Are you asking, “Why, Lord, why?”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places. Habakkuk 3:17-19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Habakkuk expressed his frustration and dismay at the way things were going in his beloved nation. Truly, it was God’s nation, for He had called the Hebrews to Himself centuries ago.

Yet here is the conclusion Habakkuk comes to: “I will joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength.” Here’s where we must arrive: “The Lord is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds’ feet. He will make me to walk upon my high places.”

Habakkuk began by asking, “Why? Why, Lord, why?” God never did answer why. He just said, “I’m going reveal Who: It is I. I am your strength. I will make you like a sure-footed gazelle, and you can live on your high places.”

ACTION POINT:

If you’re saved, if you know the Lord, it doesn’t matter if gasoline goes to $5 a gallon or if Wall Street hits bottom. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter if they take away your fine house. The Bible says: “You can rejoice in the Lord your God!” Remember God’s greatness. Rejoice in God’s goodness. Rely on God’s grace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Wipe Your Fears Away

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)

One possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in unbelief goes like this: “I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my faith in God’s grace must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.”

My response to this concern is: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy, who doesn’t want you to finish the race, throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race.

And it certainly doesn’t mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise, your competitor — your adversary — wouldn’t bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers.

When anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God’s glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked.

At first blow, our belief in God’s promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether, by grace, we set in motion a process of resistance — whether we fight back against the unbelief of anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers?

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike. It tells us how to turn on the windshield wipers.

John Piper 

Are you faithful in the secret things?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Luke 8:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I read an account of Michelangelo’s painting the Sistine Chapel. He was in a spot out of everyone’s view. Someone said to him, “Forget that area; nobody can see it anyway.” But Michelangelo replied, “I know it’s there.”

King David prayed, “Who can understand his errors [omissions, mistakes]? Cleanse Thou me from secret [unconscious, unintended] faults” (Psalm 19:12)

People make false assumptions when they think they’ve gotten away with something. Through the years I’ve spoken with men and women who travel a lot, and in almost every hotel, R-rated and X-rated films are available. “Nobody’s in here but me,” they say. Are you sure? Jesus is in that room. “Then said He unto me, ‘Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, “The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.”’” (Ezekiel 9:12).

Be faithful in the secret things. Who you are in dark when nobody else knows, that's who you really are. Let me give you a test of your character. What would you do, either good or bad, if you knew nobody else would ever know? That reveals your true character.

Isaiah 29:15 says, “Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, ‘Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?’”

ACTION POINT:

Do you struggle with the secret sins of the flesh? Make this verse your prayer: “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Marveling at the End of History

[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10)

When Jesus returns to this earth, which he has promised to do, those who have not believed the gospel, Paul says, “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” This is a terrible prospect that should terrify all unbelievers who hear this truth.

And oh, how it should sober us who do believe and fill us with seriousness about what is at stake in this world. Oh, how it should cause compassion to rise in our hearts for those who do not believe, or do not even know, the gospel.

But to sustain us in all our afflictions here Paul gives us two amazing words of encouragement and hope. “[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted.” If we experience a terrible intensification of affliction near the end of history, God’s word is: Hold fast: relief is on the way. Your afflictions will not have the last word. And your seemingly powerful adversaries will regret the day they touched the Lord’s people.

But then comes the best word of encouragement and hope. Not only will we get relief when the Lord comes, but we will get the greatest experience that we were created for in the first place: We will see his glory, and marvel at it in such a way that he will be glorified in us for all the world to see.

Verse 10: “He comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.” We were made to marvel. Nothing and no one is more marvelous than the crucified, risen, returning King of glory, Jesus Christ. He will attain the destiny of his glory, and we will attain the destiny of our joy as we begin the perfect, sinless, never-ending marveling at the greatest marvel.

John Piper 

Held by His Omnipotent Hand

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I think a lot of folks believe they're going to be kept saved by somehow just “holding on.” You hear them say something like this: “Pray for me that I’ll hold out faithful to the end."

Suppose God had said to Noah, "Now, Noah, if you want to be saved, put some pegs on the outside of that ark. When it starts to rain, you get on a step ladder, go up, and hold onto those pegs. Your feet will be dangling; the water will be rising; it's gonna be rough. But Noah, if you can hold onto that slimy peg until the water goes down, you'll be saved.”

I don't think Noah would have made it, do you? I can see Noah saying to Mrs. Noah, “Honey, pray for me that I’ll hold out faithful the end." But God said to Noah, “Come into the ark,” and the same God that shut the water out, shut Noah in. Now Noah may have fallen down inside that ark, but he never fell out of it.

Oh, friend, people think they're saved by holding onto Him! No, my dear friend! We're saved because He holds onto us! Security is in a person, and His name is Jesus. It’s not that we hold on to Him, but that He holds on to us.

ACTION POINT:

Spend some time today simply praising God for His faithfulness, His steadfastness, and His unconditional love for you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Have you ever had a home appraised?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Colossians 3:17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The sign over the church door where I attended as a boy read, “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent.” I mistakenly took that to mean that I had just entered the holy temple and had better start acting religious. We are the temple of God, not a building made of brick and mortar. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we are to be doing all in the name of Jesus. The secular is to be sanctified so that Jesus will be glorified in everything. Because He lives in you, every day is a holy day, not just Sundays. The spiritual life is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all eternity.

ACTION POINT:

Have you ever had a home appraised? Get a trusted friend or loved one to give you an appraisal of the home where the Holy Spirit dwells—you! Are there areas that need repair, restoration, or removal?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

We Honor What We Enjoy

If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.” (Isaiah 58:13–14)

It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy of fellowship with him.

Consider the Sabbath as an illustration of this. The Lord rebukes his people for seeking their own pleasure on his holy day. “Turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day.” But what does he mean? Does he mean that we should not seek our joy on the Lord’s Day? No, because the next thing he says is, “Call the Sabbath a delight.” And in verse 14, “You shall take delight in the Lord.” So what he is criticizing is that they are delighting in their own business on the Sabbath rather than delighting in the beauty of their God and the rest and holiness that this day stands for.

He’s not rebuking their hedonism. He’s rebuking the weakness of it. As C. S. Lewis said, “We are far too easily pleased.” They have settled for secular interests and thus honor them above the Lord.

Notice that calling the Sabbath “a delight” is parallel to calling the holy day of the Lord “honorable.” “If you . . . call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable . . .” This simply means you honor what you delight in. Or you glorify what you enjoy.

The enjoyment of God and the glorification of God are one. His eternal purpose and our eternal pleasure unite in one experience of worship. This is what the Lord’s Day is for. Indeed, this is what all of life is for.

John Piper