Choose Life

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,

16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; - Galatians 1:15-16

23 They only were hearing it said, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."

24 And they glorified God because of me. - Galatians 1:23-24

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."  - Jeremiah 1:5

27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

34 So the crowd answered him, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"

35 So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." The Unbelief of the People When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. - John 12:27-36

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. - 1 John 2:2-6

We are sinners.

There is no way to get around that fact.

There is none good, not one.

Paul was a persecutor of Christians but God changed him.

This miracle caused people to praise God.

Go from sinner to forgiven by God's mercy.

We can stay in sin and be doomed or we can come into the marvelous light which is Christ.

When Christ died, He began to draw people to Himself.

He is calling, are you listening?

How to Hate Your Life

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24–25)

“Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” What does that mean?

It means, at least, that you don’t take much thought for your life in this world. In other words, it just doesn’t matter much what happens to your life in this world.

If men speak well of you, it doesn’t matter much.

If they hate you, it doesn’t matter much.

If you have a lot of things, it doesn’t matter much.

If you have little, it doesn’t matter much.

If you are persecuted or lied about, it doesn’t matter much.

If you are famous or unheard of, it doesn’t matter much.

If you have died with Christ, these things just don’t matter much.

But Jesus’s words are even more radical. Jesus is calling us not just to endure experiences we don’t choose, but to make a choice to follow him. “If anyone serves me, he must follow me” (John 12:26). Where to? He is moving into Gethsemane and toward the cross.

Jesus is not just saying: If things go bad, don’t fret, since you have died with me anyway. He is saying: Choose to die with me. Choose to hate your life in this world the way I have chosen the cross.

This is what Jesus meant when he said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). He calls us to choose the cross. People only did one thing on a cross. They died on it. “Take up your cross,” means, “Like a grain of wheat, fall into the ground and die.” Choose it.

But why? For the sake of radical commitment to ministry: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). I think I hear Paul saying, “It doesn’t matter what happens to me — if I can just live to the glory of God’s grace.”

John Piper 

When I should have been grateful...

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Sometimes we complain when we shouldn’t.

I remember one time driving across the country with a gentleman. At the time, my children were in private schools, and Joyce and I were “dying of mal-tuition.” I began complaining a little bit to him about the great cost of sending a son to college.

He looked at me and said, “I’d give anything in the world if my son would go to college.”

I thought, “Oh, what an ungrateful spirit I have!”

Do you ever complain about dirty dishes? There are lots of folks in Third World countries that would be grateful if they could  have some dirty dishes. We are to be thankful in all things.

ACTION POINT:

Rejoice in God’s blessings in your life. Nip that temptation in the bud to complain and grumble about your life today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Makes Jesus Rejoice

In that same hour he [Jesus] rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21)

This verse is one of the only two places in the Gospels where Jesus is said to rejoice. The seventy disciples have just returned from their preaching tours and reported their success to Jesus.

Notice that all three members of the Trinity are rejoicing here: Jesus is rejoicing, but it says he is rejoicing in the Holy Spirit. I take that to mean that the Holy Spirit is filling him and moving him to rejoice. Then at the end of the verse it describes the pleasure of God the Father. The NIV translates it, “Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do” — what you rejoiced to do!

Now, what is it that has the whole Trinity rejoicing together in this place? It is the free, electing love of God to hide things from the intellectual elite and to reveal them to babes. “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.”

And what is it that the Father hides from some and reveals to others? Luke 10:22 gives the answer, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father.” So, what God the Father must reveal is the true spiritual identity of the Son.

When the seventy disciples return from their evangelistic mission and give their report to Jesus, he and the Holy Spirit rejoice that God the Father has chosen, according to his own good pleasure — his own rejoicing — to reveal the Son to babes and to hide him from the wise.

The point of this is not that there are only certain classes of people who are chosen by God. The point is that God is free to choose the least likely candidates for his grace.

God contradicts what human merit might dictate. He hides from the self-sufficient wise and reveals to the most helpless and unaccomplished.

When Jesus sees the Father freely enlightening and saving people whose only hope is free grace, he exults in the Holy Spirit and takes pleasure in his Father’s election.

So, when we see this — in fact, when we know that we are among the chosen children — we too join the rejoicing.

John Piper

Mind vs. Brain - what's the difference?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Philippians 4:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know there is a difference between your mind and your brain? The brain is what the mind thinks with. The relationship of the mind and the brain is very similar to the relationship of a pianist and a piano. The piano is the brain and the pianist is the mind.

The most dangerous thing in the world is a man with a bad mind and a good brain. He is a clever devil.

When you get saved, you don’t get a new brain. You get a new mind. And the god of this world will do all he can to distort your mind. Why? Because Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” 

ACTION POINT:

Dwell today on the true, the honest, the just, the pure, the lovely—think on virtue and praise.  Pray for missionaries serving the Lord in other countries—that they will dwell on the truths of the Lord and that their walks will be strong and undeterred from the Lord’s mission.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Light Beyond the Light

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:1–2)

Jesus Christ is refreshing. So, seek the things that are above. Don’t replace Christ this summer with trifles. Flight from Christ into Christ-less leisure makes the soul parched.

At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the word. But then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.

Don’t let the coming of summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute.

If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman. Don’t fall in love with the video preview and find yourself unable to love the coming reality.

Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer. He is preeminent in all things (Colossians 1:18), including vacations and picnics and softball and long walks and cookouts. He invites us this summer, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Do we want it? That is the question. Christ gives himself to us in proportion to how much we want his refreshment. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Peter’s word to us about this is: “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19–20). Repentance is not just turning away from sin, but also turning toward the Lord with hearts open and expectant and submissive.

What sort of summer mind-set is this? It is the mind-set of Colossians 3:1–2, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

It is God’s earth! It is a video preview to the reality of what the eternal summer will be like when “the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23).

The summer sun is a mere pointer to the sun that will be: the glory of God. Summer is for seeing and showing that. Do you want to have eyes to see? Lord, let us see the light beyond the light.

John Piper

God Has Not Forgotten You

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Psalm 37:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A preacher was in a church where he felt God had led him, but nothing seemed to be working out. So he wanted to go to another church.

He told a friend, “I know where God put me, and I know God put me here, but I just wonder if He remembers where He put me.”

Yes, God remembers! He has not forgotten. He is never late. Don’t rush God. Don’t think He has abandoned you because your prayers are not answered. He will turn your midnight into a sunrise and your mourning into dancing.

ACTION POINT:

Read Psalm 37:4-7 and rejoice in the hope of God’s providence and provision in your life. Delight—commit—rest.

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.

6 And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers