Stop Staring at Your Jericho

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.”

HEBREWS 11:30

 

PONDER THIS

Many people are problem conscious. All they see is the problem. They see Jericho. Many of us need to take our eyes off Jericho and put them on Jesus. Here is the way of faith. Don’t dwell on your problems, dwell on your Lord. Be looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Catch a vision of Him. Worship Him. Bow before Him and you'll find your faith growing. Learn to glance at your problems and to gaze at your Lord. Keep your eyes on Him. Don’t go around being negative or with a problem complex. Go around with your eyes, your hopes, and your affections fastened upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Set your affections on things above. Put your eyes upon the Lord and your faith will begin to grow.

Are you more prone to focus on your problems or on your Lord?

What habits can you develop to focus more on Jesus than on your problems?

PRACTICE THIS

Take action today. Begin practicing some of the habits you identified to help you focus more on Jesus than on your problems.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

 

Hope Like an Anchor

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” HEBREWS 11:1

 

PONDER THIS

The word hope does not mean “a fond desire.” It means a glorious assurance based on the Word of God. We use the word hope today to mean something similar to the word wish. We hope something will happen, but we also don’t want to get our hopes too high so that we won’t be overly disappointed. We would like for something to happen, but it isn’t sure. That isn’t what the word hope means in the Bible. The Second Coming of Jesus is called “the blessed hope” (see Titus 2:13). How do we know that Jesus is coming again? We have God’s promise. The Lord Jesus said, “If I go … I will come again” (John 14:3). He said, “I will!” Therefore, we have this hope like an anchor. You don’t put an anchor in a cloud bank. The Bible calls hope the “anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19)! An anchor holds firm and can be trusted in every season. This is the hope we have in Jesus.

How much trust do you put in the promises of the Bible?

How has today’s devotion changed the way you think about hope?

PRACTICE THIS

Write out a list of things you are hoping for. Make a corresponding list of promises from the Bible that you can have certain hope in.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why We Don’t Lose Heart

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

Paul can’t see the way he used to (and there were no glasses). He can’t hear the way he used to (and there were no hearing aids). He doesn’t recover from beatings the way he used to (and there were no antibiotics). His strength, walking from town to town, doesn’t hold up the way it used to. He sees the wrinkles in his face and neck. His memory is not as good. And he admits that this is a threat to his faith and joy and courage.

But he does not lose heart. Why?

He doesn’t lose heart because his inner man is being renewed. How?

The renewing of his heart comes from something very strange: it comes from looking at what he can’t see.

We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

This is Paul’s way of not losing heart: looking at what he cannot see. What, then, did he see when he looked?

A few verses later in 2 Corinthians 5:7, he says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” This doesn’t mean that he leaps into the dark without evidence of what’s there. It means that for now the most precious and important realities in the world are beyond our physical senses.

We “look” at these unseen things through the gospel. We strengthen our hearts — we renew our courage — by fixing our gaze on the invisible, objective truth that we see in the testimony of those who saw Christ face to face.

“God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We see this as it shines in our heart through the gospel.

We became Christians when this happened — whether we understood this or not. And with Paul we need to go on seeing with the eyes of the heart, so that we not lose heart.

John Piper 

Share the True Hope

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

MATTHEW 6:19-20

 

PONDER THIS

Let’s suppose you’re down in the Caribbean on a luxurious cruise ship and everything is beautiful. You say, “This is the best vacation of my life.” Then the captain says, “I have an announcement ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to continue the entertainment. The cooks are going to do an even better job than normal with the cuisine. The crew is going to go all out to make you comfortable.” Then he says, “But there has been one change in plans. We’re not going to sail to any one port. Instead, we’re going to go out in the middle of the ocean and sail around in circles until we run out of food, fuel, and water. And when we do, we’re going to empty the ship and sink it.”

At that moment, no matter how much you’re enjoying the cruise, it doesn’t seem to be quite as good, does it? When you realize you’re going around in a meaningless circle, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the weather is. It is a hopeless, joyless matter. In the same way, the joy of this present life will not diminish the fact there is no hope for the future for those outside of Christ. We should seek to meet people’s temporal needs as we are able, but first and foremost, we must point them to Christ. Apart from Him, there is no hope.

How are you tempted to focus on current comforts and pleasures over the future reality of life eternal with God?

Who do you know who needs to hear about the hope of Christ today?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time to share with the person you identified about the hope of Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Hope in the Middle of the Storm

“Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” ACTS 27:34

 

PONDER THIS

In Acts 27:30-32, there were some sailors aboard ship with Paul during a fierce storm who said, “We’ll get in that lifeboat. We’ll get off this big ship, and we’ll escape.” These men sought a form of escapism built upon selfishness. Don’t do it! You may say, “I’ll outrun or drown out my problems.” No, they can swim. You’re the one who is going to drown.

There were others who were working, throwing everything overboard. They couldn’t see which way to go. Do you know people like that? This was a storm they’d been warned about, to begin with, and now they were facing the consequences of their actions. That’s how the godless sometimes go through storms.

But what about the godly? Paul called the men together and encouraged them. He gave a good message from God. Just as in this account, there are three classes in America: those who are afraid, those who don’t know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles.

Which of these categories would you count yourself in? Why?

How can you remain encouraged and encourage others in the middle of life’s storms?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage someone you know who is having a tough time today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God’s Rebuke Is a Sign of Hope

“He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” PROVERBS 29:1

 

PONDER THIS

God has called me to proclaim that He loves you with an infinite love. He has spoken to you over and over again, and He’s speaking to you today. But God says, “If you continue to harden your neck, you’ll be destroyed.” And when you are, there’ll be no second chance. It will be without remedy, without hope. I looked this verse up in several different translations, and they all mean the same thing: no hope, without a second chance, without a remedy, without a cure.

But why would God rebuke you? Because He loves you so much, and He wants to save you today. You may ask, “Pastor Rogers, would Jesus save me today?” Yes. “Pastor Rogers, are you sure?” Yes, I’m sure, if you’ll call upon Him.” You say, “What if I’ve crossed the deadline?” If you call upon Him, you haven’t.

How might you use the message of today’s devotion to encourage someone in the truth?

How does God’s rebuke always give us hope? Why is it worse to not have His rebuke?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider where God is rebuking you currently. Respond to Him in obedience as He is prompting you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Faith for the Impossible

He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20–21)

Paul has in mind a special reason why faith glorifies God’s future grace. Simply put, the reason is that this God-glorifying faith is a future-oriented confidence in God’s integrity and power and wisdom to follow through on all his promises.

Paul illustrates this faith with Abraham’s response to the promise of God: that he would be the father of many nations even though he was old and his wife was barren (Romans 4:18). “In hope he believed against hope,” that is, he had faith in the future grace of God’s promise, in spite of all human evidences to the contrary.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:19–21)

The faith of Abraham was a faith in the promise of God to make him the father of many nations. This faith glorified God because it called attention to all the omnipotent, supernatural resources of God that would be required to fulfill it.

Abraham was too old to have children, and Sarah was barren. Not only that: How do you turn a son or two into “many nations,” which God said Abraham would be the father of? It all seemed totally impossible.

Therefore, Abraham’s faith glorified God by being fully assured that he could and would do the humanly impossible. This is the faith we are called to have. That God will do for us what we could never do for ourselves.

John Piper 

It’s Never Too Late to Begin

“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” MATTHEW 20:15

 

PONDER THIS

In Matthew 20, Jesus told a parable to teach us that it is His prerogative to choose to save people who come to Him late in life. The thief on the cross was saved in the eleventh hour. Just before he died, he turned to Jesus and said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Still, you shouldn’t deliberately deny Christ and say to yourself, “I’ll get saved in the eleventh hour,” because you may never get to the eleventh hour. You may die tonight. You may die tomorrow. Your heart may become hardened. But what does Jesus say? He says it is never too late to start and it is always too soon to quit. The workers in Matthew 11 came into the vineyard even in the eleventh hour, which was as soon as they were called. It is better to start and to serve lovingly all day, but it is never too late to start.

How does today’s passage remind you that no one is without hope when it comes to trusting Christ?

Who have you given up hope on? How does today’s devotion challenge you to keep praying?

PRACTICE THIS

What is something God has called you to do but you have put off? Respond with action today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Everything Will Be Set Right

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” REVELATION 21:1

 

PONDER THIS

Take your Bible and read the first two chapters. You won’t find any devil there. Read the last two chapters of the Bible and you won’t find any devil there. Habakkuk 2:14 gives this promise, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The reason that everything’s such a mess today is things are out of place. Think about it. The Church is the bride, but the bride belongs with the groom. We’re not yet with Him. Jesus is the King, and the King belongs on the throne. He’s not yet ruling. The devil is a criminal; he belongs in prison. He’s not yet there. But one day soon, the bride’s going to be with the Groom. One of these days the King’s going to be on the throne, and one of these days the devil’s going to be in prison. What a day that will be. That is the day we are to watch and hope for.

How does it shape your daily perspective to remember that Jesus has promised to return and rule forever?

What would you do differently today if you truly believed that?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of ways you might live differently if you truly believed Jesus could return soon. Take action to make changes to align with this list today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Hope That Outlives the Grave

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

1 CORINTHIANS 15:20

 

PONDER THIS

I was at a funeral. The beautiful flowers were there. I walked around looking at the flowers, and I saw one beautiful bouquet. You could tell it was done by the grandchildren. This was an elderly man, a saint on this Earth, a dear member of the Church. And on the floral offering, it said, “To Pop-Pop.”

And I stood there, as is the pastor’s habit as people come by, and I saw that precious widow, who’d walked with her husband for more than half a century and was a lady of great faith. She was not in despair. She walked up and laid her hand on his sleeve and touched him, patted it a couple of times, and turned and walked away. And I thought to myself, “Is that it? Is that all there is to life? Pop-Pop is gone? Her husband is gone?” No! Death does not have dominion! Christ is risen! Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished. He is alive.

How have you experienced the hope that comes from Christ when losing a loved one?

How does the resurrection give us hope not just for the future, but for today?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of the ways the resurrection provides hope for followers of Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why We Must Hold Fast Our Hope

When God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:17–18)

God is not inconsistent. He does not exert himself with promises, and oaths, and the blood of his Son, simply to anchor down one end of our security while leaving the other to dangle in the air.

The salvation Jesus obtained by his blood was everything it takes to save his people, not just part of it.

So, we are prone to ask, Why does the writer encourage us to hold fast to our hope (Hebrews 6:18)? If our holding fast was obtained and irrevocably secured by the blood of Jesus — which it was (that’s the difference between the new covenant and the old) — then why does God tell us to hold fast?

The answer is this:

What Christ bought for us when he died was not the freedom from having to hold fast, but the enabling power to hold fast.

What he bought was not the nullification of our wills as though we didn’t have to hold fast, but the empowering of our wills so that we want to hold fast.

What he bought was not the canceling of the commandment to hold fast, but the fulfillment of the commandment to hold fast.

What he bought was not the end of exhortation, but the triumph of exhortation.

He died so that you would do exactly what Paul did in Philippians 3:12, “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” It is not foolishness, it is the gospel, to tell a sinner to do what Christ alone can enable him to do; namely, hope in God.

So, I exhort you with all my heart: Reach out and take hold of that for which you have been taken hold of by Christ, and hold it fast with all your might — which he mightily works in you.

John Piper 

How Can I Be Filled with the Spirit?

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? How can we experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our church and ourselves that fills us with indomitable joy and frees us, and empowers us, to love those around us in ways so authentic that they are won to Christ?

Answer: Meditate day and night upon the incomparable, hope-giving promises of God. As Romans 15:4 shows us, that’s the way Paul kept his heart full of hope and joy and love. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

The full assurance of hope comes from meditating on the promises of God’s word. And this does not contradict the sentence nine verses later that says that the Holy Spirit gives us hope (Romans 15:13). This is because the Holy Spirit is the divine author of Scripture. His word is the means of his work. It is no contradiction that the way he fills us with hope is by filling us with his own word of promise.

Hope is not some vague emotion that comes out of nowhere, like a stomachache. Hope is the confidence that the stupendous future promised to us by the word of the Spirit is going to really come true. Therefore, the way to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with his word. The way to have the power of the Spirit is to believe the promises of his word.

For it is the word of promise that fills us with hope, and hope fills us with joy, and joy overflows in the power and freedom to love our neighbor. And that is the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

John Piper 

Amazed at the Resurrection

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. (2 Peter 3:1)

As Easter approaches, let’s stir up our thankfulness and joy and admiration and amazement at what the resurrection of Jesus means for us. The curse of our fallen nature is that what once thrilled us becomes ordinary. The reality hasn’t changed. We have changed.

This is why the Bible exists. Peter says of his two letters that they are written to “stir up” or “arouse” by means of “reminder.”

So, let’s stir up our sincere minds by way of reminder.

What has God done in raising Jesus from the dead? Here are a few biblical answers.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we are born again to a living hope.

1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Because of Jesus’s resurrection, he now has the glory for which we were made. Our ultimate destiny is to see him as he is.

1 Peter 1:21: “God . . . raised him from the dead and gave him glory.”

John 17:5, 24: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. . . . Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

May the risen Lord Jesus himself awaken and arouse your sincere mind to new depths of worship and allegiance and joy.

John Piper 

The Battle to Remind

“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.” (Lamentations 3:21–22)

One of the great enemies of hope is forgetting God’s promises. Reminding is a great ministry. Peter and Paul both said that they wrote letters for this reason (2 Peter 1:13; Romans 15:15).

The main Helper in reminding us what we need to know is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). But that doesn’t mean you should be passive. You are responsible only for your own ministry of reminding. And the first one in need of reminding by you is you.

The mind has this great power: It can talk to itself by way of reminder. The mind can “call to mind,” as the text says: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:21–22).

If we don’t “call to mind” what God has said about himself and about us, we languish. Oh, how I know this from painful experience! Don’t wallow in the mire of godless messages in your own head. Messages like: “I can’t . . .” “She won’t . . .” “They never . . .” “It has never worked . . .”

The point is not that these are true or false. Your mind will always find a way to make them true, unless you “call to mind” something greater. God is the God of the impossible. Reasoning your way out of an impossible situation is not as effective as reminding yourself that God does impossible things.

Without reminding ourselves of the greatness and grace and power and wisdom of God, we sink into brutish pessimism. “I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (Psalm 73:22).

The great turn from despair to hope in Psalm 77 comes with these words: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:11–12).

This is the great battle of my life. I assume yours too. The battle to remind! Myself. Then others.

John Piper 

The Window of the Heart

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:3)

One of the most remarkable capacities of the human mind is the capacity to direct its own attention to something it chooses. We can pause and say to our minds, “Think about this, and not that.” We can focus our attention on an idea or a picture or a problem or a hope.

It is an amazing power. I doubt that animals have it. They are probably not self-reflective, but rather governed by impulse and instinct.

Have you been neglecting this great weapon in the arsenal of your war against sin? The Bible calls us again and again to use this remarkable gift. Let’s take this gift off the shelf, and dust it off, and put it to use.

For example, Paul says in Romans 8:5–6, “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (my translation).

This is stunning. What you set your mind on determines whether the issue is life or death.

Many of us have become far too passive in our pursuit of change and wholeness and peace. I have the feeling that in our therapeutic age we have fallen into the passive mindset of simply “talking through our problems” or “dealing with our issues” or “discovering the roots of our brokenness in our family of origin.”

But I see a much more aggressive, non-passive approach to change in the New Testament. Namely, set your mind. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Our emotions are governed in large measure by what we consider — what we dwell on with our minds. For example, Jesus told us to overcome the emotion of anxiety by what we consider: “Consider the ravens. . . . Consider the lilies” (Luke 12:24, 27).

The mind is the window of the heart. If we let our minds constantly dwell on the dark, the heart will feel dark. But if we open the window of our mind to the light, the heart will feel the light.

Above all, this great capacity of our minds to focus and consider is meant for considering Jesus (Hebrews 12:3). So, let’s do this: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

John Piper 

Hope for the New Year and Eternity

“. . . knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

1 PETER 1:18-21

 

PONDER THIS

Jesus came to Earth that we might go to Heaven. He was born of a virgin that we might be born again. He was made the Son of Man that you and I might become sons and daughters of God. He died for us. He was a special Lamb. He was a slain Lamb. He was a saving Lamb. In this Christmas season, have you been to Jesus for His cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?

In just a few days we’ll have a new year. Most will be thinking about plans for a new year—what you’re going to be doing, thinking, and your ambitions and goals. He alone is worthy of your love. He alone is worthy of your life. He alone is worthy of your deepest loyalty.

How does Christ the lamb give you hope? What are some other things you have tried to put your hope in?

What does it look like to fully trust in the grace of Jesus? What are some things that hold you back?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray for the coming year and make spiritual goals for how you want to prioritize growth in your faith in the year to come.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Down Payment of Heaven

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” EPHESIANS 1:13-14

 

PONDER THIS

Because of Jesus, we are justified by God’s grace. We are made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life. That's what is coming for the follower of Christ. That is your future when you belong to Him—heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus Christ. What a hope we have when we look ahead as children of God. The best is yet to come. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit in our hearts a down payment. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. Do you know what the word guarantee means? When you're going to buy a house, you put down earnest money to say you are committed to buying the house. The Holy Spirit in your heart is the earnest money. You'll get the full legacy later.

If I were to offer you my wallet, when you get the wallet, you get the money that's in it. When you receive Jesus, you receive the eternal life that's in Him. You can't have that life without having Jesus. Receive Him and find life.

How hopeful are you about the future? Why?

How should the promise of inheritance in Christ change how you see the future? Who can you share this hope with?

PRACTICE THIS

Share with someone today about the current guarantee of the Holy Spirit and the future hope of an inheritance from God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Unchanging Hope

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” ROMANS 8:22

 

PONDER THIS

The second law of thermodynamics is energy can never be destroyed, but it continually becomes less available for further work as it unravels. In plain English, everything tends to wear out and run down. Have you learned that? Leave a garden by itself and it will become overgrown with weeds. Your body breaks down over time. Even a car left alone without being overused will break down over time.

Everything is marked by death, decay, and disintegration. Why would God, who created everything, make it that way? Because of sin. There’s a curse upon creation, and it tends to wind down. The evolutionist says that things get more complex. Things move toward precision. Given enough time, disorganized things become organized. Yet this is just simply not what we see in our world and in our lives. We all go toward decay; this is why we need to hold onto our eternal God amid all the things around us that will fail.

How have you seen movement toward decay impact your life?

How has the brokenness of the world led you toward God?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage another, who is struggling, to look to God who is eternal and unchanging.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Fear and Hope in God’s Jealousy

“The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)

God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, and responds with terrible wrath against those whose hearts should belong to him but go after other things, like a spouse running after another lover.

For example, in Ezekiel 16:38–40 he says to faithless Israel,

“I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber. . . . They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.”

I urge you to listen to this warning. The jealousy of God for your undivided love and devotion will always have the last say. Whatever lures your affections away from God with deceptive attraction will come back to strip you bare and cut you in pieces.

It is a horrifying thing to use your God-given life to commit adultery against the Almighty.

But for those of you who have been truly united to Christ and who keep your vows to forsake all others and cleave only to him and live for his honor — for you the jealousy of God is a great comfort and a great hope.

Since God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, anything and anybody who threatens the good of his faithful wife will be opposed with divine omnipotence. That’s good news for the faithful wife — the faithful people of God.

God’s jealousy is a great threat to those who play the harlot and sell their heart to the world and make a cuckold out of God (James 4:3–4). But his jealousy is a great comfort to those who keep their covenant vows and become strangers and exiles in the world.

John Piper 

Hope for the Worst of Sinners

“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Exodus 33:19)

Moses needed hope that God really could have mercy on a stiff-necked people who had just committed idolatry and scorned the God who brought them out of Egypt.

To give Moses the hope and confidence he needed, God said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” In other words, “My choices do not depend on the degree of evil or good in man but solely upon my free, sovereign will. Therefore no one can say he is too evil to be shown grace.” That would imply God is not free, and election is not unconditional.

The doctrine of unconditional election is the great doctrine of hope for the worst of sinners. It means that when it comes to being a candidate for grace, your background has nothing to do with God’s choice. That’s good news.

If you have not been born again and brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ, do not sink into hopelessness thinking that the excessive rottenness or hardness of your past life is an insurmountable obstacle to God’s gracious work in your life. God loves to magnify the freedom of his grace by saving the worst of sinners.

Turn from your sin; call upon the Lord. Even in this daily devotion, that you are reading or hearing, he is being gracious to you, and giving you strong encouragement to come to him for mercy.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

John Piper