Monday, February 11, 2019

Will you take hold of the best?



BIBLE MEDITATION:

I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. Psalm 18:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever tried to get a bone away from a dog? It’s not too easy, unless you have something better for him. Try offering a T-bone steak, and that dog will drop his bone like a bad habit.

In the same way, the writer of Hebrews tried to encourage the Jewish Christians, new believers who had a tendency to cling to the old customs of the Old Testament, to leave the dry bones of ceremonies and instead feast upon the delights of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s a lesson we all must appropriate in our lives. It can become comfortable for us to hold to our traditions, rather than try something new. But friend, there is no one and nothing that can compare with Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

You may learn to love Jesus better, but you can never love anything better than Jesus. Ask God to begin showing you the delights of a close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sunday, February 10, 2019

How Satan Perverts Knowledge


3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. - 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

1 Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise? 
3 Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! 
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them, 
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. 
6 Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. 
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power. 
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. 
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. 
11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. 
12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. 
13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. 
14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; 
15 he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. 
16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD, 
17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. 
18 Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. 
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. 
20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. 
21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, 
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them. 
24 Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. 
25 They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD. 
26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness, 
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands. 
28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; 
29 they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. 
30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. 
31 And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever. 
32 They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, 
33 for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips. 
34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, 
35 but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. 
36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 
37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 
38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. 
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds. 
40 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; 
41 he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them. 
42 Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power. 
43 Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. 
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. 
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 
46 He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive. 
47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. 
48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!  - Psalms 106

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. - Ephesians 6:10-20

1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. - 2 Timothy 4:1-8

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
4 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. - 2 Peter 3:1-13

Saving Faith Isn’t Easily Satisfied



If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:15–16)

Faith sees the promised future that God offers and “desires” it. “As it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Dwell on this for a moment.

There are many people who water down what saving faith is by making it a mere decision with no change of what one desires and seeks. But the point of this text in the great faith chapter in the Bible — Hebrews 11 — is that living and dying by faith means having new desires and seeking new satisfactions.

Verse 14 says that the saints of old (who are being commended for their faith here in Hebrews 11) were seeking a different kind of country than this world offered. And verse 16 says they were desiring something better than what a present earthly existence could offer. “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”

They had been so gripped by God that nothing short of being with God would satisfy.

So, this is true saving faith: seeing the promises of God from afar, and experiencing a change of values so that you desire and seek after and trust in the promises of God above what the world has to offer.


John Piper 

Will you go the distance?



BIBLE MEDITATION:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Heaven is intently interested in what’s happening here on earth. Imagine a grandstand in Heaven filled with heroes of the faith, a “cloud of witnesses,” watching us and cheering us on. We are the runners; they are the spectators.

Many athletes have natural ability, but what is it that turns a mediocre athlete into a gold medal champion? One athlete is willing to hurt more than the others. When you can’t take another step, your muscles are sore, your body is aching—this is what it means to be running the race with perseverance, as Hebrews 12 says.

Today you may be hurting because a family member, coworker, or classmate has been unfair to you. A spouse has left. A friend walked away. Perhaps you were passed over for a promotion. You are bearing up under tremendous pressure. You are running to build endurance.

ACTION POINT:

Run with patience, as others have done before you—the  ones in that “great crowd of witnesses.” They testify to the fact that no matter how hard, it can be done. Look to Jesus. Building a faith that will go the distance takes both patience and time.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Better Than Money, Sex, and Power



Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:35)

We need to ponder the superiority of God as our great reward over all that the world has to offer. If we don’t, we will love the world like everyone else and live like everyone else.

So, take the things that drive the world, and ponder how much better and more abiding God is. Take money or sex or power and think about them in relation to death. Death will take away every one of them. If that is what you live for, you won’t get much, and what you get, you lose.

But God’s treasure is vastly superior, and it lasts. It goes beyond death. It’s better than money because God owns all the money and he is our Father. We are his heirs. “All [things] are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:22–23).

It’s better than sex. Jesus never had sexual relations, and he was the most full and complete human that ever will exist. Sex is a shadow — an image — of a greater reality, of a relationship and a pleasure that will make the most exquisite sex seem like a yawn.

The reward of God is better than power. There is no greater human power than to be a child of the almighty God. “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21).

And so it goes on and on. Everything the world has to offer, God is better and more abiding.

There is no comparison. God wins — every time. The question is: Will we have him? Will we wake up from the trance of this stupefying world and see and believe and rejoice in and love what is truly real, and infinitely valuable, and everlasting?


John Piper 

Encouragement for your race today



BIBLE MEDITATION:

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 1 Corinthians 9:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God set one race before me. He set another race before you. Everyone must run their own race. We’re not in a race against each other; we’re in a pilgrimage together. I'm not trying to out-do you. You’re not trying to out-do me. God has set before me a race that is peculiar to me. God has a plan for my life. He has a plan for yours. God has a race He wants each of us to run. We’re to get on it and stay on it until it is over.

If the runners of that day were inspired when they ran their race, how much greater should our effort be today with all the saints who have gone before us and can testify of God’s faithfulness?

Do you feel inspired? I do! It encourages me to know I’m not alone out there in the race and that I have the testimony of men and women who have run the race, knowing the pitfalls that are out there.

ACTION POINT:

Friend, I hope you feel encouraged and inspired to run the unique race God has set for you today. At Love Worth Finding, we would be honored to hear how God is fulfilling your every need along the way.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Friday, February 8, 2019

Are You Glad You Are Not God?



Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! (Psalm 96:7)

Here’s at least part of the experience that the psalmist is referring to when he says, “Ascribe [= give] to the Lord strength.” What are we doing when we “Ascribe to the Lord strength”?

First, by God’s grace, we give attention to God and see that he is strong. We give heed to his strength. Then we give our approval to the greatness of his strength. We give due regard to its worth.

We find his strength to be wonderful. But what makes this wonder that we experience a “giving” kind of wonder — “Give to the Lord strength!” — is that we are especially glad that the greatness of the strength is his and not ours.

We feel a profound fitness in the fact that he is infinitely strong, and we are not. We love the fact that this is so. We do not envy God for his strength. We are not covetous of his power. We are full of joy that all strength is his.

Everything in us rejoices to go out of ourselves and behold this power — as if we had arrived at the celebration of the victory of a distance runner who had beaten us in the race, and we found our greatest joy in admiring his strength, rather than resenting our loss.

We find the deepest meaning in life when our hearts freely go out of ourselves to admire God’s power, rather than turning inward to boast in our own — or even think about our own. We discover something overwhelming: It is profoundly satisfying not to be God, but to give up all thoughts or desires to be God.

In our giving heed to God’s power there rises up in us a realization that God created the universe for this: so that we could have the supremely satisfying experience of not being God, but admiring the Godness of God — the strength of God. There settles over us a peaceful realization that admiration of the infinite is the final, all-satisfying end of all things.

We tremble at the slightest temptation to claim any power as coming from us. God has made us weak to protect us from this: “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Oh, what love this is, that God would protect us from replacing the everlasting heights of admiring his power with the futile attempt to boast in our own! It is a great gladness not to be, but rather to see, God!


John Piper