He First Loved Us

What it means to be chosen by the Most High God!!!

We love because he first loved us. - 1 John 4:19

So the last will be first, and the first last." - Matthew 20:16

And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. - Matthew 24:22

Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." - Luke 10:20

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. - John 6:37-39

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:28-39

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ

10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, - Ephesians 1:9-11

who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, - 2 Timothy 1:9

Are You in the “School of Trials”?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Andrew Murray said, “Every child of God must at one time or another enter the school of trial.” And the Scriptures teach us that we are to count it a joy when God takes us into this school.

Just as there is no profit in the ground being made wet by rain or broken up by the plough if no seed is cast into it, so are children of God who enter into trial and have little blessing from it. The heart is softened for a time, but they know not how to obtain an abiding blessing from it. They know not what the Father has in view since they are in the school of trial.

Are you in the middle of a trial? Trust that the Lord will bring blessing as you trust in Him with all your heart.

ACTION POINT:

Let 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 encourage you: “For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.” (Amplified Bible)

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Practicing Purity

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Christian young people have asked me what specific things they can do to practice moral purity. Three of those are:

First, watch the crowd they hang out with. Choose their friends wisely (see Proverbs 13:20).

Second, guard what they put into their minds from books, movies, and music (see Psalm 101:3a, Proverbs 6:27).

Lastly, control their thought life (see Proverbs 23:7a, Philippians 4:8). The thought is the father of the deed. Someone has well said, "We cannot keep the birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from making a nest in our hair."

ACTION POINT:

Walk with God today as you never have before. Guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23, Ephesians 5:3-5). Make a covenant with your eyes (Job 31:1). Set a guard over your lips (Psalm 141:3). Take charge of your thought life: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Set Free and Redeemed

The battle is won.

Victory belongs to Christ Jesus!

You are set free by the Lamb of God !

According to the mercy of God and by His power bestowed on His Son to be the only worthy sacrifice to satisfy your sin guilt, you have been redeemed!

So what will you do with this gift?

Will you call on Jesus? 

Declare your sin, ask for mercy and repent! 

But this gift, if received in faith, goes far beyond your gift. 

You have a command from Jesus to share this gospel gift with the world by making disciples from every nation!

God alone is sovereign over all things.

He will accomplish His purpose!

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,  - Revelation 5:9

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that was not called by my name.  - Isaiah 65:1

9 "For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. 

10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. 

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.  - Isaiah 48:9-11

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.  - Habakkuk 2:14

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:4-6

6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 

7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."  - Isaiah 43:6-7

7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 

8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power.  - Psalm 106:7-8

15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." - Romans 9:15-17

29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,

31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.

32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" 

35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" 

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. - Romans 11:29-36

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 28:18-20

Parenting Isn’t for Cowards!

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.” Deuteronomy 4:40

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What happened to letting children be children? May God have mercy on us who stand by while boys and girls date at the age of ten, go steady by the time they’re thirteen, get married by the age of seventeen, and get divorced before they’re old enough to vote. As Dr. James Dobson has written, “Parenting isn’t for Cowards.” May God give us wisdom to help young people who are standing in tall dry grass with boxes of matches!

ACTION POINT:

Are you a parent? I challenge you today to get back to the Word of God. Stand up to the pressures of society. Corral your teens into your home with love. Form a prayer group of parents and teens. Do whatever it takes to rescue your children before it’s too late.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

“I'm Okay—You’re Okay”?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him.” Proverbs 30:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Postmodernism tells us that there is no absolute truth. Whatever you believe is okay. Whatever I believe is okay, too. Whether they agree or not doesn’t matter.

But in this age of postmodern thought, we must contend with this basic truth: Truth stands alone. It doesn’t require human interpretation. And let me add that in discussing Christian Truth, there is a divine disturbance that occurs. I don’t believe we can be neutral about real truth. If Jesus is God, then we must bow down and worship. If Jesus is not God, we ought to boot Him out the door as a liar and a lunatic. You must decide. There is no neutral ground. Either you are with Him, or you are against Him.

ACTION POINT: 

Pray for the hundreds of believers who are in jail around the world because they did not stand on neutral ground. They boldly proclaimed Christ knowing that doing so would cause them to be imprisoned or even killed.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Saved from Sin’s Penalty, Power, and Presence

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Some people get confused about when salvation happens. Let me see if I can shed some light on this subject. Salvation can be explained by using three verbal tenses in the English language.

The moment you repent and believe upon Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are saved from the penalty of sin.

After that, you enter a process of sanctification where you are being saved from the power of sin.

When you get to heaven, you will be saved from the presence of sin.

What happens when you enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ? You are justified immediately in your spirit. You are sanctified progressively in your soul. And you will be ultimately glorified in your body.

ACTION POINT:

Using Psalm 32:7, 41:2, 121:7-8, praise God that the preservation of your salvation is His job and not yours.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers