A Prize to Possess

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2b
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Jesus is our example. He is a champion who, when He ran His race, received a crown of joy. When an athlete runs, he runs to win a trophy. In our verse today, what is “the joy that is set before Him”? It’s winning the race. He “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

That crown gave Him the ability to endure. If you keep the crown in mind, you can bear the cross. But you cannot have the crown if you despise the cross. We are crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a few trophies that I won back in high school on a championship football team: a gold football, a letterman’s sweater and a silver cup. Do you know what happened to all those trophies? Someone broke into the house and got the gold football. The moths had a camp meeting in the sweater. It’s gone. There are no more letters on that letter sweater. What happened to the silver cup, I haven’t the foggiest.

ACTION POINT:
Friend, athletes run “to obtain a corruptible crown; but we for an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Running the race, Jesus had the joy that was set before Him and He endured the cross. He despised the shame. There is a prize to possess.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Jesus, Author and Finisher

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
If we will look to Jesus, Jesus will be the author and finisher of our faith. The word “author” in the Greek literally means “example,” “leader,” or “originator.” Jesus is the example of faith, but He’s also the originator of our faith. Faith comes from beholding the Lord Jesus Christ, looking at Him.

You see, all the other heroes of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 can cheer us on, but they’re not our chief example. He is the One who never sinned, who never failed. His name is Jesus. The more you behold the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re going to find out that He is the author and finisher.

He’s the one who originates the grace. He’s the one who fires the starting gun. He’s the goal toward which we run. He is the coach who runs alongside us and gives us courage and strength to run the race. 

ACTION POINT:
It is Jesus all the way. If you want faith, fix your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Keep “looking unto Jesus.” Your faith will grow. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

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.