Do Not Put Off Jesus

PRAY OVER THIS

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

Proverbs 27:1

 

PONDER THIS

There is nobody so bad he or she cannot be saved. There is no one so good he or she need not be saved. There are many, however, who are going to be lost because of their self-righteous attitudes. They never repent of their sin. They never receive Christ as their Savior. But I’m going to tell you why I believe most people hear me or any other Gospel preacher, and then go out but are still lost. It’s not because they rebel against God or disbelieve, and it’s not because they’re self-righteous. I believe most of the people who hear the Gospel message and remain unsaved are lost because of procrastination. They know that they need to be saved, and they say, “One of these days I’m going to get saved.” But they keep putting it off. Why? Well, they got by yesterday without Jesus, they got by the day before without Jesus, and the day before that, and so on. So, they assume that tomorrow will be like yesterday. This is a dangerous assumption and one no one should make.

How have you been guilty of procrastinating in your faith?

What is God calling you to do today? How will you respond?

PRACTICE THIS

Take action to respond in obedience to God in an area in which you have procrastinated.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Authentic vs. Phony Faith

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 9:28)

The question before us all is: Are we included in the “many” whose sins Christ bore? And will we be saved at his second coming?

The answer of Hebrews 9:28 is, “Yes,” if we are “eagerly waiting for him.” We can know that our sins are taken away and that we will be safe in the judgment, if we trust Christ in such a way that it makes us eager for his coming.

There is a phony faith that claims to believe in Christ, but is only a fire insurance policy. Phony faith “believes” only to escape hell. It has no real desire for Christ. In fact, it would prefer if he did not come, so that we can have as much of this world’s pleasures as possible. This shows that a heart is not with Christ, but with the world.

So, the issue for us is: Do we eagerly long for the coming of Christ? Or do we want him to stay away, while our love affair with the world runs its course? That is the question that tests the authenticity of faith.

Let us be like the Corinthians as we “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7), and like the Philippians whose “citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

That’s the issue for us. Do we love his appearing? Or do we love the world and hope that his appearing will not interrupt our plans? Eternity hangs on this question.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Romans 8:19

[19] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

Philippians 3:20

[20] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Hebrews 9:28

[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.

2 Peter 3:12-13

[12] waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! [13] But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Have You Heard God?

PRAY OVER THIS

“He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” Luke 10:16

 

PONDER THIS

No man is prepared to serve the Lord until he’s first heard the Lord. One of the marks of all true Christians is that they have heard the Lord. Notice in today’s verse, Jesus put “he who hears” in opposition to those who are false witnesses. Now, what did Jesus say in John 10? Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” The Lord doesn’t know anyone unless they’ve heard His voice. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them.” You cannot be a Christian without hearing the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you heard His voice?

Have you heard the voice of the Lord?

If yes, how so? If not, how might you seek to hear Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time to listen to the voice of the Lord today. Do this through Bible reading or listen to Him through prayer.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Strength to Wait with Patience

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy. (Colossians 1:11)

“Strengthened” is the right word. The apostle Paul prayed for the church at Colossae, that they would be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:11). Patience is the evidence of an inner strength.

Impatient people are weak, and therefore dependent on external supports — like schedules that go just right and circumstances that support their fragile hearts. Their outbursts of oaths and threats and harsh criticisms of the culprits who crossed their plans do not sound weak. But that noise is all a camouflage of weakness. Patience demands tremendous inner strength.

For the Christian, this strength comes from God. That is why Paul is praying for the Colossians. He is asking God to empower them for the patient endurance that the Christian life requires. But when he says that the strength of patience is “according to [God’s] glorious might” he doesn’t just mean that it takes divine power to make a person patient. He means that faith in this “glorious might” is the channel through which the power for patience comes.

Patience is indeed a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), but the Holy Spirit empowers (with all his fruit) through “hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5). Therefore Paul is praying that God would connect us with the “glorious might” that empowers patience. And that connection is faith.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Ephesians 3:14-19

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

[14] For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15] from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, [16] that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19] and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 4:1-7

Unity in the Body of Christ

[1] I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, [2] with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, [3] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4] There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—[5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [7] But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Matthew 5:12

[12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Romans 5:3-5

[3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Which Direction Will You Walk In?

PRAY OVER THIS

“So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, ‘Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.” 2 Samuel 11:3-4

 

PONDER THIS

There are three individuals sitting in the seat where you are right now: the person you are at this moment, the person you could be for God and for good, and the person you could be for evil. Now, many of us do not realize the propensity for evil that’s in our hearts. Many do not realize the depths, the depravity, to which they could go as children of God. You say, “Not me, preacher.” Are you better than David? David is one of the greatest men that ever lived, but David got casual about his walk with the Lord. He just assumed that God was going to keep on giving him victory. He let down his pursuit of the things of God and became idle and lazy. He was casual, then he was careless, and then he was compulsive.

What can we learn from David’s example?

How does God use accounts like David’s to keep His people from the danger of sin?

PRACTICE THIS

Reflect on any areas in which you might have let down your pursuit of the things of God. Take action today to draw nearer to the Lord, confessing anything you need to confess.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers