How would your body function without your head?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Ephesians 5:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

First Corinthians 11:3 says, “The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” Sometimes we get confused about what it means to be the “head” of the family. Anything with no head is dead and anything with two heads is abnormal. Just because the man is the head doesn’t mean that the wife is inferior. Both men and women bear the image of God. Both are heirs of the grace of life. Both are equal before God. But while male and female are equal, God has given them different roles. In the family, men have been given the role of leader.

ACTION POINT:

How would our world function if no one was in charge? How would your body function without your head? Pray for leaders in your home, community, church, state, and nation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Let Us Adore the Lamb

I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. (Revelation 5:4)

Have you ever thought of your prayers as the aroma of heaven? This is the picture we get when we read Revelation 5. Here is a glimpse of life in heaven.

In Revelation 5, we see God almighty on the throne with a scroll in his hand. The scroll had seven seals. They all had to be pulled off before the scroll could be opened.

I think the opening of the scroll represents the final days of history, and the pulling off of the seven seals represents the kind of history we will pass through as we move toward those days.

At first, John wept that there was no one worthy to open the scroll and look into it (Revelation 5:4). But then one of the elders in heaven says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5).

By dying on the cross, Jesus had earned the right to open the remainder of redemptive history and lead his people victoriously through it.

In the next verse, the Lion is pictured as a Lamb, “standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). Isn’t this a beautiful image of Jesus’s victory on the cross? Standing, not lying, though it had been slain!

It is as sure as though a lion had devoured the foe — but the way he achieved the victory was by letting the foe slay him like a lamb!

So, now the Lamb is worthy to take the scroll of redemptive history from God’s hand and open it. This is such a kingly act that the twenty-four elders of heaven (God’s worship council, as it were) fall down before the Lamb in adoration.

And do you know what the golden bowls of incense are? Revelation 5:8 says they are “the prayers of the saints.” Does not this mean that our prayers are the aroma of heaven, sweet smelling before the throne of God and before the Lamb?

I am strengthened and encouraged to pray all the more often and all the more vigorously when I think that my prayers are being assembled and stored up in heaven and offered to Christ repeatedly in heavenly acts of worship.

Let’s all bless and honor and adore Christ here below with our prayers, and then doubly rejoice that the worship council of heaven offers them again to Christ as sweet smelling incense before the Lamb who was slain.

John Piper 

It's quietly reading between the lines of your heart...

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

We must guard ourselves against lowering the standard of God’s Word to our level of understanding or political correctness. And we must guard ourselves against raising the standards of our traditions above the standard of His Word. The Bible is not meant to be paraded past the judgment bar of your mind. You can argue with it, but why?

You can pick up any other book and read it, but this is the book that reads you. It pulsates with life and power. It cuts, burns, crushes, and wields mountain-moving power. His Word has a life of its own. It is the voice of God to you. You cannot refuse it, deny it, distort it, or dilute it. You can only bow before it.

ACTION POINT:

When was the last time you studied the history behind the Word of God? Go to a bookstore or your church’s library and study how the translations were discovered and passed on.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God Cares for You

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

Why is anxiety about the future a form of pride?

God’s answer would sound something like this (paraphrasing Isaiah 51:12):

I — the Lord, your Maker — I am he who comforts you, who promises to take care of you; and those who threaten you are mere men who die. So, your fear must mean that you do not trust me — and even though you are not sure that your own resources will take care of you, yet you opt for fragile self-reliance, rather than faith in my future grace. So, all your trembling — weak as it is — reveals pride.

The remedy? Turn from self-reliance to God-reliance, and put your faith in the all-sufficient power of the promise of his future grace.

You can see that anxiety is a form of pride in 1 Peter 5:6–7. Notice the grammatical connection between the verses. “Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God . . . [now, verse 7] casting all your anxieties on him.” Verse 7 is not a new sentence. It’s a subordinate clause. It starts with a participle: “Humble yourselves . . . [by] casting all your anxieties on him.”

This means that casting your anxieties on God is a way of humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. It’s like saying, “Eat politely . . . chewing with your mouth shut.” Or, “Drive carefully . . . keeping your eyes on the road.” Or, “Be generous . . . inviting someone over on Thanksgiving.” Or, “Humble yourselves . . . casting your fears on God.”

One way to humble ourselves is to cast all our anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. No matter how weak it looks or feels.

Now, why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. Or that we can’t take care of them ourselves. And if pride has to admit that its fears are unmanageable, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger.

In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in God for his future grace. Faith, on the other hand, admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won’t.

Therefore, the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of future grace in the words, “He cares for you.” And then unload your fears onto his strong shoulders.

John Piper

There's a package containing your heart...

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“...ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” Ephesians 1:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit of God seals you into Himself.

What does it mean to be “sealed”? It means the King’s seal has been placed on you. The King’s seal can be broken by no man. That means you are His for all time and eternity.

Second Timothy 2:19 says, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.” You are sealed into a relationship with God by the Holy Spirit.

ACTION POINT:

Read Daniel 6 and Matthew 27. Note the similarities in the accounts of Daniel and Jesus being sealed away for death—and how the Almighty God delivered them unto life!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Open the Windows of Your Heart

A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. (Isaiah 42:3)

Probably the most encouraging words I have heard in weeks came from a prophecy in Isaiah 42:1–3 about how Jesus will use his spiritual power.

Do you feel like “a bruised reed” — like one of those big top-heavy Easter lilies whose stem has been squashed so that the flower flops to the ground and gets no sap? Do you ever feel like your faith is just a little spark instead of a flame — like that little red dot at the end of the wick after you blow out the birthday candle?

Take heart! The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of encouragement: he will not snap off your flower; he will not snuff out your spark.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). “The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2). “[He is] gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

It may be a grief to us that we are only a spark instead of a flaming fire. But listen! And be encouraged: Yes, there is a big difference between a spark and a fire. But there is an infinite difference between a spark and no spark! A mustard seed of faith is infinitely closer to being a mountain of faith than it is to being no faith.

Open the window of God’s promises and let the Spirit blow into every room of your heart. The Holy Wind of God will not break or quench. He will lift up your head and fan your spark into a flame. He is the Spirit of encouragement.

John Piper 

The place “where everybody knows your name” isn’t what you think

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Ever feel like the little girl who was endeavoring to pray what we call The Lord’s Prayer when she said, “Our Father which art in Heaven, how does He know my name?” I have.

But friend, He does know our names. He knows me. He knows you.

You say, “But how could God be interested in me? The great God who made the galaxies—how could He be interested in me? I'm like a fleck of spray in an ocean of existence.” Well, He is interested in you. You are not an accident. You are intimately known by God.

ACTION POINT:

Read Matthew 10:30. What does this tell you about God? What does this tell you about yourself?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers