Saturday, May 31, 2025

Out-Live and Out-Give


“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” 

1 PETER 3:15-16

 

PONDER THIS


Living as a light means your life will be different because you follow Christ. You will be blameless. That doesn’t mean sinless, but you will be blameless. Verse 15 says people are going to ask questions because of the hope that’s in you. Why? Because they can see something different about you.


The way you live and the hope you have sets you apart in this hopeless, dying world. People are to see your life—at school, in the neighborhood, on the job—standing out like a diamond in a coal mine, like a gardenia in a garbage can. You should be different. You need to out-love, out-live, out-give, out-pray, out-witness the people of this world. Are you willing to do that? It requires sacrifice.


You want others to believe in us and what we believe in? Let them see your good works. When we begin to live this way, others will begin to ask us, “What makes you tick? What is the reason for the hope that is in you?” And we get to tell them all about Jesus.


How is your life different from the people around you? How is it the same?

Who in your life has lived differently for Christ? What have you learned from them?


PRACTICE THIS


Encourage someone you know who lives differently because of Jesus.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Gain of Serving God


“They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (2 Chronicles 12:8)


Serving God is utterly different from serving anyone else.


God is extremely jealous that we understand this — and enjoy it. For example, he commands us, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2). There is a reason for this gladness. It is given in Acts 17:25. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”


We serve him with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting his needs. He has no needs. So, serving him can’t mean meeting his needs. Instead we rejoice in a service where he meets our needs. Serving God always means receiving grace from God to do what we have to do.


To show how jealous God is for us to understand this, and glory in it, there is a story in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who ruled the southern kingdom after the revolt of the ten tribes, chose against serving the Lord and gave his service to other gods and other kingdoms.


As judgment, God sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, against Rehoboam with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen (2 Chronicles 12:2–3).


In mercy God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with this message: “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak’” (2 Chronicles 12:5). The happy upshot of that message is that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance and said, “The Lord is righteous” (2 Chronicles 12:6).


When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he said, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12:7). But as a discipline to them he says, “They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (2 Chronicles 12:8).


The point is plain: serving the enemy and serving God are very different. How so? Serving God is a receiving and a blessing and a joy and a benefit. Serving Shishak is exhausting and depleting and sorrowful. God is a giver. Shishak is a taker.


This is why I am so jealous to say that the worship of Sunday morning and the worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God, but a joyful getting from God. That is the true service that God demands. In all you do, trust me as the giver.


John Piper 

Bible Study


Isaiah 26:13


    [13] O LORD our God,

        other lords besides you have ruled over us,

        but your name alone we bring to remembrance.


Isaiah 2:8-9


    [8] Their land is filled with idols;

        they bow down to the work of their hands,

        to what their own fingers have made. 

    [9] So man is humbled,

        and each one is brought low—

        do not forgive them!


Psalm 20:7-8


    [7] Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

        but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 

    [8] They collapse and fall,

        but we rise and stand upright.


Proverbs 21:31


    [31] 

    The horse is made ready for the day of battle,

        but the victory belongs to the LORD.

Friday, May 30, 2025

Strength Under Control


“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 1 PETER 3:15

 

PONDER THIS


If we would be bright lights in a dark world, we must practice genuine humility. This is no time to strut in arrogance. Peter says to share our hope, “with meekness and fear.” Meekness is not weakness; it is strength under control. Fear is not trembling at what is happening around us; it is holy reverence for Almighty God.


You can have reasons for your faith, but people will not be won by arguments alone, not by the ballot box, and not by organization. So many people think of Bible believers as people of arrogance. They think of us as hatemongers. They think of us as intolerant. We must be very careful that we do not use angry rhetoric when we respond to them. James 1:19-20 says, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Your anger does not bring about God’s righteousness. We must humble ourselves before God and invite Him to move instead of speaking with our own agenda.


What does it look like to answer someone with humility and love?

Where is it most difficult for you to respond with love? What is your reaction to those opposed to Christ?


PRACTICE THIS


Confess to God when you have lacked humility and love. Ask Him to help you share His hope and love with others.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Something to Boast About


By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)


The New Testament correlates faith and grace to make sure that we do not boast in what grace alone achieves.


One of the most familiar examples is Ephesians 2:8. By grace, through faith. There’s the correlation that guards the freedom of grace. By grace, through faith.


Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own insufficiency to the free and all-sufficient resources of God. Faith focuses on the freedom of God to dispense grace to the unworthy. It banks on the bounty of God.


Therefore faith, by its very nature, nullifies boasting and fits with grace. Wherever faith looks, it sees grace behind every praiseworthy act. So it cannot boast, except in the Lord. The author of grace.


So Paul, after saying that salvation is by grace through faith, says, “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith cannot boast in human goodness or competence or wisdom, because faith focuses on the free, all-supplying grace of God. Whatever goodness faith sees, it sees as the fruit of grace.


When it looks at our “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” it says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31).



John Piper 

Bible Study


2 Timothy 2:24-26


[24] And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, [25] correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, [26] and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.


Colossians 4:6


[6] Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.


Isaiah 29:23


    [23] For when he sees his children,

        the work of my hands, in his midst,

        they will sanctify my name;

    they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob

        and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.


1 Peter 1:17-19


[17] And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, [18] knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Do You Know What You Believe?


“Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean?’”

ACTS 2:7-12

 

PONDER THIS


Is there something about you that is unexplainable according to human wisdom? Can you explain your story apart from Jesus Christ? Has anybody ever asked you, “What is the reason for your hope?” You are to sanctify the Lord in your heart, and you are to be ready to share the hope that lives inside of you.


I’m appalled at how little the average Christian knows about what to believe. One man asked a woman, “What do you believe?” She said, “I believe what my church believes.” He asked, “Well, what does your church believe?” And she told him, “My church believes what I believe.” Then he wondered, “Well, what do you both believe?” And she responded, “Oh, we believe the same thing.” Are you being changed by the hope of Jesus so that your life looks different than the lives of those around you? Are you ready to share that hope with others?


When has someone asked you about the reason for your faith? How did you respond?

How ready are you to share your faith with others today?


PRACTICE THIS


Share with others your hope in Christ. Ask about their hope and listen to their responses.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When God Goes Against His Will


But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. (1 Samuel 2:25)


The sons of Eli the priest would not obey their father when he rebuked them for their sin. There are three implications of this text for our lives.


1) It is possible to sin so long and so grievously that the Lord will not grant repentance.


That is why Paul said that after all our pleading and teaching, “God may perhaps grant them repentance” — not, “will grant them repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25). There is a “too late” in the life of sin. As it says of Esau in Hebrews 12:17, “He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” He was forsaken; he could not repent.


This does not mean that those who truly repent even after a whole lifetime of sinning cannot be saved. They certainly can be, and will be! God is staggeringly merciful. Remember the thief on the cross. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).


2) Sometimes God does not permit a sinning person to do what is right.


“But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” Listening to the voice of their father was the right thing to do. But they would not. Why? “For it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”


The reason given for why they did not obey their father was that God had other purposes for them, and had given them up to sinning and death. This shows that there are times when the will of God’s decree is different from the revealed will of God’s command.


3) Sometimes our prayers for God’s revealed will to be done will not be done because God has decreed something different for holy and wise purposes.


I suppose that Eli prayed for his sons to be changed. That is how he should have prayed. But God had decreed that Hophni and Phinehas not obey, but rather be slain.


When something like this happens (which we do not ordinarily know ahead of time) while we are crying out to God for change, the answer of God is not: “I don’t love you.” Rather the answer is: “I have wise and holy purposes in not overcoming this sin and not granting repentance. You do not see these purposes now. Trust me. I know what I am doing. I love you.”


John Piper 

Bible Study


Colossians 1:14-15


[14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.


Romans 3:23-24


[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,


Ephesians 4:30-32


[30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. [32] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.


Ephesians 1:12-13


[12] so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13] In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

The Dynamo of God


“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” ROMANS 1:16-17

 

PONDER THIS


The word power in this verse is the word we get dynamite from. It’s the Greek word dunamis. It’s the dynamite of the Gospel. There’s power in the Gospel. Only the Gospel of Jesus can blow sin out. That power can make a crooked man straight, make an impure woman pure, make an alcoholic sober, and give a hope that is steadfast and sure.


Jesus doesn’t just forgive you and then you have a big explosion, and all the dust settles. He comes into you and gives you a power that energizes you and works through you. That is the dynamo of God, His Holy Spirit. When you receive Christ, God doesn’t just wind you up and let you go on your own. We go and we operate in His power.


How have you seen the power of the Gospel at work?

Who are some people you are hesitant to share the Gospel with? How are you encouraged to remember God’s Gospel power?


PRACTICE THIS


Make a list of people you know need Christ but you are hesitant to share with. Ask God to equip you to share with them as He desires.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Payout for Patience


“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” (Genesis 50:20)


The story of Joseph in Genesis 37–50 is a great lesson in why we should have faith in the sovereign, future grace of God.


Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, which must have tested his patience tremendously. But he is given a good job in Potiphar’s house in Egypt. Then, when he is acting uprightly in the unplanned place of obedience, Potiphar’s wife lies about his integrity and has him thrown into prison — another great trial to his patience.


But again things turn for the better, and the prison keeper gives him responsibility and respect. But just when he thinks he is about to get a reprieve from Pharaoh’s cupbearer, whose dream he interpreted, the cupbearer forgets him for two more years. Another painful trial to his patience.


Finally, the meaning of all these detours and delays becomes clear. Joseph is raised up to be the leader of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. He ends up saving from starvation the very brothers who sold him into slavery. Joseph says to his long-estranged brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. . . . As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive” (Genesis 45:7; 50:20).


What would have been the key to patience for Joseph durimeantng all those long years of exile and abuse? The answer is: faith in God’s sovereign, future grace — the sovereign grace of God to turn the unplanned place and the unplanned pace into the happiest ending imaginable.


That’s the key to our patience as well. Do we believe that God is working for us in the strangest and most painful turns of our lives?


John Piper 

Bible Study


1 Corinthians 1:18


[18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.


Mark 8:38


[38] For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”


2 Corinthians 2:15-16


[15] For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, [16] to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?


1 Corinthians 1:23-24


[23] but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, [24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

The Two Great Abilities

“Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.”

ROMANS 1:13-15

 

PONDER THIS


Paul was flexible to the missionary opportunity. He said, “I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” May I tell you what it takes to have the missionary heart? It’s not speaking ability, not intellectual ability, not physical or financial ability, not personality. If you have those things, well and good. Use them for Christ. But the two great abilities that are needed are these: dependability and availability.


Could you say with the Apostle Paul, “I am ready to live as a Christian should live? I am ready to pray. I am ready to give. I am ready to go. I am ready to die, if need be”? Many of us instead say, “I can’t go.” We give excuses. But no cause should take precedence over the call of God on your life.


Are you a lawyer today? Your law practice is not more important than the call of God on your life. Are you a doctor today? Your medicine is not more important than the call of God on your life. God may have you where you are right now for a reason, but if God were to reach in and break up your plans, are you flexible? Are you willing to change course because you’re surrendered to Him?


What are some ways we can prepare ourselves to listen to God when He calls?

When has God called you to do something unexpected? How did you react? How did you seek to trust Him through it?


PRACTICE THIS


Ask God where He is leading you right now and spend time listening for His direction.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Authentic vs. Phony Faith


Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)


The question before us all is: Are we included in the “many” whose sins Christ bore? And will we be saved at his second coming?


The answer of Hebrews 9:28 is, “Yes,” if we are “eagerly waiting for him.” We can know that our sins are taken away and that we will be safe in the judgment, if we trust Christ in such a way that it makes us eager for his coming.


There is a phony faith that claims to believe in Christ, but is only a fire insurance policy. Phony faith “believes” only to escape hell. It has no real desire for Christ. In fact, it would prefer if he did not come, so that we can have as much of this world’s pleasures as possible. This shows that a heart is not with Christ, but with the world.


So, the issue for us is: Do we eagerly long for the coming of Christ? Or do we want him to stay away, while our love affair with the world runs its course? That is the question that tests the authenticity of faith.


Let us be like the Corinthians as we “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7), and like the Philippians whose “citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).


That’s the issue for us. Do we love his appearing? Or do we love the world and hope that his appearing will not interrupt our plans? Eternity hangs on this question.



John Piper 

Bible Study


Isaiah 53:12


    [12] 

    Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

        and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

    because he poured out his soul to death

        and was numbered with the transgressors;

    yet he bore the sin of many,

        and makes intercession for the transgressors.


Revelation 5:9-10


[9] And they sang a new song, saying, 


    “Worthy are you to take the scroll

        and to open its seals,

    for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

        from every tribe and language and people and nation, 

    [10] and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

        and they shall reign on the earth.”


1 Peter 2:24


[24] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.


Titus 2:13


[13] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Monday, May 26, 2025

The Quest in Every Heart


“Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, “‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”

ACTS 9:4-5

 

PONDER THIS


Jesus appeared to Saul, a proud pharisee on the road to Damascus. There was a bright light. The Lord spoke and Saul asked, “Who are you?” Saul was a man who seemed so confident. Outwardly he was confident, but inwardly he had a hunger to know God. All the answers and ways of religion and philosophy had not satisfied.


I’ve traveled around the world, and I’ve met a lot of people. They come from different backgrounds. But every person you’ll ever meet has the same heartache. It’s sin. Every person you’ll ever meet has the same hunger—it’s God. Every person is on a quest for God. Paul was on that quest and finally listened to the Lord’s voice that convicted him and changed his life forever.


Who around you is dissatisfied with life? How can you point that person to Christ?

How has Christ met the hunger you felt before coming to know Him?


PRACTICE THIS


Pray for those around you who are unsatisfied to become satisfied in Christ.


 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Strength to Wait with Patience


May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy. (Colossians 1:11)


“Strengthened” is the right word. The apostle Paul prayed for the church at Colossae, that they would be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:11). Patience is the evidence of an inner strength.


Impatient people are weak, and therefore dependent on external supports — like schedules that go just right and circumstances that support their fragile hearts. Their outbursts of oaths and threats and harsh criticisms of the culprits who crossed their plans do not sound weak. But that noise is all a camouflage of weakness. Patience demands tremendous inner strength.


For the Christian, this strength comes from God. That is why Paul is praying for the Colossians. He is asking God to empower them for the patient endurance that the Christian life requires. But when he says that the strength of patience is “according to [God’s] glorious might” he doesn’t just mean that it takes divine power to make a person patient. He means that faith in this “glorious might” is the channel through which the power for patience comes.


Patience is indeed a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), but the Holy Spirit empowers (with all his fruit) through “hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5). Therefore Paul is praying that God would connect us with the “glorious might” that empowers patience. And that connection is faith.



John Piper 

Bible Study


Psalm 18:31-32


    [31] For who is God, but the LORD?

        And who is a rock, except our God?—

    [32] the God who equipped me with strength

        and made my way blameless.


Psalm 18:2


    [2] The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

        my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

        my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.


Psalm 18:46-48


    [46] The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,

        and exalted be the God of my salvation—

    [47] the God who gave me vengeance

        and subdued peoples under me, 

    [48] who rescued me from my enemies;

        yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;

        you delivered me from the man of violence.


Psalm 144:3-4


    [3] O LORD, what is man that you regard him,

        or the son of man that you think of him? 

    [4] Man is like a breath;

        his days are like a passing shadow.

Sunday, May 25, 2025

The Great Commission Army


“‘…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”  MATTHEW 28:20

 

PONDER THIS


Jesus was clear in His instructions; we are to teach others to observe all things He has commanded us. Every time someone is saved, we say, “Now you’re a part of the Great Commission army.” You see, we’re not simply makers of disciples; we’re makers of disciple-makers. We’re not just seeking for people to be saved but to be saved, baptized, discipled, become evangelists, and follow the call of God on their lives.


Maybe that sounds overwhelming but look closely at what Jesus says at the end of His instruction. He says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” These two thousand years, the Lord Jesus Christ is still with us. You are called to share and equip others, but that is not something you do alone. You do it with God.


What is intimidating for you in following the Great Commission?

How should God’s presence with us change the way we view the challenges of the Great Commission?


PRACTICE THIS


Share your testimony with someone who does not know Jesus.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God’s Design in Detours


And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)


Have you ever wondered what God is doing while you are looking in the wrong place for something you lost and needed very badly? He knows exactly where it is, and yet he is letting you look in the wrong place.


I once needed a quote for a new edition of my book Desiring God. I knew I had read it in Richard Wurmbrand. I thought it was in his devotional book, Reaching Toward the Heights. I could almost see it on the right hand side of the facing pages. But I couldn’t find it.


But while I was looking, I was riveted on his devotional for November 30. As I read it, I said, “This is why the Lord let me keep looking for my quote in the ‘wrong’ place.” Here was a story that illustrated perfectly that nothing is wasted that we do in the name of Jesus — nothing, not even looking for a quote in the wrong place. Here’s what I read:


In a home for retarded children, Catherine was nurtured twenty years. The child had been [mentally handicapped] from the beginning, and had never spoken a word, but only vegetated. She either gazed quietly at the walls or made distorted movements. To eat, to drink, to sleep, were her whole life. She seemed not to participate at all in what happened around her. A leg had to be amputated. The staff wished Cathy well and hoped that the Lord would soon take her to Himself.


One day the doctor called the director to come quickly. Catherine was dying. When both entered the room, they could not believe their senses. Catherine was singing Christian hymns she had heard and had picked up, just those suitable for death beds. She repeated over and over again the German song, “Where does the soul find its fatherland, its rest?” She sang for half an hour with transfigured face, then she passed away quietly. (Taken from The Best Is Still to Come, Wuppertal: Sonne und Shild)


Is anything that is done in the name of Christ really wasted?


My frustrated, futile search for what I thought I needed was not wasted. Singing to this disabled child was not wasted. And your agonizing, unplanned detour is not a waste — not if you look to the Lord for his unexpected work, and do everything in his name (Colossians 3:17).


John Piper 

May 25


Mark 16


[1] When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. [2] And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. [3] And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” [4] And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. [5] And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. [6] And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” [8] And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.


[9] [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. [10] She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. [11] But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.


[12] After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. [13] And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.


[14] Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. [15] And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. [16] Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. [17] And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; [18] they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”


[19] So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. [20] And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]


Galatians 6


[1] Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. [2] Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. [3] For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [4] But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. [5] For each will have to bear his own load.


[6] Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. [7] Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [8] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [9] And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. [10] So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.


[11] See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. [12] It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. [13] For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. [14] But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. [15] For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. [16] And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.


[17] From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.


[18] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.


Psalm 118


    [1] Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

        for his steadfast love endures forever!


    [2] Let Israel say,

        “His steadfast love endures forever.” 

    [3] Let the house of Aaron say,

        “His steadfast love endures forever.” 

    [4] Let those who fear the LORD say,

        “His steadfast love endures forever.”


    [5] Out of my distress I called on the LORD;

        the LORD answered me and set me free. 

    [6] The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.

        What can man do to me? 

    [7] The LORD is on my side as my helper;

        I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.


    [8] It is better to take refuge in the LORD

        than to trust in man. 

    [9] It is better to take refuge in the LORD

        than to trust in princes.


    [10] All nations surrounded me;

        in the name of the LORD I cut them off! 

    [11] They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;

        in the name of the LORD I cut them off! 

    [12] They surrounded me like bees;

        they went out like a fire among thorns;

        in the name of the LORD I cut them off! 

    [13] I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,

        but the LORD helped me.


    [14] The LORD is my strength and my song;

        he has become my salvation. 

    [15] Glad songs of salvation

        are in the tents of the righteous:

    “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, 

    [16]     the right hand of the LORD exalts,

        the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”


    [17] I shall not die, but I shall live,

        and recount the deeds of the LORD. 

    [18] The LORD has disciplined me severely,

        but he has not given me over to death.


    [19] Open to me the gates of righteousness,

        that I may enter through them

        and give thanks to the LORD. 

    [20] This is the gate of the LORD;

        the righteous shall enter through it. 

    [21] I thank you that you have answered me

        and have become my salvation. 

    [22] The stone that the builders rejected

        has become the cornerstone. 

    [23] This is the LORD’s doing;

        it is marvelous in our eyes. 

    [24] This is the day that the LORD has made;

        let us rejoice and be glad in it.


    [25] Save us, we pray, O LORD!

        O LORD, we pray, give us success!


    [26] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!

        We bless you from the house of the LORD. 

    [27] The LORD is God,

        and he has made his light to shine upon us.

    Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,

        up to the horns of the altar!


    [28] You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

        you are my God; I will extol you. 

    [29] Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

        for his steadfast love endures forever!


2 Samuel 23


[1] Now these are the last words of David: 


    The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,

        the oracle of the man who was raised on high,

    the anointed of the God of Jacob,

        the sweet psalmist of Israel:


    [2] “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me;

        his word is on my tongue. 

    [3] The God of Israel has spoken;

        the Rock of Israel has said to me:

    When one rules justly over men,

        ruling in the fear of God, 

    [4] he dawns on them like the morning light,

        like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,

        like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.


    [5] “For does not my house stand so with God?

        For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,

        ordered in all things and secure.

    For will he not cause to prosper

        all my help and my desire? 

    [6] But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away,

        for they cannot be taken with the hand; 

    [7] but the man who touches them

        arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,

        and they are utterly consumed with fire.”


    [8] These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.


[9] And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. [10] He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.


[11] And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. [12] But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory.


[13] And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. [14] David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. [15] And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” [16] Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD [17] and said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.


[18] Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three. [19] He was the most renowned of the thirty and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.


[20] And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. [21] And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. [22] These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. [23] He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.


[24] Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, [25] Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, [26] Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, [27] Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, [28] Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, [29] Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, [30] Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, [31] Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, [32] Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, [33] Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, [34] Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, [35] Hezro of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, [36] Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, [37] Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, [38] Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, [39] Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.


2 Samuel 24


[1] Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” [2] So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” [3] But Joab said to the king, “May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” [4] But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. [5] They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer, and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. [6] Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they went around to Sidon, [7] and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. [8] So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. [9] And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.


[10] But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” [11] And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, [12] “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” [13] So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” [14] Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”


[15] So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. [16] And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. [17] Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”


[18] And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” [19] So David went up at Gad’s word, as the LORD commanded. [20] And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. [21] And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people.” [22] Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. [23] All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” [24] But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. [25] And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.