Setting God-Given Goals

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” Hebrews 2:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever written some God–given goals to keep you from being a drifter? Without goals, you’re a ship without a rudder, a compass, a sail and an anchor. What kind of ship is that? One that is doomed to failure. Most people don’t plan to fail. They simply don’t plan. How can you tell whether or not your goal is a God–given goal? First, have you prayed over it and asked for God’s blessing? Second, does it create in you enough spiritual enthusiasm and excitement to see it fulfilled? Third, does it demand the very best in you? Fourth, does it touch every area of your life? There is no area of your life that is out–of–bounds from God.

ACTION POINT:

Take time today—or surely this week—to write down some goals and even a mission statement focused on the following areas of your life: spiritual, physical, relational, intellectual, and financial.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Smallest Faith

It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (Romans 9:16)

Let us make crystal clear at the beginning of the year that all we will get from God this year, as believers in Jesus, is mercy. Whatever pleasures or pains come our way will all be mercy.

This is why Christ came into the world: “in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:9). We were born again “according to his great mercy” (1 Peter 1:3). We pray daily “that we may receive mercy” (Hebrews 4:16); and we are now “waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:21). If any Christian proves trustworthy, it is “by the Lord’s mercy [he] is trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 7:25).

In Luke 17:5–6, the apostles plead with the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And Jesus says, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” In other words, the issue in our Christian life and ministry is not the strength or quantity of our faith, because that is not what uproots trees. God does. Therefore, the smallest faith that truly connects us with Christ will engage enough of his power for all you need.

But what about the times that you successfully obey the Lord? Does your obedience move you out of the category of supplicant of mercy? Jesus gives the answer in the following verses of Luke 17:7–10.

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Therefore, I conclude, the fullest obedience and the smallest faith obtain the same thing from God: mercy. A mere mustard seed of faith taps into the mercy of God’s tree-moving power. And flawless obedience leaves us utterly dependent on mercy.

The point is this: Whatever the timing or form of God’s mercy, we never rise above the status of beneficiaries of mercy. We are always utterly dependent on what we do not deserve.

Therefore let us humble ourselves and rejoice and “glorify God for his mercy!”

John Piper

Who Was This Child?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Who was this Child born that day? Who is this One we call Jesus? There’s one right answer; there are many wrong answers. Some say He was a great man. Beyond any doubt, He was a great man, but if you just tip the hat to Jesus Christ, you’ve missed it all. There was Peter the Great. There was Alexander the Great. But Jesus is more than Jesus the Great. He’s Jesus the One and Only.

The late Dr. W. A. Criswell said: “To compare the greatest men on earth like Alexander, Caesar or Shakespeare with Jesus is like comparing a grain of dust to the whole universe, a mole hill to Mount Everest.”

Others speak of Him as a moral teacher, but as C.S. Lewis said, “We don’t have the option of just simply calling Him a moral teacher and moving on. I’m trying to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus Christ as a great teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher; he would be either a lunatic, on the level of a man who says he’s a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else a mad man or something worse.”

ACTION POINT: 

Be prepared to share that concept with someone today. C. S. Lewis went on to say, “You can show Him up for a fool. You can spit at Him. You can kill Him as a demon. Or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let none of us come away with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He’s not left that open to us.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Those Precious Wounds

Zechariah 13:6 

6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."

28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - John 20:24-29

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-

2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. - 1 John 1:1-3

Have you ever stopped to think about these wounds Christ took on your behalf?

He was innocent, yet mistreated due to our sin.

Why?

God's wrath demanded to be satisfied!

With that wrath satisfied, belief in Christ and His ability to save souls from Hell was established!

This way alone is your way to be forgiven. 

There are no amounts of goodness through works that will satisfy.

Do not empty the cross of saving grace!!

Your eternity depends upon it!!!

Eternal Homecoming

December, a time for family gatherings, homecomings, sharing and joy!

It can also be a time of sadness for those suffering a loss of a loved one.

These things matter, they effect deeply!

But what about your eternal homecoming?

This homecoming is the most important one.

Your eternity is involved!

Is Christ your hope for eternity?

1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,

3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.

4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened-not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. - 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! - Luke 12:5

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." - Luke 12:40

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

What Jesus Did to Death

Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27–28)

The death of Jesus bears sins. This is the very heart of Christianity, and the heart of the gospel, and the heart of God’s great work of redemption in the world. When Christ died he bore sins. He took sins not his own. He suffered for sins that others had done, so that they could be free from sins.

This is the answer to the greatest problem in your life, whether you feel it as the main problem or not. There is an answer to how we can get right with God in spite of being sinners. The answer is that Christ’s death is an offering “to bear the sins of many.” He lifted our sins and carried them to the cross and died there the death that we deserved to die.

Now what does this mean for my dying? “It is appointed [to me] to die once.” It means that my death is no longer punitive. My death is no longer a punishment for sin. My sin has been borne away. My sin is “put away” by the death of Christ. Christ took the punishment.

Why then do I die at all? Because God wills that death remain in the world for now, even among his own children, as an abiding testimony to the extreme horror of sin. In our dying we still manifest the external effects of sin in the world.

But death for God’s children is no longer his wrath against them. It has become our entrance into salvation not condemnation.

John Piper

Setting Sail For A New Year

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Helen Keller was born with sight, but became blind as a young child. Yet she had vision. A reporter asked Miss Keller, “Is there anything worse than losing your sight?” “Yes,” she said, “It is to have sight but no vision.” Do you have a vision for your life at the threshold of a new year? On New Year’s Day, I review the goals for my life. These are spiritual, relational, intellectual, physical, and financial goals. I pray over these and ask for God’s will to be done in each one. I hold them in an open hand and ask that God would give me wisdom as to the direction He wants for my life. I don’t want to be a man without vision. I don’t want you to be one, either.

ACTION POINT:

Begin to think about some goals you would like for your life. Pray and seek the Lord’s face as you ponder the future.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers