Thursday, September 3, 2015

Will God Be Enough…?


Will God Be Enough…?

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 10:22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Have you ever read God’s Hall of Fame in Hebrews chapter 11? These men and women of faith did miraculous things. “Who through faith subdued kingdoms.” Hallelujah! “Wrought righteousness.” Praise the Lord! “Obtained promises.” Amen! “Stopped the mouths of lions.” Glory! 

And how did they do it? Faith.

“And others [men and women of faith] had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder...” (Hebrews 11:36-37). “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise” (Hebrews 11:39).

ACTION POINT:
Some had faith to escape; others had faith to endure. If it is God’s will for you, faith to endure may be the kind of faith God wants you to have. Will God be enough if He lets you walk through the fiery furnace?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

The Power of Self Deception

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. - 1 Corinthians 10:12

Man's thought on sin:
This is man's thinking about his own sin, my sin is small and yours is great.
We judge without the slightest hint of shame!

Man's take charge attitude:
We think we take charge and get it done.
When failure comes, we can't understand why because we forget God is working things out for His purpose!!
God is indeed in charge!!


God's forgives, restores, and reconciles man:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. - Colossians 1:15-20

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. - 1 Peter 5:8-10

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. - 1 John 1:9-10

Supreme God:
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. 
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 
6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. 
7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.  - Isaiah 45:4-7

Jesus, the only Savior:
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12

God wants man to repent:
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:3-6

Standing on the Edge of the Red Sea

BIBLE MEDITATION:
"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee." Isaiah 54:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Sometimes the grandest revelations come through confrontation. Why did God bring the Israelites to the Red Sea? That they might have a confrontation with Him and discover His greatness and deliverance.

Many times the things we think are tragedies and problems are God's way of drawing us to Himself. God shuts this door; God shuts that door; it seems that there's no way out.

But we must cling to the fact that God makes Himself known to us in the storm and He plants His footsteps in the sea.

ACTION POINT:
Are you standing at the edge of your "Red Sea"? Have you stopped to consider that this could be your Father drawing you to Himself by the only way He knew He could get your attention? The God who parted the Red Sea and stilled the surface of Galilee is the One Who is your Shepherd.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Finding Joy in All the Right Places


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” Psalm 34:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
A Christian should be filled with joy. But we can’t take any credit for it. It is Jesus who gives us joy and satisfaction. We couldn’t have found it had we been searching for it, but by finding, knowing, and growing in Christ, He has filled us with an overflowing joy.

Do you know what the devil will tell you? That holiness and happiness don’t go together. He will tell you that if you make up your mind to live a holy life, then you won’t have any fun. Friend, the devil is a liar.

ACTION POINT:
You’ll never know satisfaction and joy until you find it in the right place. You’ll never enjoy the good things of life until you know Jesus. Oh, how sweet to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the hunger of your heart met in Christ?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Monday, August 31, 2015

The God Who Can’t Be Figured Out


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and He weigheth the waters by measure.” Job 28:24-25

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are certain things God is not going to reveal. And that is good news. Who wants to believe in a God that they can put in a box and completely understand? Not me.

You can take a bucket down to the ocean and dip out a bucket full of water. Everything in that bucket is ocean, but not all the ocean is in the bucket. Amen? And with our bucket-size minds, we are never going to know all there is about God. I’m not. You’re not. Nobody is.

ACTION POINT:
Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Sunday, August 30, 2015

How Do You Measure Your Worth?

We were made in the image of God!
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

We were to live a life in paradise until we were enticed by satan to sin and thus it began!
Sin entered in and everything changed!
The good things began to be perverted.

God's Judgment on Man: 
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." 
16 To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." 
17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."  - Genesis 3:13-19

God saw that man was wicked and He was grieved that He gave him life:
5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. - Genesis 6:5-6

But God being merciful toward man, sent His only Son to be THE sacrifice for my sin and your sin!
How can this be?
The God of the universe thought humans were worthy of His mercy.
He sent a SINLESS JESUS to suffer for you and me!!
Sinner, that is the measure of your worth! 

Sinless Jesus:
6 It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. - Hebrews 2:6-10

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11


11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
12 saying, "I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise." 
13 And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again, "Behold, I and the children God has given me." 
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. - Hebrews 2:11-18

Don't face eternity without Christ! 

What Do You Love More than Jesus?


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The rich man asked Jesus, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Then Jesus asked him if he had kept the law. He said yes. In love Jesus responded, “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (Mark 10:21b). But the rich man was “sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:22).

Jesus let him go. Jesus didn’t run after him. And there’s another thing I want you to notice: Jesus didn’t lower His standards. 

ACTION POINT:
Is there anything you love more than Jesus? You must willingly lay it down to be saved.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers