More About the Divine Exchange

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The church is not an organization with Jesus Christ as its president. The church is an organism with Jesus Christ as its head. We are in Him and He is in us. The victory He won on the cross was for us.

When Jesus went to the cross, He wasn’t fighting the battle for Himself. He didn’t need to overcome Satan. He fought it on your behalf. He made the transaction, the divine exchange:

Jesus became the Son of man that you might become a son of God. He took your sins that you might take His innocence. He became guilty that you might become acquitted. He was filled with despair that you might be filled with joy. He took your shame that you might take His glory. He suffered the pains of hell, that you might know the joys of heaven.

ACTION POINT:

“What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.”

LWF Adrian Rogers

The Divine Exchange

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Jesus suffered like you suffer. But He suffered more than that, because He took not only your suffering, but He also took upon Himself the suffering of the world. The sins of the world were compressed and distilled upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrew scholars tell us that there is an intensive plural in Isaiah 53 that speaks of the death of Christ. They say that it literally means that He “died a thousand deaths.” 

Do you know what that means? It means that Jesus, being infinite, suffered for a finite amount of time what you, being finite, would suffer for an infinite amount of time. A great exchange took place. He suffered upon that cross an eternity of hell for every one of us.

ACTION POINT:

Can you say today with the songwriter,

“What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;

Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Making Your Way Clean and Pure

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways.” Psalm 119:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Psalm 119:9 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.” That word “way” really means a “rut” like a chariot wheel would make in the road.

Have you ever heard of a one-track mind? The devil plants a thought in our minds, and over time it becomes a belief. Before we know it, he has captured a stronghold. Thank God there is a way of deliverance.

ACTION POINT:

God’s Word will cleanse you (see John 15:3 and Ephesians 5:26). Picture the Lord Jesus walking through your mind, filling up a wheelbarrow full of filth, and carting it out. Hallelujah! God’s cleansing powers can sweep over your soul today. And fresh winds of the Holy Spirit can blow through the temple of your body and make you clean and pure.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

And You Shall Know That I Am The Lord

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. 

It shows the power of God in all His glory!!

It shows the contrast between lowly man and Almighty God!!

God does indeed give knowledge to man but man is so foolish.

Man thinks he has done this and that, instead of praising and glorifying God for the knowledge which He imparts by His mercy! 

Our mission is one of sharing the Gospel. 

We can't save any soul!

We are to share God's word!

It exacts a response from lost man.

Man will be convicted!!

Man will receive mercy!

Man will reject His word as a lie!!

Man will receive God's wrath!!!

God's word teaches His power, mercy, forgiveness and glory!

God's word teaches we must rely on God!!

Hear the word of the Lord!!

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.

2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.

3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."

4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD."

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.'

12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."

15 The word of the LORD came to me:

16 "Son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.'

17 And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

18 And when your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what you mean by these?'

19 say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand.

20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes,

21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.

22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.

23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

24 "My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.

25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.

26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." 

Ezekiel 37

Studying Under the Best

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.” Psalm 138:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There was a man who loved to study the Bible, and every time he came to something he didn’t understand, he asked his friend Charlie, “What does this verse mean?” One day in his Bible study, the Holy Spirit said, “Why don’t you ask Me? I’m the one who taught Charlie.”

Now, I thank God for the Bible scholars who teach God’s Word, but the same God that teaches these men and women is the One who wants to teach you.

ACTION POINT:

As you read the Bible, I want you to ask God to help you answer these questions: 1) Is there a lesson to learn? 2) Is there a sin to avoid? 3) Is there a blessing to enjoy? 4) Is there a promise to claim? 5) Is there a new thought to carry with me?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Only Thing You Have that God Wants

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” Matthew 10:39

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

We have nothing that God needs. Think about that. If I were to give God my riches, I couldn’t make Him richer. He owns everything. If I were to give God my wisdom, I wouldn’t make Him wiser. He is the all-wise God. If I were to give God my power, I couldn’t make God more powerful. He is omnipotent.

God wants only one thing from His children—our hearts. If we pray to God without giving Him our heart, we are mocking Him. If we preach without giving God our hearts, we are preaching in ignorance.

ACTION POINT:

God is saying to you today, “Give Me your heart.” How will you respond?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

What If It Were Today?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Two little girls were talking in school one day, and one said to the other, “I hear the school board is making an inspection of our school this week.” 

The other girl’s desk was messy, so she said, “I’ll clean it up tomorrow.”

The first one asked, “But what if they come today?” 

Her friend said, “You know, I think I’ll clean it up right now—and keep it clean.”

ACTION POINT:

If you knew that Jesus was coming to your house this afternoon, would there be any cleaning you would need to do? Any magazines or videos you would need to trash? Any pictures on the walls you would need to take down?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers