Today is Tomorrow

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I read some research by psychologist William Morriston who reported that 94% of the 3,000 persons he surveyed were enduring today in order to get to tomorrow.

Do you know anyone like that? Perhaps you are one of those.

Tomorrow, you’re going on vacation. Tomorrow, you’re going to get the house cleaned. Tomorrow, you’re going to start your diet. Tomorrow, you’re going to balance your checkbook. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.

The only problem is…tomorrow never arrives. When it gets here, it is today. And today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

ACTION POINT:

It is always today. Act accordingly!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Happiness Is A Choice

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.” Psalm 7:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know that happiness is a choice?

A man said to a beggar one day, “Good day my friend.”

The beggar answered, “Well, thank you, but I never have a bad one.”

The man responded, “Well, may God give you a happy life, my friend.”

And the beggar replied, “I thank God that I am never unhappy.”

The man was speechless. And the beggar continued, “When I have plenty to eat, I thank God. When I am hungry, I thank God. If it is God’s will for me to endure this, then whatever is God’s will for me makes me happy.”

He chose to be happy.

ACTION POINT:

What do you want? Do you want to be happy? Then choose to be happy today no matter your circumstances…by praising God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Thanksgiving: The Highest Expression of Faith

BIBLE MEDIATION:

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” Colossians 3:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If worry is the opposite of faith, then thanksgiving is the expression of faith—in fact, the highest expression. You say, “I don’t know if I have as much to thank God for as some other people.” Well, the apostle Paul was in a filthy Philippian jail waiting possible beheading when he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

I’ve noticed that unthankful people are never happy people. They’re filled with bitterness, fear, negativism, selfishness and self-pity.

You see, God has blessed you.  You may not think so because you’re measuring blessings by the barometer of health, wealth, and happiness. 

My friend, let me tell you what blessings we have.  “Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits…” (Psalm 68:19).  God has loaded your wagon.  How often?  Every day! “It is of the LORD’S mercies we’re not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning…” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Every day you wake up to blessings.

ACTION POINT:

Thank Him for spiritual blessings and thank Him for simple blessings: good, clean water. Enough food. Shelter. The simple things. We are so blessed. Refuse to worry, but carry everything to God in prayer. Rejoice in the presence of the Lord.  Rely upon the power of the Lord. Reflect on the provision of the Lord.  Rest in the peace of the Lord.  Do everything with thanksgiving. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Stronger, Not Weaker

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What does Paul mean in this verse when he says that he “takes pleasure” in all of these difficult circumstances? He is trying to communicate that if his money were taken, he would have greater riches. His weakness becomes his strength.

When Paul was isolated and placed in solitary confinement, then Jesus was near. His weakness became his strength. If they beat him and he hurt, then he had the fellowship of Christ’s suffering—his weakness became his strength. If his body became crippled and he was no more able to lean upon the arm of his flesh, then he had to lean on the Everlasting Arms. Paul took pleasure in these things.

ACTION POINT:

God is waiting to make you strong. There is power in our suffering. Suffering is not going to hurt you; it is going to strengthen you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Running Together

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I have a race to run. God has given you a race to run as well. Every man runs his own race. We’re not racing against each other to win the victor’s crown. We are in a pilgrimage together. I’m not trying to outrun you. And you’re not trying to outrun me. That is good news!

God has a plan for your life with particular speed bumps, detours, and hurdles to cross. And you are to stay in the race until it is over. But you are not running alone!

ACTION POINT:

Though we are not in the same race, we are in the journey together, so we encourage one another to win. And I want you to win the victor’s crown today! Run, my friend, run!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

An Extreme Make-Over Is Underway

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Romans 8:30

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Dr. Scofield, who edited the Scofield Bible, says that “predestination is the effective exercise of the will of God by which things before determined by Him are brought to pass.” That is, God says He is determined to do something and then He does it. God’s wisdom is sovereign.

What did God predestinate? That those whom God foreknew will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, who is the Firstborn.

God had one Son and He said, “I want more just like Him.” And so God is redeeming a whole race of people, so that all these people might be conformed to the image of God’s Son.

If you are saved, you are predestined to be like Jesus. When God foreknew that you would receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then He said, “It is settled. You will one day be like My Son.”

ACTION POINT:

Thank God for what He has done and is going to do, in shaping you into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Who Is Keeping You In God’s Hand?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When I talk about eternal security, inevitably I will hear, “Well, maybe your sins can’t take you out of the hand of God, but Satan can.”

In all due respect, I respond, “Pardon me. But that is foolishness. If Satan could take you out of the hand of God, why hasn’t he done it yet? Hasn’t he been nice to you? That would be a strange doctrine. You’re going to heaven by the grace of the devil!”

God saves us. God keeps us. What has been settled in eternity can never be undone by the ways of men or the schemes of the devil.

ACTION POINT:

Read Romans 8:38-39 today. These would be important verses for you to memorize.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers