Lord Of All

Lord Of All

God is sovereign!

He alone has complete control!

He is Lord over all!

He is accountable to no one!!!

Do we really understand what these things means?

I don't think we can grasp it!

Our minds can't get wrapped around the fact that God was, is and will be!

He had no beginning!

He has no end!

We begin, by God's creation and design.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  - Genesis 1:27

According to God's determination, we have an earthly end but because of God's great mercy, we have an eternity.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.  - Psalm 139:16

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- - Ephesians 2:4-5

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. - Titus 3:4-7

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.  - Psalm 115:3

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"  - Daniel 4:35

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" - Romans 9:20

Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'  - Job 9:12

For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?  - Isaiah 14:27

17 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. 

18 To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?  - Isaiah 40:17-18

Oh Lord, we praise You for You alone are worthy! Amen

Our Most “Besetting” Sin

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…and the sin which doth so easily beset us...” Heb.12:1b

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
In this part of our verse, Paul is no longer talking about good things that might become bad things. Now he’s just talking about bad things. The word beset means “to tangle you up.” Can you imagine a person trying to run a race with a long flowing robe entangling him or some rope around his feet? No, he wants to be free so he can run. 

What is the sin that so easily trips us up? Weights load us down; sin trips us up. Either one can make you a poor runner and keep you from running the race. In Hebrews 11 and 12, Paul is talking about faith. The whole race we’re running is the race of faith. Hebrews says we live by faith; therefore, we run by faith. 

Most of us say, “I wish I had better faith, stronger faith.” Do you know the reason you don’t have more faith than you have? Sin. You say, “Now wait a minute, pastor....” No, friend, the Bible says, “Beware, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.”

ACTION POINT:
Unbelief is not a mental sin; it is a moral sin. It doesn’t come out of the head; it comes out of the heart. “Beware, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.” 
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Take Off that Overcoat!

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….” Hebrews 12:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
If you’re going to run a race, how do you prepare yourself? First, you’ve got to lay the weights aside. Notice athletes. They run in very light clothing. The less weight, the better. One thing you’ll never see is someone in the Olympics, running in an overcoat. It’s not going to happen. They get as light as they possibly can. You have to lay aside every weight.

The Greek word weight does not mean something that’s sinful. It just means something that burdens you, that holds you down. There are some things that are not bad in themselves. Nothing wrong with an overcoat. You just don’t wear an overcoat when you’re running a race. Paul said: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Friend, it may be some recreational habit you have. It may be some cottage in the woods. It may be some acquaintance, some hobby, too much television or sleep. Paul is saying, “Something may be lawful for me, but if it’s not expedient, if it doesn’t speed me on my course, then I need to leave it alone.”

ACTION POINT:
Ask yourself, “Is there something in my life that’s hindering my walk with Christ? Something that’s holding me back? Is there something that is excess baggage? Something keeping me from being all I ought to be for the Lord Jesus Christ? Whatever it is, if you want to win the race, lay it aside. Good things become bad things when they keep you from the best things. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Paying an Extra Price

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I might finish my course”

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Do you pay a price—some extra time in the morning—to get into the Word of God? Do you pay the price of being ridiculed because you keep your Bible on your desk in the office or bow your head and thank God for His gracious goodness to you when He gives you a meal? Are you willing to be different? Will you finish your course?

When you’re running this race, you’re going to find out that you’re running right against the grain. Don’t get the idea that there’s the broad road and the narrow road, and the narrow road runs alongside the broad road, and over there a bunch of people are going this way, and over here you’re going in the same direction.

No, there’s the broad way, and here you are, right in the middle of it, going the other way. Against the grain. What we believe starts at a different source follows a different course ends at a different conclusion …and there is a price to pay.

ACTION POINT:
Frankly, today we don’t like that idea of a “price to pay.” We say, “Well, I’m saved by grace, and so I’m just going to float on into heaven on flowery beds of ease.” No. A disciple is one who follows his master, obeys his master, and there is a price to pay.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Are You Looking for an Easy Way to Serve God?

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“…and run with patience the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1c
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The word “patience” here doesn’t mean the ability to thread a needle, but literally means “endurance.” It means bearing up under some load, some challenge. 

Are you looking for an easy way, a cheap way, a lazy way to serve God? All honey and no bees? A life of ease? You just want to say, “O, I’m so happy in Jesus.” Listen, this business of running this race means that you’re going to be at it with all of your heart. 

You may be on a sick bed or in a wheelchair. But none is excluded. We are to run with endurance. When you watch someone running, do you notice how intense he is? If you’re in this race, you need to pray over it, you need to weep over it, you need to study over it, you need to work over it. 

ACTION POINT:
This matter of being saved and running the race is a full-time occupation. God does business with those who mean business. 

Never Knowing the Difference

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Ps.51:11

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
When a person dies, his spirit departs. And I’m afraid that’s what has happened to many churches: the Holy Spirit has departed.

The organism has become an organization and the movement has become a monument.

Dr. Carl Bates said years ago something that shook me to my foundation: “If the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die [now, of course, you know that's impossible. He cannot die] but “if the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die, most of our churches would meet next Sunday and go right on and never know the difference.”

I wonder if that’s not true about many churches. The Holy Spirit has not died, but He has departed. I've been in some churches where you’d think that Hallelujahs and Amens cost $100 apiece. You just can't find them. There’s a sort of barren stillness. But I believe there's something contagious about the Holy Spirit of God.

ACTION POINT:
The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. I don't think we have to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism, but I believe we ought to have a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Father’s Wealth

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And I will give him the morning star.” Rev.2:28

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
I remember reading a story about a wealthy Roman who had a lavish estate, and he had a servant named Marcellus. When the wealthy Roman died, he wrote his will and left everything to his slave. The wealthy Roman also had a son, and for some reason he had had a disagreement with him, so in his will he said, “I have left my entire estate to my slave Marcellus. To my son, I leave him only one thing. He can choose any one thing from my estate he wants, but that's all.” The son said, “Very well, I choose Marcellus.”

Here at the end of Revelation 2, our Lord gives another sweet promise to those who overcome (v. 28): "And I will give him," that is, the overcomer, "the morning star." Jesus is that morning star. What He's saying is, “You'll receive the greatest reward of all, you'll receive Me, the morning star.” Do you know what the morning star is? It’s the star that appears just after the darkest hour of the night.

ACTION POINT:
It's getting very dark. Praise God, it's getting gloriously dark, and before long that morning star is going to appear. Jesus is the morning star. If you choose Jesus, with Jesus comes all the Father's wealth.