Who Do We Think We Are?

It really only matters that we know we were created by a holy God who has great mercy toward us. 

We really need to know that apart from God, we can do nothing!

He alone gives us our knowledge.

We really need to know that we are doomed to Hell without the salvation offered to man by God through Christ!!

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:6-8

God's Sorrow

5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. - Genesis 6:5-6

Merciful God

20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-

24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? - Romans 9:20-24

God's will

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!

15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. - Romans 9:14-18

Ungrateful Man

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. - James 3:7-10

The Right Additude

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:13-14

The Master’s Feet

“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” - 1 Peter 5:7

I read about a man whose dog was swimming. The man called the dog to go home. The dog was having such a great time, he wouldn’t come. So the man picked up a stick and threw it in the water. When the dog saw the stick, he instinctively swam to the stick, put it in his mouth, came back, and laid it at his master’s feet.

I wonder if the burden you have has been given to you by God to cause you to come to His feet. Maybe He’s called you other ways, but you wouldn’t come. Maybe the burden is what God is using to bring you to your Master’s feet. But thank God we can cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.

What burden weighs upon your heart today? Did you know that we have a high priest, the Lord Jesus, who, the Bible says, is not high and mighty and aloof, but one who can relate to our sufferings and understand them, for He Himself knew the greatest pain, suffering—and loss. Read Hebrews 4:15, then cast your cares upon Him today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

What Is Justification?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Romans 8:30

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What does it mean to be justified? It means to be declared righteous. 

Justification is not being good, though being good gives God glory. When you put your faith where God put your sins—on the Lord Jesus Christ—then God stamps “righteous” over your name in His “Book of Life.” 

It’s not because of what you have done or ever can do, but because of His justification. 

No court on earth can justify anybody. But what God does is take a guilty person and not only give that guilty person a pardon, but He makes that guilty person just as if he had never sinned. That’s justification. 

ACTION POINT:

If you lived every moment believing in the justification that God has given you, how would your faith be strengthened? Would you be more vocal about the gift of God’s love?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Day of Reckoning

We live in the days of free will. 

God has given man this gift where with, either you will follow Christ, God's Son or deny Him!

One group, the sheep, being blessed to everlasting peace and the other group, the goats, cursed to everlasting fire.

There is no, in between place, only heaven or hell!!!

Because of mercy, God has made a way for man to be reconciled to Him.

Jesus, in complete obedience, came to fulfill God's plan, knowing that it meant death on a cross.

He counted himself as worth nothing, but was truly worth everything to those who believe on Him!!!

For us, it is a living gift of mercy!!!

Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world-to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." - John 18:37

23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' 

29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." - Acts 17:23-31

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?

38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'

45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'

46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." - Matthew 25:31-46

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. - Colossians 2:8-10

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. - Colossians 2:12

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. - Colossians 2:14

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:5-11

Your worth:

7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, 

8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, 

9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.  - Psalm 49:7-9

To Be “in Christ Jesus”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus?” First, think about what it was for Noah to be in the ark. The ark was waterproof. How do we know it was? Well, God told Noah, “put pitch on the inside and on the outside” (Genesis 6:14). The word “pitch” in the Hebrew is kapar, and it is exactly the same word translated as "atonement." You see, we are in Jesus as Noah was in that ark. Just as the storms of God’s wrath beat upon that ark, the storms of God’s wrath beat upon the Lord Jesus. But we are on the inside, and not one drop of judgment can come through.

ACTION POINT:

Read Romans 8:35-39. Reflect on the things that Paul says will never separate you from God’s love. Give glory to God that your sins have been atoned for by the righteous blood of the Savior.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Christians Are We Shooting The Wounded

Why is it that we run from the ones who are the deepest in sin?

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." - Mark 2:17

You are a witness!!

Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." - John 9:39

Wicked people can be saved!!

Look at Paul!!

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,

13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. - 1 Timothy 1:12-17

How can we share Christ without being present?

We have to be a community!

God has commanded it!!!

Invest in others!!

Pick your brother up when he falls and he will return the blessing to you when you fall!!

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him-a threefold cord is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  - Proverbs 17:17

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

5 For each will have to bear his own load. - Galatians 6:1-5

We are many members!!!

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. - Romans 12:4-5

God sees your potential!!!

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? - Romans 8:31-32

Jesus invested time!

Encourage your brother!

Have fellowship!

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. - John 3:22

Be accountable!!

Support each other!!!

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. - Hebrews 10:24-25

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!!

Pray to Be Heard of God, Not Men

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Matthew 6:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One time a young professional was waiting for a meeting when he heard someone walking down the hallway. Thinking that this might be a potential client for him, he picked up his telephone and pretended to be having a high-powered conversation. 

Soon the footsteps stopped at his desk. Looking up he asked, “What may I do for you?” 

The man standing before him replied, “I’m from the telephone company. I’ve come to hook up your phone.” 

Prayer is the same way. The prayer that gets our Savior’s attention comes from the heart and not from the head, “to be heard by men.” Prayers to impress people are one-way conversations. 

ACTION POINT:

Find a quiet place in your home where you can be alone with the Lord every day for a special time of communion with Him. He is waiting for you there.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers