Wednesday, March 22, 2017

“Nothing In My Hands I Bring”


BIBLE MEDITATION:
For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Have you ever laid your head on the pillow at the end of a long day and satisfyingly said, “Well, I was a good person today, so if I died tonight I will go to heaven”?

If you have, you’re not alone. I would venture to say that most people believe if you go to church, tithe your money, and do good to others, that God is going to let you into heaven.

If being religious could get you to heaven, then why was a religious man like Paul struck down on the Road to Damascus and asked by the Lord, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” (Acts 9:4b).

More importantly, if we could save ourselves with our good deeds, God did not need to send His only Son into the world as a sacrifice for the likes of you and me. No, it is Jesus’ righteousness that saves us. And Him alone.

ACTION POINT:
Take stock: What “religious” things are you doing, hoping to score a few more “brownie points” with God? This is “works doctrine.” Abandon it. Come to Jesus and say, “Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling.”


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

How Far Does His Forgiveness Reach?


BIBLE MEDITATION:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
People have the idea today that it is okay to live in immorality and that God is going to overlook their little indiscretions. Is that so?

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God doesn’t miss a beat of our lives. He is the righteous judge and will judge accordingly (see Hebrews 13:4).

“Well Pastor, does that mean that if I have done any of these things, I can’t be saved?”
 No! 1 Corinthians 6:11 promises: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Hallelujah! There is no sin so awful that the blood of Christ cannot cleanse. He makes the vilest sinner clean.

ACTION POINT:
Nothing—not your worst offense—stands between you and the Cross. . .between you and forgiveness. . .between you and a loving Heavenly Father—nothing but your hesitation. Come to Him. He longs to receive you.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Monday, March 20, 2017

When It’s a Good Thing to Turn and Run


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is outside the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The sin of immorality is not a sin we are told to fight in the Bible. It is a sin we are told to flee! (See 2 Timothy 2:22.) God tells us to get out of a compromising situation. Read what Joseph did when he was approached by Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39:7-18. In a word, he fled!

If there is a person who works in your office and that person is immorally flirting with you, it would be better for you to quit your job than to stay in that office.


“But—my job!”


But—your purity!

ACTION POINT:
Perhaps you are fighting a pornography addiction and you are alone in your motel room with free X-rated movies. Do you sneak a peak? Don’t see how far you can come to the edge without falling over. See how far you can stay away!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

When You Are Tempted To Argue

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. - Romans 3:21-25

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. - Leviticus 17:11

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. - Colossians 1:13-14

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. - Hebrews 9:22

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. - Hebrews 9:27-28

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:16-20

18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. - Ephesians 4:18-25

1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
10 Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. - John 3:3-15

When we present the gospel and are met with an argument of disbelief, let us be careful of our response.
We are assuming that our point has been explained well, the facts are laid out clearly!
We think "what is the problem"?
This puts us in the mode to argue our point. 
Is that really the thing to do?
What is God's command given to man about the spread of the gospel?
It's to make disciples of all nations. 
Are we so foolish to think we have that power to make a disciple? 
Our witness of God's word is to share it.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to awaken hearts, give clear understanding to the gospel, open blind eyes and bring lost souls to their knees.
The gospel convicts of sin which leads man to repentance which leads to forgiveness in Christ Jesus which leads to salvation by atonement through His blood!
When sharing the gospel we must remember, we are speaking to those who are are spiritually blind. 
We will only be sharing the gospel to their mind, but the Holy Spirit will working on their heart and their blindness!!

The Authority Of The Holy Spirit

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:1-5

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:17

Nothing is settled until the matter of authority is settled.
The church must operate under kingdom authority.
Christians must bow before kingdom authority.
Being a rebel is high treason, submit to God.
The King is supreme.
His word is authority.
The Holy Spirit works to give us understanding of the things of God.

One
One Man's sin
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. - Romans 5:15-19

Reign
To rule with kingdom authority
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. - Romans 5:14
For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:17
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Romans 5:21

Much more
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. - Romans 5:9
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. - Romans 5:10
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. - Romans 5:15
For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:17
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, - Romans 5:20

Two kingdoms
God's and Satan's
One kingdom is light in Jesus.
One kingdom is darkness in Adam.
You belong to one.

Adam brought sin and death.
Christ brought forgiveness and life.
What did we receive from Adam?
He became a servant to Satan.
We lost our power due to sin.

Spiritual weakness rather than power.
Unholiness rather than godliness.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. - Romans 5:6

Our thinking 
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.  - Proverbs 26:12

The truth
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, - Romans 3:23

Thank you Pastor Adrian!!!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

The Power of the Lord's Supper


Communion should stir a fire in your soul.
Communion reminds us of Christ death, burial and resurrection.

Ordinances for the remembrance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Baptism- a demonstration and representation of Christ and the gospel.
Going down into water-Jesus lived
Emerged into the water-Jesus burial
Coming out of the water-He is risen

Lord's Supper
Bread-Jesus body
Wine-Jesus blood

Passover
"You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." - Matthew 26:2

18 He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'"
19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. - Matthew 26:18-19

Communion brings the body of Christ together.
The Lord's supper supernaturally brings us together.
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. - Matthew 26:20

How the body of Christ should act:
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. - Romans 12:9-18

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,  - 1 Corinthians 14:33

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. - Ephesians 4:1-3

4 There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. - Ephesians 4:4-6

The Lord's supper cleans us up.
Sin must be confronted!
Sin is poison!
And as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." - Matthew 26:21

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14

You must be in a constant state of repentance.
Examine yourself!
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. - 1 Corinthians 11:27-30

There is power in the blood of Jesus!!!
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. - 1 John 1:8-10

The Lord's supper keeps the main thing the main thing!!
Jesus served!
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you,
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. - Matthew 26:26-28

33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?"
34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." - Mark 9:33-35

Jesus saves!!!
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. - 1 John 3:16

Our response!
Get saved!
Get right!!

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

Are You Searching for a Church?


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Any great church is built on these four things that begin with the letter B. 

The Book - the inspired, infallible Word of God. 
The Blood – the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The Birth – the new birth.
The Blessed Hope – the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

God tells us in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” He wants us to find a Bible-believing church and connect with the people there.

ACTION POINT:
If you’re looking for a church, find out if they take a stand on the Book, the Blood, the Birth, and the Blessed Hope. If they don’t, saturate that place with your absence. Look for one that does.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers