What does God want from me?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

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

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

In order to be commissioned as a missionary, a man had to appear before the superintendent of missions. His appointment was set for five in the morning. It was a snowy morning, but he was there. He waited until eight o'clock.

Finally, the superintendent came and asked him two simple questions. Then he said, “Thank you. You're dismissed.” The aspiring missionary said, “Thank you for your time.” In his report, the superintendent wrote, “This man will make an excellent missionary. He came at an early hour without a murmur; that shows self-sacrifice. He was there on time; that shows character. He waited without grumbling; that shows patience. He answered very simple questions in a straightforward manner; that shows humility.”

ACTION POINT:

Faithfulness, lack of grumbling, patience, self-sacrifice, humility, those are some of the character traits God wants to find in you. And when He asks you to do something, it may not make sense or seem important, but let God determine what's important.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Faith Expels Guilt, Greed, and Fear

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5)

Paul is aiming at love. And one of the essential sources of this great effect is sincere faith. The reason faith is such a sure source of love is that faith in God’s grace expels from the heart the sinful powers that hinder love.

If we feel guilty, we tend to wallow in self-centered depression and self-pity, unable to see, let alone care about, anyone else’s need. Or we play the hypocrite to cover our guilt, and so destroy all sincerity in relationships, which makes real love impossible. Or we talk about other people’s faults to minimize the guilt of our own, which love does not do. So, if we are going to love, the destructive effects of guilt must be overcome.

It’s the same with fear. If we feel fearful, we tend not to approach a stranger at church who might need a word of welcome and encouragement. Or we may reject frontier missions as a vocation, because it sounds too dangerous. Or we may waste money on excessive insurance, or get swallowed up in all manner of little phobias that make us preoccupied with ourselves and blind us to the needs of others. All of which are the opposite of love.

It’s the same with greed. If we are greedy, we may spend money on luxuries — money that ought to go to the spread of the gospel. We don’t undertake anything risky, lest our precious possessions and our financial future be jeopardized. We focus on things instead of people, or see people as resources for our material advantage. So love is ruined.

But faith in future grace produces love by pushing guilt and fear and greed out of the heart.

It pushes out guilt because it holds fast to the hope that the death of Christ is sufficient to secure acquittal and righteousness now and forever (Hebrews 10:14).

It pushes out fear because it banks on the promise, “Fear not, for I am with you. . . . I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

And it pushes out greed because it is confident that Christ is greater wealth than all the world can offer (Matthew 13:44).

So when Paul says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from . . . sincere faith,” he is speaking of the tremendous power of faith to overcome all the obstacles to love. When we fight the fight of faith — the fight to believe the promises of God that kill guilt and fear and greed — we are fighting for love.

John Piper 

Do you obey even when confused?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And Samuel said, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I read an interesting story about Stephen Grellet, a pioneer evangelist to the lumbermen in the Rocky Mountains. He felt the Spirit of God leading him to a particular lumber camp to preach. When he got there, the place was absolutely deserted. He said, “Lord, I don’t understand, but I'm going to be obedient.”  So he opened his Bible without a soul in sight and preached a full-length message. Then he plead for people to come to Christ. He said, “Lord, I don’t know what that was all about, but Lord, I was obedient.”  Years later, a man walked up to him in England and said, “I was the foreman at a lumber camp in the Rockies. I had come back to the camp to get an ax, and I heard you preaching. I stood behind a pile of lumber and listened. As you preached, my heart was strangely warmed, and I repented of my sin and gave my heart to Jesus Christ. I later witnessed to four other men. Now, all five of us are missionaries preaching around the world.”  

How important it is that we obey completely in small things!

ACTION POINT:

Do you know why many of us are not obeying God more than we are? Because we're not hearing what God is saying. We're not spending time listening to God. That's the importance of a quiet time, that's the importance of getting somewhere alone with God in a nook with this book, reading and listening.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

We Experience the Spirit Through Faith

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:5)

Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul said, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9). The Spirit came to you the first time when you believed in the blood-bought promises of God. And the Spirit keeps on coming, and keeps on working, by this same means.

So Paul asks, rhetorically in Galatians 3:5, “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Answer: “By hearing with faith.”

Therefore, the Spirit came the first time, and the Spirit keeps on being supplied, through the channel of faith. Whatever he accomplishes in and through us is by faith.

If you are like me, you may have strong longings from time to time for the mighty working of the Holy Spirit in your life. Perhaps you cry out to God for the outpouring of the Spirit in your life or in your family or church or city. Such cries are right and good. Jesus said, “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).

But what I have found most often in my own life is the failure to open myself to the full measure of the Spirit’s work by believing the specific promises of God. I don’t mean merely the promise that the Spirit will come when we ask. I mean all the other precious promises that are not directly about the Spirit but, perhaps, about God’s provision for my future — for example, “My God will supply every need of yours” (Philippians 4:19). God’s Spirit is supplied in an ongoing and powerful way precisely through specific acts of faith in specific promises for specific situations. Do I trust him right now to do what he has promised to do?

This is what is missing in the experience of so many Christians as they seek the power of the Spirit in their lives. The Spirit is supplied to us “by hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5) — not just faith in one or two promises about the Spirit himself, but about all the soul-satisfying presence of God in our future to do for us, and be for us, whatever we need.

John Piper 

Do you pray for the glory of God?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for Thine own sake, O my God: for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name. Daniel 9:17-19

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Daniel is saying, “O God, please forgive us.  Remove the guilt.”  He’s also praying for the restoration of glory. Notice his motivation: “for the Lord’s sake.” 

Do you know what so many of us are praying for? For America’s sake, our denomination’s sake, our church’s sake, or even our family’s sake. That won’t get it done. But Daniel is praying for not only the removal of guilt but the restoration of glory (v. 18). When we get concerned for the glory of God, then we’re going to see our prayers answered. So many times we’re just simply trying to get out of difficulty. Do you pray for the glory of God? 

Do you know what most of us want?  We want revival so we can return to our own old, comfy ways, once God gets us out of the difficulty we’re in. Do you have a burning, yearning in your heart for the glory of God?  Do you want to see God’s glory spread over this land? I want to see God do something once again that cannot be explained by the pundits and news anchors on TV.

ACTION POINT:

When we pray for God’s glory, we’ll see our prayers answered.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Do you pray confidently?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. Daniel 9:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The closer we get to God, the more we realize how insignificant and how sinful we are. This is not a time for finger-pointing in our nation. This is a time for repentance of personal sin. I’m talking about repentance among God’s people.

Daniel is talking about God’s greatness, power, righteousness, and mercy. That is the basis for our prayer. Isn’t it wonderful that “to God belong mercies and forgiveness”? It is impossible to see who our great God is in a time of crisis and not want to pray. We can pray with confidence for this very reason.

It is prayer time in America. It is time for all people who know our God, whomever they may be, to seek the face of God in prayer. I believe that with all my heart. We need to set ourselves in prayer.

ACTION POINT:

We need to pray, “God, cleanse us, restore us, revive us, renew us, refresh us.  We need revival in America. Remove our guilt.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Proud Works vs. Humble Faith

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’” (Matthew 7:22)

Consider the difference between a heart of “faith” and a heart of “works.”

The heart of works gets satisfaction from the ego-boost of accomplishing something in its own power. It will attempt to scale a vertical rock face, or take on extra responsibilities at work, or risk life in a combat zone, or agonize through a marathon, or perform religious fasting for weeks — all for the satisfaction of conquering a challenge by the force of its own will and the stamina of its own body.

The heart with a works-orientation may also go in another direction and express its love of independence and self-direction and self-achievement by rebelling against courtesy and decency and morality (Galatians 5:19–21). But it’s the same self-determining, self-exalting works-orientation — whether it is being immoral or mounting a crusade against immoral behavior. The common denominator is self-direction, self-reliance, and self-exaltation. In all of this, the basic satisfaction of the works-orientation is the savor of being an assertive, autonomous, and, if possible, triumphant self.

The heart of faith is radically different. Its desires are no less strong as it looks to the future. But what it desires is the fullest satisfaction of experiencing all that God is for us in Jesus.

If “works” wants the satisfaction of feeling itself overcome an obstacle, “faith” savors the satisfaction of feeling God overcome an obstacle. Works longs for the joy of being glorified as capable, strong, and smart. Faith longs for the joy of seeing God glorified for his capability and strength and wisdom and grace.

In its religious form, works accepts the challenge of morality, conquers its obstacles through great exertion, and offers the victory to God as a payment for his approval and recompense. Faith, too, accepts the challenge of morality, but only as an occasion to become the instrument of God’s power. And when the victory comes, faith rejoices that all the glory and thanks belong to God.

John Piper