Ruler of All Nature

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33)

In modern language we would say, “The dice are rolled on the table, and every play is decided by God.”

In other words, there are no events so small that he does not rule them for his purposes. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” Jesus said. “And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:29–30).

Every roll of the dice in Las Vegas, every tiny bird that falls dead in a thousand forests — all of this is God’s command.

In the book of Jonah, God commands a fish to swallow a man (1:17), he commands a plant to grow for shade (4:6), and he commands a worm to kill it (4:7).

And far above the life of fish and worms, the stars take their place and hold their place at God’s command.

Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)

How much more, then, the natural events of this world — from weather to disasters to disease to disability to death.

His law he enforces;

the stars in their courses

and sun in its orbit obediently shine;

the hills and the mountains,

the rivers and fountains,

the deeps of the ocean

proclaim him divine.

(“Let All Things Now Living,” Katherine Davis)

Let us therefore stand in awe and be at peace, knowing that no natural event is outside of God’s wise and good purposes, and perfect control.

John Piper 

Bowing to the Only Wise God

“To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” JUDE 1:25

 

PONDER THIS

Jude said the apostate rejects authority or despises dominion (1:8 KJV). What did he mean by dominion? Who or what is dominion? Look in verse 25: “To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” When apostates despise dominion, they despise the only wise God who alone has that dominion. An apostate literally hates God. Look in the last part of verse 4 in chapter 1: they “deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” As a reminder, these are not deniers of God outside the church. These are deniers of God inside the church. These are people who despise dominion and sit on church pews, teach in seminaries and teach in Bible colleges. They are rebels at heart. They do not want anybody to box them in. Their battle cry is freedom. They don’t want anybody to tell them what they must believe or how they must behave.

How would you explain what it means to despise dominion?

What are some ways you might be tempted to do this? How can you guard against it?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of ways God exercises His dominion in the world. Make notes of ways you can submit to and praise His dominion in these areas.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

 

Nothing Is Out of His Hand

Pray Over This

“But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are saying!’ Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’” Luke 22:60-61

Ponder This

In today’s passage, we should note the precision of the rooster’s crow. It is nothing less than a miracle. Two things I want you to try. One, I want you to make a rooster crow. Number two, see if you can keep one from crowing. What our Lord did was keep every rooster in Jerusalem from crowing at all until that exact moment. Immediately after Peter had denied the Lord, the rooster crowed, and the Bible says Peter remembered the word of the Lord. When Peter remembered the word of the Lord, Peter had to remember: God is still in control. 

Do you know what Peter’s problem was, why Peter was filled with fear, and why he denied the Lord? Things had gotten out of hand. His Lord and Master had been betrayed. He had been falsely accused. He was arrested. He had been carried away. He was bound, mocked, and forsaken. Everything was coming apart. Where was God? When the rooster crowed, Peter was reminded that our 

Lord was still in complete control. Nothing had gotten out of His hand.

When was a time you recognized God’s control in your life?

How does this give you comfort when things are hard?

Practice This 

Make a list of some hard situations you are facing right now. Make a corresponding list of how confidence in God’s control can impact those situations.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Offense of Fearing Man

Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” (1 Samuel 15:24)

Why did Saul obey the people instead of God? Because he feared the people instead of God. He feared the human consequences of obedience more than he feared the divine consequences of disobedience. He feared the displeasure of the people more than the displeasure of God. And that is a great insult to God.

In fact, Isaiah says it is a kind of pride to be afraid of what man can do while we disregard the promises of God. He quotes God with this piercing question: “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker?” (Isaiah 51:12–13).

Fear of man may not feel like pride, but that’s what God says it is, “Who do you think you are to fear man and forget me your Maker!”

The point is this: If you fear man, you have begun to deny the holiness, the worth of God and his Son, Jesus. God is infinitely stronger than man. He is infinitely wiser and infinitely more full of reward and joy.

To turn from him out of fear of what man can do is to discount all that God promises to be for those who fear him. It is a great insult. And in such an insult God can take no pleasure.

On the other hand, when we hear God’s promises and trust him with courage, fearing the reproach brought upon God by our unbelief, then he is greatly honored. And in that he has much pleasure.

John Piper 

God's Sovereign Will

Father - God - powerful and authoritative to the extent of being able to override all other powers and authorities

Son - The Christ - complete obedience to God and His sovereignty 

Holy Spirit - Helper

John 1:1-5

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

1 John 1:1-3

[1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—[2] the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—[3] that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:1-10

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, 

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 

[2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Romans 16:25-27

[25] Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages [26] but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—[27] to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Colossians 1:16-20

[16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Philippians 2:9-11

[9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

John 14:26

[26] But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 14:16-17

[16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 15:26-27

[26] “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. [27] And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

John 16:7-11

[7] Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. [8] And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: [9] concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; [10] concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; [11] concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Lincoln’s Providence

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33)

Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this day in 1809, remained skeptical, and at times even cynical, about religion into his forties. So, it is a most striking thing how personal and national suffering drew Lincoln into the reality of God, rather than pushing him away.

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.” Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the Capitol held two thousand cots for wounded soldiers.

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was assassinated. It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or Confederate cause. God has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. . . .

Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

I pray for all of you who suffer loss and injury and great sorrow that it will awaken for you, as it did for Lincoln, not an empty fatalism, but a deeper reliance on the infinite wisdom and love of God’s inscrutable providence.

John Piper 

When Your Problems Aren’t as Big as You Think

“But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.’” ACTS 4:19

 

PONDER THIS

What is the biggest problem you are facing today? Think about it. Hold it in your mind. Now double it. Make it twice as bad. Now double what you’ve doubled. Now, I want to ask you a question: is that big to God? Of course not.

What is the basis of boldness? You must keep company with God the Son. You must have confidence in God the Father. When these people were terrified, they took their eyes off man and put their eyes on God. Take your eyes off your problems. Focus your eyes upon Almighty God, who is the Creator of all things, who is the Controller of all things, and the Conqueror of all things. That’s the basis of our boldness.

Where are you typically focused when you feel most fearful and anxious?

How might your perspective change if you focused on God over the things of the world?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to purposefully take your mind off the problems you face in the world and put them onto our God who is the Creator, Controller, and Conqueror of all things.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When the Maker of the Stars Is on Your Side

“So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them’” ACTS 4:24

 

PONDER THIS

What gives the believer boldness? It is the fact that God—who scooped out the oceans, who heaped up the mountains, and who dotted the Universe with stars, billions and billions of stars, out over the velvety blackness of space—is on our side. In today’s passage and the verses that follow (Acts 4:24-30), the believers said, “God, You made it all. Why should we tremble when You are our Father? Why should we be intimidated when a God who can do such things is on our side?”

A college student once asked his pastor, “Pastor, do you believe there’s life on other planets, other places out in space?” Pastor said, “No, son, I really don’t believe there is.” He said, “Now, Pastor, think about it. There are billions and billions of stars, and you don’t believe there’s life out there anywhere?” The pastor said, “I can’t prove there’s not, but I don’t believe there is.” And then the college student said, “Well, Pastor, then why did God go to the trouble to make all that stuff?” The pastor said, “What trouble? He only had to speak. Only God can do that. He spoke, and universes dripped from His fingers.” What a mighty God we serve.

How often do you stop to consider the majesty of God’s creation, even beyond our solar system and galaxy?

What does this tell you about God and His power?

PRACTICE THIS

Make time this week to behold God’s majesty in His creation. As you do, submit your cares before Him, recognizing His power and might as displayed in His creation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

2 Samuel 22:32

    [32] “For who is God, but the LORD?

        And who is a rock, except our God?

2 Samuel 22:2

[2] He said, 

    “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

Psalm 33:20-21

    [20] Our soul waits for the LORD;

        he is our help and our shield. 

    [21] For our heart is glad in him,

        because we trust in his holy name.

Psalm 27:1

Of David.

    [1] The LORD is my light and my salvation;

        whom shall I fear?

    The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

        of whom shall I be afraid?

The Christmas Light that Restores the Soul

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” JOHN 1:4

 

PONDER THIS

When you think about Jesus as the Light of the world, you see His constancy. There’s one thing about light: It is constant. The first two verses of John tell us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Now Jesus is God, and being God, He never changes. God cannot change. How could God change? He couldn’t get better, and He won’t get worse. He’s unchangeable. He says, “I’m the Lord. I change not.” Light is constant. Light does not change.

I heard a preacher say, “You can’t make God nervous.” I love that. There’s no panic in Heaven. He does not change, and He sees the beginning from the end. When Jesus came into the world, in Him was life, and that life was the light of Man! That’s the vitality of this life. You want your life put back together? It’ll be put back together with light. There is a divine photosynthesis when Jesus brings light to your life. Your cold, dark, dead, clammy world will be put back together when the glorious light of the Son of God shines into your heart. Thank God there is a sunrise for the soul.

How has Jesus been a light in your life?

What are some ways you have seen Jesus’ light through other people? How did that impact you?

PRACTICE THIS

Recall and reflect upon a testimony from someone else about how Jesus has changed that person’s life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Birth of the Ancient of Days

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)

This is a great Christmas text even though it comes from the very end of Jesus’s life on earth, not the beginning.

Notice: Jesus says not only that he was born, but that he “came into the world.” The uniqueness of his birth is that he did not originate at his birth. He existed before he was born in a manger. The personhood, the character, the personality of Jesus of Nazareth existed before the man Jesus of Nazareth was born.

The theological word to describe this mystery is not creation, but incarnation. The person, not the body, but the essential personhood of Jesus existed before he was born as man. His birth was not a coming into being of a new person, but a coming into the world of an infinitely old person.

Micah 5:2 puts it like this, 700 years before Jesus was born:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

The mystery of the birth of Jesus is not merely that he was born of a virgin. That miracle was intended by God to witness to an even greater one; namely, that the child born at Christmas was a person who existed “from of old, from ancient days.”

And, therefore, his birth was purposeful. Before he was born he thought about being born. Together with his Father there was a plan. And part of that great plan he spoke in the last hours of his life on earth: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).

He was the eternal Truth. He spoke only the truth. He acted out the greatest truth of love. And he is gathering into his eternal family all those who are born of the truth. This was the plan from ancient days.

John Piper 

The Final Reality Is Here

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. . . . They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” (Hebrews 8:1–2, 5)

We’ve seen it before. But there’s more. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing.

Hebrews 8:1–2, 5 is a kind of summary statement. The point is that the one priest who goes between us and God, and makes us right with God, and prays for us to God is not an ordinary, weak, sinful, dying priest as in the Old Testament days. He is the Son of God — strong, sinless, with an indestructible life.

Not only that, he is not ministering in an earthly tabernacle with all its limitations of place and size while getting worn out and being moth-eaten and being soaked and burned and torn and stolen. No, Hebrews 8:2 says that Christ is ministering for us in a “true tent that the Lord set up, not man.” This is not the shadow. It’s the real thing in heaven. This is the reality that cast a shadow on Mount Sinai for Moses to copy.

According to Hebrews 8:1, another great thing about the reality which is greater than the shadow is that our High Priest is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. No Old Testament priest could ever say that.

Jesus deals directly with God the Father. He has a place of honor beside God. He is loved and respected infinitely by God. He is constantly with God. This is not shadow-reality like curtains and bowls and tables and candles and robes and tassels and sheep and goats and pigeons. This is final, ultimate reality: God and his Son interacting in love and holiness for our eternal salvation.

Ultimate reality is the persons of the Godhead in relationship, dealing with each other concerning how their majesty and holiness and love and justice and goodness and truth shall be manifest in a redeemed people.

John Piper 

Replacing the Shadows

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. (Hebrews 8:1–2)

The point of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, has not just come to fit into the earthly system of priestly ministry as the best and final human priest, but he has come to fulfill and put an end to that system, and to orient all our attention on himself, ministering for us first on Calvary as our final Sacrifice and then in heaven as our final Priest.

The Old Testament tabernacle and priests and sacrifices were shadows. Now the reality has come, and the shadows pass away.

Here’s an Advent illustration for kids — and those of us who used to be kids and remember what it was like. Suppose you and your mom get separated in the grocery store, and you start to get scared and panic and don’t know which way to go, and you run to the end of an aisle, and just before you start to cry, you see a shadow on the floor at the end of the aisle that looks just like your mom. It makes you really hopeful. But which is better? The hopefulness of seeing the shadow, or having your mom step around the corner and it’s really her?

That’s the way it is when Jesus comes to be our High Priest. That’s what Christmas is. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing: Mom stepping around the corner of the aisle, and all the relief and joy that gives to a little child.

John Piper

What is Kingdom Authority?

 “. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power . . .”

EPHESIANS 1:17-19

 

PONDER THIS

Most of us have no problem accepting the fact that Jesus Christ is King and He has authority, but what we fail to understand is that He, our King, has given that kingdom authority to His subjects, and we, with Him, also exercise kingdom authority. That thought is staggering!

There’s a difference between authority and power. Power deals with brute force. Authority deals with right. When Jesus was preaching and teaching, the scribes and the Pharisees asked, “Who gave you this authority?” They meant, “Who gave you this official right?” Authority is conferred. Authority goes beyond power. It goes beyond force. When we are in Christ, we share in His kingdom authority.

What are some ways you have seen Jesus’ kingdom authority in Scripture?

What are some ways you can exercise the kingdom authority Jesus gives His people?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage someone who has been discouraged or doubting. Remind your friend of the kingdom authority Christ shares with His followers.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When God Swears by God

Since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” (Hebrews 6:13–14)

There is one Person whose worth and honor and dignity and preciousness and greatness and beauty and reputation is more than all other values combined — ten thousand times more — namely, God himself. So, when God takes an oath, he swears by himself.

If he could have gone higher, he would have gone higher. Why? To give you strong encouragement in your hope. What God is saying in swearing by himself is that it is as impossible that he will break his word of promise to bless us as it is that he will ever despise himself.

God is the greatest value in the universe. There is nothing more valuable or wonderful than God. So, God swears by God. And in doing that he says, “I mean for you to have as much confidence in me as it is possible to have.” For if more were possible, Hebrews 6:13 says, he would have given us that. “Since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself.”

Now this is our God, the God who is reaching as high as he can reach to inspire your unshakable hope in him. So, flee to God for refuge. Turn from all the superficial, self-defeating hopes of the world, and put your hope in God. There is nothing and no one like God as a refuge and a rock of hope.

John Piper 

 

Possible with God

“I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” (John 10:16)

God has a people in every people group in the world. He will call them through the gospel with Creator power. And they will believe! What a power is in these words for overcoming discouragement in the hard places of the frontiers!

The story of Peter Cameron Scott is a good illustration. Born in Glasgow in 1867, Scott became the founder of the Africa Inland Mission. But his beginnings in Africa were anything but auspicious.

His first trip to Africa ended in a severe attack of malaria that sent him home. He resolved to return after he recuperated. This return was especially gratifying to him because this time his brother John joined him. But before long, John was struck down by fever.

All alone, Peter buried his brother in African soil, and in the agony of those days recommitted himself to preach the gospel in Africa. Yet his health gave way again, and he had to return to England.

How would he ever pull out of the desolation and depression of those days? He had pledged himself to God. But where could he find the strength to go back to Africa? With man it was impossible!

He found strength in Westminster Abbey. David Livingstone’s tomb is still there. Scott entered quietly, found the tomb, and knelt in front of it to pray. The inscription reads:

OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD; THEM ALSO I MUST BRING.

He rose from his knees with a new hope. He returned to Africa. And today, over a hundred years later, the mission he founded is a vibrant, growing force for the gospel in Africa.

If your greatest joy is to experience the infilling grace of God overflowing from you for the good of others, then the best news in all the world is that God will do the impossible through you for the salvation of the unreached peoples.

John Piper 

Self-Made Towers

“Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’  GENESIS 11:1-4

 

PONDER THIS

The very name of the place, Babel, means, “Gate to God.” They said, “This is the gate to God. We’re going to show people how to get to God.” Today, we know that there’s only one gate to God, and His name is Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man cometh unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). Even though we know this to be true, we still can fall into this sin pattern of looking to ourselves instead of looking to God.

Notice the personal pronouns there. Six times they use pronouns like: they, us, and we. This is religion with Man at the center and Man in the circumference. Rather than saying, “Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be Thy name,” they’re saying, “Our brothers who are on the Earth, hallowed by our name. Let us make for us a name.” This is sheer defiance against God, yet this is something we are all too familiar with. We are quick to build lives for ourselves without ever considering God. The problem is we don’t have the answers. We were made to look to Him.

What are some ways you have tried to grow your faith in your own strength? What was the result?

What would it look like to look to God first in all things? What are some ways you can start practicing that?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess before God how you have tried to pursue your own way instead of His.

 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Nothing Left Unfinished

 “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” DANIEL 9:24

 

PONDER THIS

Sin cannot be dealt with until the Messiah is recognized. There is no way of forgiveness for Israel or anyone else apart from the Lamb of God. When you recognize Jesus as Messiah, then sins are forgiven! And when sins are forgiven, God and Man are reconciled! Jesus’ death has always been sufficient, but it will never be efficient as long as He is rejected.

Not only does God forgive our sins when we receive Him, and not only are we reconciled, but God also makes us perfectly righteous in His sight. The righteousness of God is fulfilled in those who trust him. Verse 24 says, “…to seal up vision and prophecy…” This is what God has been up to! One of these days, God is going to put the last period upon the last sentence, upon the last paragraph, upon the last page, upon the last chapter, upon the last book of history, and God will say, “It’s done.” Not one jot nor tittle shall fail from the law till all be fulfilled. You can rest in it. You can bank on it. It’s been said, "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it." God said it, that settles it, and whether you believe it or not, God is going to do it!

What are the greatest problems you see in the world? How can you look to Christ for hope to restore all that is broken?

How does knowing God’s ultimate victory change how you see hardship on Earth in the meantime?

PRACTICE THIS

Praise God for the ultimate victory He has and worship Him as your hope in the hard things of life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Absolute, Sovereign, Almighty Love

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6)

God abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Two images come to my mind:

The heart of God is like an inexhaustible spring of water that bubbles up love and faithfulness at the top of the mountain. Century after century the spring keeps on flowing.

Or the heart of God is like a volcano that burns so hot with love that it blasts the top off the mountain and flows year after year with the lava of love and faithfulness.

When God uses the word “abounding” — “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” — he wants us to understand and feel that the resources of his love are not limited. You can drink at this mountain spring all day, year after year, generation after generation, and it never runs dry.

You might even risk saying that God is like a government that simply prints more money when there’s a need. Inexhaustible, right? Well, there’s a difference. God has an infinite treasury of golden love to cover all the currency he prints. The government is in a dream world. God banks very realistically on the infinite resources of his deity.

The absolute existence, the sovereign freedom, and the omnipotence of God are the volcanic fullness that explodes in an overflow of love. The sheer magnificence of God means that he does not need us to fill up any deficiency in himself. Instead his infinite self-sufficiency spills over in love to us — to sinners — who need him, and the gift of himself in Jesus.

We can bank on his love precisely because we believe in the absoluteness of his existence, the sovereignty of his freedom, and the limitlessness of his power.

John Piper 

God Isn’t Gloomy

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The implication of this text is that God has the right and power to do whatever makes him happy. That is what it means to say that God is sovereign.

Think about it for a moment: If God is sovereign and can do anything he pleases, then none of his purposes can be frustrated. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:10–11).

And if none of his purposes can be frustrated, then he must be the happiest of all beings.

This infinite, divine happiness is the fountain from which the Christian (Hedonist) drinks and longs to drink more deeply.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected?

Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1)? I don’t think so.

We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor.

But that is not the way God is. He is never out of sorts with frustration or discouragement. And, as Psalm 147:11 says, he “takes pleasure . . . in those who hope in his steadfast love.” So the aim of the Christian Hedonist is not to avoid this God, not to run from him, or tiptoe through the living room lest his gloominess become anger. No, our aim is to hope in his steadfast love. To run to him. To be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy his fellowship and favor.

John Piper