Friday, October 4, 2019

Joy Unbound

“I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

That’s what Jesus prayed the night before he died. Imagine being able to enjoy what is most enjoyable with unbounded energy and passion forever. This is not now our experience. Three things stand in the way of our complete satisfaction in this world.

One is that nothing in this created world has a personal worth great enough to meet the deepest longings of our hearts.

Another is that we lack the strength to savor the best treasures to their maximum worth.

And a third obstacle standing in the way of complete satisfaction is that our joys here come to an end. Nothing lasts. But if the aim and the prayer of Jesus in John 17:26 come true, all this will change. He prayed “that the love with which you, Father, have loved me may be in them.” God’s infinitely well-pleased love for his Son in us!

If God’s pleasure in the Son becomes our pleasure in the Son, then the object of our pleasure, Jesus, will be inexhaustible in personal worth. He will never become boring or disappointing or frustrating.

No greater treasure can be conceived than the Son of God.

Moreover, our ability to savor this inexhaustible treasure will not be limited by human weaknesses. We will enjoy the Son of God with the very enjoyment of his Father. That’s what Jesus prayed for!

God’s delight in his Son will be in us and it will be ours — our delight in the Son. And this will never end, because neither the Father nor the Son ever ends.

Their love for each other will be our love for them and therefore our loving them will never die, nor ever diminish.


John Piper 

The only thing you have that God wants



BIBLE MEDITATION:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.
Matthew 10:39



DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

We have nothing that God needs. Think about that.

If I were to give God my riches, I couldn’t make Him richer. He owns everything. If I were to give God my wisdom, I wouldn’t make Him wiser. He is all-wise.

If I were to give God my power, I couldn’t make God more powerful. He is omnipotent.

God wants only one thing from His children, but it’s the most precious thing we have to give—He wants our heart. If we pray to God without giving Him our heart, we are mocking Him. If we preach without giving God our heart, we are preaching in ignorance. If we say we’re a Christian without giving Him our heart, we are living a lie.

ACTION POINT:

God is saying to you today, “Give Me your heart.” How will you respond?


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Those Who Reject The Lord's Word

Man is constantly thumbing his nose at God.
Refusing to repent.
Refusing Christ and His teaching.
Refusing to obey what God commands.
Even denying that Christ alone is able to save!
Man has a great expectation of judgement!
There is hope, repent, follow Christ!

Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.  - Jeremiah 6:19

29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 
30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."  - Proverbs 1:29-33

14 They say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. 
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?' 
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.  - Job 21:14-16

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  - Psalm 1:1-2

18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 
19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 
20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."  - Isaiah 1:18-20

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 
6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. 
7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.  - Isaiah 45:5-7

Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.  - Jeremiah 6:19

29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 
30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."  - Proverbs 1:29-33

14 They say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. 
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?' 
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.  - Job 21:14-16

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  - Psalm 1:1-2

18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 
19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 
20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."  - Isaiah 1:18-20

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  - Psalm 51:7-10

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. - 1 John 1:7-10

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.
17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.
19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you."
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. - Hebrews 9:11-28

10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"
14 I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  - Revelation 7:10-17

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  - Psalm 51:7-10

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. - 1 John 1:7-10

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.
17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.
19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you."
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. - Hebrews 9:11-28

10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"
14 I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  - Revelation 7:10-17

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Absolute, Sovereign, Almighty Love



“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6)

God abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Two images come to my mind:

The heart of God is like an inexhaustible spring of water that bubbles up love and faithfulness at the top of the mountain. Century after century the spring keeps on flowing.

Or the heart of God is like a volcano that burns so hot with love that it blasts the top off the mountain and flows year after year with the lava of love and faithfulness.

When God uses the word “abounding” — “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” — he wants us to understand and feel that the resources of his love are not limited. You can drink at this mountain spring all day, year after year, generation after generation, and it never runs dry.

You might even risk saying that God is like a government that simply prints more money when there’s a need. Inexhaustible, right? Well, there’s a difference. God has an infinite treasury of golden love to cover all the currency he prints. The government is in a dream world. God banks very realistically on the infinite resources of his deity.

The absolute existence, the sovereign freedom, and the omnipotence of God are the volcanic fullness that explodes in an overflow of love. The sheer magnificence of God means that he does not need us to fill up any deficiency in himself. Instead his infinite self-sufficiency spills over in love to us — to sinners — who need him, and the gift of himself in Jesus.

We can bank on his love precisely because we believe in the absoluteness of his existence, the sovereignty of his freedom, and the limitlessness of his power.



John Piper 

What if Jesus returned today?


BIBLE MEDITATION:

And every man that hath this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure.
1 John 3:3



DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Two little girls were talking in school one day, and one said to the other, “I hear the school board is making an inspection of our school this week.”

The other girl’s desk was messy, so she said, “I’ll clean it up tomorrow.”

The first one asked, “But what if they come today?”

Her friend said, “You know, I think I’ll clean it up right now—and keep it clean.”

Since we are people who look for Jesus Christ to come at any moment, we ought to be living clean lives. For example, if you knew for certain that Jesus Christ were coming this afternoon, are there some things you'd get right in your life? Would there be someone you might call this afternoon and want to make up with before Jesus came? Would there be some literature in your home you'd like to get rid of? Are there some things that would change if you absolutely knew that this afternoon you were going to meet Jesus Christ?

You see, that's what John meant when he said that those who have this hope (that is, the expectation of the coming of Jesus) purify themselves.

ACTION POINT:

What a motivation to commit ourselves to living a holy life, once we fully realize that at any moment we might meet Jesus face to face.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

God Isn’t Gloomy



The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The implication of this text is that God has the right and power to do whatever makes him happy. That is what it means to say that God is sovereign.

Think about it for a moment: If God is sovereign and can do anything he pleases, then none of his purposes can be frustrated. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:10–11).

And if none of his purposes can be frustrated, then he must be the happiest of all beings.

This infinite, divine happiness is the fountain from which the Christian (Hedonist) drinks and longs to drink more deeply.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected?

Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1)? I don’t think so.

We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor.

But that is not the way God is. He is never out of sorts with frustration or discouragement. And, as Psalm 147:11 says, he “takes pleasure . . . in those who hope in his steadfast love.” So the aim of the Christian Hedonist is not to avoid this God, not to run from him, or tiptoe through the living room lest his gloominess become anger. No, our aim is to hope in his steadfast love. To run to him. To be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy his fellowship and favor.


John Piper 

Have to? Need to? Or WANT to?


BIBLE MEDITATION:

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
1 Corinthians 9:19



DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There are three reasons for being obedient:

A slave obeys because he has to.
An employee obeys because he needs to.
But a loving son obeys because he wants to.
So many of us live like slaves, obeying out of obligation, when Jesus has said, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth. But I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father, I have made known unto you” (John 15:15).

ACTION POINT:

I don’t work for my salvation—that work has been done by my Lord. But I will work like any slave for the love of God. What about you?


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers