It’s hard to be poor but harder to be rich

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Two things have I required of Thee. Deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity [falsehood] and lies; Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient [needful] for me, lest I be full and deny Thee and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. Proverbs 30:7-9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

To pass the test of life, one test you may have to pass is the test of poverty. If so, the Lord has some advice for you. See your poverty in the proper perspective. Because in the Lord Jesus Christ you are highly exalted, no matter how poor you are. Having Christ, you are richer than the richest man on earth without the Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian, you have gone from rags to riches.

Did you know that many of you would do better being poor than being rich? Some people can stand almost anything but prosperity. This is what our passage in Proverbs is saying.

Some of God’s choicest of saints were extremely wealthy. Abraham is an example. But the rich man is to see his riches from a proper perspective. Actually, it’s very hard to be poor and it’s even harder to be rich. The rich man may have an easier time in life, but he has a harder time passing the test.

ACTION POINT:

It’s not wrong to have money. The Lord does not tell the rich man to renounce his riches, just to properly assess his riches.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The One Who Holds It All

Lord, don't let us miss this.

You are the King, the one who holds it all.

Let us seek You as never before. 

You alone are able to rescue the lost and save them Lord from Hell.

Let us speak Your words of life to those who are perishing.

Give them Lord an understanding of the depth of sin in us all. 

Let us give them the hope that is Christ.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 

2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 

3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 

4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 

5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 

6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. 

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 

8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 

9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 

12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  - Psalms 19

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. - 1 Corinthians 1:17

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

41 I do not receive glory from people.

42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.

43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" - John 5:37-47

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." 

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 

4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, 

6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 

7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; 

8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.  - Psalm 146:3-8

Amen and Amen!

Living For God in a godless Society part 2

Let's look at this same situation in the OT.

It involves Moses who lived among the Egyptians.

Four demonic compromises 

1. Worship God but do not sell out completely!

You must be a Christian all the time.

20 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.

21 Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.

22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen."'"

24 And the LORD did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." - Exodus 8:20-25

2. Worship God but don't take it so seriously!

Satan will distract you!

Follow Jesus, no turning back!

Be passionate in your walk!

26 But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

27 We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us."

28 So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me." - Exodus 8:26-28

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"

61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this?

62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

64 But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

65 And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. - John 6:60-66

3. Worship God but don't involve your family!

Satan attacks families!

He wants them to fail!

Revival starts with families!

7 Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?"

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, "Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?"

9 Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD."

10 But he said to them, "The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. - Exodus 10:7-11

And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." - Acts 16:31

Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. - Genesis 7:1

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15

4. Worship God but don't commit your treasures!

Worship God with all you have wherever you are!

21 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt."

22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.

24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind."

25 But Moses said, "You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there." - Exodus 10:21-26

You are God's!

Everything you have is God's.

You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. - Deuteronomy 8:18

The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,  - Psalm 24:1

1. Worship God with all you've got!

2. Worship God as long as you've got!

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

God’s Plan for Martyrs

They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 6:11)

For almost three hundred years, Christianity grew in soil that was wet with the blood of the martyrs.

Until the Emperor Trajan (about AD 98), persecution was permitted but not legal. From Trajan to Decius (about AD 250), persecution was legal. From Decius, who hated the Christians and feared their impact on his reforms, until the first edict of toleration in 311, the persecution was not only legal but widespread and general.

One writer described the situation in this third period:

Horror spread everywhere through the congregations; and the number of lapsi [the ones who renounced their faith when threatened] . . . was enormous. There was no lack, however, of such as remained firm, and suffered martyrdom rather than yielding; and, as the persecution grew wider and more intense, the enthusiasm of the Christians and their power of resistance grew stronger and stronger.

So, for three hundred years, to be a Christian was an act of immense risk to your life and possessions and family. It was a test of what you loved more. And at the extremity of that test was martyrdom.

And above that martyrdom was a sovereign God who said there is an appointed number of martyrs. They have a special role to play in planting and empowering the church. They have a special role to play in shutting the mouth of Satan, who constantly says that the people of God serve him only because life goes better. That’s the point of Job 1:9–11.

Martyrdom is not something accidental. It is not taking God off guard. It is not unexpected. And it is emphatically not a strategic defeat for the cause of Christ.

It may look like defeat. But it is part of a plan in heaven that no human strategist would ever conceive or could ever design. And this plan will triumph for all those who endure to the end by faith in God’s all-sufficient grace.

John Piper 

Have you given Jesus the keys to it all?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God tells us to be filled with His Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit of God means first, repentance, then resistance of the devil, and then renewal.

Now, you’ve got a choice, folks: you can grieve the Spirit of God and be filled with the devil, or you can put the devil out and be filled with the Spirit of God.

There’s no place for the devil when you’re filled with the Spirit. I mean, if you’re filled with the Spirit, where can the devil go? He has no place.

When the Bible says “Be filled with the Spirit,” what does that mean? The Holy Spirit is not some sort of liquid, and you’re a jug, that’s not the idea. To be filled with the Spirit of God means that there’s not one room in your temple where God is off limits. There’s not one closet He doesn’t have a key to. You are filled with the Spirit in your church life, in your business life, in your sex life, in your political life, and in your social life; in the big things and the little things; in your money, your exercise, your sleep, your eating; in your lying down and in your waking up. You give Jesus the keys to it all. Then when you are filled with the Spirit, there’s no more room for Satan.

ACTION POINT:

If there’s room for Satan, the Spirit is grieved and I’m not filled with the Spirit. Repentance, resistance, renewal! Don’t try to repent until you’re honest and face your sin. Don’t try to resist until you’ve repented. And don’t try to be filled until you resist; until you choose against Satan and yield to God’s blessed Holy Spirit.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why We Don’t Lose Heart

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

Paul can’t see the way he used to (and there were no glasses). He can’t hear the way he used to (and there were no hearing aids). He doesn’t recover from beatings the way he used to (and there were no antibiotics). His strength, walking from town to town, doesn’t hold up the way it used to. He sees the wrinkles in his face and neck. His memory is not as good. And he admits that this is a threat to his faith and joy and courage.

But he does not lose heart. Why?

He doesn’t lose heart because his inner man is being renewed. How?

The renewing of his heart comes from something very strange: it comes from looking at what he can’t see.

We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

This is Paul’s way of not losing heart: looking at what he cannot see. What, then, did he see when he looked?

A few verses later in 2 Corinthians 5:7, he says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” This doesn’t mean that he leaps into the dark without evidence of what’s there. It means that for now the most precious and important realities in the world are beyond our physical senses.

We “look” at these unseen things through the gospel. We strengthen our hearts — we renew our courage — by fixing our gaze on the invisible, objective truth that we see in the testimony of those who saw Christ face to face.

“God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We see this as it shines in our heart through the gospel.

We became Christians when this happened — whether we understood this or not. And with Paul we need to go on seeing with the eyes of the heart, so that we not lose heart.

John Piper 

You put the cart before the horse

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord…. 2 Peter 1:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know that God puts certain things in a certain order in the Bible? For example, the Bible says, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you.” It never says “peace and grace”—always “grace and peace.” Why? You’ll not know peace until you know grace.

Here’s another one: “Believe and be baptized.” The Bible never says “be baptized and believe.” That’s why we don’t baptize little babies. They can’t believe. The Bible teaches believer’s baptism, “...if thou believest with all thine heart.”

Now if you were immersed or sprinkled before you were saved, dear friend—that’s not believer’s baptism. Believer’s baptism signifies “buried in the likeness of His death. Raised to newness of life.” If you’re baptized before you truly come to know Jesus Christ as Savior, that’s like having your funeral before you die. 

God’s order is “believe and be baptized.”

That’s not all. Here’s another order: repentance and faith, in that order. If you’re having difficulty, say, with faith, try repentance first! There’s nothing more debilitating, more smothering to faith than a sin you’re harboring in your heart.

ACTION POINT:

The Bible speaks of a sin “that so easily besets us.” We all have our “besetting sin.” Do you know what yours is? Have you confessed it to God and repented of it? If you’re going to run the race of faith, you’ve got to do some personal conditioning.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers