Bible Study

James 4:7-8

[7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Lamentations 3:57-58

    [57] You came near when I called on you;

        you said, ‘Do not fear!’

    [58] “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;

        you have redeemed my life.

Zechariah 1:3

[3] Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 1:16-17

    [16] Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

        remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

    cease to do evil, 

    [17]     learn to do good;

    seek justice,

        correct oppression;

    bring justice to the fatherless,

        plead the widow’s cause.

Worship God in Every Season of Life

PRAY OVER THIS

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.’” John 4:21-22 

 

PONDER THIS

What is the highest good? What is the ultimate privilege? Here Jesus said it so clearly: we’re to love God.

We are to love Him thoughtfully with all our hearts. A full heart is no excuse for an empty head. Serve the Lord with knowledge and wisdom. Love Him in spirit and in truth. Then we love Him practically with all our strength—everything we do. Whatever we do in word or deed, we do to the glory of God. (See Colossians 3:17.)

What is worship? It’s giving God glory. The Bible says to serve your masters, according to the flesh, as if they were Jesus, for you serve the Lord God. (See Ephesians 6:5.) Your workplace can be your temple of devotion, your lampstand of witness, as you worship God with all your strength. That’s what Jesus was telling this woman. She said, “Do we worship here, or do we worship there?” Jesus said, “Woman, you worship in spirit and in truth.” There is no place that is not a holy place. There is no ground that is not sacred ground. There is no time that should not be a time of worship.

Where in your life is it hardest for you to worship God?

What would it look like to worship God as you work throughout your day?

PRACTICE THIS

Write down one way you can commit to worshiping God as you work in your home, at your job, or in any other place He has called you for this season.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Caused to Return

Cause us to return, O Lord, that we may return! (Lamentations 5:21, my translation)

There is no hope for God’s people unless God causes them to return from their sliding and leaping into sin and unbelief.

The book of Lamentations is the bleakest book in the Bible. God himself had decimated the apple of his eye: Jerusalem.

The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)

He has killed all who were delightful in our eyes. (Lamentations 2:4)

The Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. (Lamentations 1:5)

So how does the book end?

It ends with the only hope there is:

Cause us to return, O Lord, that we may return! (Lamentations 5:21)

That is my only hope — and your only hope!

Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31–32).

Not if you return. But when you return. I have prayed for you! You will return. And when you do, it will be my sovereign grace that brought you back from the precipice of apostasy.

Christian, this is true for you. This is your only hope of perseverance in faith. Glory in it.

Christ Jesus is the one who . . . is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)

He will cause us to return. Therefore, “to him who is able to keep you from stumbling . . . be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever” (Jude 1:24–25). Amen!

John Piper 

Bible Study

John 17:12

[12] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Colossians 1:22

[22] he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

1 Peter 4:13-14

[13] But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. [14] If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Jude 1:18-23

[18] They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” [19] It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. [20] But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, [21] keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. [22] And have mercy on those who doubt; [23] save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

How to Express Love to God

PRAY OVER THIS

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." John 4:23

 

PONDER THIS

I once had the pleasure of attending a father-daughter banquet with my daughter, Janice, and we were in the program for the evening. Janice stood up first and spoke of what her father meant to her. I could not tell you how my heart was blessed, how deeply moved I was, and how grateful I was to hear my child speak not only privately to me, but openly and publicly of her love and devotion to her father. That’s the way God’s great heart is. It gives Him pleasure when we worship. A father wants love.

Now, I’ve got some good news for you. Every Father’s Day little children wonder, “What can I get for daddy? What can we give daddy?” You could give him some slippers, or you could give him a tie, but you know what your daddy wants? Love! What can you give to God today? You say, “Well, I can’t sing like these people sing. I can’t preach like so-and-so. I can’t do this. I can’t do that.” There is nobody who can love God better than you can, and that’s what God wants more than anything else. Isn’t that great?

Have you ever felt inadequate to love and worship God? Why or why not?

How do you express your love for God?

PRACTICE THIS

Make an intentional effort today to express your love for God in a special way.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to Repent

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

A vague, bad feeling that you are a crummy person is not the same as conviction for sin. Feeling rotten is not the same as repentance.

This morning I began to pray, and felt unworthy to be talking to the Creator of the universe. It was a vague sense of unworthiness. So I told him so. Now what?

Nothing changed until I began to get specific about my sins. Crummy feelings can be useful if they lead to conviction for specific sins. But vague feelings of being a bad person are not usually very helpful.

The fog of unworthiness needs to take shape into clear dark pillars of disobedience. Then you can point to them and repent and ask for forgiveness and take aim with your gospel bazooka to blow them up.

So I began to call to mind the commands I frequently break. These are the ones that came to mind.

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Not 95%, but 100%. (Matthew 22:37)

Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Be as eager for things to go well for him as you are for things to go well for you. (Matthew 22:39)

Do all things without grumbling. No grumbling — inside or outside. (Philippians 2:14)

Cast all your anxieties on him — so you are not being weighed down by them anymore. (1 Peter 5:7)

Only say things that give grace to others — especially those closest to you. (Ephesians 4:29)

Redeem the time. Don’t fritter away the minutes, or dawdle. (Ephesians 5:16)

So much for any pretensions to great holiness! I’m undone.

This is much worse than vague, crummy feelings. Ah, but now the enemy is visible. The sins are specific. They’ve come out of hiding. I look them in the eye. I’m not whining about feeling crummy. I’m apologizing to Christ for not doing specific things that he commanded.

I’m broken, and I’m angry at my sin. I want to kill it, not me. I’m not suicidal. I’m a sin-hater and a sin-murderer. (“Put to death what is earthly in you,” Colossians 3:5; “Put to death the deeds of the body,” Romans 8:13.) I want to live. That’s why I’m a killer — of my sin!

In this conflict, I hear the promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Peace rises.

Now, prayer feels possible and right and powerful again.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Romans 3:26

[26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Psalm 143:1-2

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David.

    [1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;

        give ear to my pleas for mercy!

        In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 

    [2] Enter not into judgment with your servant,

        for no one living is righteous before you.

Proverbs 28:13

    [13] 

    Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,

        but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Psalm 51:3

    [3] For I know my transgressions,

        and my sin is ever before me.