In Collusion or Collision?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:16

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A farmer and his farmhand went duck hunting. The farmer said to his friend, “You’re always talking about fighting with the devil. I’m not a Christian, and I never have to fight with the devil.”

The farmhand answered, “Boss, if you and I shot two ducks, one was wounded and one was dead, which one would you go after first?”

The farmer said, “Well, I guess the wounded duck.”

“That’s right. The devil knows you’re a dead duck.”

If the devil doesn’t bother you, it’s because he doesn’t have to bother you since you and he are traveling in the same direction. If you turned around, you’d have a collision with him. Right now, you are in collusion with him.

ACTION POINT:

Are you a child of God? Then praise Him that He has given you the power over Satan and placed you on the pathway to see Him face to face!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

An Easy Way for Parents to Lead Family Worship

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deuteronomy 11:18-19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When your children are little, it’s always good to have family worship, to start the day with the Word of God. Now, my wife and tried all kinds of things with our kids for family worship. I want to give you one of the simplest, easiest forms of family worship. I don’t know why I didn’t discover it a long time ago. It is such a blessing. We still do it with our grandchildren, and with our grown children at breakfast when they’re there.

We just let one of the little children who are old enough to read take the Bible and choose a proverb. They can choose it at random. Or, since Proverbs has 31 chapters—basically the same as the number of days in the month—choose a proverb from the corresponding day. If it’s the seventh, choose from the seventh chapter of Proverbs, and read a proverb, just one. And let that child explain what he thinks that proverb means.  Then everyone else just talk about it for a few moments.

It is so simple. But when your children are learning those proverbs and having to think about what they mean, you are giving them distilled wisdom, a nugget of truth that they can carry with them to school and to work.

ACTION POINT:

Give your children and grandchildren wise instruction, but let that instruction be joined with training. Train up a child.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

You Are Valuable—Because You Are Loved!

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Grace is the most beautiful word in the Bible other than Jesus. Grace is why God loves us when there is nothing lovely about us. We are not loved because we are valuable. We are valuable because we are loved. 1 John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” That, friend, is God’s amazing grace. We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. I love Him for His grace. It is all Jesus. It’s not the church. It’s not good deeds. Amazing grace is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves you. He died for you.

ACTION POINT:

Thank God for the justification you have through Jesus Christ. Thank God for the grace He has abundantly given you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Restore Such a One

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Galatians 6:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

As a young boy in Florida, I loved to collect coconuts and sell them. One day while up a tree, I was using my right hand to disconnect a coconut when the palm frond let go. I fell on the grass, but my left arm fell on the sidewalk. It was a bad situation. My brother was there, and he saw what happened to me.

As I was lying there, having fallen, what did I need? Well, I didn’t need a lecture. I didn’t need my brother to go around to the community and say, “Did you hear about Adrian?” I didn’t need for him to come along and shoot me to put me out of my misery. What I needed was restoration.

ACTION POINT:

Do you have a brother or a sister in Christ who is overtaken with a fault? If so, go and restore him; restore her.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Forgiveness of the King

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” Romans 4:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There was a king who asked slaves on a ship, “Why are you in chains?” One replied, “I don’t know. I was in a crowd when a crime was committed. I am innocent.” He asked another who said, “I am not guilty but a victim of false witnesses.” The king proceeded to ask each man the same question and each had a reason why he was innocent. That is, until one man responded, “I am here because I deserve to be here. I have sinned against my God and against my king. And now I am paying the penalty.”

The king stepped back and said, “What are you doing here among so many honest men? Guards, release him!”

ACTION POINT:

Not until we admit our sin are we going to know the mercy and forgiveness of the King. Bow before Him today and admit you are lost without Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Real Faith: What It Is—What It’s Not

BIBLE MEDITATION:

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

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

It’s faith that enables us to live the Christian life. In order to know what faith is, let me tell you what faith is not.

Faith is not a hunch.

Faith is not positive thinking.

Faith is not responding to emotions, feelings, or icicles up and down your spine or miracles, signs and wonders.

Faith is not believing that God can do something.

Faith is knowing that God will. Faith is taking God at His word. Real faith dies to doubt. It is deaf to discouragement. It is blind to impossibilities. Now this is the kind of faith we need.

ACTION POINT:

What kind of faith do you have? Do you have the faith that is small as a mustard seed, but can move a mountain? Ask God for it today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Ready to Give an Answer

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Sometimes during an interview a reporter may ask me, “Do you think a Jew without Jesus is lost?” If I say, “Yes,” then I will look like a racist or a bigot. If I say, “No,” then, I have dishonored the Lord Jesus Christ who died for the sins of all people. So, how do I answer?

I say, “Friend, I believe that one of my own children without Jesus would be lost. It doesn’t matter whether he’s a Jew or a Gentile. You see, God demands absolute perfection and none of us can provide it. That’s why we need the gospel. We need Jesus. We need the righteousness of God that comes by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

ACTION POINT:

What would you say if someone asked you that question? Ask the Lord to prepare you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers