Why Frankincense and Myrrh?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, ‘Take unto thee sweet spices…with pure frankincense…And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony [Ark of the Covenant] in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.’” Exodus 30:34-37.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

In Bible times they worshipped the Lord by burning incense, a sweet perfume rising up to the nostrils of God. It was a symbol of worship—to be used in the worship of God alone. Frankincense tells of His sinless deity, the beauties, the fragrance, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Frankincense represents Jesus, our Intercessor, and His intercessory prayers for us. Its fragrance speaks of the love and mercy of God. 

Myrrh was used to embalm the dead. When the Lord Jesus Christ was being buried, they poured spices and myrrh into His grave clothes. “And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight” (John 19:39). Myrrh to embalm the body of Jesus. The gift of myrrh speaks of his sacrificial death. He was born to die. 

ACTION POINT:

Give—worship—witness—serve. These are what a wise man will do. I wonder, are you really wise? Do you understand that He was born to die?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Symbol of Gold ~ His Sovereign Dominion

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire…with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.” Psalm 21:1-3.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Gold was a gift fit for a king. The wise men asked, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” Our verse today speaks of kings. They wear a crown, and it is a crown of gold. 

When the wise men brought gold, they were saying, “We recognize this child is the king of the Jews. He’s destined to reign. He has sovereign dominion.” 

“Well, how am I going to crown Him?” you may ask. You can crown Him the way they did—with gold. If all of your wealth is not under His control, you’ve not recognized Him as your sovereign king. He has a right to all you own. You say, “It’s mine.” If He is not Lord of everything you have, He’s not your Savior. His throne is not a duplex. 

ACTION POINT:

How will you serve Him? One way is to serve Him with your wealth. As the saying goes, “He has no hands but our hands.” Serve Him is by showing His love to those in need. He requires your absolute surrender to His lordship. He is the king.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Three Symbolic Gifts

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:10-11.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Many people think these three gifts were just incidental. No, they’re fundamental. These were not trinkets; these were treasures that didn’t occur by happenstance. This was something the wise men had planned. These gifts are highly symbolic. They carry deep significance. 

In the gifts the wise men brought to the young boy Jesus, gold speaks of His sovereign dominion—He was born a King. Frankincense speaks of His sinless deity—He is God in human flesh. Myrrh speaks of His sacrificial death—He was born to die that we might live. 

• He is King and they brought gold.

• He is God and they brought Him frankincense. 

• He is our Savior and they brought myrrh. 

Sovereign dominion, sinless deity, sacrificial death. 

ACTION POINT:

Because He is a King, He has my wealth. Because He is God, He has my worship. And because He died, He has my witness. All that I am, all that I have, all that I do, belongs to this One. That is wisdom. That’s what a wise man will do. Do some soul-searching today. Are you really wise?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Thank God for the Miracle of the Star

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” Judges 5:20.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

You know, the stars have to obey our Lord. In the Old Testament, the Bible says the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Sisera was a general whose army had 900 chariots going to war against God’s people. Imagine—900 chariots! God sent such a tremendous rainstorm that his chariots bogged down and he was defeated. 

Later when they wrote a song to celebrate the victory, one of the stanzas says “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” His kingdom came tumbling down. And ultimately Herod’s kingdom came tumbling down, for Herod stumbled over the stars—the Star of Bethlehem. 

Listen to me, the whole universe is against the person who is against God. But the whole universe lines up behind the one who seeks God. Whatever is necessary, God will do it to get the hungry heart who seeks after Him to Jesus. If you want Him, God is a God of might and miracle. 

ACTION POINT:

Some of you may be reading this by divine appointment because you’ve been seeking the Lord. Thank God for the miracle of the stars. The star was there to guide those wise men seeking Jesus. It tells me that whatever is necessary, God will guide your hungry heart if you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

God Made the First Move

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Three things brought the wise men to Jesus: The ministry of the Spirit, the message of the Scripture, and the miracle of the star. 

Who put the desire in their hearts to find the Christ child and to worship Him? The Holy Spirit. Do you know why we seek Him? Because He first sought us. Isn’t that true? “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Do you know why I love the Lord Jesus? Because God in grace and mercy put a desire in my heart to seek after Him. The Bible says that by our nature, our flesh, none of us would seek after God—no, not one—and that would have included these wise men. 

They didn’t come to Him because they were so intellectual. Don’t get the idea that because they were smarter than other men they came. No. They were wise, and that wisdom made them yielded to God; thus God the Holy Spirit could work in their hearts and draw them to Jesus. 

ACTION POINT:

Do you have a desire to know Him? To love Him? To serve Him? Do you find something drawing you to God? Remember His promise: You will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Are You A Wise Man?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, ‘Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.’” Matthew 2:1-2.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Not all “wise men” are wise men. You may be a great entrepreneur, a great businessman, engineer, or nuclear physicist. You may be a physician, lawyer, a gifted artist. But if you don’t know Jesus, you’re not truly wise. There’s a kind of wisdom that’s not wisdom at all; it’s the wisdom of this world. “PhD” may stand for “phenomenal dud” if you don’t know Jesus. 

Omar Bradley, a great American five-star general, once said, “We’re living in a time when our achievement, our knowledge of science, has gone far beyond our power to control it. We have too many men of science and too few men of God. We’ve brought about brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. We’re living in a time of nuclear giants and spiritual pigmies.” 

That’s well said. What is real wisdom? Wise men and women will seek Jesus. Do you know the mark of wisdom, how to determine wisdom? Just tell me what motivates you, tell me the consummate ambition of your life, and I can tell you clearly whether you’re wise or not just by what you seek. The apostle Paul summed up his life in one sentence: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). What he meant was the source, the substance, the subject, the satisfaction of his life was Christ. 

ACTION POINT:

Could you put your life in a sentence like that? “For me to live is Christ.” Pause and think about that.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Time for Restoring All the Things

17 "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. - Acts 3:17-21

25 And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" - Luke 24:25-26

He has risen!

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." - Luke 24:39

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

46 and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." - Luke 24:45-49

15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

27 For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. - 1 Corinthians 15:15-28

Praise God for His mercy towards sinners!!! 

His grace is marvelous!!!

He is coming to restore all things!!!