The Blower’s Still Going, but the Furnace Is Out

“And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ So he awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” JUDGES 16:20

 

PONDER THIS

Samson defiled his purity and then diluted his power. His strength was not in his hair but in the Holy Spirit of God, who had left him. Samson said, “Here come the Philistines. Let me at them.” But he was just like other men. He had no strength, but he didn't know it. That challenges me. I wonder if some of us are like this: You were once a mighty power for God. You were once a faithful deacon, a wonderful Sunday School teacher, a soul winner. But you have compromised and played in sin, and the power of God is gone from you, and you don't even know it. The blower's still going, but the furnace is out.

Without the power of God, you can put in all the effort but get so frustrated because you don’t see the results. This is why we must seek a vibrant relationship with God every day instead of growing complacent. There have been so many people who have begun in the Spirit and ended in the flesh. God is always present and ready to have that relationship, but we miss out on so much when we start to lose sight of Him.

How would you describe your relationship with God right now? What is going well? Where are you struggling?

What is the hardest part of maintaining a personal, vibrant relationship with God?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess to God where you are struggling in your relationship with Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Know and Grow

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 PETER 1:5-8

 

PONDER THIS

For years, I carried a card to remind me of several material details about my wife. It is hard to buy a gift for someone if you don’t know the size she wears and other specifics. This card had her shoe size, glove size, dress size, and other various facts about her. I included every important detail I wanted to remember.

Imagine you wanted to know about my wife, so I pulled out that card and handed it to you. You would know about her, but you would not know her. Now you can sit in a church and get all the facts about God. That is knowledge. But what you need is an intimate relationship with Him.

In Philippians 3:10, Paul gives the ambition of his life and says: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” You may think, “Wait a minute, Paul. You wrote this later on in your ministry. Are you telling me you have been an apostle, and you are still saying you want to know Jesus?” The answer is yes. I don’t care how much you know Him today; you can still know Him better. The only way to know somebody is to spend time with him. We are to spend time with Jesus. I know Joyce because I spend a lot of time with her. Spend time with God, in the Word, in prayer, and in silence. Grow deeper in relationship with Him.

In what areas of your relationship with God do you find it difficult to grow?

When was a time you felt close to God? What did you learn about Him in that time? How do you regularly spend time with Him?

PRACTICE THIS

If possible, spend time outside in silence, meditating on God’s truth and enjoying His presence.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

A Historical Figure but Not Ancient History

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” JOHN 6:66-69

 

PONDER THIS

Only Jesus can meet the deepest hunger of the human heart. Only Jesus is the answer to Man’s sin. Only Jesus gives meaning to life and death. Only Jesus can take the sting out of sin, the gloom out of the grave, and the pain out of parting, and give hope that is steadfast and sure. “To whom shall we go?” He alone has the answers of life and death. But that brings a question. How do we know Jesus is who we say He is? Why do we believe in Jesus? Why have I given my life to Him? Why do I serve Him? Why would I be willing to die for Him if necessary? Why?

One reason is, Jesus Christ is a fact of history. You have to admit the Man named Jesus was here on this Earth. Secular historians that have any credibility admit the fact of Jesus Christ, regardless of what they believe about Him. Even as a historical figure, He is not ancient history. Another reason we believe in Him is because of the personal way He has changed us. This last week, I prayed with a young man as he received Christ. He was searching. He asked, “Pastor, is He real to you?” and I said, “Yes, He is real to me! I am sure that He’s the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

What are the reasons you believe in Jesus? Who shared His hope with you?

What are the ways Jesus is personal to you? What does it look like to have a personal relationship with Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Connect with another believer. Ask how he or she came to know Jesus, and ask how that person’s relationship with Jesus has grown.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Talk to God, Not Just About Him

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. (Psalm 23:4)

The form of the 23rd psalm is instructive.

In Psalm 23:1–3 David refers to God as “he”:

The Lord is my shepherd . . .

he makes me lie down . . .

he leads me . . .

he restores my soul.

Then in verses 4 and 5 David refers to God as “you”:

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me.

You anoint my head with oil.

Then in verse 6 he switches back:

I shall dwell in the house of the Lord.

The lesson we can learn from this form is that it is good not to talk very long about God without talking to God.

Every Christian is at least an amateur theologian — that is, a person who tries to understand the character and ways of God and then put that into words. If we aren’t little theologians, then we won’t ever say anything to each other, or to God, about God, and will be of very little real help to each other’s faith.

But what I have learned from David in Psalm 23 and other psalms is that I should interweave my theology with prayer. I should frequently interrupt my talking about God by talking to God.

Not far behind the theological sentence, “God is generous,” should come the prayerful sentence, “Thank you, God, for your generosity.”

On the heels of, “God is glorious,” should come, “I adore your glory.”

This is the way it must be, if we are feeling God’s reality in our hearts as well as thinking it in our heads and describing it with our lips.

John Piper 

Find Healing after Divorce

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

MATTHEW 7:24-25

 

PONDER THIS

There is a dangerous precipice called divorce. Our job as a church is to build a wall as high as we can, as thick as we can, as strong as we can, and say to our kids, “Don’t fall over that precipice. It’s dangerous. It’s destructive. Don’t do it.” But that’s not all. For those who have had that experience of divorce, we’re going to keep an ambulance ready to minister to them and show them the love and the grace of God every one of us has received.

If you’re divorced and you know it was your fault, ask God to forgive you and help you be reconciled to your partner. As much as is in your power and is appropriate, go to that person and make every wrong right, extend forgiveness, and receive the forgiveness of God. If you have been divorced against your will, ask God to take the bitterness out of your heart and forgive that person, even if he or she won’t repent. Have the same the spirit of forgiveness as Jesus when He prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Then, take the remainder of your life and give it to God. God is not finished with you. How we relate with our family, stay committed to our family, and love our family sacrificially is a beautiful testimony of Jesus. Let your home be a light where Christ shines. Don’t build on sand; build your house on the rock.

Who in your life has experienced divorce? How can you love and care for them?

How have you been hurt or wounded by a broken relationship of any type? How have you allowed Christ to heal those wounds?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a meal or show generosity to a person or family you know is hurting.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Who Are You Living For?

PRAY OVER THIS

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6

 

PONDER THIS

This story in the Book of Judges has a wonderful beginning. The people have just received the blessings God has promised them—victory and a wonderful, glorious heritage. But right after that, in the very next generation, the people forgot their heritage. Judges 2:7 says, “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.”

When God was moving in glorious ways, the generation after Joshua, which had seen miracle after miracle, served, but Judges 2:10 says: “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers”—that is, when those old timers died— “another generation arose after them,” in which, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

When there is no fixed standard of right and wrong God doesn’t have to judge us. We judge ourselves by leaving God out! Every person does what is right in his or her own eyes. What happened in Judges when a generation did not pass the value of God to the next? They lived for themselves, they determined their own way, and they faced so much turmoil and hardship because they were determined to live without God.

Who has passed the value of a relationship with the Lord on to you?

When have you chosen to do things your way instead of God’s? What happened?

PRACTICE THIS

Share with another person the miraculous things you have seen God do.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Are You Spending Time with God?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:8-11

 

PONDER THIS

God wants you to come face-to-face with Him. You learn God by directly dealing with God, and God often puts you in places where there’s nowhere to go but up. When they came to the Red Sea, the only way Israel could turn was to God.

Here's the thing: You cannot know God by hearing sermons about knowing God. You cannot know God by reading books about knowing God. You can’t know anybody you don’t spend time with. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is to obey Him. To obey Him is to be blessed. And to be blessed is to be a blessing. It all begins with knowing Him. The truth is, you can’t know anybody that you don’t spend time with. How do I know Joyce? We’ve been married all these years. I’ve spent time with her. She’s spent time with me. If all you see are the works of God, you’re infatuated with God. When the bad times come, like a scared rabbit, off you’ll go. But when you know God, when you know the ways of God, that’s wonderful, and you desire to know Him more.

When was a time where all you could do was look up? How was your relationship with God in that time?

What does it look like to spend time with God regularly?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to someone who spends a lot of time with God. Ask for insights about what that time looks like.

 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

You’ll Never Go Beyond Jesus

PRAY OVER THIS

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:2-4

 

PONDER THIS

Suppose you had a fever, a headache, and pain, and you went to the doctor, and he gave you something to deaden the pain. Then he gave you something to kill the fever. He addressed all the symptoms, right? But suppose the doctor never dealt with the infection, with the real problem? All he did was deaden the pain. That’s not a very good doctor. But that’s what people often try to do today. That unhappiness, that misery, that hunger—all they’re trying to do is to deaden the pain, rather than deal with the disease, which is unrighteousness. What we need is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to hunger and thirst after Him. And when we hunger and thirst after Jesus, we find out that blessedness is there.

What you need is Jesus. You’ll never need anything spiritually other than Jesus. You should seek nothing more. You should settle for nothing less. You need Him, not some denomination, not some church membership, not some creed, not some code, not some cause. You need Jesus! You’ll never be satisfied until you have Jesus Christ in your heart. And once you find the Lord Jesus, once you receive Him, you’ll never need anything else. You don’t go beyond Jesus. You may grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus, but you’ll never go beyond Jesus.

How easy or difficult is it for you to recognize sin and separation from God as the source of your problems? Why?

Do you desire to grow in relationship with Jesus? How do you invest in your relationship with Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend some extra time in the Word or in prayer to take a step toward growing deeper in your relationship with Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to Heal Broken Relationships

 

PRAY OVER THIS

And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

(Matthew 18:17)

 

READ THIS

Yesterday we considered the first two parts of dealing with broken relationships with fellow believers; today we will consider two more.

Once we have the proper perspective, we must seek out the biblical procedure of restoration. We don’t have the luxury of waiting for our trespasser to come to us; we go to him lovingly, privately, and humbly. If there is an opportunity for restoration, forgive him freely, fully, and finally. If there is no restoration, come back with fellow brothers or sisters in the faith. If he still refuses to listen, go before the church, as Matthew 18:17 instructs.

Excommunication is a heartbreaking last resort reserved only for those who are stubborn in their own ways, who will not hear the brother, the committee, or the church that has tried to speak truth in love. It is important that we love the unrepentant offender, but we do not let him poison the fellowship. We cannot let him hurt and distort the cause of Christ.

CONSIDER THIS

How likely have you been in the past to follow the biblical method of restoration? What are some alternate ways you might approach conflict?

Why is it important to prioritize the body of Christ over one individual who refuses to submit to the body? What role does grace play in this process?

 

DO THIS

Take time to think about the broken relationships in your church. How is God calling you to follow the biblical method of restoration rather than respond to conflict in a worldly manner? If you know you need to restore a specific relationship, follow through immediately.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Dealing with Broken Relationships

PRAY OVER THIS

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Matthew 18:15 and Galatians 6:1

 

READ THIS

Broken relationships in the church are a very painful problem that disgraces God and discourages a community of believers. There is nothing worse than a church without harmony and there is nothing better than a church with harmony. In Matthew 18, Jesus explained how to heal broken relationships.

First, we must consider our relationship with the person who has sinned against us.

If he is a brother in Christ, we are members of the same body; harming him harms us. If he is lost, he needs our pity and prayers all the more; regardless, he is to be loved no matter what.

Next, we must remember our responsibility to make it right between us (Galatians 6:1). We have to ask ourselves: Are we sinning in a similar way? Have we been praying for that person and setting a good example?

CONSIDER THIS

How do you typically respond to broken relationships in the church? Is your approach biblical? Why or why not?

How does the fact that Jesus has reconciled your broken relationship with the Father change the way you think about reconciling with others?

DO THIS

Pray about ways you might seek to reconcile with others in the church this week. Write down the specific steps you need to take toward healing a broken relationship.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How Do You Start Your Mornings?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“My voice you shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” Psalm 5:3

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Christianity is a love relationship. You can’t love someone you don’t know. And you can’t know someone you don’t spend quality time with.

To know Jesus is to love Him. 

To love Him is to trust Him. 

To trust Him is to obey Him. 

To obey Him is to be blessed.

It begins with a quality, daily communication with the Lord. Why is it best to spend time with the Lord in the morning? Because you are getting ready to go on a road trip through life. You don’t take the trip and then read the map, do you?

ACTION POINT

How are you starting your mornings? With your email or social media and the light of your digital device? Or with the pure milk of the Word and the light of His presence?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Add to your calendar: 2 funerals, 1 wedding

BIBLE MEDITATION: 

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.” Ephesians 5:25

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you know what most marriages need? Two funerals and one wedding where both the husband and the wife die to themselves and come alive to Jesus Christ.

You see, when a man loves his wife passionately, there’s nothing too precious for that man to give up for his wife, except his relationship to Almighty God.

When there’s that kind of love shown to a woman, I dare say the topic of submission would not be an issue.

Most women don’t mind submitting to a man who loves her enough to die for her and shows it by the way he lives for her.

ACTION POINT:

Are you married? Then go on a date this week with your spouse.  Are you single? Pray that God would prepare you to be the spouse your mate will need.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Jesus Wants More Than Your Service

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Discipleship is fellowship with Christ, knowing Christ, loving Christ, abiding in Christ.

I’m afraid that too many have joined the movement of Christianity rather than having surrendered to the man of Christianity. These people are doing things for Christ, rather than sitting at the feet of Christ.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with service, and we ought to serve God, but we need to learn that we must minister to Jesus Christ as His disciple before we can minister to others. Jesus values the time you spend with Him far more than the things you do for Him. Do you know that?

ACTION POINT:

Before you head out this morning or go to bed tonight, make sure that you make a date with Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers