Friday, November 28, 2014

Understanding Kingdom Authority


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
A police officer weighing 160 pounds may effectively stand before a tanker truck and with an uplifted hand say, “Stop, in the name of the law.” The police officer certainly couldn’t stop the truck with his physical force. He is appealing to an authority greater than himself — the law — to back him up. Your authority over Satan is the same way. Your authority does not rest in your strength. You cannot overcome Satan with your power but rather with Kingdom Authority from God. And you have that as a child of the King. You have His authority to overcome every attack of Satan.

ACTION POINT:
Sing of the power of the Lord. Find a hymnal and sing or meditate on the verses of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Giving Thanks Always

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are four types of people. There are those who are constantly complaining and grumbling. Have you met any of these folks? I mean, they can brighten up a room just by leaving it. That’s the lowest level. Then there are others who live lives of ingratitude. They don’t complain, but they never thank God for His obvious blessings. That’s a little better, but not much better. Then there are people who thank God for obvious blessings. When something good happens, they’re grateful. That’s a better level. But the highest level is to be grateful for all things at all times. That is the secret of a happy and productive life.

ACTION POINT:
On the basis of our Scripture today, go before the Lord and begin to think about difficult circumstances you’re facing. Now, thank Him for each one.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Today is “Tomorrow”

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” - Proverbs 27:1

I read some research by psychologist William Morriston who reported that 94% of the 3,000 persons he surveyed were enduring today in order to get to tomorrow.
Do you know anyone like that? Perhaps you are one of those.
Tomorrow, you’re going on vacation. Tomorrow, you’re going to get the house cleaned. Tomorrow, you’re going to start your diet. Tomorrow, you’re going to balance your checkbook. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.
The only problem is…tomorrow never arrives. When it gets here, it is today. And today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
It is always today. Act accordingly!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers


The Cleansing, Healing Work of the Holy Spirit

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for Thou art my praise.” Jeremiah 17:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are two kinds of wounds to the human psyche. One is sorrow; the other is guilt. Sorrow is a clean wound. Somehow your heart will heal as the Holy Spirit applies His healing balm. He will pour in “the oil of gladness.” Time and the grace of God will heal. But guilt is dirty and will never heal until it is confessed and cleansed by the antiseptic of Calvary. A slave only fears his master’s whip, but a son fears his father’s displeasure.

ACTION POINT:
Are you suffering under a load of guilt? Allow the Holy Spirit to expose your sin. Then confess it and experience the joy of forgiveness in Christ.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Uprooting Toxic Bitterness

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Bitterness is an emotional cancer that consumes many a person who once had the bloom of eternal springtime in his heart. Where does it come from? Usually from being hurt. Perhaps you were abused as a child, rejected by someone, fired from a job, or even bypassed at church. Bitterness sets in when the hurt goes unresolved. There is a solution. If you’ve been wronged and bitterness has become so strong that you can almost taste its bile within your mouth, then it’s time to pursue it with a holy vengeance. With the Spirit’s spade, root it out. Draw a circle that takes in those who have wronged you. Forgive them for Christ’s sake!

ACTION POINT:
Bow before the Lord this morning and ask for grace and power to uproot the bitterness that has taken hold in your heart and is robbing you of the joy you desire.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God’s Plan and Purpose for Your Life

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
If Jesus is Lord of your life, then not only is your entire life ordered, but so is every single step within your life. God has a plan for the plumber as well as the preacher, for the mechanic as well as the missionary. And if, for instance, God calls you to be a mechanic and you become a missionary, you are accepting second best! To find God’s will is the highest achievement in your life. Success is not spelled M-O-N-E-Y. Nor is it spelled F-A-M-E. Success is the continuous realization of the will of God—what God desires for your life. God does not make clones; He makes children! There is an ultimate purpose for your life as His child —to be like Jesus.

ACTION POINT:
Do you have children? Share with them these important insights about their future.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Power Of The Gospel


These are verses that God has put on my heart to share!

2 Tim.1:
10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

Romans 16:
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-

2 Thessalonians 2:
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

1 Corinthians 15:
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 
55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 2:
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Job 33:
30 to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life. 

Romans 2:
7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Hebrews 9:
12:he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
14:how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.
22:Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
24:For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
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.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 10:
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 
7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" 

10:And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds," 
17 then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." 
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

23:Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

31:It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

36:For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." 
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.