Friday, October 28, 2022

Deity Of Choice


There Is Only One God

All Others Are False gods



Definition of Deity- Supreme being-God-All Powerful-Exalted-Godhead


Consider these verses carefully.

Savor them for what they are, the truth they bring to those who search.

These words will bring life or death. 

These words are active cutting through to your core.

Is that core based on the belief that Christ is able?

He came here to save your soul from hell.

Bow before His throne of grace.



Exodus 3:13-14


[13] Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” [14] God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”


1 Peter 1:3-5


Born Again to a Living Hope


[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 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, [4] to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.


John 1:18


[18] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.


1 Corinthians 8:3-6


[3] But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.


[4] Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” [5] For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—[6] yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.


God on false gods

Jeremiah 10:11-16


[11] Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”


    [12] It is he who made the earth by his power,

        who established the world by his wisdom,

        and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 

    [13] When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

        and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

    He makes lightning for the rain,

        and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 

    [14] Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

        every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

    for his images are false,

        and there is no breath in them. 

    [15] They are worthless, a work of delusion;

        at the time of their punishment they shall perish. 

    [16] Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

        for he is the one who formed all things,

    and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

        the LORD of hosts is his name.



The Son Of God-The Christ

Colossians 2:9


[9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,


Colossians 1:15-20


The Preeminence of Christ


[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.


John 1:14


[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.


Colossians 2:18-19


[18] Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, [19] and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.


Colossians 2:13-14


[13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Forgive Others Because Jesus Forgave You


PRAY OVER THIS


“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32

 

PONDER THIS


Think of someone who has wronged you. If you are harboring a hurt in your heart, I want to give you a compelling reason why you ought to forgive that individual. We ought to forgive one another because God has so willingly forgiven us. We owed a debt we could never repay, and God, in the riches of His mercy, forgave us. If God has forgiven us, then we ought to forgive others.


I received a letter some time ago from a woman who was in the hospital in Memphis. She was from Rome, Georgia and she said, “I was away from home, and I needed surgery. Some young men from your church, who did not even know me, came to the hospital and donated blood on my behalf and left a note.” The note said, “We gave our blood for you because Jesus gave His blood for us.” Wasn’t that beautiful? In forgiveness, God has not called us to do anything He has not already done for us. I want to extend forgiveness to you because Jesus forgave me.


How have you been changed by someone’s forgiveness?

How has Christ’s forgiveness changed the way you forgive other people?


PRACTICE THIS


If possible and appropriate, speak to a person who has wronged you and make steps toward reconciliation.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Possible with God


“I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” (John 10:16)


God has a people in every people group in the world. He will call them through the gospel with Creator power. And they will believe! What a power is in these words for overcoming discouragement in the hard places of the frontiers!


The story of Peter Cameron Scott is a good illustration. Born in Glasgow in 1867, Scott became the founder of the Africa Inland Mission. But his beginnings in Africa were anything but auspicious.


His first trip to Africa ended in a severe attack of malaria that sent him home. He resolved to return after he recuperated. This return was especially gratifying to him because this time his brother John joined him. But before long, John was struck down by fever.


All alone, Peter buried his brother in African soil, and in the agony of those days recommitted himself to preach the gospel in Africa. Yet his health gave way again, and he had to return to England.


How would he ever pull out of the desolation and depression of those days? He had pledged himself to God. But where could he find the strength to go back to Africa? With man it was impossible!


He found strength in Westminster Abbey. David Livingstone’s tomb is still there. Scott entered quietly, found the tomb, and knelt in front of it to pray. The inscription reads:


OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD; THEM ALSO I MUST BRING.


He rose from his knees with a new hope. He returned to Africa. And today, over a hundred years later, the mission he founded is a vibrant, growing force for the gospel in Africa.


If your greatest joy is to experience the infilling grace of God overflowing from you for the good of others, then the best news in all the world is that God will do the impossible through you for the salvation of the unreached peoples.



John Piper 

Bible Study


Acts 28:28


[28] Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”


 

Ephesians 2:13-18


[13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17] And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.



Matthew 8:11-12


[11] I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, [12] while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.


Philippians 2:4-11


[4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Failing to Give God Glory


PRAY OVER THIS


“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

 

PONDER THIS


Why did God make you? To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him. If you’ve not known Him, loved Him, and served Him, you’ve been walking on God’s Earth, eating God’s food, using God’s sunshine, breathing God’s air, and not returning to God that which is His—glory.


Man’s basic problem is not that he’s a sinner because of what he has done. Man’s basic problem is what he has not done by failing to give God glory. Now, this may not seem as bad as other sins like murder or stealing, but sin isn’t always as it appears on the surface. Consider if you had to choose between a mountain of garbage and a teaspoonful of tasteless but deadly poison. One of those looks worse than the other, but the lesser of the two is more dangerous. The great sin is the sin of unbelief. It is the crowning sin, and it is proof of man’s wickedness.


How have you been guilty of taking credit for yourself instead of giving glory to God?

How does unbelief keep us from giving God glory?


PRACTICE THIS


Praise God today for all that He is doing in your life. Share your testimony of God’s faithfulness with someone you know struggles with unbelief.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Medicine for the Missionary


“All things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)


Sovereign grace is the spring of life for the Christian Hedonist. For what the Christian Hedonist loves best is the experience of the sovereign grace of God filling him, and overflowing for the good of others.


Christian Hedonist missionaries love the experience of “not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). They bask in the truth that the fruit of their missionary labor is entirely of God (1 Corinthians 3:7; Romans 11:36).


They feel only gladness when the Master says, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). They leap like lambs over the truth that God has taken the impossible weight of new creation off their shoulders and put it on his own. Without begrudging, they say, “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).


When they come home on furlough, nothing gives them more joy than to say to churches, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience” (Romans 15:18).


“All things are possible with God!” — in front the words give hope, and behind they give humility. They are the antidote to despair and the antidote to pride — the perfect missionary medicine.


John Piper 

Bible Study


Ezekiel 37:1-14


The Valley of Dry Bones


[1] The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. [2] And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. [3] And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” [4] Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. [5] Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. [6] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”


[7] So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. [8] And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. [9] Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” [10] So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.


[11] Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ [12] Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. [13] And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. [14] And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”


Revelation 11:11-12


[11] But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. [12] Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.


Genesis 2:7


[7] then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.


Job 33:4


    [4] The Spirit of God has made me,

        and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.