Our Most “Besetting” Sin

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…and the sin which doth so easily beset us...” Hebrews 12:1b

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

In this part of our verse, Paul is no longer talking about good things that might become bad things. Now he’s just talking about bad things.  The word beset means “to tangle you up.”  Can you imagine a person trying to run a race with a long flowing robe entangling him or some rope around his feet?  No, he wants to be free so he can run. 

What is the sin that so easily trips us up? Weights load us down; sin trips us up.  Either one can make you a poor runner and keep you from running the race.

In Hebrews 11 and 12, Paul is talking about faith. The whole race we’re running is the race of faith. Hebrews says we live by faith; therefore, we run by faith.   

Most of us say, “I wish I had better faith, stronger faith.”  Do you know the reason you don’t have more faith than you have?  Sin.  You say, “Now wait a minute, pastor....”  No, friend, the Bible says, “Beware, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.”

ACTION POINT:

Unbelief is not a mental sin; it is a moral sin.  It doesn’t come out of the head; it comes out of the heart.  “Beware, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.” 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Take Off That Overcoat!

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us….” Hebrews 12:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If you’re going to run a race, how do you prepare yourself?  First, you’ve got to lay the weights aside.  Notice athletes. They run in very light clothing. The less weight, the better.  One thing you’ll never see is someone in the Olympics, running in an overcoat.  It’s not going to happen.  They get as light as they possibly can.  You have to lay aside every weight.

The Greek word weight does not mean something that’s sinful.  It just means something that burdens you, that holds you down.  There are some things that are not bad in themselves.  Nothing wrong with an overcoat.  You just don’t wear an overcoat when you’re running a race.  Paul said:  “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Friend, it may be some recreational habit you have.  It may be some cottage in the woods.  It may be some acquaintance, some hobby, too much television or sleep. Paul is saying, “Something may be lawful for me, but if it’s not expedient, if it doesn’t speed me on my course, then I need to leave it alone.”

ACTION POINT:

Ask yourself, “Is there something in my life that’s hindering my walk with Christ?  Something that’s holding me back?  Is there something that is excess baggage?  Something keeping me from being all I ought to be for the Lord Jesus Christ?  Whatever it is, if you want to win the race, lay it aside.  Good things become bad things when they keep you from the best things.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Paying An Extra Price

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I might finish my course” Acts 20:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you pay a price—some extra time in the morning—to get into the Word of God?  Do you pay the price of being ridiculed because you keep your Bible on your desk in the office or bow your head and thank God for His gracious goodness to you when He gives you a meal?  Are you willing to be different?  Will you finish your course?

When you’re running this race, you’re going to find out that you’re running right against the grain. Don’t get the idea that there’s the broad road and the narrow road, and the narrow road runs alongside the broad road, and over there a bunch of people are going this way, and over here you’re going in the same direction.

No, there’s the broad way, and here you are, right in the middle of it, going the other way. Against the grain. What we believe

starts at a different source

follows a different course

ends at a different conclusion

…and there is a price to pay. 

ACTION POINT:

Frankly, today we don’t like that idea of a “price to pay.”  We say, “Well, I’m saved by grace, and so I’m just going to float on into heaven on flowery beds of ease.”  No.  A disciple is one who follows his master, obeys his master, and there is a price to pay.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Are You Looking For An Easy Way To Serve God?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…and run with patience the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1c

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The word “patience” here doesn’t mean the ability to thread a needle, but literally means “endurance.”  It means bearing up under some load, some challenge. 

Are you looking for an easy way, a cheap way, a lazy way to serve God?  All honey and no bees? A life of ease?  You just want to say, “O, I’m so happy in Jesus.”  Listen, this business of running this race means that you’re going to be at it with all of your heart. 

You may be on a sick bed or in a wheelchair. But none is excluded. We are to run with endurance.  When you watch someone running, do you notice how intense he is? If you’re in this race, you need to pray over it, you need to weep over it, you need to study over it, you need to work over it. 

ACTION POINT:

This matter of being saved and running the race is a full-time occupation.  God does business with those who mean business. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Never Knowing The Difference

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When a person dies, his spirit departs. And I’m afraid that’s what has happened to many churches: the Holy Spirit has departed.

The organism has become an organization and the movement has become a monument.

Dr. Carl Bates said years ago something that shook me to my foundation: “If the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die [now, of course, you know that's impossible. He cannot die] but “if the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die, most of our churches would meet next Sunday and go right on and never know the difference.”

I wonder if that’s not true about many churches. The Holy Spirit has not died, but He has departed. I've been in some churches where you’d think that Hallelujahs and Amens cost $100 apiece. You just can't find them. There’s a sort of barren stillness. But I believe there's something contagious about the Holy Spirit of God. 

ACTION POINT:

The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  I don't think we have to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism, but I believe we ought to have a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Revive Us

Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.  - Proverbs 16:20

then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, - 2 Peter 2:9

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. - 1 John 4:1-6

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 

10 "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."  - Jeremiah 17:9-10

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. - John 14:26-27

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.  - Isaiah 57:15

19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 

20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.  - Psalm 71:19-20

The evil one wreaks havoc.

He looks for a tiny opening that he rips into a deep dark hole of despair.

He will knock you off your feet.

He will bring you to your knees. 

He will disturb your peace.

He will take you to places you do not want to go.

These struggles are real.

These struggles cause pain.

These struggles can lead to sin.

We have to cling to Jesus, His promise, His sovereignty and the fact that Satan is defeated.

That battle has been won, hallelujah!

Our hope is in Christ!

Praise Him!

The Father's Wealth

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And I will give him the morning star.” Revelation 2:28

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I remember reading a story about a wealthy Roman who had a lavish estate, and he had a servant named Marcellus. When the wealthy Roman died, he wrote his will and left everything to his slave. The wealthy Roman also had a son, and for some reason he had had a disagreement with him, so in his will he said, “I have left my entire estate to my slave Marcellus. To my son, I leave him only one thing. He can choose any one thing from my estate he wants, but that's all.” The son said, “Very well, I choose Marcellus.”

Here at the end of Revelation 2, our Lord gives another sweet promise to those who overcome (v. 28):  "And I will give him," that is, the overcomer, "the morning star." Jesus is that morning star.  What He's saying is, “You'll receive the greatest reward of all, you'll receive Me, the morning star.”  Do you know what the morning star is? It’s the star that appears just after the darkest hour of the night. 

ACTION POINT:

It's getting very dark. Praise God, it's getting gloriously dark, and before long that morning star is going to appear.  Jesus is the morning star. If you choose Jesus, with Jesus comes all the Father's wealth.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers