His Searchlight Upon Our Hearts

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Shall not God search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Psalm 44:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Christian author and speaker S. D. Gordon said, “In every man’s life there is a throne. And when self is on the throne, Christ is on the cross. But when Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross.”

There is something you hold to be the highest good that captivates your attention and controls your life. Your decisions are made in light of whatever this thing is. Is it Christ? Or something else?

God’s plan is not that Christ have “a place” in your life or that He have prominence in your life. Jesus Christ deserves and even demands preeminence in your life. That means there is no rebuttal, no refusal, and no rival.

ACTION POINT:

Ask God to reveal to you if there is anything is your life that is controlling your decisions, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Give Him permission to reveal that today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

It Is Yours, Lord—Everything

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Very early in our marriage, Joyce and I got on our knees and made a solemn vow before God that all we had would belong to Jesus Christ. We would not really own title to anything.

Now, we might hold title as far as men were concerned, but everything we owned would belong to the Lord. If He wanted it, He could have it. If He wanted to use it, if He wanted to destroy it, if He wanted to give it away, if He wanted to give more, that was His business.

Have you done that? Have you transferred everything to Christ? It’s not your fame, it’s your faith. It’s not your ability, it’s your availability. It’s not your scholarship, it’s your sacrifice.

ACTION POINT:

Stop now this moment and think about what you have. Are you willing to “transfer the title”? Tell the Lord Jesus Christ that He is the true owner of all you have—including your abilities.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

God's Faithfulness To Us

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  - Psalms 23

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  - Isaiah 53:6

even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:28

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

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. - 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. - Genesis 50:20

"The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. - Deuteronomy 28:7

Be so confident in God's faithfulness!

How can I see God's faithfulness to me?

God is your Defender.

God is our Shepherd.

We are His sheep.

We are weak and try to follow our own way.

We fail, but God is ever faithful!

Christ has laid down His life for us, His sheep.

God is sufficient.

We lack nothing!

He supplies our every need.

He is, He was and He will be!

God is your Deliverer. 

Valleys are not permanent.

He is with you during your struggles.

You will have hard seasons.

Satan tells you your troubles will never end, but we know different for our faith is in Christ. 

God the Creator will deliver you.

Shadows can't hurt me.

Death is a shadow.

Even death can't hurt you.

Death can't keep you.

Death is our beginning if you know Jesus as Lord.

We have victory over the grave!

God is your Destroyer.

We have victory over our enemies.

God is for us!

God is able!

Jesus has conquered death!!!

Thank you Pastor Kevin!!!

Keeping the Faith

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I believe with all my heart that the call needs to go out today more clearly than ever before for Christians to keep the faith.

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said, “The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell.”

We are but one generation away from paganism. If this generation doesn’t keep the faith and pass it to the next, there will be no faith.

ACTION POINT:

Are you passing the faith to the next generation? Here is your commission from the Lord: “Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates.” Deuteronomy 11:18-20

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

How to Stay the Course and Finish Well

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you know the way to finish the course? Keep looking to Jesus.

I’ve been preaching the Gospel for over 50 years, and God knows I have my faults and sins. He also knows I have repented and aim to get right with Him each and every day. I am far from perfect, but I can say that this same God has kept me on course. He has kept me preaching the Gospel.

Finishing the course that God has planned for us is never easy. It takes discipline and hard work. It takes picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off, and starting over. One of these days you are going to have to look back on your life. And I hope you will be able to say that you fought as a warrior and finished as an athlete.

ACTION POINT:

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a). Keep short accounts with God. Confess quickly. Get back on the track.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

After “Fighting the Good Fight”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Some of the greatest spiritual defeats you will ever have will follow some of your highest spiritual victories. Jonah, Moses, and Elijah – all these men learned this. Why does this happen?

Because we are tired and feel we can just coast awhile. We think, “Didn’t God bless and give us a great victory?”  But what we forget is that the devil is clever. He knows just when to pull the rug out from under us.

Let me give you a little advice: Although the residual effects of yesterday’s blessings will bless you, you cannot coast on yesterday’s blessings. God has made you so that you cannot live by experiences. You must live by Jesus Christ one day at a time.

ACTION POINT:

Every time you experience victory, be on your guard. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) This is the time to be “on alert,” and more submitted than ever to Jesus as Lord.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Prioritizing Your Work and Rest

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth His beloved sleep.”  Psalm 127:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

In the book of Jonah, we learn that Jonah reached a place of physical despondency (see Jonah 4:3 and 8). He wanted God to kill him.

Have you ever reached a place of despair and thought that everything and everyone was against you and you didn’t know what to do? Maybe you just needed to lie down and get some sleep.

Now, that may not sound like the most spiritual thing to do, but we cannot abuse our bodies without suffering the consequences. And being a child of God does not make you immune to physical exhaustion.

ACTION POINT:

Have you ever heard of burn out? Where do you think we got that phrase? There is enough time in the day to gracefully do everything God wants us to do. We must determine what that is—and isn’t. Begin each day with the prayer: “Father, what do You have for me today?  Help me to focus on that, and not the distractions.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers