Who You Are In Christ

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The key to living a victorious Christian life is to discover who you are in Christ. Many Christians have never discovered this. They remind me of the man who had an identity problem and an energy crisis at the same time. He didn’t know who he was and he was too tired to find out. 

God doesn’t work from the outside in. He works from the inside out. God doesn’t modify our behavior in order to change us. He changes us in order to modify our behavior. 

You’re never going to purify the water by painting the pump. That’s legalism, and that’s a dead end to discovering who you are in Christ. 

ACTION POINT:

As you study God’s Word, start a list: begin to write down those phrases that apply to you, like the phrase “in Christ.” Now that you are “in Christ,” the phrase “no condemnation” is one you should write down!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Ministers Of Deception

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” 2 Timothy 4:3.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know Satan has put his ministers all across America? On Sunday, people will come down and sit in a service, and the man in the pulpit will look like a minister, but he will be a minister of Satan. Isn’t that frightening? You need to understand that Satan is not against religion. He’s always wanted to be like God. His temptation to you is not to be ungodly, but to try to be like God, but in Satan’s way. Satan is the master of deception. 

Matthew 24:24 says, if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. That’s the reason we have to be discerners of truth. 

ACTION POINT:

This Sunday, don’t just sit and soak in the service. Test the message against the Word of God and apply it to your life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Misunderstood Principle of Submission

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Submission is a term that has been grievously distorted because there are men who have used the word as a weapon to club their wives rather than as a hammer to build their homes. 

When God tells a wife to submit to her husband, He also tells the husband to love his wife “even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:22-25). 

When God tells children to obey their parents, He also instructs the fathers to “provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). 

When God tells you to submit to Him, it is for your good (James 4:7). Jesus is the head of the church, and He leads by love. The same should be true in the home. 

ACTION POINT:

Discuss the principle of submission with your family and friends this week. Contrast what the world would say it means to submit with what God desires for us.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Just As I Am

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:6.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you have a “know-so” salvation? What I mean is, do you know that you are saved and have the assurance that if you died tonight, you’d spend eternity with the Lord in heaven? 

Many folks don’t have that assurance, and in some cases it is not a spiritual problem. It is a psychological problem. They cannot accept the fact that God has accepted them. 

Charlotte Elliott penned these words to a timeless hymn of assurance:

“Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that Thy blood was shed for me, 

And that Thou biddest me come to Thee, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!”

You are accepted just as you are. It is all grace. 

ACTION POINT:

Find the hymn “Just As I Am” and sing it to the Lord. Make it your song throughout the day when Satan tries to make you doubt God’s love and eternal gift of salvation.

Defining Your Personal Value

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you try to be the best or do you simply try to do your best? The perfectionist has to be the best. He has to be #1. He can’t accept himself. 

The grace of God exalts a man without inflating him, and it humbles a man without debasing him. The person who strives for excellence says, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” 

Do you value yourself by what you do or by what you are? You have a choice. You can either choose to see yourself as God sees you, or you can choose to see yourself as the world sees you. Whose opinion will you listen to today? 

ACTION POINT:

Is there someone in your life whose opinion matters deeply to you? Instead of defining who you are by their opinions, measure yourself by God’s standard in His Word.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Perfection Found In Jesus Alone

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A perfectionist in the church is a miserable person. And not only that, but he makes everybody else miserable, too. The fellowship is never sweet enough. The teacher is never prepared enough. The music is never spiritual enough, and on and on it goes. 

Jesus supplies the only perfection that we will ever attain until we get to heaven. 

It is not perfection that God is looking for in His children; it is excellence. 

God is working in you to achieve His purpose for His glory. 

ACTION POINT:

Memorize this statement, “I am worthy apart from my performance because Christ died for me and gave His life to me. My life is hidden in Him. Jesus loves me.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Perfectionism Is A Thief

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know that your performance doesn’t make you any more or less acceptable in God’s eyes? 

If you think that God is going to accept you on the basis of your quiet time, your Bible study, or your service, you will fall into a trap of never knowing if you’ve done enough. You’ll never truly feel accepted. 

Perfectionism is a thief. It promises rewards, but it steals both joy and satisfaction. Why? Because perfection is an unattainable goal! If you are a perfectionist, you’ve set an impossible goal for yourself, and therefore you will constantly be faced with frustration and failure. 

Two things about you are true, without your “performance”—

• You are forgiven in Christ. 

• You are righteous in Christ.

ACTION POINT:

Are you a perfectionist? Ask the Holy Spirit to free you from the fear of failure. Now make a conscious decision that you can be less than perfect and still be loved by God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers