Nothing Too Holy to Mock

“Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.” JUDE 1:8

 

PONDER THIS

The word “dignitaries” is the word we get doxology from. It literally means “glories, glorious things, and majesties.” Jude was saying there is nothing too glorious or too holy that the apostate will not ridicule. Apostates receive the truth, refuse the truth, or repudiate the truth, and then they ridicule the truth. They have a way of speaking evil of glorious things. Most likely, Jude was writing about people there who were ridiculing and blaspheming the doctrine of the angels. (See Jude 1:9.) But you’ll find this about the apostates, they have quick lips. They know how to ridicule holy things and are not ashamed to do so. There’s nothing too sacred or too holy for them to revile and ridicule. And they don’t do so from outside the church, they do it from inside the church.

Why is it important that we have reverence for the holy things of God?

How is it a slippery slope when we are not careful about this?

PRACTICE THIS

Write down as many holy things of God you can think of that deserve our reverence and awe.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Missing the Fear of God

“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” JUDE 1:4

 

PONDER THIS

Jude called those who had crept into the church ungodly. What does the word ungodly mean? It does not mean they did not mention God or even talk about Him. As a matter of fact, they spoke about God quite freely. He meant a person without reverential awe of God. The basic ingredient missing in the life of an apostate is a fear of God. They talked flippantly and carelessly and blasphemously about holy things. In verse 8, we see the same idea, “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.” Their mouths and their tongues ran up and down through the land. There was no fear of God before their eyes, and they feared not to mock and speak of holy things. They took things upon their lips that ought to make us tremble. They lacked reverence.

How does today’s devotion give you a new way of thinking about the meaning of ungodliness?

What are some ways you might tread close to ungodliness in your own life?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time in prayer today to ask God to show you where you have been flippant with the things that belong to Him. Confess what you sense and ask Him to lead you in holiness.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

 

A Casual Heart Toward Holy Matters

 

“The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above.” PROVERBS 14:14

 

PONDER THIS

In the beginning of 2 Samuel 11, David had become casual about the things of God. He had been blessed so much—God had been so good to him, and David had enjoyed victory after victory—that he no longer had to fight. He could just sit back, coast, and take it easy. David had put off the armor, but the Bible warns that we are to endure difficulties as good soldiers of the Lord.

Many of us gave our hearts to the Lord Jesus as children. We meant business and our heart belongs to Him. But I wonder if there are not some of us who need to say, “Lord Jesus, I have gotten casual about this thing. I have taken for granted what I did as a child or as a young person. But now today, Lord Jesus, I present the most precious thing I have—my life, my soul, my all—to you anew and afresh like I have never ever done it before.”

In what ways have grown casual about your relationship with the Lord?

How is He calling you to respond?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider your life and relationship with Christ. Respond to Him with renewed commitment today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

True Holiness Without Pretense

“. . . if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."EPHESIANS 4:21-24

 

PONDER THIS

When we are renewed, God puts a new nature inside of us. It’s not enough to put off the old man. We must also put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. Don’t you love that phrase, true holiness? God forgive us for the icky kind of holiness we hold out, this pretense which is not holiness at all. No, His desire and goal for us is true holiness.

You’ve got a choice: You can grieve the Spirit of God and be filled with the devil, or you can put the devil out and be filled with the Spirit of God. Be filled with the Spirit. ‘There’s no room for the devil when you’re filled with the Spirit. When you are filled with the Spirit, you have God alive and at work in you. What a privilege and opportunity; it is not to be taken lightly.

When was the last time you experienced spiritual renewal? What was that like? What areas of your life were impacted in that time?

What areas of your life are broken and in need of renewal right now?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray and ask God for renewal in the areas you named above.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Family Resemblance

“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”’” JOHN 3:5-7

 

PONDER THIS

What are the characteristics of the new nature in Christ? When the Bible says, “born again,” it literally means being born from above. When you are born from above, God’s nature comes into you. What is the nature of God? Do you want to know whether you’re saved or not? I know that I’m a Rogers. I can look at my parents and see their nature in me. Similarly, I know I’ve been born again because I can open the Bible and see God, and I can look in my heart and see the nature of God in me.

Because of that new nature, there will be love for Jesus Christ. If you don’t love Jesus, you’d better put a big question mark after your salvation. There will be not mere intellectual belief but a love for Jesus Christ. Because of your new nature, there will be a desire for holiness. God the Father says, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). That is, “If you’re My child, you’ll be like Me.” You are going to be holy. You’re going to desire true holiness. This is certain for those who have been saved.

What has changed in your character since becoming a Christian?

What still needs to be changed in your life and character? Why have those areas been harder to surrender to God?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to a Christian friend you know well and trust. Ask him or her where you have become more like Christ and where further growth is needed.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

Humility Must Come Before Revival

“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.” EZEKIEL 47:1-2

 

PONDER THIS

If we want revival, we first need two things: humility and holiness.

We need to first humble ourselves before God. Many of us sit in church high-minded, unbent, unbroken, and somehow thinking we’re doing God a service or favor by being here. In our churches, we talk about our buildings, programs, music, preaching, teaching, and all of that, but it does no good without a brokenness before God. We need to have humility in our hearts.

We also need to embrace holiness. In Ezekiel, the river flows from under the threshold and past the altar (v. 1). The altar was the place where the blood was shed—the place for the sacrifice of sin, the place of cleansing. There can never be any true revival when God’s people have unconfessed, unrepented sin in their hearts and in their lives. There can never be true revival until we repent. Not everybody will be attracted by your life if you’re filled with the Spirit, but I will guarantee you that if you get on fire for Jesus Christ—if a humble, holy flow of living water runs through you and flows down into the depressed, dry, and deadly places of your own heart—others will see the work of God in you.

When was the last time you humbled yourself before God?

What are you struggling with that you need to bring before God in humility?

PRACTICE THIS

With a humble heart, bring before God the things with which you are struggling.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

Are You Striving to Be Holy?

PRAY OVER THIS

“But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Hebrews 7:24-25

 

PONDER THIS

Holiness is not the way to Christ; Christ is the way to holiness. Thank God for that. Come, bring your sins, your weakness, your faults, and your failures to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t try to clean up without Jesus. Thank God He’s a sinless Savior. You can’t wash clothes and make them clean by washing them in dirty water.

Don’t get the idea that you must live the Christian life. The Christian life ought to be lived, but it is Jesus Christ underneath with His strength carrying you on His shoulders. He has done that for me since I was saved as a 14-year-old boy. Were it not for the strength of Jesus, I never would have made it. Come to Jesus. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God, if you sincerely trust Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, not only will He save you; He will keep you all the way. That’s what the Bible teaches. We have a high priest who’s able to save us to the uttermost. That means He’ll save you all the way through. He’ll keep you. He’ll save you instantaneously. He’ll be with you continually. He will keep you eternally.

What are some failures you have a hard time bringing to Christ?

How does Christ being the One who keeps us change the way we live?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray and confess the failures and weaknesses you have been afraid to bring to God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Set Apart and Devoted to God?

PRAY OVER THIS

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”

1 Peter 1:15-16

 

PONDER THIS

What does the word holy mean? It means to be separated, different, set aside for a purpose. In the Church, we observe and celebrate various holidays. Holidays are holy days, days set aside for special purposes. So, a holy person is a person set aside for a special purpose. I don’t belong to me; I’m not my own. I belong to the Lord.

Holiness is not a prideful attitude; it’s just being different. Holiness is not withdrawing. It’s not going off to a monastery or convent somewhere. To be holy means simply to be different from this world. It means to be like God. God is holy, so to be holy is to be like God. Second Peter 3:11 says, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?” What is godliness? It simply means to be devoted to and pleasing to God. If you please God, it doesn’t matter whom you displease. And if you displease God, it doesn’t matter whom you please. We are meant to be pleasing to God.

Who in your circle exemplifies this type of set-apart life?

What are some things that please the Lord according to Scripture?

PRACTICE THIS

Look in the Word and make a list of things that are pleasing to the Lord. Consider how this list is different from the things you would naturally value and prioritize.

 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

Are You a Sweet-Smelling Aroma?

PRAY OVER THIS

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” 

1 Peter 1:15-16

 

PONDER THIS

Here’s what Scripture says older women are to teach younger women: “…the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things” (Titus 2:3). Notice here that it says they are to be holy in their behavior. As I studied this, I learned this means they are to have an aura of holiness about them. It literally infers they are to have the fragrance of holiness. It has the picture of the priest who has gone into the sanctuary to minister, and when he comes out, the sweet perfume of incense is still in his garments. And as you breathe in, you feel His presence. You can tell that person has been in the holy place. That’s the idea of becoming holy. Have you known people like this? I have. Just to be in their presence is like being in a holy place. They have the fragrance and the beauty of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Who do you know who has “the fragrance of Jesus”?

How has God’s presence in your life changed your “fragrance”?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage someone you know who has the aroma of Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

Change Is Possible

Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

Christianity means change is possible. Deep, fundamental change. It is possible to become tenderhearted when once you were callous and insensitive. It is possible to stop being dominated by bitterness and anger. It is possible to become a loving person, no matter what your background has been.

The Bible assumes that God is the decisive factor in making us what we should be. With wonderful bluntness, the Bible says, “Put away . . . all malice” and be “tenderhearted” (Ephesians 4:31–32). It does not say, “If you can . . . ” Or, “If your parents were tenderhearted . . . ” Or, “If you have not been terribly abused . . . ” It says, “Be . . . tenderhearted.”

This is wonderfully freeing. It frees us from the terrible fatalism that says change is impossible for me. It frees me from mechanistic views that make my background my destiny.

And God’s commands always come with freeing, life-changing truth to believe. For example,

God adopted us as his children. We have a new Father and a new family. This breaks the fatalistic forces of our “family-of-origin.” “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9).

God loves us as his children. We are “loved children” (Ephesians 5:1). The command to imitate the love of God does not hang in the air, it comes with power: “Be imitators of God, as loved children.” “Love!” is the command and being loved by God is the power.

God has forgiven us in Christ. Be tenderhearted and forgiving just as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). What God did in Christ is powerful. It makes change possible. The command to be tenderhearted has more to do with what God did for you than what your mother or your father did to you. This kind of command means you can change.

Christ loved you and gave himself up for you. “Walk in love, as Christ loved [you]” (Ephesians 5:2). The command comes with life-changing truth. “Christ loved you.” At the moment when there is a chance to love, and some voice says, “You are not a loving person,” you can say, “Christ’s love for me makes me a new kind of person. His command to love is just as surely possible for me as his promise of love is true for me.”

Don’t be a fatalist. Be a Christian. Change is possible. God is alive. Christ is risen. The promises are true.

John Piper 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

How We Must Fight for Holiness

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

There is a practical holiness without which we will not see the Lord. Many live as if this were not so.

There are professing Christians who live such unholy lives that they will hear Jesus’s dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Paul says to professing believers, “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

So, there is a holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And learning to fight for holiness by faith in future grace is supremely important.

There is another way to pursue holiness that backfires and leads to death. Paul warns us against serving God any other way than by faith in his enabling grace. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Any effort to serve God that does not, in that very act, depend on him as the reward of our hearts and the power of our service, will dishonor him as a needy pagan god.

Peter describes the alternative to such self-reliant service of God, “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And Paul says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me” (Romans 15:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10).

Moment by moment, grace arrives to enable us to do “every good work” that God appoints for us. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fight for good works is a fight to believe the promises of future grace.

John Piper 

Are you working toward holiness?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Leviticus 11:44 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Some people think that to be holy means to be odd—really strange.  No, we’re to be different. We have too many Christians doing—sometimes nutty, sometimes unbiblical—things, who claim to be holy when in reality they are just odd.

Holiness is not achieved by what we wear, where we sleep and eat, or how many spiritual things we do. It is not primarily a matter of dress or style of hair. And we don’t become holy if we live in a commune, monastery, or convent.

God makes us holy by the blood of His Son. And in return for this great love, we endeavor to live holy lives because we love Him. “Holy” is a state of being, not doing. It is a God-induced, God-developed character trait that grows in us as we grow in our love relationship with God.

ACTION POINT:

Instead of trying to think of ways in which you can appear to be holy or trying to convince God that you are, I recommend this: in humble submission to the One who loves you more than anyone else, ask Him: “Lord, I’m your servant. Show me throughout this day how best to honor You and serve You.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Like Father, Like Son?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I am a Rogers. My father’s name is Arden Duncan Rogers. I have become a partaker of his nature, and you would expect to find his characteristics in me because in the physical realm, he has fathered me.

Among all the reasons I can imagine for living a holy life, one of the most important is for us to identify with God. He is the thrice-holy God of Israel. Holy is the Father, holy is the Son, and holy is the Spirit.

What does it mean to be identified with God’s character of holiness? Have you ever heard the expression “like father, like son”? That’s what it means to be identified with God.

Because we are God’s children, there ought to be His likeness in our lives. And His likeness is holiness. May our hearts be so in tune with our Father’s that we rejoice in what He rejoices over and may our hearts be broken by what breaks His heart.

ACTION POINT:

In prayer today, ask the Lord to point out to you any area in your life that violates His holiness or is holding you back from reflecting His likeness.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers