What Is Your Top Priority?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation.” Psalm 35:9.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do your children believe that the most important thing to you is God? We must celebrate God in front of our children. 

Let me tell you what my children think and what they know. 

They know that their Daddy’s imperfect. They know that I love God. I wouldn’t be ashamed for you to ask them that. You can ask any one of them, “What’s the most important thing to your Dad and Mom?” They would say, “The most important thing to our parents is their relationship with God.” 

ACTION POINT:

Are you a parent? Then ask your children what they think the most important thing is to you. If they say anything other than your relationship with the Lord, make some changes in your life to reflect your top priority.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Legacy Of Love

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.” Psalm 112:2.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A woman came to her pastor and said, “When should I start the religious training of my child? When will he be old enough? Is it too early to start at six years of age?” 

The pastor said, “No, that’s too late.” 

She said, “Well how about six months?” 

He said, “That’s too late.” 

She said, “Then when should I start?” 

He said, “With his grandparents.” 

We can live for our grandchildren; we can live for our great-grandchildren. The greatest gift you can give your children is to teach them to worship the Lord, to love the Lord, and to serve the Lord at any age. 

ACTION POINT:

If you are a grandparent, share what God has taught you about His grace and faithfulness in your life. And share what God has taught you about worshipping Him and serving others.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Pain Of Living Life

Pain! 

Our mortal bodies and minds feel it!!

It's something that is not pleasant! 

It is something that God uses to mold you to His will.

It builds our faith!

During your times of crisis, people will wonder what you have that they don't and it will lead to an opportunity to share the hope we have in Christ.

It allows us to minister to others!

It builds our trust in God who see all things!

Pain brings you closer to God.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;  - Job 42:5

We can comfort others.

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

Pain shows you just what is important.

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.  - Isaiah 48:10

You grow in Grace.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. - James 1:2-4

All manner of suffering will make you more like Jesus.

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. - Romans 8:28-29

Thanks Mary for the verse references!

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.