Repentance Resistance Renewal

3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 

4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; - Psalm 130:3-5

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 

2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 

3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 

4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 

6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah  - Psalm 143:1-6

8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 

10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 

11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 

12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 

13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! 

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.  - Psalm 90:8-15

Have To? Need To? Or WANT To?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.” 1 Corinthians 9:19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There are three reasons for obedience. A slave obeys because he has to. An employee obeys because he needs to. But a loving son obeys because he wants to.

So many of us live like slaves, when Jesus has said, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15).

ACTION POINT:

I don’t work for my salvation—that work has been done by my Lord. But I will work like any slave for the love of God. What about you?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Going Through The Valley

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Psalm 23 is perched between Psalm 22, which tells about the crucifixion of Jesus, and Psalm 24, which is a prophecy of the coronation of Jesus. It is beautiful trilogy about the Savior’s cross, the Shepherd’s crook, and the Sovereign’s crown.

Psalm 23 is the valley between the blood-drenched slopes of Mount Calvary and the sunlit peaks of Mount Zion. Thank God for every valley, because there must be a mountain.

ACTION POINT:

If you are in the valley today, remember that you wouldn’t be there had there not been mountains to cross. There is vision in the valley and hope in the hills.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Making The First Thing The First Thing

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” Psalm 19:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I believe in church attendance, but if your relationship with the Lord and with others is suffering, then you need to stay at home and get on your face before God.

Sometimes a businessman will get very prosperous in his business—and at first it seems a good thing. He tells his wife, “Honey, you know how I couldn’t give you much when we got married? Well, now I can.” But soon the pursuit of a nice home and nice things consume him. A sadness descends upon his wife and children, and they lament, “Oh, Daddy….Oh, Husband…what we would give to just have you spend time with us.”

ACTION POINT:

What tragedy it would be if what you do for Jesus keeps you from Jesus. Stop the cycle today. If you know you’re a workaholic, stop it. If you know your walk is far from God, get it right.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Jesus Wants More Than Your Service

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Discipleship is fellowship with Christ, knowing Christ, loving Christ, abiding in Christ.

I’m afraid that too many have joined the movement of Christianity rather than having surrendered to the man of Christianity. These people are doing things for Christ, rather than sitting at the feet of Christ.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with service, and we ought to serve God, but we need to learn that we must minister to Jesus Christ as His disciple before we can minister to others. Jesus values the time you spend with Him far more than the things you do for Him. Do you know that?

ACTION POINT:

Before you head out this morning or go to bed tonight, make sure that you make a date with Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Our Unchanging Father

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God made the mind of man. All true discoveries and all true knowledge in this world come from God. It is God’s Truth and we do not have to be afraid of it. But that doesn’t mean we are to casually stroll down the devil’s lane of godless philosophies.

God’s Truth doesn’t change like philosophies. Malachi 3:6a says, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” I don’t know whether that means anything to you, but it means an awful lot to me, dear friend.

ACTION POINT:

The same God who loved us enough to put His Son on the cross two thousand years ago still loves us with that same love today. We don’t have to worry when we come to God in prayer that we might catch Him in a bad mood. Now, if that doesn’t start your motor, you don’t have one.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Our Giving God

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

James 1:5 tells us that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God. Let me tell you what that literally means. If you lack wisdom, ask of the “giving” God. Have you thought of God as the “giving” God?

ACTION POINT:

What does it mean to you that God yearns to pour out His blessing upon you? Do you say to yourself, “Oh goodie, goodie, let me see what I can get from God”?

Or does it humble you that the Almighty God who created the air you breathe, the ground you walk upon, and the body you are draped in…this God loves you and wants to bless you? I pray it is the latter, for that is the heart of a child of God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers