Are You A Part Of The Second Creation?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There are two beginnings in creation. The first beginning occurred when God created the heavens and the earth. He spoke and—just like that—from His fingertips flew this vast, measureless universe. How simple it was for God to create this universe.

The second beginning is when His creature, man, becomes a new creation in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). When God reconciled us through His Son, it took every drop of His blood. There was no other way to be saved apart from the death of Jesus—the perfect sacrifice.

ACTION POINT:

None of us were here for the first Creation. But we can all be a part of the Second Creation! If you have received the salvation Jesus bought with His blood—thank Him that He’s made you a new creature…a second creation!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Praying The Wrong Prayer?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Many of us who are praying for our unsaved friends, family, and neighbors are directing our prayers in the wrong way. We are saying, “Oh God, help them to see.”

But they are blind—they cannot see!

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 explains: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

ACTION POINT:

We must first bind the blinder. We’re not in a battle of flesh and blood. We are in a battle with Satan himself, and we will never rob his house until we first bind him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Now, What Is Faith?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A nobleman’s son became ill, so he sought Jesus to heal him. When he found Jesus, he asked Him to come to his home. But instead of physically going to the boy’s bedside, Jesus healed him by His word. John 4:50b says, “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.”

Not a wonder, not a sign, not a vision, not angels playing tic-tac-toe on his ribs, or cold chills going up and down his spine…the man believed Jesus’ Word and went on his way.

Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.

Doubt sees the obstacles; faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night; faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take a step; faith soars on high. Doubt questions who believes; faith answers, “I”!

ACTION POINT:

Life follows faith like night follows day. There is no life without faith.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Make No Provision For “The Flesh”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One of my favorite stories is about a father who leaves his son at home one Saturday afternoon because his son isn’t feeling well. He tells his son, “Don’t go swimming with your buddies.”

The son says, “Yes sir!”

The dad returns by way of the swimming hole and notices his son frolicking with the other boys. He stops the car, calls his son over and says, “I told you not to go swimming.”

“But I didn’t intend to go swimming. I just came down to watch, and I fell in,” the boy said.

The dad began feeling sorry for his son until he noticed he had his bathing suit on! The son explained, “I brought that along…in case I was tempted.”

ACTION POINT:

Friend, don’t make any provision for the flesh.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Running the Race—With A Running Partner

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; 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 12:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What does it mean that Jesus is the “Author” and “Finisher” of our faith? The Greek word archegos means that He is the Captain, Leader, or Prince of our faith. The Greek for “finisher” is teleiotes, which means He is the Completer of our faith.

Jesus had His eye on the goal—He could see you saved. He paid the price so you could be saved.

ACTION POINT:

Do you want to know how to run the race? Jesus is your example. Keep your eyes on Him. He is the Savior who not only shows you how to run the race, but He lives within you through the Holy Spirit and runs the race through you. Praise God—we are never alone!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

More About The Divine Exchange

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The church is not an organization with Jesus Christ as its president. The church is an organism with Jesus Christ as its head. We are in Him and He is in us. The victory He won on the cross was for us.

When Jesus went to the cross, He wasn’t fighting the battle for Himself. He didn’t need to overcome Satan. He fought it on your behalf. He made the transaction, the divine exchange:

Jesus became the Son of man that you might become a son of God. He took your sins that you might take His innocence. He became guilty that you might become acquitted. He was filled with despair that you might be filled with joy. He took your shame that you might take His glory. He suffered the pains of hell, that you might know the joys of heaven.

ACTION POINT:

“What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Divine Exchange, Part One

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Jesus suffered like you suffer. But He suffered more than that, because He took not only your suffering, but He also took upon Himself the suffering of the world. The sins of the world were compressed and distilled upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrew scholars tell us that there is an intensive plural in Isaiah 53 that speaks of the death of Christ. They say that it literally means that He “died a thousand deaths.”

Do you know what that means? It means that Jesus, being infinite, suffered for a finite amount of time what you, being finite, would suffer for an infinite amount of time. A great exchange took place. He suffered upon that cross an eternity of hell for every one of us.

ACTION POINT:

Can you say today with the songwriter,

“What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;

Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers