How to Know the Will of God

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

John 15:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you want to know the will of God in your life? 

Here’s a test: how much time do you spend reading the Bible? Do you think God really believes we want to know His will when we don’t take even 15 minutes a day to read the one book above all books that God has specifically written to show you His will, to reveal His will to you, to unfold His will to you?

Your first step in knowing His will is the surrender principle—surrendering our will to His. Your second step is the scripture principle. Read His word, meditate upon it, share it, and study it. When you bow to His will and read His will, you’ll know His will.

ACTION POINT:

Commit to read God’s Word at least 15 minutes a day for 30 days. When the month is over, re-evaluate what you have learned and ask God to help you be obedient to daily Bible reading from this day forward.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

God the Father and God the Creator

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “…that we may be partakers of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you heard the phrase, “The universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of men”? It sounds warm and fuzzy, but it is cold and barren of truth. God is not the Father of all people; God is the Father of those who are born into His family. 

But you say, “But pastor, didn’t God create all human beings?” Yes. “And if God created all human beings, wouldn’t that make God the Father of all human beings?” No, it makes God the creator of all human beings. There’s a difference between fatherhood and creation. God created rats, roaches, buzzards, and rattlesnakes. He’s not their father. God becomes our Father not by creation, but by conception when we’re born into His family.

ACTION POINT:

Read the story of creation in Genesis—making the distinction between the creations of God and the Creator called God. Go on a nature walk and thank God that He rules over creation, causing the sun to shine, the rain to water the earth, and for you to have your next breath.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Gathering in His Name

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There is something wonderful about unity. I heard about a fellow who courted a girl by writing her a beautiful love letter every day for two years. He thought that would be a wonderful way to court her. Do you know what happened? She married the mail carrier! There is nothing like being there. There is nothing like personal contact. There is a sense in which Jesus Christ is present when His people gather that’s not in any other sense. You cannot get it the same way at home.

ACTION POINT:

Do you have a church home? If not, I encourage you to find one today. If church attendance isn’t important, I wonder why Satan works so hard to keep folks away. If you do have a church home, make a special effort this week to meet a new friend and find a need they have which you can meet.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Burning Brightly for the Glory of God

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.” Exodus 3:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Major Ian Thomas has imagined Moses saying something like this when he encountered God in the burning bush, “Would you look at that bush? It just keeps on burning for God. I wish my life could burn for God like that and keep on burning.” Then Major Thomas imagined God replying, “Moses, you think this bush is so wonderful? Do you see that bush over there? I could do the same thing with it. Moses, it’s not the bush—it’s God in the bush. Any old bush will do.”

It’s not you! It’s not me! We are only the vessels of God’s anointing. As you surrender yourself to God today, He will fill you and use you for His glory.

ACTION POINT:

Surrender yourself to God today. And as you do, He will use you. Allow His flame to burn brightly for all to see.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

He Alone Is Worthy

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There’s an interesting story about how a gifted violinist named Fritz Kreisler acquired a Stradivarius violin. Kreisler heard about the violin owned by an old Englishman and offered to buy it, but the old man said it wasn’t for sale. One day Kreisler ventured to the old man’s house and said, “If I can’t buy it, may I touch it?” The old Englishman invited him in and even allowed him to begin making music with it. Great tears welled up in the old Englishman’s eyes and he said, “It is not for sale, but it is yours. You are the Master and alone are worthy of it!” 

That is what worship is all about. God is the Master and He alone is worthy.

ACTION POINT:

Starting with the letter “A” and going through the alphabet, praise Him for all that He is, has been, and will be!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Blessed Hope of His Glorious Appearing

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Each time I have walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, I’ve longed to see Jesus walking there. I would love to see Him walk on the water—planting His footsteps on the sea with the wind in His hair and His garments flowing. I think I’d be a better preacher had I seen Him dying in agony and blood, and to have experienced that Easter morning. 

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to see Him ascend into the glory! 

I didn’t see Him any of those times, but I’m going to see Him. And you’re going to see Him! There’s a blessed hope awaiting us as God’s children. When He returns, He’s not coming as the carpenter, He’s coming as the conqueror!

ACTION POINT:

Thank God for this Good News right now. And ask Him to bring you someone today with whom you can share this particularly Good News of Christ’s return!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

IN THE BEGINNING

Genesis 1:26-31
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Matthew 4:18-22
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

In the Beginning of the Old Testament…
The purpose of our lives…
We have been created to enjoy God’s grace in a relationship
with Him.
We have been created to extend God’s glory to the ends of
the earth.
The problem in our lives…
We have rebelled against God’s authority.
The promise for our lives…
God will send a Redeemer to us.
We can be reconciled to Him.
In the Beginning of the New Testament…
We have been called to be disciples of Jesus.
To turn from our sin and ourselves.
To trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord.
We have been commissioned to make disciples of Jesus.
To proclaim God’s grace for others’ salvation in Christ.
To spread God’s glory through the multiplication of the church.
In the Beginning of 2014…
How will I fill my mind with truth?
How will I read God’s Word?
How will I memorize God’s Word?
How will I learn God’s Word from others?
How will I fuel my affections for God?
How will I worship?
How will I pray?
How will I fast?
How will I give?
How will I share God’s love as a witness in the world?
Who?
How?
When?
How will I show God’s love as a member of the church?
Where?
What?
How will I spread God’s glory among all peoples?
How will I pray for the nations?
How will I give to the nations?
How will I go to the nations?
How will I make disciple makers among a few people?
How will I bring them in?
How will I model obedience?
How will I send them out?

Thanks Pastor David!