God Made the First Move

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Three things brought the wise men to Jesus: The ministry of the Spirit, the message of the Scripture, and the miracle of the star.
Who put the desire to find the Christ child and to worship Him in their hearts? The Holy Spirit. Do you know why we seek Him? Because He first sought us, Isn’t that true? “We love Him because He first loved us” 1 John 4:19. Do you know why I love the Lord Jesus? Because God in grace and mercy put a desire in my heart to seek after Him. The Bible says that by our nature, our flesh, none of us would seek after God—no, not one—and that would have included these wise men.
They didn’t come to Him because they were so intellectual. Don’t get the idea that because they were smarter than other men they came. No. They were wise, and that wisdom made them yielded to God; thus God the Holy Spirit could work in their hearts and draw them to Jesus.
ACTION POINT:
Do you have a desire to know Him? To love Him? To serve Him? Do you find something drawing you to God? Remember His promise: You will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Wise Men Will See Him

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Wise men seek the Lord. Do you seek the Lord? Is that the burning ambition of your heart and life? You say, “Well, I come to church.” I’m not talking about that. Think about these men from the east. Do you know where “the east” was? They’re talking about Babylon. Three hundred miles across Syrian Desert, distance and difficulty.

Now, Christmas cards picture them coming on camels. I don’t know how they came, but I know how they didn’t come…by airplane, bus, automobile, or motorcycle. I know where they didn’t stay. They didn’t stay in the Holiday Inn. 

And they came in spite of danger. It was the time of King Herod, insane with jealousy and rage, who had had his own wife and three sons murdered. These men in the face of that danger said, “We have come to seek Jesus Christ.” Wise men will seek Him in spite of distance, danger and difficulty.

Wise men who seek Him will see Him. When they came into the house, they fell down and worshipped Him. It’s worth seeking Him because, friend, when you seek Him, you will see Him. “Ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) They searched, found Him and saw Him.

ACTION POINT:

Do you have a desire to know Him? To love Him? To serve Him? Do you find something drawing you to God? That my friend, is Someone. He’s the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the ministry of the Spirit. Hallelujah!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Are You A Wise Man?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, ‘Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.’” Matthew 2:1-2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Not all “wisemen” are wise men. You may be a great entrepreneur, a great businessman, engineer, or nuclear physicist. You may be a physician, lawyer, a gifted artist. But if you don’t know Jesus, you’re not truly wise. There’s a kind of wisdom that’s not wisdom at all; it’s the wisdom of this world. “PhD” may stand for “phenomenal dud” if you don’t know Jesus,

Omar Bradley, a great American five-star general, once said, “We’re living in a time when our achievement, our knowledge of science, has gone far beyond our power to control it. We have too many men of science and too few men of God. We’ve brought about brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. We’re living in a time of nuclear giants and spiritual pigmies.”

That’s well said. What is real wisdom? Number one, wise men will seek Jesus.

Do you know the mark of wisdom, how to determine wisdom? Just tell me what motivates you, tell me the consummate ambition of your life, and I can tell you clearly whether you’re wise or not just by what you seek. The apostle Paul summed up his life in one sentence: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) What he meant was the source, the substance, the subject, the satisfaction of his life was Christ.

ACTION POINT:

Could you put your life in a sentence like that? “For me to live is Christ.” Pause and think about that.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Stars and Scars of Christmas

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But Thomas, one of the twelve…was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said unto them, “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.” John 20:24-25

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

At Bethlehem there was a bright star pointing the way to Jesus. But there is a darker side to Christmas. Consider the scars of the Lord Jesus. They’re not incidental. They are so fundamental that Jesus carried those scars with Him to heaven. 

Did you know that the only man-made thing in heaven are the scars of Jesus Christ? When He went back to heaven, He took some souvenirs of His visit with him…the scars in His hands and side. He has kept those scars as a lasting memorial through all eternity. When Jesus comes again, one of the ways we will know Him is His scars. Zechariah 13:6 says, “And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? And He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.”

ACTION POINT:

I want you to imagine our risen Savior. See Him on the throne of His glory. See in His hands the print of the nails, because He bears them for all eternity. I want you to see those nail-scarred hands reaching to you right now. Would you not like to put your hand in that hand and say, “Save me, Lord Jesus. Thank You that You are the God-man. Thank You that, as a man, You suffered in order to save me.” Pray it and mean it.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Do You Have Peace in Your Heart?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I was trying to witness to a man one time. I knew him well. He was what you would call a self-made man, pretty comfortable in his status in life. He was standing in front of his house. We had a friendly conversation, but when I broached the subject of Jesus he said, “Oh, I’m fine. I’m fine like I am. You see that house? It’s paid for. There’s my wife on the inside. She loves me and I love her. I have my retirement income. I’m doing quite well, thank you.” 

I said, “Sir, may I ask you a question?” “Well, sure,” he answered. I said, “Oh no, don’t say that lightly. I want to ask you a question and I want you to think about it and answer me honestly. Will you?” He said, “Of course.” I said, “Sir, do you have peace in your heart?” He said, “I told you, I’m fine.” I said, “No, you said you would answer the question. Now answer it. Do you have peace in your heart?” 

His chin began to quiver and his eyes brimmed with tears. He said, “No! I don’t have peace. How did you know?” I said, “Because the Bible says ‘There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.’” (Isaiah 57:21)

The only real peace you will ever know is found in the wonderful name of Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

Do you have peace with God? If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to invite you to pray a prayer like this: “Dear Jesus, I need You. I’m a sinner. I’m lost. I don’t want to die in my sin and go to hell. I need You, Jesus. I trust You, Jesus. I believe You’re the Son of God. You paid for my sin debt with Your shed blood on the cross. Thank You, Lord, for doing that. Thank You for saving me. Now give me the courage to make it public. In Your name I pray, amen.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why Christmas? Because of Calvary

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Why did Jesus come?  Luke 19:10 tells us.  “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.”

Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me” John 14:6. He is the solitary Savior, the only Savior. 

I’ve often said Jesus is not a good way to heaven.  Jesus is not the best way to heaven.  Jesus is the only way to heaven.  When you say that, a lot of people get their hackles up, but I still want to tell you, apart from Jesus, there is no salvation.  He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 

He’s not just one more Savior.  If He’s not the only Savior, He’s no Savior because He said He was the only one.  And if He said He’s the only one and He’s not the only one, then He’s a liar, and a liar is nobody’s Savior. I’ve got some wonderful news for you, friend.  He can save anyone. 

Because of the birthday of Jesus, each year you are one year closer to heaven, one year closer, if you know Him, to seeing His dear face.  Who is Jesus?  He is the Son of God who left heaven, came to this earth, suffered, bled, died, and walked out of that grave a living, risen Savior.  He’s the one who sent me to tell you that He loves you.

ACTION POINT:

He wants to save you and He will save you today if you’ll give Him your heart. If you have not already done so, do it today. Pray, “Jesus, I give You my heart. I believe You died to save me. You will save me if I trust in You. I do trust You, Jesus. I'm trusting You today.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Jesus, the Savior

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
One day I drove my car off the hot pavement out into a grassy area because I knew where there was a persimmon tree. I love persimmons and I thought, “Well, this is about the time those persimmons would be ripe.” But I got impossibly stuck in the mud.  I got a board and tried to dig myself out.  I found a piece of carpet there in the woods and put that under the tires. My tires only sunk deeper.

I prayed, “Lord, I’m in the mud.  I need your help.  I’m helpless here.  Lord, get me out.”  And almost at the same time, a man came by in a four-wheel vehicle.  With that mighty truck he pulled me slowly out of the mud. I was back on solid ground.

I was so grateful. I hadn’t known what to do, but God sent someone in a four-wheel truck with a cable. That’s so much like salvation.  We’re looking for the things of this world and sinking in the mud.  We say, “Well, I can get myself out of this.”  And the more we try to handle it, the deeper and deeper we sink.  We need somebody who will see us, care for us, come to us, and get us out.  Jesus is a Savior. He has what it takes to extricate us from the mud we’ve gotten in.

When I got home, my car was covered with mud. I got out the hose and began to get the mud off.  That man got me out of the mud, but it was up to me to deal with the mud that was still on there. When I got saved I was covered with mud.  But since then I’ve been letting Jesus, the water of life, clean me up.

ACTION POINT:
You can struggle all you want, but all you’re going to do is sink deeper. Stop the struggle. Surrender to Christ. You do not have what it takes to get out unless someone takes you out.  And that one is Jesus.  His name is wonderful.  He is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers