Rich Man, Poor Man

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Two things have I required of Thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity [falsehood] and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient [needful] for me: Lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” Proverbs 30:7-9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

To pass the test of life, one test you may have to pass is the test of poverty. If so, the Lord has some advice for you. See your poverty in the proper perspective. Because in the Lord Jesus Christ you are highly exalted, no matter how poor you are. Having Christ, you are richer than the richest man on earth without the Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian, you have gone from rags to riches.

Did you know that many of you would do better being poor than being rich? Some people can stand almost anything but prosperity. This is what our passage in Proverbs is saying.

Actually, it’s very hard to be poor and it’s even harder to be rich. The rich man may have an easier time in life, but he has a harder time passing the test.

ACTION POINT:

The Lord does not tell the rich man to renounce his riches….just to properly assess his riches. It’s not wrong to have money. Some of God’s choicest of saints were extremely wealthy. Abraham is an example. But the rich man is to see his riches from a proper perspective. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

No Closet Off Limits

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God tells us to be filled with His Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit of God means first, repentance, then resistance of the devil, and then renewal. It means there’s not one room in your temple where God is off limits. There’s not one closet He doesn’t have a key to. You are filled with the Spirit in your church life, in your business life, in your sex life, in your political life, and in your social life. In the big things and the little things, in your money, in your exercise, in your sleep, in your eating, in your lying down, and in your waking up. You give Jesus the keys to it all. Then when you are filled with the Spirit, there’s no more room for Satan.

ACTION POINT:

If there’s room for Satan, the Spirit is grieved and I am not filled with the Spirit. Repentance, resistance, renewal! Don’t try to repent until you’re honest and face your sin. Don’t try to resist until you’ve repented. And don’t try to be filled until you resist, until you choose against Satan and yield to God’s blessed Holy Spirit.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

God Puts Things In Proper Order

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord…” 2 Peter 1:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever noticed how God puts things in sequence in the Bible?  For example, the Bible says, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you.”  It never says “peace and grace”—always “grace and peace.”  Why?  You’ll not know peace until you know grace. 

The Bible also says “Believe and be baptized.”  Not “Be baptized and believe.”  If you were immersed or sprinkled before you gave your heart to Jesus and truly believed, you haven’t been “baptized” at all.  True baptism follows true belief. There is another order that God has put in the Bible. Not only grace and peace, not only belief and baptism, but repentance and faith. Always in that order: repentance first, then faith.  If you’re having difficulty with faith, try repentance.

ACTION POINT:

There’s nothing so damning, so debilitating, as sin in the heart. The writer of Hebrews says, “Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Running For The Soul Winner's Crown

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.” 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Here’s what Paul was saying to those in Thessalonica: “When Jesus comes, my crown is going to those that I’ve led to Him.”  Now that’s a crown that doesn’t corrupt.  When you die and go to heaven, are you going to take somebody with you, or are you going to heaven alone?  “Must I go and empty-handed, must I meet my Savior so; without one soul with which to greet Him, must I empty-handed go?” Now I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m concerned because most people in church are not active soul winners. That’s tragic.

You say, “But, Pastor, I give my money.”  I don’t care how much money you give.  If you’re not endeavoring to bring souls to Christ, you’re not right with God.  You say, “Well, I teach.”  I don’t care how eloquently you teach.  If you’re not trying to bring souls to Jesus, you’re not right with God.  You say, “Well, I attend faithfully.”  I don’t care how much you attend.  If you’re not trying to bring souls to Jesus Christ, you are not right with God. 

Andrew Murray said, “There are two classes of Christians: soul winners and backsliders.”  You are one or the other.  If you don’t have a passion to see people come to the Lord Jesus Christ, I wonder if you know the Jesus I know. 

ACTION POINT:

My dear brother, my dear sister, there is a crown to run for.  It’s the soul winner’s crown.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Prize To Possess

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2b

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Jesus is our example.  He is a champion who, when He ran His race, received a crown of joy.  When an athlete runs, he runs to win a trophy. In our verse today, what is “the joy that is set before Him”?  It’s winning the race.  He “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

That crown gave Him the ability to endure.  If you keep the crown in mind, you can bear the cross.  But you cannot have the crown if you despise the cross.  We are crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a few trophies that I won back in high school on a championship football team: a gold football, a letterman’s sweater and a silver cup. Do you know what happened to all those trophies?  Someone broke into the house and got the gold football. The moths had a camp meeting in the sweater. It’s gone.  There are no more letters on that letter sweater. What happened to the silver cup, I haven’t the foggiest.

ACTION POINT:

Friend, athletes run “to obtain a corruptible crown; but we for an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Running the race, Jesus had the joy that was set before Him and He endured the cross.  He despised the shame.  There is a prize to possess. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Jesus, Author and Finisher

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If we will look to Jesus, Jesus will be the author and finisher of our faith. The word “author” in the Greek literally means “example,” “leader,” or “originator.” Jesus is the example of faith, but He’s also the originator of our faith. Faith comes from beholding the Lord Jesus Christ, looking at Him.

You see, all the other heroes of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 can cheer us on, but they’re not our chief example.  He is the One who never sinned, who never failed.  His name is Jesus. The more you behold the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re going to find out that He is the author and finisher.

He’s the one who originates the grace. He’s the one who fires the starting gun. He’s the goal toward which we run. He is the coach who runs alongside us and gives us courage and strength to run the race. 

ACTION POINT:

It is Jesus all the way. If you want faith, fix your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Keep “looking unto Jesus.”  Your faith will grow. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Death Claims All

1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.

2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.

3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. - Ecclesiastes 9:1-3

How true are these verses!

Men are evil, some claim goodness but our intent is slanted toward love of self.

Life is supposed to be slanted toward the love shown to others.

We claim as a race of people, both good and bad, but there is none good except God.

It is true that some strive to do the right thing while others just want to be as evil as possible.

As long as we are in this mortal body there will be a battle raging against the spiritual self and the carnal self.

We must pray for guidance, study God's word, apply that truth and teach the truth.

We will face many trials.

Then death comes.

22 It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' 

23 When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.  - Job 9:22-23

14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.

15 Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! - Ecclesiastes 2:14-16

Repentance is available while you live, after that comes judgment.

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'

27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-

28 for I have five brothers-so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'

29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'

30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

31 He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'" - Luke 16:26-31