Bible Study

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

[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 Peter 2:22

[22] He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

Galatians 3:13-14

[13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Romans 8:3-4

[3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Do You Have a Friend Who Sharpens You?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

True friends will put an edge on your life. They will make you a sharper person. Not all my friends do that for me, but my best friends do. Have you ever had a friend who loved you so much that he would even hurt you in order to help you?

Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” What truer words of love can be spoken than from the heart of a friend who is going to spend eternity with you? Even if those words hurt, they are words that will heal.

ACTION POINT

Do you have a friend who sharpens you as iron? It will only take you a moment to send that friend an encouraging note or postcard. That’s more meaningful than a text or a post. Do it today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Children of a Singing God

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26)

Can you hear Jesus singing?

Was he a bass or a tenor? Was there a down-home twang to his voice? Or was there an unwavering crystal pitch?

Did he close his eyes and sing to his Father? Or did he look into his disciples’ eyes and smile at their deep camaraderie?

Did he usually start the song? Or did Peter or James, or maybe Matthew, do it?

Oh, I can hardly wait to hear Jesus sing! I think the planets would be jolted out of orbit if he lifted his native voice in our universe. But we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken; so, Lord, go ahead, do it! Sing!

It could not be otherwise but that Christianity be a singing faith. The founder sang. He learned to sing from his Father. Surely they have been singing together from all eternity. Don’t you think so? Would not infinite eternal happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity sing?

The Bible says the aim of our singing is “to raise sounds of joy” (1 Chronicles 15:16). No one in the universe has more joy than God. He is infinitely joyful. He has rejoiced from eternity in the panorama of his own perfections reflected perfectly in the deity of his Son.

God’s joy is unimaginably powerful. He is God. When he speaks, galaxies come into being. And when he sings for joy, more energy is released than exists in all the matter and motion of the universe.

If he appointed song for us to release our heart’s delight in him, is this not because he also knows the joy of releasing his own heart’s delight in his own image in his Son by his Spirit in song? We are a singing people because we are the children of a singing God.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Proverbs 8:22-36

    [22] “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work,

        the first of his acts of old. 

    [23] Ages ago I was set up,

        at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 

    [24] When there were no depths I was brought forth,

        when there were no springs abounding with water. 

    [25] Before the mountains had been shaped,

        before the hills, I was brought forth, 

    [26] before he had made the earth with its fields,

        or the first of the dust of the world. 

    [27] When he established the heavens, I was there;

        when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 

    [28] when he made firm the skies above,

        when he established the fountains of the deep, 

    [29] when he assigned to the sea its limit,

        so that the waters might not transgress his command,

    when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 

    [30]     then I was beside him, like a master workman,

    and I was daily his delight,

        rejoicing before him always, 

    [31] rejoicing in his inhabited world

        and delighting in the children of man.

    [32] “And now, O sons, listen to me:

        blessed are those who keep my ways. 

    [33] Hear instruction and be wise,

        and do not neglect it. 

    [34] Blessed is the one who listens to me,

        watching daily at my gates,

        waiting beside my doors. 

    [35] For whoever finds me finds life

        and obtains favor from the LORD, 

    [36] but he who fails to find me injures himself;

        all who hate me love death.”

Psalm 3:4

    [4] I cried aloud to the LORD,

        and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

Psalm 99:9

    [9] Exalt the LORD our God,

        and worship at his holy mountain;

        for the LORD our God is holy!

Psalm 2:1-6

    [1] Why do the nations rage

        and the peoples plot in vain? 

    [2] The kings of the earth set themselves,

        and the rulers take counsel together,

        against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 

    [3] “Let us burst their bonds apart

        and cast away their cords from us.”

    [4] He who sits in the heavens laughs;

        the Lord holds them in derision. 

    [5] Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

        and terrify them in his fury, saying, 

    [6] “As for me, I have set my King

        on Zion, my holy hill.”

God is Going to Move His Son Into King"s Row

BIBLE MEDITATION

“…I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion.” Psalm 2:6

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

The kingdoms of this world are being moved around like checkers, but soon God is going to move His Son into King’s Row and say, “Crown Him King of kings!”

How many times have you prayed, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven”?

Do you think God’s will is being done on Earth as it is in Heaven? Look around at the crime, rape, murder, child abuse, and blasphemy. Do you think that’s God’s will? Of course not.

Do you think Jesus Christ would have taught us to pray a prayer that will not be answered? God is going to move Jesus into King’s Row and say, “Crown Him King!”

ACTION POINT

Read Psalm 2. What does the Psalmist tell the kings of this world to do? Pray now that God will work in the hearts of world leaders.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

You Were Made for God

“For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:22)

The name of God often refers to his reputation, his fame, his renown. This is the way we use the word “name” when we say someone is making a name for himself. Or we sometimes say, that’s a “name” brand. We mean a brand with a big reputation. This is what I think Samuel means in 1 Samuel 12:22 when he says that God made Israel a people “for himself” and that he would not cast Israel off “for his great name’s sake.”

This way of thinking about God’s zeal for his name is confirmed in many other passages.

For example, in Jeremiah 13:11 God describes Israel as a waist cloth, or belt, with which God chose to highlight his glory, even though there were times when Israel was temporarily unfit. “For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.” Why was Israel chosen and made the garment of God? That it might be a “name, a praise, and a glory.”

The words “praise” and “glory” in this context tell us that “name” means “fame” or “renown” or “reputation.” God chose Israel so that the people would make a reputation for him. God says in Isaiah 43:21 that Israel is “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

And when the church came to see itself in the New Testament as the true Israel, Peter described God’s purpose for us like this: “You are a chosen race . . . that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

In other words, Israel and the church are chosen by God to make a name for him in the world. This is why we pray first and foremost, “Hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). This is why we pray, “Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake” (see Psalm 23:3).

When we speak of being a God-centered people, remember, this is because we are joining God in his God-centeredness. And on this side of the cross, that means being a Christ-dependent, Christ-exalting people. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

John Piper 

Some Have No Knowledge of God

Most have knowledge of God, but not all.

Even to those who don't know God as His followers know Him, God has given them His essence in nature.

They are aware there is a higher being that created what they see.

This brings us to the command Christ has given believers, go make disciples.

That command ties into the lack of unbelievers knowledge of God.

You can follow His command to share Christ wherever you go.

Strike up a conversation about what you see when you look into the sky.

How did the sun get there?

How is the earth held in the universe without something holding it?

What about the air we breathe?

What about your heart beat?

Your very own breath, and where it comes from.

The purpose of these conversations are to make the lost souls wonder!

Plant the seeds of Who God is.

God will do the soul touching through the Holy Spirit.

There will be the conviction-the need of a Savior, repentance, restoration, realization that Christ alone justifies, forgiveness and discipleship. 

Romans 1:18-20

[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Matthew 28:18-20

[18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

1 Corinthians 15:34

[34] Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Galatians 4:8-9

[8] Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. [9] But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?