The Stars and Scars of Christmas

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But Thomas, one of the twelve…was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, ‘We have seen the LORD.’ But he said unto them, ‘Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.’” John 20:24-25.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

At Bethlehem there was a bright star pointing the way to Jesus. But there is a darker side to Christmas. Consider the scars of the Lord Jesus. They’re not incidental. They are so fundamental that Jesus carried those scars with Him to Heaven.

Did you know that the only man-made thing in Heaven are the scars of Jesus Christ? When He went back to Heaven, He took some souvenirs of His visit with him…the scars in His hands and side. He has kept those scars as a lasting memorial through all eternity. When Jesus comes again, one of the ways we will know Him is His scars. Zechariah 13:6 says, “And one shall say unto Him, ‘What are these wounds in Thine hands?’ And He shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.’”

ACTION POINT:

I want you to imagine our risen Savior. See Him on the throne of His glory. See in His hands the print of the nails, because He bears them for all eternity. I want you to see those nail-scarred hands reaching to you right now. Would you not like to put your hand in that hand and say, “Save me, Lord Jesus. Thank You that You are the God-man. Thank You that, as a man, You suffered in order to save me.” Pray it and mean it.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Do You Have Peace in Your Heart?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I was trying to witness to a man one time. I knew him well. He was what you would call a self-made man, pretty comfortable in his status in life. He was standing in front of his house. We had a friendly conversation, but when I broached the subject of Jesus he said, “Oh, I’m fine. I’m fine like I am. You see that house? It’s paid for. There’s my wife on the inside. She loves me and I love her. I have my retirement income. I’m doing quite well, thank you.” 

I said, “Sir, may I ask you a question?” “Well, sure,” he answered. I said, “Oh no, don’t say that lightly. I want to ask you a question, and I want you to think about it and answer me honestly. Will you?” He said, “Of course.” I said, “Sir, do you have peace in your heart?” He said, “I told you, I’m fine.” I said, “No, you said you would answer the question. Now answer it. Do you have peace in your heart?” 

His chin began to quiver and his eyes brimmed with tears. He said, “No! I don’t have peace. How did you know?” I said, “Because the Bible says ‘There is no peace, said my God, to the wicked.’” 

The only real peace you will ever know is found in the wonderful name of Jesus. 

ACTION POINT:

Do you have peace with God? If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to invite you to pray a prayer like this: “Dear Jesus, I need You. I’m a sinner. I’m lost I don’t want to die in my sin and go to hell. I need You, Jesus. I trust You, Jesus. I believe You’re the Son of God. You paid for my sin debt with Your shed blood on the cross. Thank You, Lord, for doing that. Thank You for saving me. Now give me the courage to make it public. In Your name I pray, amen.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Why Christmas? Because of Calvary

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Why did Jesus come? Luke 19:10 tells us. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.” 

Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). He is the solitary Savior, the only Savior. 

I’ve often said Jesus is not a good way to Heaven. Jesus is not the best way to Heaven. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. When you say that, a lot of people get their hackles up, but I still want to tell you, apart from Jesus, there is no salvation. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 

He’s not just one more Savior. If He’s not the only Savior, He’s no Savior because He said He was the only one. And if He said He’s the only one, and He’s not the only one, then He’s a liar, and a liar is nobody’s Savior. I’ve got some wonderful news for you, friend. He can save anyone. 

Because of the birthday of Jesus, each year you are one year closer to Heaven, one year closer, if you know Him, to seeing His dear face. Who is Jesus? He is the Son of God who left Heaven, came to this earth, suffered, bled, died, and walked out of that grave a living, risen Savior. He’s the one who sent me to tell you that He loves you.

ACTION POINT:

He wants to save you and He will save you today if you’ll give Him your heart. If you have not already done so, do it today. Pray, “Jesus, I give You my heart. I believe You died to save me. You will save me if I trust in You. I do trust You, Jesus. I'm trusting You today.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Achieving Pure Satisfaction

Satan's defeated plan and God's victorious answer:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10:10

7 So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. - John 10:7-9

28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:28

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." - John 10:14-18

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. - Romans 8:1-8

13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-

14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. - James 4:13-17

Real people!

Real lives!

Real death!
Real eternity!

Where do you put your faith? Things? Yourself? 

Christ is pure satisfaction!!!

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." - John 14:6-7

My Chosen Portion

41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,

42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." - Luke 10:41-42

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  - Psalm 16:5

So why do you and I need Christ?

We came from sin by way of the first man Adam!

When He sinned, we all sinned and have continued to do so!

God sent Christ to be be the propitiation for man's sin!

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:10

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-

22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. - Romans 3:21-26

What does that mean?

Christ alone was the atoning sacrifice that redeemed man from Hell!

It was necessary for Christ to take the wrath from God that was meant for man.

So that is why "you must be born again".

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1:3-5

Turn from being sin filled man to one covered by the atoning blood that Christ alone gives!!!

You must turn and follow Christ commands!!

My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.  - Psalm 119:81

Jesus, the Savior

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One day I drove my car off the hot pavement out into a grassy area because I knew where there was a persimmon tree. I love persimmons and I thought, “Well, this is about the time those persimmons would be ripe.” But I got impossibly stuck in the mud. I got a board and tried to dig myself out. I found a piece of carpet there in the woods and put that under the tires. My tires only sunk deeper. 

I prayed, “Lord, I’m in the mud. I need your help. I’m helpless here. Lord, get me out.” And almost at the same time, a man came by in a four-wheel vehicle. With that mighty truck, he pulled me slowly out of the mud. I was back on solid ground. 

I was so grateful. I hadn’t known what to do, but God sent someone in a four-wheel truck with a cable. That’s so much like salvation. We’re looking for the things of this world and sinking in the mud. We say, “Well, I can get myself out of this.” And the more we try to handle it, the deeper and deeper we sink. We need somebody who will see us, care for us, come to us, and get us out. Jesus is a Savior. He has what it takes to extricate us from the mud we’ve gotten in. 

When I got home, my car was covered with mud. I got out the hose and began to get the mud off. That man got me out of the mud, but it was up to me to deal with the mud that was still on there. When I got saved, I was covered with mud. But since then, I’ve been letting Jesus, the Water of Life, clean me up. 

ACTION POINT:

You can struggle all you want, but all you’re going to do is sink deeper. Stop the struggle. Surrender to Christ. You don’t have what it takes to get out unless someone takes you out. And that one is Jesus. His name is wonderful. He is the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Welfare in His Name

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The thing your heart is yearning for is peace. Jesus is called “The Prince of Peace.” The Bible says, “Let the peace of God rule your heart” (Philippians 4:7). You see, God, through Jesus, came to give you peace. 

Has anyone ever left you anything in a will? Jesus did. Just before He went to the cross He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). 

This is the legacy Jesus left for you. Jesus willed His body to Joseph of Arimathea for burial. Jesus gave the care of His mother to the apostle John. Jesus yielded up His spirit to God the Father. But Jesus gave His peace to you. And there’s no lawyer on earth that can break that will. It is yours. It is your throne gift. 

ACTION POINT:

If you don’t have peace, it’s because you don’t understand what you have in the name of Jesus. There is welfare in His name. Call upon Him today. Ask Him to help you receive the peace He has provided.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers