Hope to Obey Hard Commands

Whoever desires to love life and see good days . . . let him turn away from evil and do good.” (1 Peter 3:10–11)

There is only one basic reason why we disobey the commands of Jesus: it’s because we don’t have heartfelt confidence that obeying will bring more blessing than disobeying. We do not hope fully in God’s promise.

What did he promise? Peter passes on the teachings of Jesus like this:

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days . . . let him turn away from evil and do good.” (1 Peter 3:9–11)

Peter, following Jesus, is not ashamed to motivate obedience to hard commands — like not returning evil for evil — with the promise of greater joy. “Bless those who revile you . . . that you may obtain a blessing!” Do you want to enjoy everlasting life? Turn away from evil! Joy for all eternity awaits you! Is that not reward enough to avoid the pleasures of vengeance now?

You will always be better off to obey than to disobey Jesus, even if that obedience costs you your life. Jesus said,

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time . . . with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30)

The only way to have the power to follow Christ in the costly way of love is to be filled with hope, with strong confidence that, if we lose our life doing his will, we will find it again and be richly rewarded forever.

John Piper 

Does God have to use a stick?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I read about a man who had a very fine dog who loved the water. One day the dog was playing in the lake and the man decided to leave. He called the dog, but the dog wouldn’t come. He called him several times; he wouldn’t come. It was a well-trained dog, but he just would not come. The man finally threw a stick out in the water. When the dog saw it, he swam over, got the stick, and came back and laid it at his master’s feet.

It just may be that God has given you a burden because He can’t get your attention. He wants you to come and lay it at your Master’s feet.

ACTION POINT:

Is your heart aching today? Cast your burden at His feet and allow His peace to fill your heart.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What It Means to Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! (Psalm 103:1)

The psalm begins and ends with the psalmist preaching to his soul to bless the Lord — “Bless the Lord, O my soul” — and preaching to the angels and the hosts of heaven and the works of God’s hands that they should do the same.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers, who do his will!

Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

(Psalm 103:20–22)

The psalm is overwhelmingly focused on blessing the Lord. What does it mean to bless the Lord?

It means to speak well of his greatness and goodness — and really mean it from the depths of your soul.

What David is doing in the first and last verses of this psalm, when he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is saying that authentic speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul.

Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). David knows that danger, and he is preaching to himself. He is telling his soul not to let this happen.

“Come, soul, look at the greatness and goodness of God. Join my mouth, and let us bless the Lord with our whole being. Soul, we are not going to be a hypocrite!”

John Piper 

Have you thrown yourself on the mercy of the court?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. Psalm 85:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There’s a story about a lady who went to a photographer to have her picture made. When she saw it, she didn’t like it. She took it back and said, “You’ll have to take this over.” He asked, “What’s wrong with it?” She said, “It doesn’t do me justice.” He looked at it and looked at her and said, “Lady, you don’t need justice; you need mercy.”

That’s what all of us need. If I got justice, if God gave me what I deserved, I'd go to hell. On the other hand, if God simply justified me—a sinner—with no penalty for my sin, He wouldn't be just anymore. He would have overlooked my sin.

But don't you see? The cross is God's way to be both just and the justifier for our sin. The cross is God's way where Jesus took my place and paid the penalty for all my sin, shame, and unworthiness. 

“He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). 

Jesus, God's Lamb, took my sin to the cross. There He bowed His head and said, "It is finished!" (“Tetelestai!” in Greek.) That means “Paid in Full.” God’s righteous demands have been satisfied. Jesus delivers us from God’s divine judgment. His sacrifice on the cross is the satisfaction for my sin.

ACTION POINT:

God is just, but we need mercy. If you’ve never seen yourself as a sinner lost before Almighty God and cried out to Him for mercy, you’ve never been saved. You may have joined a church, but have you thrown yourself on the mercy of the court? Have you said, “Lord God be merciful to me, a sinner?” Do it now.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Knowledge of the Truth

Jesus came.

God the Father gave Him a mission.

My people are far from Me.

They have turned away from Me.

They are deep in sin.

I am the only true living God.

I want them searching, thirsty and hungry for Me.

They are rebels, stiff necked and disobedient.

You alone My Son will satisfy My wrath towards them.

Christ obedience gives life to those who were perishing.

There is one way that will deliver them from an eternity in Hell. 

Bring them the truth.

If not for You My Son, they will forever be separated from Me.

Those who believe You alone are able to offer salvation will become Your apostles.

They study My words of life.

They share My words of life.

By Your shed blood, they snatch souls out of the fire.

God's command to you: Take My Words to the nations!!

always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. - 2 Timothy 3:7

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:3-6

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. - 1 Timothy 4:10

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. - Hebrews 10:26-27

23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. - Ezekiel 18:23-24

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live." - Ezekiel 18:32

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; - Titus 1:1-3

17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

18 They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions."

19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

22 And have mercy on those who doubt;

23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. - Jude 1:17-23

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:16-20

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,

11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra-which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Why You Give in to Sexual Sin

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:8, 12)

Why isn’t David crying out for sexual restraint? Why isn’t he praying for men to hold him accountable? Why isn’t he praying for protected eyes and sex-free thoughts? In this psalm of confession and repentance after essentially raping Bathsheba, you would expect David to ask for something like that.

The reason is that he knows that sexual sin is a symptom, not the disease.

People give way to sexual sin because they don’t have fullness of joy and gladness in Christ. Their spirits are not steadfast and firm and established. They waver. They are enticed, and they give way because God does not have the supreme place in their feelings and thoughts that he should.

David knew this about himself. It’s true about us too. David is showing us, by the way he prays, what the real need is for those who sin sexually: God! Joy in God.

This is profound wisdom for us.

John Piper 

What would you do if you had $1 million?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. Luke 16:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

What would you do if you had a million dollars? Well, let me tell you a good test of what you would do—it’s what you’re doing with that hundred dollars you have right now. Are you saving it? Spending it? Sharing it?

The test of what you would do in the spiritual realm is seen by what you do in the physical and monetary realm. And if you can't be trusted with money, God cannot trust you with spiritual power.

Many of us do not have spiritual blessings because we simply haven't been faithful with finances. Because we've not been faithful with finances, God doesn't bless us spiritually.

If you will get materially right, God will bless you spiritually. It doesn't have to be big, it doesn’t have to be much, but if you'll just take what God has placed in your trust and do right with whatever you have, then God says, “I can bless you spiritually.”

Frankly, the reason some of us are not getting our prayers answered, don't understand the Bible more than we do, and have such a poor witness is that we haven't been faithful in that which is least. We haven't been faithful in the material things. We simply haven’t been faithful with the small things in our lives.

ACTION POINT:

Are you hoping for something in your life? Be faithful in something little so you’ll be faithful when something more significant comes along.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers