The LORD of the Angel Armies

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” Haggai 1:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What does “the Lord of hosts” mean? It literally means the Lord Almighty, and it speaks of the greatness of God. One translation puts it, “the Lord of the angel armies.”

In his hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” Martin Luther uses the Greek word for “the Lord of hosts” when he writes, “Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same, And He must win the battle.”

When David faced Goliath, he used the same name for God. “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts” (1 Samuel 17:45). Though Goliath was a huge man, David said he wasn’t too big to hit if God was on his side.

ACTION POINT:

What does it do for your spirit today to know that you have with you the Lord of hosts? This same Lord, the Lord Almighty, says, “And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15).

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The God of the Second Chance

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever felt like you have used up God’s reservoir of forgiveness? Perhaps you’ve thought, “I don’t have a right to come and ask Him to forgive me again.” Friend, it doesn’t matter how many times we have sinned.

Suppose you came back to God the 5,000th time with the same sin. Will He forgive you? Yes indeed, He will. As far as He is concerned, it is the first time you have come to Him. Why? Because He has forgotten all the other times.

Our God doesn’t hold grudges. He does punish sin, but He doesn’t hold grudges. The God of Jonah, David, Mark, Peter, and Jacob is your God and my God. I have come to Him so many times and asked Him for a second chance. And guess what? He has given it.

ACTION POINT:  

If He can give Jonah, David, Jacob, etc., a second chance, He will certainly give you another chance. Failure is not final.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Serve Him and Let Him Take Care of It

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12:17-18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A certain minister served a church for many years, then one day the church asked him to leave. He was talking to another preacher friend and said, “What they did to me was dirty. After all I did for them, and they treat me this way.” The preacher friend listening to him thought to himself, “It’s a shame he didn’t do it for God.”

If you’re serving God in any way, don’t do it for people; do it for the Lord. Serve Him. If you’re doing right, people may mistreat you, but what difference does it make if you are serving the Lord? God will prove Himself faithful and will reward you for your obedience.

ACTION POINT:

Don’t bow to bitterness. Tell God what has happened. Let Him deal with it in His time. He’ll take care of it.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

In a Nook with the Book

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Speaking about the Bible a saint once said, “I have no greater pleasure than to be in a nook with the Book.” Do you think that way?

The Bible is the book that the martyrs held to their bosoms as the flames crept closer and closer. This is the book that the saints put their head upon as they went from this world into the next. This is the book that gives bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, life to the wayfarer, strength to the weak, and a weapon to the warrior.

God’s book rejoices the heart. It is completely trustworthy. There are over 6,000 promises in the Bible and not one has ever been broken.

ACTION POINT:

What would happen in the life of the church—and in your life—if you spent as many minutes in your Bible as in the newspaper? The television? Your cell phone?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Prescription for Loneliness

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in Thee.” Psalm 25:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

You may be saved today and yet feel incredibly lonely. Here is a practical pointer for overcoming your loneliness: Quit dwelling on it. Reach out and try to help someone who is lonely.

Luke 6:38 promises that when we give, it shall be given to us. There is a locked-in likeness to what we give. It is the law of the harvest. If you want friendship, you must show yourself friendly (see Proverbs 18:24).

ACTION POINT:

Why don’t you keep a stack of cards and a pen handy to write a little note of encouragement to a shut-in? Get a prayer list and intercede for others. Travel around the world by means of prayer. Jack Hyles, a great preacher, said, “There is no life so empty as a self-centered life, and there is no life so centered as a self-emptied life.” As you pour out yourself to others, the Holy Spirit will continually pour Himself into you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Your “Mission Possible”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever thought about the Great Commission as being a “mission impossible”?  But it isn’t, because of what comes with the mission.

You see, Jesus said that all power, authority, and dominion is given unto Him in heaven and earth (see Matthew 28:18-20). Dominion was first given to man, but man gave it over to the devil in the Garden of Eden. Jesus receivedD it back from the Father and gave that authority to each of us.

ACTION POINT:

Does Jesus have authority over the devil? Yes! Then so do you. Does Jesus have the victory? Yes! Then you have the victory. Is Jesus Christ enthroned? Yes! (See Ephesians 1:20) Then you are enthroned. “We are seated with Him in heavenly places” (Ephesians 2:6). The victory is yours through Jesus Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

His Own Purpose and Grace

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

9 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 1:8-9

Christ, our hope:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, - 1 Timothy 1:1

Christ, our mercy:

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. - Titus 3:4-7

Jesus, faithful high priest:

1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.

3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses-as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) - Hebrews 3:1-4

All things working together:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

Faith:

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. - Romans 3:27

The promise:

2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; - Titus 1:2-3

Through Jesus Christ:

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-

27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. - Romans 16:25-27

Death abolished:

and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, - 2 Timothy 1:10

Holy Spirit:

13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. - 2 Timothy 1:13-14

Life in the Spirit:

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. - Romans 8:1-11