Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Faith in Our Great God


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
How do you have faith? You look to Jesus, and faith is produced in your heart. 

You don’t have to work up faith. 

Suppose I needed to cross the Mississippi River and I wasn’t sure whether the bridge could hold me up or not. I could do one of two things. I could stand on the banks of the Mississippi and try to work up enough courage to make myself believe in that bridge, then timorously walk over that bridge. Or I could look at the semi-trucks traveling across the mighty steel and concrete of that bridge, believe, and boldly walk across in faith! In this case, faith is the by-product of seeing the strength of the bridge itself. In the same way, it’s not great faith in God that you need; it is faith in a great God!

ACTION POINT:
Attempt something so great in your life today that it is doomed to failure unless God is in it.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Clean Before the Lord


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
I heard of a missionary whose wife was very fastidious. They moved into a small hut, and soon she noticed that the floor was filthy. The first thing the wife wanted to do was to scrub that floor, so she scrubbed and scrubbed but to no avail. She began to wonder if she would ever get the floor clean. Finally, somebody told her the problem. It was a dirt floor! The more she scrubbed the more dirt she scrubbed up. 

In the same way, we can never scrub off our sinful nature. All we do is reveal more of what is there. 

I hate to tell you this, but we’re rotten to the core. 

Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

ACTION POINT:
How dirty are you this morning? How clean must you be before you can talk with your heavenly Father? Claim the blood of Jesus and commune freely with your Father who loves you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Fears From Within

Ebola, tornados, hurricanes, car wrecks, murder, cancer and disease, I could go on and on naming things that can take your life. These things strike fear and rightly so but what about your eternity? There is death, the end of your life but what about eternity? God has created both your body and your soul! One is but a vapor while the other is eternal! We spend a lot of time thinking on life and our human body that is wasting away day by day. But, what about the thing that really matters? Our soul, the part of us that God has created to live on in the eternity of Heaven or Hell, this is what should strike fear in the heart of man! Who will save man from eternal Hell? Christ Jesus by the command of God the Father! There are false gods, there are non believers, there are those who have never heard the name of Jesus and there are those who are still searching! Can we speak the gospel? Can we let the gospel do what God designed it to do? He gave the law to make us aware of our sin leading us to repent, obey and trust Christ for salvation! Theses fears from within can only be calmed by the Spirit of God Almighty! As we stand in faith that God is working, not understanding because His ways are not our ways but determined to be still and wait! Sin is man's downfall! It is much worse than any other life taking disaster. Repent while you have breath! Be assured that Christ has done what no other could. He paid the price you should have paid! Mercy He gave, taking your sin, nailing it to the cross, giving you eternal life through His blood! How will you respond?

Acts 10:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,
40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,
41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Is.66:4
I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight." 

John 5:
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hebrews 9:26
for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Col.2:
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Acts 4:
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

1 Tim.2:5
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Made White as Snow

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow . . .” Is.1:18a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
I heard of a man giving his testimony at a Salvation Army meeting. There was a heckler in the crowd shouting, “Would you shut up? You’re just dreaming!”

The heckler felt a tug at his coattail and a little girl said, “That’s my daddy up there. He used to be a drunkard and beat up my mommy. We didn’t have enough food to eat. But then he got saved, and my daddy’s life is changed. See that woman over there? See how happy she is? That’s my mommy. Mister, if my daddy’s dreaming, don’t wake him up!”

What a Savior who can take a poor lost sinner and wash him, save him, and make him new. Hallelujah!

ACTION POINT:
When was the last time you shared Christ with a homeless person? Avail yourself and allow God to use you to shine His light in that direction.
LWF Dr, Adrian Rogers 

Obedience in Tithing

BIBLE MEDITATION:
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matt.25:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
A man spoke to his pastor one day and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but God is not real to me anymore.” The wise pastor asked, “Is there any sin in your life?” In a moment of honesty the man responded, “Years ago I was tithing regularly to God, but one day I thought, 'God doesn’t need the money as much as I do,' so I stopped.”

The pastor said, “Will God say, ‘My child has disobeyed Me. He cannot trust Me with his resources, so I think I’ll bless him with even more financial resources.’ Will God do this?”

Absolutely not. If you’re not faithful with little, He won’t bless you with any more.

ACTION POINT:
Are you faithfully tithing your income to the work of the Lord? If not, it’s time to.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Miracle of the New Birth

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Nicodemus was so impressed with the miracles Jesus had done that he wanted to find out more. He asked Jesus about miracles, and Jesus began to talk to him about births. It’s as if Jesus were saying, “Nicodemus, if you want to understand miracles, you’re going to have to become a miracle.”

Now Nicodemus was an intelligent man. He was a ruler of the Jews and a member of the Sanhedrin. Yet with all of his learning, he heard Jesus say to him, “Except you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.” People simply can’t understand spiritual things until the Holy Spirit of God turns the light on in their souls.

ACTION POINT:
Do you know someone who has a lot of education but no salvation? I challenge you to share this same Good News with him or her today.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Making Your Own Idol


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

What is an idol? A man takes his own ideas and puts them into the work of his hands, and then he begins to worship it. What he is really worshiping is himself. 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
You may say, “Well, I’m not guilty of idolatry.” Let’s just see...is there anything that you love more than God? Anything you fear more than God? Anything you serve more than God? Anything you trust more than God? Am I getting hot? 

You say, “Well, I give God a place in my life.” God doesn’t want a place in your life. Then, you say, “Well, I give God prominence in my life.” God despises prominence in your life. God demands preeminence in your life. He will take nothing less.

ACTION POINT:
Is there anyone or anything in your life that takes precedence over God? Confess it and repent of it. Now, put on the throne the rightful Master—the Lord Jesus!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers