The Lord Ever-Present

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The One who created the valley is there with you! He has prepared the way through the valley. It is not a place of permanence, but a place of passage. He knows every twist and turn, every changing shadow, every den where danger lurks—that One is with you!

Focus on the light and not the darkness. God has made you to walk through shadows. When the shadow approaches, you must walk through. The One greater than death is in you! He is your Jehovah-Shammah—the Lord ever-present. His grace is greater. His peace is purer. His devotion is dearer. Where Satan casts a shadow, our Sovereign Lord reigns supreme.

ACTION POINT:

This is a day of hope. Meditate on 1 John 4:4 throughout the day and ask God to give you a divine appointment to share this beloved truth with someone today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Light Of Hope In A Dark World

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”  Isaiah 9:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Imagine being in a cave without a flashlight. Can you see any shadows? You cannot even see your hand! Shadows are only visible in the presence of light.

Regardless of how dark, how large, how absolutely ominous a shadow appears, it is only there because there is light. David says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Why? Because “Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Jesus has taken the sting out of sin and the fear out of the grave. He has empowered us with the Holy Spirit to give us confidence that He will always be with us and watch over us.

ACTION POINT:

There are many today who are grieving because of a loss—the loss of a loved one, a job, a wayward child.  Pray for them. Send them a note of hope and include 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Worthy Are You Our Lord and God

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."  - Revelation 4:11

It's too wonderful!

It's too deep for the human to grasp!!

We don't have a clue who this great and awesome being is that we serve!!!

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,

6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 

7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" 

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."  - Revelation 4

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2

10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. 

11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. 

12 I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and I am God.  - Isaiah 43:10-12

Burdens And Trials A Necessity?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” James 1:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A man had a grandfather clock. One day he felt sorry for the grandfather clock because it had a weight on it. And that weight was always pulling on the clock.

The man said, “Oh, Mr. Clock, you’ve held this weight so long, I’m going to remove it and let you rest.”

The clock protested, saying, “Don’t take that weight from me. That’s what keeps me going.”

In the same way, the trials and tests of life are there for your endurance. They’re to keep you going, keep you trusting, keep you praying, and keep you depending upon God.

ACTION POINT:

When was the last time you shared with someone that they needed to be thankful for their trials? When was the last time you told yourself? 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Off the Defense and Onto the Offense

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If I had to identify the major misconception about believers today, it would be that they spend too much time getting out of trouble with God, instead of getting into righteousness!

We are living on the defensive instead of the offensive. We need to move beyond the defensive line of Christianity, and move on to the offense—advancing the Kingdom, fulfilling the Great Commission, and telling others about Jesus. Our Shepherd will never lead us where His strength cannot keep us. He will never lead us down a path that He hasn’t first walked down Himself.

ACTION POINT:

Are you sharing His love and words of salvation with someone who’s lost? If not, begin today to move beyond your comfort zone and see the hand of God move.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Listening for His Voice

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Hearken unto Me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of My mouth.” Proverbs 7:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The United States Government doesn’t teach Treasury agents to detect counterfeit bills by having them study fakes. They show these agents real dollars over and over and over until they have the pattern memorized. Then when a counterfeit is put in front of them, they recognize it instantly because it doesn’t fit the pattern their eyes are looking for.

Do you know the voice of the Lord? The only way you can be sure that it is His voice you are hearing is to hear it so often that a stranger’s voice is instantly recognizable. It is far wiser to spend time learning the One True Voice than it is trying to learn to detect a multitude of false voices.

ACTION POINT:

Spend at least 15 minutes today being silent before God and listening for His voice.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Hurting You To Heal You

Discipline:

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 

6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." 

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,

13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. - Hebrews 12:1-13

The Goal:

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. - Hebrews 12:14-17

The reward:

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest

19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

20 For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned."

21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear."

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."

27 This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken-that is, things that have been made-in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

29 for our God is a consuming fire. - Hebrews 12:18-29