Will You Receive the Blessing God Sets Before You?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God is setting before you this day a blessing and a curse. What determines whether you receive the blessing? If you obey. What determines whether or not you are going to receive the curse? If you disobey.

There are six blessings God wants to give you today in exchange for your obedience: plenty (Isaiah 1:19-20), peace (Jeremiah 26:13), protection (Exodus 23:22), power (Acts 5:32), purity (1 Peter 1:22), and perception (Psalm 119:100).

ACTION POINT:

Do you want Jesus to be real to you so that He’s not just someone that you know or read about? Maybe you want to do more than just “pray” to Him; perhaps you want to talk to Him, and you want to relate to Him. Then read John 14:23 and obey Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Beauty in Brokenness

Often the only way to freedom is war.

Falling to your knees in total despair.

War between good things and evil things.

Becoming aware of the sin that is taking away your freedom.

Freedom comes from obedience that is found in following Christ.

Be yielded.

Be still.

Repent.

The truth shall set you free!

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:31-32

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. - Romans 6:17-18

22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.

23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. - 1 Corinthians 7:22-23

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1

25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1:25-27

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. - 1 Peter 2:16

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. - Matthew 6:33

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 

6 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. 

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 

9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 

10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  - Isaiah 53:3-11

Why Don't More People Attend Church?

God has called the Church to share the gospel!

God is the head of all things.

Jesus is the head of the church.

 Remember your accountability to God!

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: - 2 Timothy 4:1

We all struggle with accountability because we are not humble or disciplined.

We live for ourselves, our wants, and our sin is damming us to hell.

 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. - 2 Corinthians 5:10

Raise your children to respect authority, to be in fear of God's judgement and to know actions have consequences.

Emphasize the Word of God!

Humble yourself before the Lord.

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. - 2 Timothy 4:2-4

Speak the truth of God.

Obey the word of God and be blessed or ignore it and be cursed.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.  - Isaiah 40:8

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. - Matthew 24:35

Preacher preach the Word!

Disciple preach the Word!

Preach it like you believe it!!

Be bold in the Lord!

Preaching the Word of God is not popular with sinners.

Focus on the call of God!

5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. - 2 Timothy 4:5-8

Don't overreact!

Keep your mind in all situations. 

Don't give up!

Endure hardships!

If God is for you who can be against you.

Don't stop!

Keep on keeping on!

Find a church who shares the true gospel!!

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

Returning to Your First Love

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.” Revelation 2:5a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When my wife Joyce and I were on our honeymoon, we were driving south of Daytona Beach back to West Palm Beach. I was so in love that I had two eyes on her and no eyes on the road.

A policeman hailed me over and told me I had broken the speed limit of 35 mph. I was surprised because I hadn’t seen a sign that changed the limit from 55 to 35. He said, “All right young man, here’s what I want you to do. Turn around and drive back about three blocks. Look at the sign and go on.” That was my punishment.

The officer made me go back before I could go on.

ACTION POINT:

That’s exactly what our Lord is saying to us when He tells us to return to our first love, a passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Loving What Jesus Loves

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And I [Jesus] say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There are many people who say, “I believe in Jesus, but I just don’t believe in the church.” That is like saying, “I believe in football, but I just don’t believe in stadiums, the gridiron, goal posts, and shoulder pads.”

Jesus loves the church. He gave His life for the church. If you are ever going to be victorious in the spiritual battles of life, you must realize that Christianity is not a “Lone Ranger” religion. The church is here to bind together and win the battle together.

Sabine Baring-Gould wrote the famous hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.” One stanza really stands out in this regard: “Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, But the church of Jesus constant will remain. Gates of hell can never against that church prevail; We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.”

ACTION POINT:

Jesus loves the Church, which is His body.  If we love Jesus, we will love what He loves.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Can We Know His Ways?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known.” Psalm 77:19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Visiting the Sea of Galilee is an unforgettable experience. The Lord Jesus walked on the water there, but you cannot see His footsteps. When a boat goes through the ocean, it doesn’t leave a trail does it? When a wagon goes across land, it does leave a trail, but a boat doesn’t.

In this passage in Psalms, what is God saying? That we will never know Him just by studying history—by simply studying what He has done. His ways are mysterious. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

But we can know His ways, for He says in Psalm 103:7, “He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” And in Micah 4:2 we find, “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.”

ACTION POINT:

You can try to make sense of God with all your ingenuity, creativity, and intelligence, but God says we will never know Him that way. We have to lay our intellect in the dust and say to God, “Show me Your ways.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Authentic Thirst-Quencher

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13-14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever been outside working in your garden or bicycling or playing football and become very thirsty? You go inside and perhaps grab a soda. It tastes great and seems to hit the spot. You return to your activity and you get thirsty and go for another soda. It is satisfying at first, but just doesn’t seem to keep you quenched. Finally you fill a tall glass with water and you’re satisfied.

Why? If you look at the ingredients on the soda container, it says it is artificially colored and/or flavored and/or sweetened. It doesn’t have that touch of authenticity.

ACTION POINT:

There are many who are trying to satisfy their thirst with things that are artificial when what we need is the water of life! When was the last time you quenched your spiritual thirst with the sparkling refreshment of time spent with God?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers