Monday, October 17, 2016

Obedience in Tithing


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
A man spoke to his pastor one day and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but God is not real to me anymore.” The wise pastor asked, “Is there any sin in your life?” In a moment of honesty the man responded, “Years ago I was tithing regularly to God, but one day I thought, 'God doesn’t need the money as much as I do,' so I stopped.”

The pastor said, “Will God say, ‘My child has disobeyed Me. He cannot trust Me with his resources, so I think I’ll bless him with even more financial resources.’ Will God do this?”

Absolutely not. If you’re not faithful with little, He won’t bless you with any more.

ACTION POINT:
Are you faithfully tithing your income to the work of the Lord? If not, it’s time to.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Making Your Own Idol


BIBLE MEDITATION:
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
What is an idol? A man takes his own ideas and puts them into the work of his hands, and then he begins to worship it. What he is really worshiping is himself.

You may say, “Well, I’m not guilty of idolatry.” Let’s just see...is there anything that you love more than God? Anything you fear more than God? Anything you serve more than God? Anything you trust more than God? Am I getting hot?

You say, “Well, I give God a place in my life.” God doesn’t want a place in your life. Then, you say, “Well, I give God prominence in my life.” God despises prominence in your life. God demands preeminence in your life. He will take nothing less.

ACTION POINT:
Is there anyone or anything in your life that takes precedence over God? Confess it and repent of it. Now, put on the throne the rightful Master—the Lord Jesus!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Life In The Spirit Through Christ Alone



So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD. - Ezekiel 38:23

What Christ offers:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. - Romans 8:1-11

The power of the Living God
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD."
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. - Ezekiel 37:1-10

God is calling:
Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.  - Isaiah 55:3

Hope:
23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. - Romans 8:23-25

Suffering:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. - Romans 8:18

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Future Glory:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." - Revelation 21:3-4

Man is in sin, headed for destruction.
God sent Jesus to take away sin for all who obey and believe.
Man is without excuse.
God has provided proof in His creation of nature. 
No mortal could have made what we see everyday, moon, sun, stars, dirt, water, even what we can't see, the very air we breathe, and on and on I could go.
God is good.
Man is evil.
Man was tempted by Satan.
Man yielded to temptation because he wanted to be God.
His eyes were opened. 
God's creation and all its glory was for ever changed.
Man's sin brought death.
Christ is our hope of eternal life.
In Him we will be raised from death unto life.
Through Him and Him alone do we have redemption.

God's Everlasting Love
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?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:31-39

The Sun of Righteousness





BIBLE MEDITATION:
“But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings. . .” Malachi 4:2a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Since Jesus is the S-O-N of God, He is also the S-U-N of righteousness. Let me tell you something about the sunrise. The sunrise never comes ahead of time, and it is never late. Isn’t that right? The sunrise operates according to the power of God and the authority of God. You can’t hurry it up, and you can’t stop it!

It is the same with the Second Coming of Jesus. He is coming at a time known only to God. You can’t hurry it up and you can’t stop it.

One day the Lord Jesus Christ shall come with trumpet sound. He will pull back the shade of the night and pin it with a star. Then He’ll open the door of the glorious morning of His millennial reign and flood the world with light.

ACTION POINT:
Tomorrow morning, get up with the sunrise and praise God that His timing is perfect—and that He is coming again!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Honoring Our Parents Always

BIBLE MEDITATION:
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Whether you are young or old, you can honor your parents. How? By showing respect. Leviticus 19:3 says, “Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.” Now that word “fear” doesn’t mean to quake in the presence of your parents. That is, you are to have a holy respect for your father and your mother.

You may say, “But my parents are not worthy of respect.” With all due respect, you aren’t either. None of us are worthy. Only perfect children can demand perfect parents, and no children are perfect. Our parents are imperfect. We are imperfect. But God is holy, and He says that we are to respect our parents.

ACTION POINT:
What’s your relationship like with your parents? If you’ve been showing less than the type of biblical respect God requires, then begin today to turn that around for His glory!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Don’t Be a Flabby Christian

BIBLE MEDITATION:
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
I’m amazed at the little bit it takes to stop some Christians from accomplishing the tasks the Father has given them to do. This thing of being a Christian is not a Sunday afternoon stroll! Shining God’s light in a dark world is a full time job. 


We must pray over it, weep over it, and study over it to show ourselves approved. Most of us in America get up on Sunday mornings and sit in an air-conditioned church with beautiful stained glass windows in streamlined comfort. The truth is…we’re flabby, undisciplined, and exhibit no determination. 


Friend, God does business with those who mean business.


ACTION POINT:
Do you mean business in this Christian life? Then begin something today for the building up of God’s Kingdom to the glory of God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

One Plus One Equals One

BIBLE MEDITATION:
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Matthew 19:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Do you know what’s wrong with many marriages? Husbands treat their wives like a new car. When it’s new, he shows it off; and then when it gets old and the paint fades a little bit, he trades her in for a new model. 

Are you a married man? Then you are to satisfy her needs and share your life with her. That means all that you are and all that you have is for her! God’s arithmetic is one plus one equals one! There’s no part of our lives that we do not share. 

Are you the strong, independent type? Then you’re not like Jesus, who shared unconditionally and sacrificially with you.

ACTION POINT:
This week, make it a priority to give something sacrificially to your wife. It may be your time. It may be a possession. It may be a word of encouragement that she needs.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers