember hearing this phrase and I really thought was powerful that any gift that God has ever given us has always been intended for that gift to be given to others . Any gift we get from God has been intended to be reproduced or shoved back out there . And even in the Abrahamic blessing , god's like Abraham , I'm going to do this amazing thing in you , you're going to have all these kids and you're going to be prosperous , and blah , blah , blah , blah , blah . At the end of that blessing he says it's not for you , abraham , it's for the , it's for the nations , it's for the nations .
Speaker 2So you see that , according to the promise that Abraham received , that the blessing Abraham received of the seed that was to come was to be a blessing to the nations , and this is what Paul is working on . From the previous 10 minutes we talked about this where Paul feels the sense of obligation now to go preach this liberty that he has under Renew . Master , that is a blessing to others but is in keeping with the promise that has come to fulfillment through Jesus to go from Israel to the nations . Did you get all that ? I got it . I don't know if they got it . Did you get it ? Go back on the YouTube , you can do that .
Speaker 1So at the very end of this passage , there's a phrase that I think helps to bring clarity what you're getting at , and in the English standard version , which is the one that we're studying , he uses language like I'm under obligation . Other passages or other translations , rather use the phrase debtor , I'm a slave . But while we can understand slavery to Jesus , slavery to God , slavery to righteousness , that's not what he's talking about . No , no , no . He says I'm under obligation , I'm a debtor to the Greeks and to the barbarians , to the wise and to the foolish . I think he's actually implying I'm a slave to you in Rome is kind of where he's getting at Because I owe you something , which is weird because we don't ever get record of him doing some kind of transaction with them .
Speaker 2No , no , no . The transaction right , we talked about this earlier . The transaction is something that he himself has received . Right , he was a slave in the kingdom of darkness and he was always according to his flesh . Right , it's always been according to his body , and I'm cut and I'm snipped and I'm correct . But now he's been liberated from all of that to serve in the form of the spirit . But that form of the spirit has this endless abundance of resources and he localizes this resources at the very life within me . But that life that is within me , that is in keeping with the promise , is so that others might have life . Yeah , right , yeah , so that I've received , but I've received in order to give . And if I receive without giving , guess who I still owe to ?
Speaker 1No , not even that . If you've received without giving , you've robbed God , believe , right ? I mean , that's a whole tithe thing . Right , we receive from God , we give back to him wherever you robbed God in your tithe . So here's this thing , this thing of debtor . There are two ways that I can think of where you can be in debt to someone . I can borrow money from you and not pay you back . I'm your debtor , I'm your slave . In that respect , what does the tech say ? Dave Ramsey likes to talk about it a lot . The borrower is slave to the lender . Right , I can borrow money from you , but that's not what's going on with here with Paul . He never was a slave to anybody . He was actually very clear on that and other passages . The second way is , if I borrow money from you that was meant for someone else Like , let's say , you needed to pay someone off this is before Venmo and Cash App . Yeah , you lend me some money , but that money is intended for them and I don't pass it on . That's how I'm enslaved . That's how I'm a debtor to that person . So Paul here is describing guys I've received this great gift from God and God has called me to give it to someone else . That's why I'm excited . That's why I need to be there with you .
Speaker 2I'm motivated to come and spread this gift with you , and these are my marching orders , that my marching orders are to proclaim deliver the freedom of this life that we've been ransomed from a former slavery into a new type of quote unquote slavery . That is actually freedom . And I want to reap a harvest amongst you so that I can actually liberate through the spirit . You know he preaches this message the spirit will liberate . But I want to impart this to you to yield , to have this yield amongst you , this harvest of liberty , of sons through spirit . And this is I'm obligated to do this , there is no other way , because I am a servant of God who has been set apart , and so , because I am a servant and I've been given marching orders , I owe you something , yeah , so this is a question I have to ask myself in my life what do I owe somebody else and where have I been receiving liberty and where do I have liberty ? And I've been thinking that it's just
Passing the Light On
Speaker 2for me .
Speaker 1You know , what I love about this thing that we owe to people is that it doesn't cost anything . It's like when you light a candle and you light another candle with that first candle , the first one doesn't miss out on anything . It doesn't cost that candle anything . It doesn't cost that candle anything to pass the light on . That's what we're called to do Pass the light on , pass it on . Alright , man . Well , that's 10 minutes . Thanks for hanging out with us guys . We'll see you guys tomorrow .