Wednesday, September 5, 2018

The Goal of Christ’s Love


Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.” (John 17:24)

Believers in Jesus are precious to God (we’re his bride!). And he loves us so much that he will not allow our preciousness to become our god.

God does indeed make much of us (he adopts us into his family!), but he does so in a way that draws us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness.

Test yourself. If Jesus came to spend the day with you, sat down beside you on the couch, and said, “I really love you,” what would you focus on the rest of the day that you spend together with him?

It seems to me that too many songs and sermons leave us with the wrong answer. They leave the impression that the heights of our joy would be in the recurrent feeling of being loved. “He loves me!” “He loves me!” To be sure, this is joy indeed. But not the heights, and not the focus.

What are we saying with the words “I am loved”? What do we mean? What is this “being loved”?

Would not the greatest, most Christ-exalting joy be found in watching Jesus all day and bursting with, “You’re amazing!” “You are amazing!”

He answers the hardest question, and his wisdom is amazing.
He touches a filthy, oozing sore, and his compassion is amazing.
He raises a dead lady at the medical examiner’s office, and his power is amazing.
He predicts the afternoon’s events, and his foreknowledge is amazing.
He sleeps during an earthquake, and his fearlessness is amazing.
He says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and his words are amazing.
We walk around with him all afternoon, utterly amazed at what we are seeing.

Is not his love for us his eagerness to do for us all he must do (including die for us) so that we can marvel at him and not be incinerated by him? Redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation — all these have to happen. They are the act of love.

But the goal of love that makes those acts loving is that we be with him, and see his jaw-dropping glory, and be astounded. In those moments we forget ourselves as we see and savor all that God is for us in him.

So I am urging pastors and teachers: Push people through the acts of Christ’s love to the goal of his love. If redemption and propitiation and forgiveness and justification and reconciliation are not taking us to the enjoyment of Jesus himself, they are not love.

Press on this. It’s what Jesus prayed for in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.”


John Piper 

By Creator? Or by chance?

BIBLE MEDITATION:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
An eloquent preacher once said, “God stepped from behind the curtain of nowhere and stood upon the platform of nothing and spoke a world into existence.”

God is the Creator of all your hands can touch, your eyes can see, your ears can hear, and your nose can smell. If you see a watch, I hope you assume there’s a watchmaker. And if you see the precise atomic flux of the universe, I hope you don’t believe that happened by chance.

Evolutionists believe that if you take billions of years and add time plus chance, you can turn frogs into princes. In the laboratory they call it science. In school they call it fairy tales.

ACTION POINT:
God spoke your life into existence. His Word sustains your breath. His Word can silence your breath. Thank Him for your life today!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

What’s New About the New Covenant

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

Jesus shatters any absolute dissociation of commandments and love.

He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. . . . Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father” (John 14:15, 21). “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10).

Thinking in terms of commandments and obedience did not stop Jesus from enjoying the love of his Father. And he expects that our thinking of him as one who commands will not jeopardize our love relationship with him either.

This is crucial to realize because the new covenant relationship that we have with God through Jesus Christ is not a covenant without commandments. The basic difference between the old covenant offered by God through the Mosaic law and the new covenant offered by God through Christ is not that one had commandments and the other doesn’t.

The key differences are that (1) the Messiah, Jesus, has come and shed the blood of the new covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 10:29) so that henceforth he is the Mediator of a new covenant, so that all saving, covenant-keeping faith is conscious faith in him; (2) the old covenant has therefore become “obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13) and does not govern the new-covenant people of God (2 Corinthians 3:7–18; Romans 7:4, 6; Galatians 3:19); and (3) the promised new heart and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit have been given through faith.

In the old covenant, the gracious enabling power to obey God was not poured out as fully as it is since Jesus. “To this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear” (Deuteronomy 29:4). What’s new about the new covenant is not that there are no commandments, but that God’s promise has come true! “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezekiel 36:27).


John Piper 

What problems are over your head?

BIBLE MEDITATION:
For He put all things under His [Jesus’] feet. 1 Corinthians 15:27a
And [the Father] put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church Ephesians 1:22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
God has given us kingdom authority. Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

When problems get over your head, remember they are under His feet.

You need not be discouraged when troubles strike. It is the pathway your Savior has walked before you. It is the way of the cross, and He has won the victory!

• Write down the hardest thing you have to deal with today. 
• Now put that paper on the floor. 
• Look down on it.

Now you have a glimpse of God’s vantage point over the problems in your life.

ACTION POINT:
Remember … “He hath put all things under His feet.”


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sinful Man


But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." - Luke 5:8

And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" - Isaiah 6:5

"'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.  - Deuteronomy 32:39

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. - Isaiah 7:14-15

14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."
16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. - Isaiah 8:14-17

10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. 
11 Thus shall you say to them: "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens."
12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 
13 When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 
14 Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. 
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish. 
16 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name. 
17 Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege! 
18 For thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it." 
19 Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it." 
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are not; there is no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtains. 
21 For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered. 
22 A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!- a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals. 
23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. 
24 Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. 
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.  - Jeremiah 10:10-25

Holy Seed

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me."
9 And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 
10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." 
11 Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 
12 and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 
13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.  - Isaiah 6:6-13

9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, - Hebrews 2:9-11

The way of man!

1 "Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. 
2 He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. 
3 And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? 
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. 
5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, 
6 look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. 
7 "For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. 
8 Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, 
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. 
10 But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? 
11 As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, 
12 so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. 
13 Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 
14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. 
15 You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. 
16 For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; 
17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity. 
18 "But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; 
19 the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man. 
20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away. 
21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. 
22 He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself."  - Job 14

Monday, September 3, 2018

The “I Will” of God



“Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.” (Zechariah 2:4–5)

There are mornings when I wake up feeling fragile. Vulnerable. It’s often vague. No single threat. No one weakness. Just an amorphous sense that something is going to go wrong and I will be responsible.

It’s usually after a lot of criticism. Or maybe after a lot of expectations that have deadlines, and that seem too big and too many.

As I look back over about 50 years of such periodic mornings, I am amazed how the Lord Jesus has preserved my life. And my ministry. The temptation to run away from the stress has never won out — not yet anyway. This is amazing. I worship my great God for this.

Instead of letting me sink into a paralysis of fear, or run to a mirage of greener grass, he has awakened a cry for help and then answered with concrete promises.

Here’s an example. This is recent. I woke up feeling emotionally fragile. Weak. Vulnerable. I prayed: “Lord help me. I’m not even sure how to pray.”

An hour later I was reading in Zechariah, seeking the help I had cried out for. It came.

“Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.” (Zechariah 2:4–5)

There will be such prosperity and growth for the people of God that Jerusalem will not be able to be walled in any more. “The multitude of people and livestock” will be so many that Jerusalem will be like many villages spreading out across the land without walls.

Prosperity is nice, but what about protection?

To which God says in verse 5, “I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord.” Yes. That’s it. That is the promise. The “I will” of God. That is what I need.

And if it is true for the vulnerable villages of Jerusalem, it is true for me a child of God. That is how I apply the Old Testament promises to God’s people. All the promises are yes to me in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). There is a “how much more” after every promise for those who are in Christ. God will be a “wall of fire all around” me. Yes. He will. He has been. And he will be.

And it gets better. Inside that fiery wall of protection he says, “And I will be the glory in her midst.” God is never content to give us the protection of his fire; he aims to give us the pleasure of his presence. I love the “I wills” of God!


John Piper 

Are you ready at any given moment?

BIBLE MEDITATION:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Winston Churchill was speaking to the House of Commons one day when he gave this advice, “We must always be ready to meet at our average moment, the thing that any possible enemy could hurl against us at his selected moment.”

Satan could hurl a deadly temptation at you at any given moment. The phone could ring with terrible news about a friend. A police officer could knock on your door to inform you of a tragedy in your family.

Trials can come with such a force that they blow you off course. Temptation can strike at your backside and almost give you whiplash!

It is not God’s will that you have fewer temptations or trials, but that you have victory in temptation and trials.

ACTION POINT:
Are you ready at this moment to meet either what the devil may throw at you or what God may allow to come your way? If you’re not sure, you can get ready by spending time in His precious Word today.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers