March 29

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. - John 14:27

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:7

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. - Ephesians 2:17

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

Your Infirmity May Reveal God’s Glory

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me’”...  2 Corinthians 12:9

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When Paul wrote that he “took pleasure in his infirmities,” he didn’t mean he was bragging about his sickness. Have you ever met anyone who brags about his sickness? You don't dare ask how he feels, or he'll give you an organ recital.

It wasn't that Paul enjoyed poor health. But Paul learned his weakness could become a strength. God had a higher plan.

It is not God's plan that we escape all trouble. Nor is it God's plan that we merely “endure.” Rather, God wants to enlist your sickness. Your infirmity can be used to reveal His glory. It can be used for Christ’s sake.

ACTION POINT:

There's nothing wrong with praying, “Lord, I want to escape this suffering.” Paul did—three times. Our Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane asked the Father, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” But the Lord had a higher plan. So the first thing we ought to do when we hurt is pray, “Lord, take it away, please.” If He doesn't, ask Him again and continue to ask Him until He tells you that He has a better or a higher plan.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When Everyone Deserts You

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:16–18)

This morning I was lingering over these magnificent and heartbreaking words. Paul is in custody in Rome. So far as we know, he was never released. His last letter comes to an end like this.

Consider and be astounded!

He is deserted: “no one came to stand by me.” He is an old man. A loyal servant. In a foreign city, far from home. Surrounded by enemies. In danger of death. Why? Answer: So he could write this precious sentence for our discouraged, or fearful, or lonely souls: “But the Lord stood by me!”

Oh, how I love those words! When you are deserted by close friends, do you cry out against God? Are the people in your life, then, really your god? Or do you take courage in this magnificent truth: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) — no matter who deserts you? Do you strengthen your heart with this inexorable oath: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5)?

Then let us say, “The Lord stood by me!”

Question: What was threatened in 2 Timothy 4:18? Answer: that Paul might not attain the Lord’s heavenly kingdom! But over against the threat Paul cries, “The Lord will . . . bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”

Question: How was Paul’s attaining the heavenly kingdom threatened? Answer: “evil deeds.” “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”

Question: How could an evil deed threaten Paul’s attaining the heavenly kingdom? Answer: by tempting him to forsake his allegiance to Christ through disobedience.

Question: Was this temptation the “lion’s mouth” from which he was rescued? Answer: Yes. “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9).

Question: So who gets the glory that Paul did not yield to this satanic temptation, but endured to the end in faith and obedience? Answer: “To him [the Lord] belong glory and dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 5:10). “To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18).

Question: Why? Wasn’t it Paul who stood firm? Answer: “The Lord stood by me and strengthened me!”

John Piper 

March 28

And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.  - Isaiah 2:17

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. - 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

4 And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

5 "Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes.

6 An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. - Ezekiel 7:4-6

21 My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, 

22 for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?  - Proverbs 24:21-22

23 For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living. 

24 "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? 

25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? 

26 But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. 

27 My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me. 

28 I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.  - Job 30:23-28

Weakness Is Your Asset

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me…For when I am weak, then I am strong’”...

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The reason many people aren’t overcoming the devil is that they’re using spiritual weapons, but trying to wield those weapons in their own strength.

You say, "I'm just too weak to win the battle." You’re right. But you may not be weak enough yet. God identifies Himself with our obedient weakness. Your problem may be that you're still trying rather than trusting. The battle is not yours; it’s the Lord's!

Your weakness is not a liability; it’s an asset. Your strength is not an asset; it’s a liability. If we could only learn that God does not need our strength! He calls for our obedience! God has the strength! The battle is the Lord's.

God has given us mighty weapons.

The precious blood of Jesus that covers us, for example. "And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).

The Word of God is another. This Bible, “sharper than any two-edged sword” is to be our battle-axe, our sword, our bow, our arrow, as we go against the enemy (Hebrews 4:12).

Prayer is another. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

ACTION POINT:

We have a spiritual enemy. Only spiritual weapons will be successful in defeating him! Therefore, the Bible says, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal [of the flesh] but mighty through God for pulling down strongholds." God is telling us today to take up the weapons He Himself has placed in our hands.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

10 Results of the Resurrection

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

Here are ten amazing things we owe to the resurrection of Jesus:

1) A Savior who can never die again. “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again” (Romans 6:9).

2) Repentance. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel” (Acts 5:30–31).

3) New birth. “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

4) Forgiveness of sin. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

5) The Holy Spirit. “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:32–33).

6) No condemnation for the elect. “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).

7) Jesus’s personal fellowship and protection. “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

8) Proof of coming judgment. “[God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

9) Salvation from the future wrath of God. “[We] wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Romans 5:9).

10) Our own resurrection from the dead. “[We know] that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence” (2 Corinthians 4:14; Romans 6:4; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20).

John Piper 

March 27

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 9:27-28

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 9:27-28

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. - Matthew 16:27

and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. - Revelation 2:23