When Your Life Caves In

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When we come to a place where we don’t understand what’s happening…when everything seems to be caving in, there is Jesus. We always have the forgiveness of the cross, the victory of the empty tomb, and the hope of Christ’s imminent return.

When we go to the doctor and he tells us we have a malignancy. When we hear that we as a couple are infertile and cannot bear a child. When we have to declare bankruptcy. When we are laid off work. When we read a note that our spouse has left. When a loved one dies because of a terrorist act.

ACTION POINT:

We have a Savior…and we have a choice to believe or not to believe! At that time we can begin to murmur, criticize, grumble, or despair. Or we can yield to the Savior and hear Him say, “My child, no matter what is happening, this is how much I love you. Look to the cross. Look to the empty tomb. Look for Me. I’m coming again.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Male and Female He Created Them

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.

2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. - Genesis 5:1-2

4 He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

5 and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." - Matthew 19:4-6

There are no substitutions for the role of male and female in God's creation. 

He has made it plain that our role is to be obedient to His word!
We were made, male and female, to pro-create.

As with many things, sin entered in and perverted the roles of male and female.

What God intended to be pleasing in His sight has become shameful!

I am going to stand before a holy God on judgment day just as all will. 

I will love all people and pray for all people but I will not exchange the truth for a lie!

I will not except sinful practices as normal.

Sin separates man from God!

Don't let Satan lull you into an eternity in Hell!

Lord, I pray for eyes to be opened. Let us love each other but not exchange the truth for lies. Give us courage to stand on Your promise of eternal life through Christ. Let us teach Your truth! Amen

Because He Said So

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:45

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Are you a parent? Then, you’ve probably told your children to do something and they asked why. And what did you say? “Because I told you. Period.”

I believe there are times when parents want their children to do things and they need to explain their rationale. It’s important to teach principles for living instead of mere commands and rules. But sometimes children are not able to understand, so the answer I just mentioned is one that simply communicates parental authority to a child.

ACTION POINT:

Leviticus is a book full of laws that no one understood logically. And yet did God stop to explain the law? No. He simply said, “I am the Lord your God.” He is above our need for explanations and deserving of our full obedience.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Only Intercessor

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 2:5-6

Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. - Galatians 3:20

6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. - Hebrews 8:6-7

5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. - 2 Corinthians 3:5-6

16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.

17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,

18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. - Hebrews 6:16-20

So we go boldly before the throne of grace because of Jesus and God's mercy!!!

We study His word!

We keep His word in our hearts and on our minds!

We share the truth of the gospel to convict the lost and let the word lead them to salvation!!

We praise God for He alone is worthy!!

We thank Jesus for His sacrifice.

We honor Jesus with our obedience to God's commands! 

On the Proving Ground

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in Thy truth.” Psalm 26:2-3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

How do automobile manufacturers make sure their vehicles are safe for people to drive? They put their vehicles onto a proving ground. They’re driven hundreds of miles over rough roads and through water and heat—screeching, turning, twisting, hitting the brakes, accelerating to top speeds. They want to see if that automobile will stand the test.

It is the same with our spiritual lives. God gives the test first and the lesson afterwards. Read throughout Scripture and you will find this to be true. Joseph was tested. David was tested. Moses was tested. Peter was tested.

When God gets ready to prove you, He is not going to test you in the good times because that is not a test. Anybody can serve God in the sunshine. 

ACTION POINT:

The test is not how you behave when there is victory all around; the test is how you behave when God brings you to the wilderness. He wants to know what is in your heart. Are you fully devoted to God?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

We Killed Jesus

Sinner, you and I killed Jesus. 

The sin of man was the cause. 

Sin entered into God's perfect design, perverting perfection and forever creating a separation between Creator and creation. 

Because of our sin, God's wrath towards you and I had to be satisfied.

But praise God, He had a plan!

He sent His only Son to ransom wicked sinful man.

Without Christ, we had no acceptable means by which we could be reconciled to God!

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,  - Revelation 5:9

Learning to Love, Learning to Hate

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 97:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

This may come as a surprise to you, but just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you’re supposed to love everything. 

Now, we hear that Christians are to be a people of love, and that is true. But did you know that if you’re a Christian, not only must you learn to love, but you also must learn to hate?

If you love God, then you are to hate what God hates. It is true in every realm. If you love flowers, you hate weeds. If you love health, you hate germs. If you love God, you hate evil. It is just that plain.

Romans 12:9b tells us in even stronger terms to “abhor that which is evil.” A hypocrite, something none of us want to be, is someone who says he loves God, but then he doesn’t hate sin.

ACTION POINT:

Don’t tell others you love God if you don’t hate that which nailed His Son to the cross.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers