Where is Your Focus Today?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When a runner is in a race, he puts his eyes on the goal. He doesn’t look at the grandstand or the other runners. Neither does he examine himself. He has his eyes on the goal. He looks away from everything else. The finish line is all he sees.

That’s exactly what we’re to do. The reason many Christians fail in the race is that they have not learned to look away from other things. They’re trying to look in both directions at the same time, and James 1:8 says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” And Matthew 6:22 says, “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”

ACTION POINT:

Where is your focus today? Has the world drawn you back into itself, luring you away from the command of our Lord? Read Matthew 28:19-20. That’s your goal.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Because God Said So

Survivors guilt and the why me scenario:

We have all said it at one time or another, "why me"?

It was usually said during a time of great stress!

Someone or you are sick and not recovering, someone going through chemo as you sit and watch them suffer or you in an accident survive and someone with you doesn't!

God's timing is perfect!

He alone determines your demise!

He alone knows all things and how they work together.

He alone orchestrates our lives according to His perfect will.

While we know that God has given man free will, He alone gives and takes life by His command. 

Lord, may we honor You alone for Your sovereignty.

Lord, may we rest in how You lead us every minute of everyday.

Lord, may we have Your wisdom in our daily lives.

Lord, may we love the lost with our whole heart.

Lord, may we totally serve You.

Lord, may we have an unquenchable thirst for sharing You. Amen

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 

15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.  - Psalm 139:13-16

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.

5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 

6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. 

7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things. 

8 "Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it.  - Isaiah 45:5-8

Looking Unto Jesus

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What does it mean to “look to Jesus” to have all of our needs met? Well, let’s say I borrow ten thousand dollars from Dan, a friend of mine, but then I discover that I can’t pay it back. Dan is on to me and says, “If you don’t pay it back, I’m going to foreclose on you.” 

So I go over to another friend, Tom, and tell him about my dire situation and ask for his help. Tom says, “That’s alright, Adrian, look to me.” 

Notice that he didn’t say, “Look at me.” He said, “Look to me.” In other words, “I’ll handle it.” That’s what the Bible means when it says “look unto Jesus.” It means look to Him for whatever you need.

ACTION POINT:

Who is looking to you to have their needs met today? Are you then looking to God or are you trying to do it on your own?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Momentary Earthly Pleasures Versus Eternal Heavenly Treasures

God created both, pleasures and treasures.

God wants man to enjoy both in their proper order and place.

Sin has entered in and perverted things, causing God's perfect creation to take on demonic twists.

Lies abound from the pulpit.

God's truth twisted into something to suit every unrepentant sinner.

God's word has not lost its power!!

Man's ears have become dull!

We are loving people right into hell by not speaking the truth of the gospel!!

We must, unapologetically, stand on the truth!

Not in a judging manner but in the spirit of love! 

For we, who are forgiven and repenting, were once doomed also!!!

By God's mercy we have been forgiven!!

Praise Jesus!

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. - Colossians 3:5-10

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:1-10

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

This Parched Life

Our land is parched from lack of rain.

Our lives are parched from not denying self.

We need rain.

We need mercy.

Our sin is great.

Teach us Lord, Your great word.

Burn it into our souls so that we will share You.

You alone are worthy of praise.

Feed us Your goodness.

Sprinkle Your just word, planting it deep, and bringing forth a mighty harvest.

And all the people said, It is You Lord, You have done it!

9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? 

10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.  - Job 12:9-10

Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.  - Jeremiah 14:22

25 When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, 

26 when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, 

27 then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. 

28 And he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"  - Job 28:25-28

25 "Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, 

26 to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, 

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass? 

28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?  - Job 38:25-28

Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.  - Zechariah 10:1

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.  - Isaiah 66:2

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.  - Psalm 135:7

13 "And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14 he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. - Deuteronomy 11:13-14

And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. - Ezekiel 34:26

3 "If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,

4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. - Leviticus 26:3-4

9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. - Malachi 3:9-10

Lord, hear our prayer. In Your great mercy, release the rains. Save Your people from their tremendous amount of sin. Forgive us, cleanse us and lead us in Your great way. Thank You Lord for what You will do. Amen

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 

4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.  - Psalm 63:1-4

Like a Thief in the Night

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There was a man who went shopping and left his car and house keys in the ignition. When he returned, his car was gone. The next morning he discovered his car in the driveway with a note that said, “I was in an emergency. I’m very sorry. I needed your car. Here are two tickets for the Dallas Cowboys game.”

The man went in and told his wife, “You won’t believe this! There’s our car, and look! We’ve got tickets to a Dallas Cowboys game!” They went to the game, and when they came home, their house had been cleaned out!

Friend, they never expected it, and that’s the point. That’s how the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come – as a thief in the night.

ACTION POINT:

How would you live your life differently today if you knew that Jesus was coming back in 24 hours?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Merciful Delay

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever wondered why Jesus has not yet returned? I’ll tell you why. Because our Lord is waiting on people to be saved. He’s waiting on your family member, your neighbor, your co-worker, or maybe you, but one of these days soon, and very soon perhaps, Jesus will come.

You see, it is the mercy of God that holds back the Second Coming of Jesus, but the justice of God and the judgment of God require that one day He will come.

Even now, the raging waters of God’s wrath are furiously pounding against the dam of His mercy. And one of these days, the dam of God’s mercy will give way to God’s judgment, and the day of the Lord will come. Our Lord is coming!

ACTION POINT:

Does the Lord’s return make your heart beat faster because you anticipate His coming or dread His coming?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers