Surrendering Every Burden

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Many say they have committed their lives to the Lord, but have they really? The psalmist challenges us to commit our way to the Lord. The word “commit” in this passage has the idea of rolling a burden over to the Lord.

Minnie A. Steele wrote a hymn in 1908 that I have often sung, titled “I Remember When My Burdens Rolled Away.” The first verse says,

“I remember when my burdens rolled away;

I had carried them for years, night and day.

When I sought the blessed Lord,

And I took Him at His word,

Then at once all my burdens rolled away.”

Well, she knew what she was talking about!

ACTION POINT:

Read Psalm 55:22 and once again roll over to the Lord your burdens. Surrender everything to Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Compassion For The Broken

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. - Colossians 3:12-15

There are many broken lonely people.

There are many who are dying and in need of a helping hand.

There are many whose marriages are broken and in need of just someone to listen to them.

There are many who are struggling taking care of sick family members.

There are many who have made mistakes and are paying dearly for them by being  trapped in a prison of deep despair.

Why do we hold others accountable for their mistakes but want forgiveness for our own?

Lord, help us to see.

Lord, help us to hear.

The Last Days of Fragile Parents and Their Blessed Caregivers

Parents once so strong now failing as each day passes.

Their children taking on the role of caregivers, sometimes one child taking on way too much of the care as the others offer up excuses.

Lord, give us compassionate hearts!

Let us equally share in care so that the task will not be so heavy.

It is not one persons responsibility.

Let us be sensitive to the needs of those caregivers, asking if we can help.

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. - 1 Timothy 5:8

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:10

2 "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise),

3 "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." - Ephesians 6:2-3

What Is The Source Of Your Joy?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy name for evermore.” Psalm 86:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What is bringing you joy today? You say, “The Lord is making me happy.” How do you know it’s not that nice automobile? Or that “special someone”? Or your good looks? Or your bank account? Or your popularity? Here’s how you can know. By the process of elimination. Let God take away your health, your home, your job, and if you still have joy, then you know it is Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

If you lose your joy when you lose any of these things, then you are an idolater because that is where you are getting your joy! I don’t mean that you cannot be temporarily upset over the loss, but if the joy goes out of your life, you weren’t getting your joy from the Lord.

You’ll never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Getting the Upper Hand Over Sin

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Romans 6:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know that if you let the devil be uppermost in your life today, it is because you are doing the letting? Before you were saved, you had no choice. You were a slave to sin. But now, you don’t have to let sin have the upper hand in your life.

There is absolutely no power that says you must sin. When you entered into union with Christ, you no longer have to let sin reign in your mortal body. You have dethroned sin and enthroned Jesus Christ as Lord of your life.

ACTION POINT:

We need to be like the man who prayed, “Lord, help me cooperate with You, so You won’t have to operate on me.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Giving the Devil His Due

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Mike Kolen, who played linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, told this story once. “When I graduated from Auburn University, Coach Shug Jordan asked me to do some scouting for him. I said, ‘Sure coach, what kind of man do you need?’ Coach said, ‘You know the guy you can knock down and he stays there?’ I said, ‘Sure!’ Coach said, ‘We don’t need him. You know the guy you can knock down, he gets up, you knock him down again, and he gets up?’ I said, ‘Yes! You want him?’ ‘No,’ said Coach, ‘I want the guy that’s knocking everybody down. That’s the guy I want.’”

ACTION POINT:

I am grateful that Jesus picks us up when we are knocked down. But wouldn’t you like to do a little knocking down of the devil for a change? You can if you will learn to pray, “Lord, lead me not into temptation, but keep me from evil.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Attitude Adjustments and Trusting God

I love the book of Job. 

His life story speaks to us about suffering, restoration, trust and faith.

Job had great material wealth.

Job had the precious gift of children.

Job had many friends.

Job was righteous.

Job prayed.

Job helped the less fortunate.

Job was a leader in his community.

Job was respected by his community.

God tested!

Read the book of Job to see if he passed the test.

Attitude adjustments come from God.

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.  - Isaiah 45:5-7

8 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"

9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?

10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."

12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,

15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. - Job 1:8-22

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."

10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. - Job 2:7-10

6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. - Genesis 6:6-8

Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. - Revelation 8:5

But there is an eternal hope.

Christ alone brings it.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. - Romans 12:12

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. - 2 Corinthians 5:1

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - John 3:15-17

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33