Sunday, March 18, 2018

The Lord Is God There Is No Other


know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. - Deuteronomy 4:39

And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. - Joshua 2:11

and said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; - 1 Kings 8:23

and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. - 2 Chronicles 20:6

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. - Ecclesiastes 5:2

"There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.  - 1 Samuel 2:2

31 This God-his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 
32 "For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?  - 2 Samuel 22:31-32

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 
6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. 
7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.  - Isaiah 45:5-7

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the LORD, and there is no other.  - Isaiah 45:18

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.  - Isaiah 45:22

9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'  - Isaiah 46:9-10

And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. - Mark 12:32

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Prayer’s Exclamation Point



All the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Prayer is a response to promises, that is, to the assurances of God’s future grace.

Prayer is drawing on the account where God has deposited all his stores of future grace.

Prayer is not hoping in the dark that there might be a God of good intentions out there. Prayer banks on the promise of God, and goes to the bank every day and draws on stores of future grace needed for that day.

Don’t miss the connection between the two halves of this great verse. Notice the “that is why”: “All the promises of God are Yes in Christ. That is why (therefore) we pray Amen through him, to God’s glory.”

To make sure we see it, let’s turn the two halves around: When we pray, we say Amen to God through Christ, because God has said a decisive Amen to all his promises in Christ. Prayer is the confident plea for God to make good on his promises of future grace — for Christ’s sake. Prayer links our faith in future grace with the foundation of it all, Jesus Christ.

Which leads to the final point: “Amen” is a full and precious word in times of prayer. It doesn’t mean primarily, “Yes, I have now said this prayer.” It means primarily, “Yes, God has made all these promises.”

Amen means, “Yes, Lord, you can do it.” It means, “Yes, Lord, you are powerful. Yes, Lord, you are wise. Yes, Lord, you are merciful. Yes, Lord, all future grace comes from you and has been confirmed in Christ.”

“Amen” is an exclamation point of hope and warranted confidence after a prayer for help.


John Piper

Your order of trouble is coming right out



BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” Matthew 6:34


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
In the crucible of His wisdom and the ecology of His grace, God has ordered some trouble for you today. And every day of your life.


We’ve been blessed with difficulties. Yes, you read right—blessed! The worst thing that could happen to us would be not to have any difficulties. If that were the case, we’d never know our need of the Lord. So God in essence says, “I’m going to give you sufficient difficulty for the day.”


God gives you enough difficulty to draw you close to Him, but then God gives you enough grace to meet those difficulties every day.


ACTION POINT:
Is there a difficult circumstance in your life? If so, thank God for sending it your way to make you more like Jesus. Now ask for His grace to be victorious through it!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Ghost Of Guilt


Guilt definition
Having done something wrong

Guilt over sin can destroy just as much as the actual sin.
Satan uses guilt to goad you into believing that you are not redeemable.
You can be forgiven through Christ.
This forgiveness involves repentance and obedience.
That is why God sent His Son.
We are in need of a spotless Savior.
We are unable to satisfy the debt.


11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.  - Psalm 103:11-12

17 Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. 
18 For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. 
19 The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.  - Isaiah 38:17-19

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  - Isaiah 43:25

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 
19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.  - Micah 7:18-19

She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]] - John 8:11

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."  - Hebrews 8:12

26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; 
27 "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."  - Romans 11:26-27




Friday, March 16, 2018

Children Of The Promise


preeminent definition-superior 
Christ is preeminent!
God has declared it so through His promise!
The fullness of God dwells in Christ!
We are in Christ by the power of His blood and because of His resurrection!
We have been reconciled to God through Christ!

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. - Romans 9:8

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." - Romans 9:6-7

Christ is our hope and our promise!
To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. - Romans 9:5

26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; 
27 "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." 
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" 
35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" 
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. - Romans 11:26-36

4 There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. - Ephesians 4:4-7

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, - Colossians 1:15-22

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:1-5

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")
16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. - John 1:9-17

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? 
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."  - Hebrews 1:1-6

Jesus Will Finish the Mission



This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

I don’t know any more inspiring missionary promise than this word from Jesus.

Not: This gospel should be preached.
Not: This gospel might be preached.
But: This gospel will be preached.

This is not a great commission, nor a great commandment. It is a great certainty, a great confidence.

Who can dare talk like that? How does he know it will? How can he be sure the church will not fail in its missionary task?

Answer: The grace of missionary service is as irresistible as the grace of regeneration. Christ can promise universal proclamation because he is sovereign. He knows the future success of missions because he makes the future. All the nations will hear!

A “nation” is not a modern “country.” When the Old Testament spoke of nations, it referred to groups like Jebusites and Perizites and Hivites and Amorites and Moabites and Canaanites and Philistines. “Nations” are ethnic groups with their own peculiar culture. Psalm 117:1, “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!”

As the sovereign Son of God and Lord of the church, Jesus simply took up this divine purpose and stated it as an absolute certainty: “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matthew 24:14).

The cause of world missions is absolutely assured of success. It cannot fail. Is it not reasonable, then, that we pray with great faith, that we invest with great confidence, and that we go with a sense of sure triumph?


John Piper

How you can spring free from this old ghost



BIBLE MEDITATION:
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are two days that can steal the joy from today. One is yesterday and the other is tomorrow.


Paul exhorts in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”


We are to forget the past—the guilt, the glory, the grief, and the grudges. Paul was one who was guilty, along with others, for the stoning of Stephen. He said he was the “chiefest of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). But Paul buried that guilt in the grave of God’s forgetfulness.


Maybe you’ve done something so horrible that you’re gripped with fear to think someone would find out what you’ve done. Have you repented? Then don’t be haunted by the ghost of guilt.


ACTION POINT:
Have you done something worse than being an accessory to the murder of one of the leaders of the New Testament Church? If Paul can be forgiven, my friend, you can be forgiven!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers