Monday, March 26, 2018

How to Delight in God’s Word

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)

Never reduce Christianity to a matter of demands and resolutions and willpower. It is a matter of what we love, what we delight in, what tastes good to us.

When Jesus came into the world, humanity was split according to what they loved. “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19). The righteous and the wicked are separated by what they delight in — the revelation of God in Jesus, or the way of the world.

So someone may ask: How can I come to delight in the word of God? My answer is twofold:

1) pray for new taste buds on the tongue of your heart;
2) meditate on the staggering promises of God to his people.

The same psalmist who said, “How sweet are your words to my taste” (Psalm 119:103), said earlier, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). He prayed this, because to have spiritual eyes to see glory, or to have holy tastebuds on the tongue of the heart, is a gift of God. No one naturally hungers for, and delights in, God and his wisdom.

But when you have prayed, indeed while you pray, meditate on the benefits God promises to his people and on the joy of having Almighty God as your helper now and forever. Psalm 1:3–4 says that the person who meditates on God’s word “is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.”

Who would not delight to read a book, the reading of which would change one from useless chaff to a mighty cedar of Lebanon, from a Texas dust bowl to a Hawaiian orchard? Nobody deep down wants to be chaff — rootless, weightless, useless. All of us want to draw strength from some deep river of reality and become fruitful, useful people.

That river of reality is the word of God and all the great saints have been made great by it.


John Piper 

Is there only one person who CHOSE to die?


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” John 10:11


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Did you know that there has only been one person who ever chose to die? Only one.


Oh, you say, suicide pilots choose to die. Other people choose to die. People who die by their own hand choose to die. People who give themselves for others choose to die.


No one has ever chosen to die but Jesus, because He was the only one who didn’t have to die. Some people may just choose to die a little sooner, but nobody has chosen to die except One.


It wasn’t nails that held Him to the tree. It was the silver cords of love and the golden bonds of redemption that held Jesus Christ to that cross.


ACTION POINT:
The fact that no one has ever chosen to die but Jesus may be a new concept to you. If so, it is probably new as well to someone else. Share it today!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

There Is An Empty Tomb


Risen definition
Move from lower position to a higher position 
as in from death to life.

Why do so called gods have tombs with bodies?
There is no rising for them!
There is no power of an empty tomb and what that entails. 
The exception being the empty tomb of Christ?
There is no tomb with a body!
He conquered death!
He is risen!!
He is eternally alive!
If you die in Christ, you will rise from death to eternal life.
He is going to return to claim His people!


He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. - Matthew 28:6

63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.'
64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." - Matthew 27:63-64

19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20 The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?"
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. - John 2:19-22

22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,
23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed. - Matthew 17:22-23

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
18 "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death
19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." - Matthew 20:17-19

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. - Mark 8:31

33 saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.
34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise." - Mark 10:33-34

saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." - Luke 9:22

6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. - Luke 24:6-9

and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.'" - Matthew 26:61

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."
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. - John 20:24-31

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.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
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.
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. - John 1:1-18



Sunday, March 25, 2018

What is your picture of God?

Culture inspires that picture.
In America, we picture Him as Caucasian.
In Africa, He is thought of as black.
In Israel, He has a middle eastern look.
According to archeology finds of the people from the area where Jesus lived, He was most likely small in stature, had a short beard and had short curly hair.
We draw from our backgrounds, the people who surround us and so forth.
Some feel He is near, others that He is far off and still others believe He's unapproachable.
Why do we have such marred views of Christ?
Are you just playing religion or are you trusting Christ by an intimate loving relationship?
Sinner, God will meet your needs!


Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

10 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.  - Romans 3:10-11

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
4 they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?"
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]] - John 8:1-11

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.  - Jeremiah 17:13

Jesus is our Savior!
There is no other!
Will your name be blotted out?
Or will your name be found written in the blood of Jesus, covered, forgiven, justified, and sanctified?
You are helpless!
You are a slave to sin!
Receive the mercy that Christ is offering!
Christ is holding His arms open!
He will adopt you!
He is risen!!!
Jesus is our Savior!

15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. - John 8:15-16

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - John 3:17

Thanks Pastor Matt!!













Forever Satisfied



I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

This text points to the fact that believing in Jesus is a feeding and drinking from all that Jesus is. It goes so far as to say that our soul-thirst is satisfied with Jesus, so that we don’t thirst anymore.

He is the end of our quest for satisfaction. There is nothing beyond, and nothing better.

When we trust Jesus the way John intends for us to, the presence and promise of Jesus is so satisfying that we are not dominated by the alluring pleasures of sin (see Romans 6:14). This accounts for why such faith in Jesus nullifies the power of sin and enables obedience.

John 4:14 points in the same direction: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In accord with John 6:35, saving faith is spoken of here as a drinking of water that satisfies the deepest longings of the soul. And the satisfaction becomes productive, like a well overflowing.

It’s the same in John 7:37–38: “Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’”

Through faith, Christ becomes in us an inexhaustible fountain of satisfying life that lasts forever and leads us to heaven, and on the way sets us free from the sinful illusions of other satisfactions. This he does by sending us his Spirit (John 7:38–39).


John Piper 

What's incontestable, incorruptible and indispensable?



BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:  But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25


DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The Bible is the incontestable, incorruptible, indestructible, and indispensable Word of God. No one can argue with it. Nothing can corrupt it. Nothing can destroy it. Nothing can replace it as the source and wellspring of life.


The late Dr. Robert G. Lee, a great preacher of the last generation, said this about the Bible:
“All of its enemies have not torn one hole in its holy vesture, or stolen one flower from its wonderful garden, nor diluted one drop of honey from its abundant hive, nor broken one string of its thousand-stringed harp, nor drowned one sweet word in infidel ink.”


ACTION POINT:
Tell God how much your life has changed because of His Word. Next time you’re together with friends or your family, share the ways God has ministered to you through His Word.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Ministry and the Fear of Man

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:8)

A great obstacle to serving the Lord, especially among the young, is the fear of rejection and opposition.

All kinds of thoughts enter the mind about how some people might not like the way act or speak. People might disagree or be offended. I might make a mistake and get criticized.

The fear of man is a great hindrance to ministry.

So God says, Don’t fear, because I will be with you and I will deliver you. God’s presence and approval is more valuable than all the accolades of men. And God says that, in and through all your troubles, I will deliver you. You will triumph in the end. You will be more than a conqueror.

And the same thing is promised to all of us in Christ Jesus today:

“[God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6)
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
So God said to young Jeremiah, and God says to young people today whom he is calling to serve him — and to the rest of us — “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’” — or I’m too old, or I’m too anything (Jeremiah 1:7). Why?

Because your life is rooted in the unshakable, sovereign purposes of God. You have been chosen and consecrated and formed and appointed for a great purpose.
Because God’s authority, not your own, is behind your serving and your speaking.
And because God himself will be with you to deliver you in all your trials.


John Piper