Living Wisely

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When men built the Temple in the Old Testament, the Bible tells us that God gave them a spirit of wisdom. Some translators have called this the spirit of “skill” because these words are tightly linked.

Do you know what wise living is? It is living skillfully and making the most out of your life. You become an artist, a practitioner, a cabinet maker, an accountant, a teacher, or a mother. You live your life with skill.

ACTION POINT:

Now, don’t fail to study and gain knowledge, but remember this: All our knowledge is but splendid ignorance apart from the wisdom of God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Is It Written All Over Your Face?

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Somewhere in California during the gold rush of 1849, the story is told of two gold miners who struck a particularly rich vein of gold one day. They decided not to tell anyone else, so they could keep it for themselves. They went into town to get better equipment to mine the gold, but when they left, scores of people followed. Their jubilation was written all over their faces.

ACTION POINT:
Is what is in your heart written all over your face? Oh, how I pray that each person reading this today will not hide what they have found in Jesus Christ. I want people who see you today to say, “I don’t know what is going on with her, but I want what she has. I want what he has.” The gift of salvation is for you, but it is also for others to behold and desire in you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Jesus Above All Other Gods

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 6:68-69

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever wondered why Christians were so persecuted in the days of the liberal Roman government? The Romans didn’t persecute other religious people, only Christians. Why did they pick on the Christians? Because the Christians proclaimed Jesus as Lord, and not Caesar.

The Romans were a polytheistic nation—they even built the Pantheon, which was a temple for all the gods that were worshiped in ancient Rome. When they subjugated and conquered a people, they let them keep their gods—on one condition—that they remember that Caesar was Lord.

ACTION POINT:

As the world becomes more and more syncretized and headed toward a “One World” order, men and women who say that Jesus is the only true Lord are going to be persecuted. Will you stand and proclaim Jesus as Lord no matter what?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

No Hands But Our Hands

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me.” Psalm 18:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

During WWII, a beautiful cathedral in Europe was destroyed by the Nazis. When the people came together to rebuild the temple, they found a statue of Christ with His hands outstretched. They repaired the statue as best they could, but they could not recover the hands. Because they loved the statue as it was, they put a plaque underneath that reads: “He has no hands but our hands.”

Remember this—Jesus Christ is the invisible part of the Christian. The Christian is the visible part of Christ. He is seen in us and through us. We are the visible part of the invisible Christ.

ACTION POINT:

What we do in His name is representative of Him to the world. What are you doing with your hands today that is a testimony of Jesus Christ to a watching and lost world?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When Tempted, You Have a Choice

When Tempted, You Have a Choice

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you know why the devil couldn’t get to Jesus in the midst of a 40-day fast when He was starving? He was already satisfied. You see, Jesus didn’t have an itch that the devil could scratch.

Temptation really comes down to this: A temptation is an inducement by the devil to satisfy a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way. That’s all there is to it. Take a God-given desire and satisfy it in a God-forbidden way. The devil says, “Hey you’ve got a need, and I can satisfy it.”

When tempted, you are given a choice. Do you get that need satisfied by the devil, or by the Lord? You see, the devil is a pervert. He has no raw material. All he can do is take what God has created and pervert it.  

ACTION POINT:

Do you want to overcome temptation? Find out the legitimate way to satisfy that desire, and then you will not need the illegitimate way.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Way of Escape

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” Psalm 63:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. I have been to Palestine and seen stones that looked amazingly like little loaves of bread. I can just see the devil looking on the ground, knowing that Jesus had been fasting for 40 days, and saying, “Well, look here. Just turn this into bread!”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with eating bread. In fact, Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread. Yet Jesus had been led into the wilderness to fast and pray and seek the face of God. The devil was trying to put the bread above the will of God, saying “Pamper your flesh.” But what he was really saying was, “Commit spiritual suicide.” Jesus refused. 

ACTION POINT:

Jesus overcame the flesh, and you can, too. He overcame by the Word of God. Take this verse and make every effort to commit it to your memory this week: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Tempted? Jesus Has Already Been There

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When some people read that Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” some eyebrows raise. You may not say anything out loud, but you think, “Was He really tempted in every way? Has He ever been tempted to run a red light? Or smoke pot? Or have immoral sex?” We don’t know, and yet the Bible is very clear that He was tempted in all points.

ACTION POINT:

There are only three temptations, and Jesus was tempted in all three. 1 John 2:16 lists them: the lust of the flesh (temptation for us to do something—our passions), the lust of the eyes (temptation for us to have something—our possessions), and the pride of life (the temptation for us to be something—our pride). If you doubt it, then read about the temptation He faced in Luke 4:1-13.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers