What’s your #1 desire?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psalm 24:4-50

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

James Nicholson wrote a song which expresses the desire of my heart:

“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;

I want Thee forever to live in my soul.

Break down every idol, cast out every foe;

Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Nothing beats closer to my heart than yearning to be pure before my Lord. I’ve experienced the sweet fellowship with Jesus that comes when my heart is clean. And nothing—no nothing—surpasses that in this world.

Are you failing in your Christian life because you’re not pure? If you are, you’re not alone. It seems as though a sewer pipe of filth and debauchery has broken and poured out into our world. Someone has well said, “Not since Manhattan Island was sold for 24 dollars has so much dirt been sold so cheaply as it is here in America.”

ACTION POINT:

Take the words of that song and make them your prayer to the Lord right now.

Then close with Psalm 51:10-13: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold me with Thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Perfect City

He has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

No pollution, no graffiti, no trash, no peeling paint or rotting garages, no dead grass or broken bottles, no harsh street talk, no in-your-face confrontations, no domestic strife or violence, no dangers in the night, no arson or lying or stealing or killing, no vandalism, and no ugliness.

The city of God will be perfect, because God will be in it. He will walk in it and talk in it and manifest himself in every part of it. All that is good and beautiful and holy and peaceful and true and happy will be there, because God will be there.

Perfect justice will be there and recompense a thousandfold for every pain suffered in obedience to Christ in this world. And it will never deteriorate. In fact, it will shine brighter and brighter as eternity stretches out into unending ages of increasing joy.

When you desire this city above everything else on the earth, then you honor God, who, according to Hebrews 11:10, is the designer and builder of the city. And when God is honored, he is pleased and not ashamed to be called your God.

John Piper 

What do you want to be recognized for?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word. Psalm 119:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A child delights in what he has.

A youth delights in what he does.

An adult delights in what he is.

The more mature you are, the more you will desire to be something—not just to have something or do something, but be something.

What do you desire to be today? Someone known for the way they dress? The deals they close? The house they live in? Or do you want others to know you for who you are: one with a pure heart—a heart utterly devoted and surrendered to God.

ACTION POINT:

Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” They will know the unknowable, they will do the impossible, and they will see the invisible. I want to have a heart like that. What about you?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Lincoln’s Providence

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33)

Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this day in 1809, remained skeptical, and at times even cynical, about religion into his forties. So, it is a most striking thing how personal and national suffering drew Lincoln into the reality of God, rather than pushing him away.

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.” Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the Capitol held two thousand cots for wounded soldiers.

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was assassinated. It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or Confederate cause. God has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. . . .

Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

I pray for all of you who suffer loss and injury and great sorrow that it will awaken for you, as it did for Lincoln, not an empty fatalism, but a deeper reliance on the infinite wisdom and love of God’s inscrutable providence.

John Piper 

The only answer to the world’s question

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The world wants to know what we should do about the problems of the world. What about overcrowded prisons? Poverty? Rape? Murder? Orphans? The homeless?

Do you know why we never solve the problems? Because we don’t see the real problem.

The sociologist says it is just a cultural lag. The psychologist calls it an emotional disturbance. The philosopher calls it irrational behavior. The communist calls it the human class struggle. The humanist calls it human weakness. The criminologist calls it anti-human conduct. The Bible calls it sin.

And the only answer for sin is Jesus, who executes the will of God, expresses the love of God, and expounds the mind of God.

ACTION POINT:

The problems of our world are beyond solution—apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. God moves in answer to our prayers. Your effectual, fervent prayer “availeth much.” (James 5:16)

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Courage

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  - Psalms 23

Get a word from the Lord.

My word is courage.

Be a risk taker.

What does it take to be a risk taker?

Live boldly.

1. Know that victory is already won.

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them." - Numbers 13:1-2

2. Follow God's directions.

So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. - Numbers 13:3

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.

26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan." - Numbers 13:25-29

For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.  - Isaiah 52:12

3. Ignore others opinions.

30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."

31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."

32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." - Numbers 13:30-33

4. Walk in confidence not fear.

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.

9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." - Numbers 14:5-9

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. - Numbers 14:24

A- Ask God.

S- Base it on scripture not feelings.

K- Know God will use it to grow you and glorify Him.

God is working all around us, pay attention.

Be intentional in your work for the Lord.

You will be victorious in Christ.

The enemy is the master of exaggeration. 

See yourself as God sees you.

You are a mighty warrior in Christ!

He will be with you!

The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." - Exodus 14:14

Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. - Zechariah 4:6

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.  - Isaiah 54:10

Thanks Pastor Kevin!

The Best Form of Slavery

He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. (1 Corinthians 7:22, my translation)

I would have expected Paul to switch the places of “Lord,” which means Master, and “Christ,” which means Messiah.

He correlates our liberation with Jesus being our Master (“a freedman of the Lord”). And he correlates our new slavery with Jesus being our Messiah (“a slave of Christ”). It seems strange because the Messiah came to liberate his people from their captors; and masters take control of their slaves’ lives.

Why does he say it this way? Why correlate slavery (rather than liberation) with Messiah, and liberation (rather than slavery) with Master?

Suggestion: The switch has two effects on our new liberty and two effects on our new slavery.

On the one hand, in calling us “the liberated of the Lord,” he secures and limits our new liberty:

His lordship is over all other lords; so our liberation is uncontested — absolutely secure.

But, free from all other lords, we are not free from him. Our freedom is mercifully limited. Jesus is our Master.

On the other hand, in calling us the “slaves of Christ,” he loosens and sweetens our slavery:

The Messiah lays claim on his own in order to bring them from the confines of captivity into the open spaces of peace. “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7).

And he makes them his own to give them the sweetest joy. “With honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:16). And that Rock is Christ, the Messiah.

So, Christian, be glad in this: “He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord” — the Master. “Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ” — the loosening, sweetening Messiah.”

John Piper