Jesus Wept

Jesus wept. - John 11:35

When Jesus arrived and saw Mary weeping over Lazarus, he was overcome with sorrow. 

Jesus loved that family.

They were His friends.

This Savior of all believers, wholly man and wholly God, wept.

He saw that the end result of sin was death. 

He knew all people were condemned to death.

He knew the people were in need of a Savior.

He knew that people must obey and repent.

He knew the sorrow that death would cause.

Never forget that Christ offers you eternal life through His death on the cross.

On that cross, He took your sin and mine, receiving all Gods wrath that rightly belonged to us.

We think we know compassion, but we don't.

God has shown compassion to the lost.

God has shown mercy to those who are so undeserving.

God sent a perfect spotless lamb, serving as a sacrifice, for sinful man.

How can you turn your back on such a gift?

The True Depth of the Savior’s Love

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.” John 10:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The true depth of the Savior’s love becomes apparent when you consider an important truth—Jesus Christ is the only person who ever chose to die.

“But, what about kamikaze pilots in World War II? What about soldiers who, having heard the ominous ‘click’ of a land mine, stood still until their buddies could scurry to safety?”

They didn’t choose to die in the final sense of the word; they only chose when to die. You and I, and everyone yet to be, will die eventually. But there was only One who did not have to die. Nails didn’t hold our Savior to the tree. Silver cords of love and golden bonds of redemption held Him there.

ACTION POINT:

Read Psalm 22, 23, and 24 and rejoice in the provision, protection, and providence of the Good Shepherd!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Working All Things Together and Toward His Return

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God has not promised you smooth sailing, but He has promised you a safe landing. He has a purpose in allowing every circumstance into your life. You can bank on this: He’ll see you to the shore in every storm of life.

Andrew Murray said, “God is willing to assume the full responsibility for the life totally yielded to Him.” One of these days your destiny will be fulfilled. And soon and very soon, He is going to step down from the mountain of His glory, and the trumpet will sound. Our little ship will leave the sea of time, and immediately we’ll be on the shores of eternity.

When He comes, He’s coming for you! He’s coming for me!

First Thessalonians 4:16-18 tells us to comfort one another with these words of Christ’s return:

 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

ACTION POINT:

Do you have a Christian friend who is troubled today? Comfort him or her with this hope.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

No One Knows Your Needs Better...

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “. . . for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.” Matthew 6:32

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

St. Augustine once said that we were created with a “God-shaped” void.

I agree.

Only God can meet the deepest longings of our hearts. There is nothing that can satisfy apart from your relationship with Him. 

But it's not because He is a heavy-handed dictator forcing you to accept life the way He dishes it out!  Who knows what will satisfy your deepest needs better than the One who made you? As your Creator, He can see what your needs are going to be tomorrow and ten years from tomorrow. Don’t you think He knows what you need today?

ACTION POINT:

What do you need today? Notice I’m not asking, "What do you want?” but "What do you need?" Does your Father know what that is? Then trust that He will provide.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

True Satisfaction Is Found in the Lord

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The Scottish-born naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, John Muir, once had a conversation with railroad magnate and industrialist E. H. Harriman.

“I’m richer than you are,” declared Muir to the railroad baron.

“And how is that true?” responded Harriman.

“Because you don’t have all you want — and I do. Therefore I am richer than you,” answered Muir.

Well, perhaps these two men were playing word games with one another. We don’t know if either man was truly satisfied with his life, but there's one thing of which I’m certain. Our search for satisfaction will not be found at the end of the rainbow in a pot of gold. It can only be found in Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

What satisfies you today? Is it the things you own? Your relationships? Your job? Ask the Lord to fill you with the source of lasting satisfaction—Himself!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

By Your Good Works, They May Glorify God

BIBLE MEDITATION:

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. Having your conversation [behavior] honest among the Gentiles [unsaved]: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:11-12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The unsaved love to bad-mouth the church, and if you're a Bible believer, they especially love to lampoon and ridicule you. You are to live a righteous, godly life. There is to be in your heart and life none of what the Bible calls here “fleshly lust.” Renounce and abstain from everything that is wrong. Then you must embrace everything that’s right.

Certain things war against the soul. The word “war” here is not the idea of hand-to-hand combat, but speaks of a strategy, a conspiracy.  There is a conspiracy born in hell, my dear friend, that wars against your soul, the soul of your family, the soul of your church, the soul of this nation. We are at war with unseen forces from the very pit of hell, and to be prepared for the battle, first of all you must be absolutely and totally clean. A child of God ought to be pure and clean as the driven snow.

ACTION POINT:

Be mindful every day to live such a pure, godly, clean, righteous, honest, forthright life, that even grudgingly those who hate you will have to admit there is a difference.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

That By Believing You May Have Life In His Name

The mind blowing powerful word of God!!!

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.  - Isaiah 25:1

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. - John 20:31

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. - 1 John 5:11-13

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." - Matthew 14:31-33

42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." - Acts 10:42-43

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

25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." - John 11:25-27

I leave you with these words of our Lord:

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." - John 20:21