Friday, January 13, 2017

Reasoning Together—Being Reconciled One to Another


BIBLE MEDITATION:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Every rebel has a reason for his or her actions. You’ve probably heard a young person say, “Well, my dad drinks, so I smoke pot.” Do you know what kind of reasoning that is? Brute beast reasoning, like Peter mentions in 2 Peter 2:12. This young person doesn’t think he has to obey his father. And he further reasons, “He’s not worthy of my obedience.”


Do you know the only people who can demand perfect parents? Perfect children.


The only people who can demand a perfect pastor is a perfect church member.


The only person who can demand a perfect politician is a perfect citizen!


There is never a license for rebellion. There are ways to reason together in a church, home, and government.


ACTION POINT:
A spirit of rebellion will bring a nation to its knees. Jesus gave His life to reconcile us. Can you live otherwise?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Mere Circumstance or God


We speak a lot about fate and circumstance.
We think there are no rhyme or reason to the things that take place on a daily basis.
But there is an unseen orchestrated effort going on as we walk here on earth.
God is seated on His throne, all-seeing, all-knowing and working things together to achieve His purpose. 
He knows your past, present and future. 
He alone holds you.
We are put in situations by His divine hand.
The big question is what will we do? 
Will we miss these opportunities?
I know as I look back, that I have failed many times as I was given a chance to speak Your word of hope.
It haunts me!

Lord, let us always be bold. Amen

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. - Acts 8:4

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place.
27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship
28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot."
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 
34 And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?"
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?"
38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. - Acts 8:26-38

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?"
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."  - Romans 10:14-18

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. - John 16:13

8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?"
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."  - Romans 10:8-18

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me." 
21 But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." - Romans 10:20-21

Faith is Not Positive Thinking


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have so much faith, others have weak faith, and some have no faith at all? Is God unfair? No, God is no respecter of persons (see 2 Chronicles 19:7). He has given to every man a measure of faith (see Romans 12:3).


And so, what is faith? Let me first say what it is not.


Faith is not positive thinking or optimism. It is not a feeling that you can do something. It is not a hunch or looking on the sunny side of the street.


Faith is getting a word from God and acting upon it. You see, you can get a word from God and believe that word. That is belief. But when you act upon it, that is faith. Faith is belief with legs on it.


ACTION POINT:
Today is the day that you put your foot of faith upon the promises of God and say, “That promise is mine!”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Coming Through As Pure Gold


BIBLE MEDITATION:
But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
In order to refine gold, a goldsmith places gold over a fire until it bubbles and glows. He skims off the impurity from the top and knows that when he can see his reflection, the gold is pure.


That is what the Lord is doing when you go through trials. When He can see His likeness reproduced in your life, He’ll know that you have become gold fit for His use and for His glory.


But the fire is hot! Yes, but God controls it. No jeweler is more careful with his gold than a father with his children. He knows what He is doing.


But what about those things He is burning out of my life? You don’t need them. If you needed them, your loving Father would make sure you kept them.


ACTION POINT:
Anything that comes into your life today, whether good or bad, has had to pass through the grid of God’s sovereignty and His permission. Look to Him, for He is not only your refiner, but also your redeemer and a loving Father. He already sees the finished product He’s working on and perfecting in your life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Held Safe in His Hand


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Believers are “kept” by the power of God. This word “kept” in 1 Peter 1:5 is a military term. It literally means to be garrisoned about as soldiers around a fort.


Think of the power of God as a fortress and you are on the inside. Now how do you feel? Pretty secure, right? So many people get the idea that we keep ourselves safe. Friend, He keeps us.


A father was crossing a street with his son. The son had hold bof his daddy’s hand, then the light changed and the cars surged forward.  The father grabbed his son’s chubby little hand and almost lifted his son across the street to escape the oncoming traffic. That is the way God holds us.


ACTION POINT:
Psalm 37:24 promises, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.” As you go through your day, place your hand in His and say, “Father, carry me across this day You have given me.”
  

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Monday, January 9, 2017

Not by Your Works—Only by Grace!


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are some people who think you can lose your salvation once you have it. I have one truth that will dispel that idea. Whether or not you can lose your salvation depends upon how you got it.


If you were saved by your good works, then you can lose your salvation by your bad works. But God’s Word is very clear on this point. Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”


How is someone saved? By grace. And if it is by grace, then you’re kept by grace. Salvation is not rooted in the merit of man, but in the mercy of God.


ACTION POINT::
Rest secure today in the knowledge that the Potter has you safe in His hands. He’s not about to drop you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Sunday, January 8, 2017

What Is Earthly In You



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.
11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. - Colossians 3:5-11

You were once dead in sin but now you live in Christ!!
Put away the things that belong to death.

You are a new creation in Christ!
Cling to the things that belong to those who have eternal life through Christ!!
You are set apart from others and holy!

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.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:12-17

Be compassionate, be kind, be humble, be meek and have great patience towards your brother!!
Just as Christ forgave you, you also forgive!
The greatest gift you can give is heartfelt compassionate love!!
Be a servant just as Christ came to serve! 
You are loved so love your brother!

Thanks Pastor Uth!!!