Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Is God not enough?



BIBLE MEDITATION:

Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Psalm 73:1



DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Asaph, the author of Psalm 73, started his psalm by talking about the purity of a person’s heart and the goodness of God. Then he says, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped” (Psalm 73:2).

He thought when he got right with God, he wouldn’t have any more troubles. Then reality hit. Verses 13-14 say, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.” He said, “I got right with God and I still have problems!” He had a false expectation that the Bible doesn’t give. Christians are not due preferential treatment.

Some of you have lost your fortune, lost your job, some of you have even lost your family. I want to ask you, is God enough?

ACTION POINT:

If in the midst of this you can say, “God is enough,” I’ll tell you one thing you’ve done: you’ve shut the devil’s mouth. The devil says, “Well, he only serves you because of those good things you’ve done for him. You’ve bought him off with blessings.” God says, “No, he just loves me for who I am, not because of the blessings I’ve given him.” The presence of God is enough even in our trials.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Monday, November 11, 2019

We Are His House



Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:3–6)

The people who boast and hope in Jesus Christ are the house of God. Which means that Jesus this very day — not just back in Moses’s day or in his own days on earth — but this very day is our Maker, our Owner, our Ruler, and our Provider.

Jesus is called the “builder” of this house. Moses was not the builder. He was part of the house. So it says, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.” So Moses, as great as he was in leading the house, and giving God’s word to the house, was still just a part of the house. But Jesus built the house.

So if we boast in Jesus and hope in Jesus, we are the house, and Jesus is our Builder, and Owner and Ruler and Provider. He does not let his house be destroyed or fall into ruin.

Then the writer changes the imagery — from builder and house, to son and servant. “Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant . . . but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” So Christ did become part of the house — part of the household — he built. But even so, his honor is far above Moses. Moses was a servant. Christ is the Son. The heir.

And we are part of this household. Hebrews 3:6: “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” By all means, let us respect and give Moses his due. But the point of the whole book of Hebrews is: Christ is greater. Greater in every way. He is the builder of the house of God’s people. And he is the Son in the house of God’s people. Let us respect Moses. But let us worship Jesus — our Maker, our brother.


John Piper 

Do you know what the world needs?



BIBLE MEDITATION:

Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great. Psalm 18:35



DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Can a person donate to the poor and not have love? Can a person work in a soup kitchen for the homeless and not have love? Yes. You say, “No…a person wouldn’t do that!” Oh yes, they would—if they have a guilty conscience. Sometimes it’s easier to write a check or donate some used things than to give of our time.

Do you know what the world needs? Not more money, though I’m sure they’d be glad to take it. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.”

ACTION POINT:

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving of yourself to others.


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Release Your Load of Guilt


We sin!
We are guilty.
It weighs heavy on our hearts.
We have forgiveness through repentance in Christ Jesus!
Are you repenting?

And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. - Acts 2:38

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. - Acts 3:19-21

testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. - Acts 20:21

to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' - Acts 26:18

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, - Hebrews 9:27

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. - Hebrews 9:11-26

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6  who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

There are many false religions that offer so called ways to so called gods.
Those paths leads to destruction.
Those false gods offer nothing.
The tombs of those so called gods contain bodies of mere mortals, who deceived lost souls, who lived and died and will be judged by their wickedness.
You are still in your sin and condemned to stand before Father God the Creator who will judge.
Be washed in the blood of Christ.
Be assured that your sin is forgiven by the only true God who gave power to His only Son through His resurrection. 
There is an empty tomb!
Hallelujah and praise God!

Wipe Your Fears Away

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)

One possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in unbelief goes like this: “I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my faith in God’s grace must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.”

My response to this concern is: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy, who doesn’t want you to finish the race, throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race.

And it certainly doesn’t mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise, your competitor — your adversary — wouldn’t bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers.

When anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God’s glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked.

At first blow, our belief in God’s promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether, by grace, we set in motion a process of resistance — whether we fight back against the unbelief of anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers?

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike. It tells us how to turn on the windshield wipers.


John Piper 

Is Satan lying to you?



BIBLE MEDITATION:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. John 16:7-8



DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The devil is the one who accuses you of sin. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts you of sin. Do you know the difference? The devil accuses you to drive you away from Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts to draw you to Christ.

The devil wants you under a load of guilt so you’ll say, “I’m no good. I can’t live the Christian life. There’s something wrong with me. God doesn’t hear my prayers. It doesn’t do me any good to go to church.”

On the other hand, the Holy Spirit pinpoints a sin and with laser focus, without condemnation, says: “You told a lie just then.” Or, “What you said wasn’t kind.”

The devil dumps a load of guilt on you: “You’re just a terrible person. You’re a failure.” It’s an overall sense of gloom, doom, and unworthiness. When you believe those lies, you let the devil drive you away from God. He accuses you to destroy you.

The Holy Spirit uses a scalpel to cleanly remove the problem. The devil grabs a bat and bludgeons you with it. You crawl away, condemned.

ACTION POINT:

The Holy Spirit convicts you to reclaim you. His desire is to correct you and bring you back, that you may know the fullness of joy. The Holy Spirit draws you to Christ that you may confess your sins and be cleansed. Confess, be cleansed, and go your way rejoicing!


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Marveling at the End of History



[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10)

When Jesus returns to this earth, which he has promised to do, those who have not believed the gospel, Paul says, “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” This is a terrible prospect that should terrify all unbelievers who hear this truth.

And oh, how it should sober us who do believe and fill us with seriousness about what is at stake in this world. Oh, how it should cause compassion to rise in our hearts for those who do not believe, or do not even know, the gospel.

But to sustain us in all our afflictions here Paul gives us two amazing words of encouragement and hope. “[God will] grant relief to you who are afflicted.” If we experience a terrible intensification of affliction near the end of history, God’s word is: Hold fast: relief is on the way. Your afflictions will not have the last word. And your seemingly powerful adversaries will regret the day they touched the Lord’s people.

But then comes the best word of encouragement and hope. Not only will we get relief when the Lord comes, but we will get the greatest experience that we were created for in the first place: We will see his glory, and marvel at it in such a way that he will be glorified in us for all the world to see.

Verse 10: “He comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.” We were made to marvel. Nothing and no one is more marvelous than the crucified, risen, returning King of glory, Jesus Christ. He will attain the destiny of his glory, and we will attain the destiny of our joy as we begin the perfect, sinless, never-ending marveling at the greatest marvel.


John Piper