Recently reading the devotional from Chuck Swindoll on "wilderness experiences" reminded me the importance of living in the moment the best we can for God.  The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty wastd years because of a lack of faith and disobedience.  Getting into the Promised Land should have taken forty days not forty years.  How true this is for us as well when we want to do things our way instead of God's ways.  We waste time and energy.  The devo says:

Remember that this week. You have never lived the seven days in front of you, and you will never live them again. Life is like a coin. Spend it any way you want to, but you can spend it only once. God would like you to learn from your experience in the wilderness. He wants to change your appetite, change your habits, change your style, and, in the process, change your entire life.

What a good reminder that we need to be very careful how we spend our life.  How true it is that though we are not perfect, we should be learning from our experiences and allowing God to make the necessary changes in our life making us more like Christ.

Some thoughts from my devotional journal from Romans 1:8-17:

Paul expresses his joy at seeing the faith of the church at Rome grow (it was becoming evident throughout the world).  Paul expresses that he faithfully prays for each one in the church.  The Roman Christians, at the Western world's political power center, were highly visible.  What a blessing it was that their reputation was excellent and that their strong faith was making itself known around the world.  When people talk about our congregation, what would they say?  Would their comments be accurate?  What would we want them to notice about our church?

In Romans 1:9, Paul says that day and night he prays for them, bringing their needs to God in prayer.  There are several things we can learn about Paul from what he says.  First, his diligence in prayer. Paul is one who is passionate about the people he serves (leads).  He knows the importance of prayer and it is going to be the work of God through his prayers from them that would be the driving force that would cause them to continue to grow in their faith.  The other trait we can learn about Paul is his passion for Christ and his commitment to serve Him.  He says, "to God whom I serve with all my heart."  Whatever Paul does he does it with passion and conviction.  He doesn't just sit on the fence.  When he was a devout Pharisee he persecuted the church with zeal and passion.   After the met Christ and was converted, he preached with great passion the message about Jesus Christ. In verses 10 and 11, Paul expresses his intense desire to visit them.  We gain some insight into why.  He says, "  I'm eager to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. In this way, each of us will be a blessing to the other."  Paul never sees encouragement one way.  He is also open to learning and growing himself.  He recognizes that he too needs to be encouraged and that those he teaches can also be an encouragement to him.

Prayer was very important to Paul.  Paul prayed to visit Rome so he could teach the Christians there.  When he finally arrived in Rome, it was as a prisoner (see Acts 28:16). Paul prayed for a safe trip, and he did arrive safely-after getting arrested, slapped in the face, shipwrecked, and bitten by a poisonous snake.  God's ways of answering our prayers are often far from what we expect.  When we sincerely pray, God will answer-although in His timing and sometimes in ways we do not expect.  We need to be prepared that God's answers are not always exactly as we request.  So often we think He hasn't answered us, only we need to reflect upon the situation and circumstance and see that He really has but not in the same way we have asked.