Those Who Went Before You Have Set Your Pace

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There are a lot of athletes with natural ability, but what is it that turns a mediocre athlete into a gold medal champion? One athlete is willing to hurt more than the other. When you can’t take another step, your muscles are sore, your body is aching—this is what it means to be running the race with perseverance, as mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. You are bearing up under tremendous pressure. You are running to build endurance. 

ACTION POINT:

Today you may be hurting because a family member, coworker, or classmate has been unfair to you. A spouse has left. A friend walked away. Perhaps you were passed over for a promotion. Run with patience, as others have done before you. These are the ones in that “great crowd of witnesses.” They testify to the fact that no matter how hard, it can be done. Look to Jesus. Building a faith that will go the distance takes both patience and time.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Encouragement for Your Race Today

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” 1 Cor. 9:24
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Heaven is intently interested in what is happening here on earth. There is a grandstand in heaven filled with heroes of the faith. They are watching us and cheering us on. We are the runners; they are the spectators.

If the runners of that day were inspired when they ran their race, how much greater should our effort be today with these saints behind us? Do you feel inspired? I do! It encourages me to know that I am not alone out there in the race and that I have men and women who have run the race knowing the pitfalls that are out there.

ACTION POINT:
Friend, I hope you feel encouraged and inspired to run the unique race God has set for you today. Know that we are praying for you and would be honored to hear how God is fulfilling your every need along the way.

Dr. Adrian Rogers 

His Searchlight Upon Our Hearts

BIBLE MEDITATION:
 “Shall not God search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Ps.44:21
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Christian author and speaker S. D. Gordon said, “In every man’s life there is a throne. And when self is on the throne, Christ is on the cross. But when Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross.”

There is something you hold to be the highest good that captivates your attention and controls your life. Your decisions are made in light of whatever this thing is. Is it Christ? Or something else?

God’s plan is not that Christ have “a place” in your life or that He have prominence in your life. Jesus Christ deserves and even demands preeminence in your life. That means there is no rebuttal, no refusal, and no rival.

ACTION POINT:
Ask God to reveal to you if there is anything is your life that is controlling your decisions, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Give Him permission to reveal that today.

Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Misunderstood Principle of Submission

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” - 1 John 5:3

Submission is a term that has been grievously distorted because there are men who have used the word as a weapon to club their wives rather than as a hammer to build their homes.

When God tells a wife to submit to her husband, He also tells the husband to love his wife “even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:22-25).

When God tells children to obey their parents, He also instructs the fathers to “provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

When God tells you to submit to Him, it is for your good (James 4:7). Jesus is the head of the church, and He leads by love. The same should be true in the home.

Discuss the principle of submission with your family and friends this week. Contrast what the world would say it means to submit with what God desires for us.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Seeing the Unseen—Moving Beyond Your Five Senses

BIBLE MEDITATION:
 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt.6:33

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Many Christians are so materialistic that they never look past the physical world to the transcendent Christ above. They only experience what their five senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing) bring to them.

When a problem arises, it blows out every candle in their souls, knocks the sun out of their sky, and they can’t enjoy the daily bread of life that Jesus promises.

ACTION POINT:
For some reading this, you have a gigantic problem that to the world has “disaster” written all over it. If you are seeking first His righteousness, God will give you all that you need. You have God on your side—the King of kings, the Lord of lords. And don’t you forget it.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

THE GOSPEL: OUR FAVORITE STORY

Romans 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

The gospel is our favorite story

and we’re obligated to tell everybody about it...

• because we’re not ashamed of it.

(Romans 1:16; cf. Mark 8:38; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23; 2 Timothy 1:8, 12)

• because it’s God’s saving power for everyone who has faith.

(Romans 1:16-17; cf. Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11)

• because that’s the way He makes us right and gives us life.

(Romans 1:17; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9)

Thanks Pastor Jim!!

It Is Yours, Lord—Everything

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matt.16:24
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Very early in our marriage, Joyce and I got on our knees and made a solemn vow before God that all we had would belong to Jesus Christ. We would not really own title to anything.

Now, we might hold title as far as men were concerned, but everything we owned would belong to the Lord. If He wanted it, He could have it. If He wanted to use it, if He wanted to destroy it, if He wanted to give it away, if He wanted to give more, that was His business.

Have you done that? Have you transferred everything to Christ? It’s not your fame, it’s your faith. It’s not your ability, it’s your availability. It’s not your scholarship, it’s your sacrifice.

ACTION POINT:
Stop now this moment and think about what you have. Are you willing to “transfer the title”? Tell the Lord Jesus Christ that He is the true owner of all you have—including your abilities.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers