Sojourning Here—Citizen There

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 25:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Oftentimes in college, students cram for final exams. This isn’t the best way, but sometimes it’s all they can do with the busy schedule they carry. If they don’t stay up, it’s almost impossible to keep up, so the have to cram. Have you ever done that? Jesus tells us to be ready for His return because it may happen at any time. Are you ready? If you read the writings of the Apostle Paul, you will learn that he wanted always to be ready for Christ’s return.

Paul was not a citizen of earth trying to get to heaven. He was a citizen of heaven only sojourning here on earth. And he was ready to go whenever God called.

ACTION POINT:

As you pray for His return, pray also: “Father, make me ready. Prepare my heart for the place You have prepared for me.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Strengthening Your Wings

“How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” - 2 Corinthians 8:2

A man watched a butterfly trying to emerge from a cocoon. Thinking that he would help, the man took his penknife and slit the side of the cocoon, and the butterfly flopped out. It lay there for a while, feebly beating its wings, then collapsed and died.

“How tragic,” you say, and you are right, because God had a plan for that butterfly. The struggle to break free built the strength he would need to fly. God doesn’t want you to live weakly and die feebly. He wants you to grow and mature.

Find the wings in your trial today.
Strengthen them by the promises in God’s Word.
Venture on new heights of freedom in Christ today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

When the Light Begins to Dim

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.” Luke 11:34

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Are there times in your life when you have sensed yourself growing cold spiritually? Felt the power seeping out of your life and felt that Jesus Christ wasn’t as real as He used to be? In times like this, get alone in a quiet place and begin to give things back to God that you have subtly taken off the altar.

ACTION POINT:

Give Him your physical body and your right to life. Give Him your health, your strength, and your abilities to work and make a living. Give Him your reputation and your children. Give Him your cars, your clothes, your house.

And when you have honestly, earnestly, and sincerely given all to Him, the joy will return to your heart and you will sense your relationship with God restored.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Out of the Boat and Onto the Water

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

It was terrible at Simon Peter’s funeral. Jesus was there and He said, “It’s a shame that Peter had to die so young. He was just getting the hang of walking on the water. I shouldn’t have told him to get out of the boat.” It was one of the saddest funerals. Let’s hope you’re saying “Wait a minute!” right now, because we know that Peter didn’t drown when Jesus called him out of the boat (see Matthew 14:22-33). And you will not drown, either, when Jesus calls you to do something humanly impossible. 

ACTION POINT:

Peter may not have walked very far on water, but we could venture to say that he walked farther than anyone else has ever walked on water! Don’t worry about getting out of the boat if that is what God calls you to do. It is safer on the waves with Jesus than in the boat without Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Consulting First with God

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acrknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, you are going to give Him the first consideration in every decision you make. You will ask, “What is the will of God? What is the purpose of Jesus? What will glorify my Father?”

Have you ever worked for a company and they decided to transfer you? So many people, because of their financial obligations, discuss it a little with family and friends, then make plans for the move. Sometimes the transfer happens so quickly, prayer has sometimes been forgotten.

ACTION POINT:

Friend, if God wants you to go, then go. If God doesn’t want you to go, then you need to stay. But you’ll never know until you get alone with God and let Him tell you what He wants.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

It’s An Inside Job

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” Matthew 23:26

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What happens when we try to help others? We start on the outside, thinking if we can change the environment of a man (his home, clothes, food, education), then we can create a new man. It cannot be done. It was in the Garden of Eden that man got into trouble in the first place. 

Cleaning up the outside is just reformation. When you clean up the inside, you are regenerated. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they don’t need another bath, they need a new birth.

ACTION POINT:

It’s not that we ought not to help others. We should do these things. But men need more than soap and soup; they need salvation. They need a birth from above, not merely a boost from below.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Insight Comes Through Obedience

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” John 15:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What is the blessing of obedience? Intimacy with God. You will come to know things that you could never know any other way when you become intimate with God. And yet people are still asking, “How do I understand the Bible?” Friend, you will have a knowledge that surpasses anything you could gain from a school of learning when you serve the Lord in obedience.

Jesus said that we become His friends when we become His servants. And a friend knows all things. Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” 

ACTION POINT:

Have you stopped growing? Perhaps it is because you have stopped obeying. The way to have insight into the heart of God is through obedience.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers