Release that fire power into enemy territory

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.” Psalm 37:40

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

In Old Testament days, when a tribe commenced war, they would sometimes hurl a spear into enemy territory. It made no difference whether the enemy was there or not. It really wasn’t for the enemy to see. It was an attitude of faith that was a declaration of war. Some would call it a throwing down of the gauntlet.

You may be reading this, wanting the victory in something today, and yet you haven’t let your arrow of faith fly into the enemy’s territory. Faith that acts will bring the enemy to his knees.

ACTION POINT:

We don’t fight our enemy with actual bows and arrows, instead we fight him with the weapons of prayer and the Word. When we pray, we face the foe. By letting the arrow of prayer fly, God moves in, and our prayer becomes the Lord’s deliverance. God does business with those who mean business.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why You Have a Body

For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

God did not create the physical-material universe willy-nilly. He had a purpose, namely, to add to the ways his glory is externalized and made manifest. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

Our bodies fit into that same category of physical things that God created for this reason. He is not going to back out on his plan to glorify himself through human beings and human bodies.

Why does God go to all the trouble to dirty his hands, as it were, with our decaying, sin-stained flesh, in order to reestablish it as a resurrection body and clothe it with glory and immortality? Answer: Because his Son paid the price of death so that the Father’s purpose for the material universe would be fulfilled, namely, that he would be glorified in it, including in our bodies, forever and ever.

That’s what the text says: “You were bought with a price [namely, the death of his Son]. So glorify God in your body.” God will not disregard or dishonor the work of his Son. God will honor the work of his Son by raising our bodies from the dead, and we will use our bodies to glorify him forever and ever.

That is why you have a body now. And that is why it will be raised to be like Christ’s glorious body.

John Piper 

Are you reflecting Jesus?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

We are changed from glory to glory by the power of the Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean it happens overnight. It happens one step at a time.

Today you ought to reflect a little more of God’s glory than you did yesterday. Today you ought to be a little bit more like Jesus than you were yesterday. And tomorrow, you ought to be even more like Jesus. Proverbs 4:18 is interesting. Listen to it:

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Another way to translate it is:

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining ever brighter until full daylight.

Are you becoming like Jesus? Not if you’re not in the Word. Don’t you think it’s time for this generation to get serious about the Word of God?

ACTION POINT:

Set aside a time and a place to get alone with God every day and pray, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law” (Psalm 119:18). 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Afraid of Death No More

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

How does Christ deliver us from the fear of death and set us free to live with the kind of loving abandon that can “let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also”?

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood . . .

The term “children” is taken from the previous verse and refers to the spiritual offspring of Christ, the Messiah. These are also the “children of God.” In other words, in sending Christ, God has the salvation of his “children” especially in view. “Since the children share in flesh and blood . . . ”

he himself likewise partook of the same [flesh and blood] . . .

The Son of God, who existed before the incarnation as the eternal Word (John 1:1), took on flesh and blood, and clothed his deity with humanity. He became fully man and remained fully God.

that through death . . .

The reason Christ became human was to die. As preincarnate God, he could not die for sinners. But united to flesh and blood, he could. His aim was to die. Therefore, he had to be born human, mortal.

that he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil . . .

In dying, Christ defanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin (Hebrews 10:12). This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). On what grounds does he justify? Through the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:14; Romans 5:9).

Satan’s ultimate weapon against us is our own sin. If the death of Jesus takes it away, the chief weapon the devil has is taken out of his hand. In that sense, he is rendered powerless.

and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

So, we are free from the fear of death. God has justified us. There is only future grace in front of us. Satan cannot overturn that decree. And God means for our ultimate safety to have an immediate effect on our lives. He means for the happy ending to take away the slavery and fear of the present.

John Piper 

Are you more a gnat or a bee?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  James 1:25

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

James 1:23-24 paints a picture of a man in a hurry. He has a lot on his mind. He takes a casual glance at himself and rushes on. If the Bible is like a mirror, then this man is simply getting a glimpse into the Word and not really applying it to his life.

Most Christians I know today are this kind of Bible student. They are like a gnat, bouncing here and there instead of like a bee, diving in and staying long enough to extract the sweetness.

But the man in verse 25 gazes into the Word. This is someone who delights in God’s Word, applies God’s Word, and cherishes God’s Word.  Are you like that? Or do you take a passing glance at God’s Word and move on to the next thing on your TO DO list?

ACTION POINT:

Which sounds more like you? The passing glance won’t do it. You need—we all need—the careful, thoughtful gaze

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Weakness Reveals His Worth

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s design for suffering is that it should magnify Christ’s worth and power. This is grace, because the greatest joy of Christians is to experience Christ magnified in our lives.

When Paul was told by the Lord Jesus that his “thorn in the flesh” would not be taken away, he supported Paul’s faith by explaining why. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.

If we feel and look self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So, Christ chooses the weak things of the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes he makes seemingly strong people weaker so that the divine power will be the more evident.

We know that Paul experienced this as grace because he rejoiced in it: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Living by faith in God’s grace means being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, faith will not shrink back from what reveals and magnifies all that God is for us in Jesus. That is what our own weakness and suffering are meant to do.

John Piper 

Are you worried you’re not “chosen”?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

 “...take the water of life freely...” You don’t have to pay one blessed cent for it! It’s there. Take it and drink it. You will never have your heart’s deepest thirst satisfied until you’re satisfied with Jesus. And if you’re thirsty, come and drink. He will save you—I promise on the authority of the Word of God.

You say, “But Pastor Rogers, what if I’m not one of the elect?”

Well, could I be more sure if He said, “If Adrian Rogers will come and drink.” I could say, “Now wait a minute. There’s more than one Adrian Rogers in the world today.”

What if Revelation 22:17 said, “Adrian Pierce Rogers”? There might be another Adrian Pierce Rogers. It might not refer to me.

What if it said, “Adrian Pierce Rogers, born in West Palm Beach, Florida”? Well, there could be another Adrian Pierce Rogers born in West Palm Beach, Florida.

What if it said, “Adrian Pierce Rogers, born in West Palm Beach, Florida, who now lives in Shelby County, Tennessee?” There might be another one born in West Palm Beach. 

By now you’re saying, “You’re getting ridiculous.” 

Let me just solve this thing. Let’s forget all that and just put one word in there: “whosoever.” Whosoever! That’s better than anybody’s name spelled out. Who are the elect? I can settle that in 30 seconds. The elect are the “whosoever wills.”

ACTION POINT:

If you want to be saved, come. Come to Jesus. He’s reaching out His nail-pierced hands to you and saying, “Come, come, come.” Jesus says come. The Spirit says come. The bride says come. The individual says come. You can come and drink.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers