What's kosher on Sundays?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Is it okay to watch television on Sunday? Is it okay to go to a ball game on Sunday? Is it okay to eat out on Sunday? Is it okay to read the newspaper on Sunday? Can I play softball on Sunday? Can I go out on a boat on Sunday? Can I go to the grocery store if we’re out of milk on Sunday?

We hear questions like these all the time. But do you know what’s wrong with them? You’re asking the wrong man. It’s not my day—it’s the Lord’s day. Ask Him. 

ACTION POINT:

Ask God, “How can I honor You on the Lord’s Day so at the end of the day I can know that it was indeed Your day?”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Prayers That Get Answered

Identify the need

5 And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,

6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; - Luke 11:5-6

Three loaves, a very specific prayer showing the exact need.

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. - James 4:2

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. - Jeremiah 33:3

Pray in the spirit with the power of the Lord.

Be very specific with your prayer.

Get after it.

7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'?

8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. - Luke 11:7-8

Be persistent.

Be bold.

Let your petition be known.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:16

Don't let your prayers be weak.

Be confident in the power of Almighty God.

Do not give up.

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. - Luke 11:9-10

Prayer is not a one time event.

Don't give up.

pray without ceasing, - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Do not back down.

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;

12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" - Luke 11:11-13

God has the power.

God enjoys giving to His children.

He will provide.

If the request is wrong God says no.

If the timing is wrong God says slow.

If you are wrong God says grow.

If the request is right, the timing is right, and you are right God says go.

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. - 1 John 5:14-15

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

Truer Knowledge Brings Greater Joy

And all the people went their way . . . to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. (Nehemiah 8:12)

The only joy that reflects the worth of God and overflows in God-glorifying love is rooted in the true knowledge of God. And to the degree that our knowledge is small or flawed, our joy will be a poor echo of God’s true excellence.

The experience of Israel in Nehemiah 8:12 is a paradigm of how God-glorifying joy happens in the heart. Ezra had read the word of God to them and the Levites had explained it. And then the people went away “to make great rejoicing.”

Their great rejoicing was because they had understood words — the true words of God.

Most of us have tasted this experience of the heart burning with joy when the word of God was opened to us (Luke 24:32). Twice Jesus said that he taught his disciples for the sake of their joy.

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 17:13, “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

And what we mainly see in the word is the Lord himself — God himself — offering himself to be known and enjoyed. “The Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:21).

The point is that if our joy is going to reflect the glory of God, then it must flow from true knowledge of how God is glorious. If we are going to enjoy God duly, we must know him truly.

John Piper

What does it take to stop you?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. John 12:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

You can tell the size of a Christian by what it takes to stop him. Hebrews 12:1 says we are to “run with patience the race that is set before us.” And this word “patience” is not used in the sense that we use the word. It literally means “endurance.”

Everybody knows that a runner is going to win or lose primarily by his endurance. You cannot quit. When it hurts, you cannot quit. When your lungs are on fire, you cannot quit. When your feet feel like lead, you cannot quit. When your sides ache, you cannot quit! You’ll never be a spiritual athlete if you’re a quitter! No pain. No gain.

ACTION POINT:

His power will enable you to run the race and gain the victor’s crown!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Seven Sources of Joy

In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. (2 Corinthians 7:4)

What is extraordinary about Paul is how unbelievably durable his joy was when things weren’t going well.

Where did this come from?

First of all it was taught by Jesus: “Blessed are you when people hate you. . . . Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:22–23). Troubles for Jesus compound your interest in heaven — which lasts a lot longer than earth.

Second, it comes from the Holy Spirit, not our own efforts or imagination or family upbringing. “The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy” (Galatians 5:22). “You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

Third, it comes from belonging to the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

Fourth, it comes through faith, that is, from believing God. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). “I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:25).

Fifth, it comes from seeing and knowing Jesus as Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).

Sixth, it comes from fellow believers who work hard to help us focus on these sources of joy, rather than deceitful circumstances. “We work with you for your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24).

Seventh, it comes from the sanctifying effects of tribulations. “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4).

If we are not yet like Paul when he says, “I am overflowing with joy,” he calls us to be. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). And for most of us this is a call to earnest prayer. Because a life of joy in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural life.

John Piper

Rounding third? Headed for home?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 

2 Timothy 4:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When Jesus came to the end of His life, He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4).

He stayed on the track, and so did Paul. They accomplished what God had set out for them to do.

Every man has a race that he must run. Every woman has a race set before her. God knows the course. And everything God commands of you, He will empower you to do. Whether you’re nine or ninety, young or old, rich or poor, God has a plan for your life! God has a race He wants you to run!

ACTION POINT:

What is the race God has set before you? If you are not certain, inquire of Him. What He asks of you, He will empower you to do. Thank God for the power to finish the course.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Dangerous Motive

Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. (Romans 11:35–36)

When it comes to obedience, gratitude is a dangerous motive. It tends to get expressed in debtor’s terms. For example, “Look how much God has done for you. Shouldn’t you, out of gratitude, do much for him?” Or, “You owe God everything that you are and have. What have you done for him in return?”

I have at least three problems with this kind of motivation.

First, it is impossible to pay God back for all the grace he has given us. We can’t even begin to pay him back, because Romans 11:35–36 says, “‘Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?’ [Answer: Nobody!] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” We can’t pay him back because he already owns all we have to give him — including all our efforts.

Secondly, even if we succeeded in paying him back for all his grace to us, we would only succeed in turning grace into a business transaction. If we can pay him back, it was not grace. If someone tries to show you a special favor of love by having you over for dinner, and you end the evening by saying that you will pay them back by having them over next week, you nullify their grace and turn it into a trade. God does not like to have his grace nullified. He likes to have it glorified (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).

Thirdly, focusing on gratitude as a motive for obedience tends to overlook the crucial importance of having faith in God’s future grace. Gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. Faith looks forward to grace promised in the future — whether five minutes from now or five centuries from now — and feels hopeful. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).

This faith in future grace is the motive for obedience that preserves the gracious quality of human obedience. Obedience does not consist in paying God back and thus turning grace into a trade. Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace — future grace — and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power. Faith looks to the promise, I will be “with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9), and ventures, in obedience, to take the land.

John Piper