Running Your Race Without Distraction

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Runners train themselves to be focused on one thing – the finish line. They have one desire, and they are not going to let what is going on in the stands or who is lagging behind distract them.

Paul had the same sense. He, too, believed that you could not win a race by looking over your shoulder or glancing to the right or the left. You can’t see what is ahead when you’ve got your headlights on the rear bumper.

ACTION POINT:

Paul forgot his past glory, past mistakes, past grief, past everything. Paul refused to let his past keep him from reaching his goal. What are you doing in your race to claim the prize of a closer walk with God? Take a few minutes over the next couple of days to reflect upon what Jesus Christ did for you on the Cross. In light of that, analyze how you are running your race. What changes do you want to make to better run the race?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

By The Blood Of Christ

This is your reason to shout hallelujah!!!

This is your reason to praise a merciful risen Lord!!!

What man could never do, the blood of Christ has done!!!

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. - Ephesians 2:13-16

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:4-9

Judgement and Salvation

1 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. 

2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;  - Isaiah 65:1-2

What we wait for:

New Heavens and New Earth

17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 

18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 

19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 

20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.  - Isaiah 65:17-20

22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. 

23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD. 

24 "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." - Isaiah 66:22-24

Our Sins, “Paid in Full”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:25

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There was a skeptic who was talking with a little girl one day. She loved the Lord Jesus with all of her heart. He was trying to shake her faith and he said, “Young lady, Christianity is not the only religion, you know. There are plenty of religions in the world. There are plenty of Christs. Which Christ do you believe in?” She thought for a minute and said, “I believe in the One who was raised from the dead.” Amen! That’s the One I believe in, too!

The death of Christ on the cross without His resurrection cannot save you. If Christ died on the cross and that is all that happened, then Jesus was just one more religious leader.

Do you know the proof positive that God accepted His payment for sin? He raised Him from the dead. If Jesus is still in the grave, your hope of heaven is not worth half a hallelujah.

ACTION POINT:

Why not celebrate the Lord’s Supper this week, remembering the powerful promise of His resurrection, replenishment, and restoration?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

For My Own Sake

Only one true God, maker, forgiver, sovereign over all things!!

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  - Isaiah 43:25

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.  - Isaiah 44:22

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. - Ezekiel 36:25-28

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.  - Isaiah 44:6

7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. 

8 Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any."  - Isaiah 44:7-8

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,  - Isaiah 44:24

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