Monday, July 1, 2024

God’s Pleasure to Do You Good


“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)


Jesus will not sit by and let us disbelieve without a fight. He takes up the weapon of the word and speaks it with power for all who struggle to believe.


His aim is to defeat the fear that God is not the kind of God who really wants to be good to us — that he is not really generous and helpful and kind and tender, but is basically irked with us — ill-disposed and angry.


Sometimes, even if we believe in our heads that God is good to us, we may feel in our hearts that his goodness is somehow forced or constrained, perhaps like a judge who has been maneuvered by a clever attorney into a corner on some technicality of court proceeding, so he has to dismiss the charges against the prisoner whom he really would rather send to jail.


But Jesus is at pains to help us not feel that way about God. He is striving in Luke 12:32 to describe for us the indescribable worth and excellency of God’s soul by showing the unbridled pleasure he takes in giving us the kingdom.


“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Every little word of this stunning sentence is intended to help take away the fear that Jesus knows we struggle with; namely, that God begrudges his benefits; that he is constrained and out of character when he does nice things; that at bottom he is angry and loves to vent his anger.


Luke 12:32 is a sentence about the nature of God. It’s about the kind of heart God has. It’s a verse about what makes God glad — not merely about what God will do or what he has to do, but what he delights to do, what he loves to do and takes pleasure in doing. Every word counts. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”



John Piper 

July 1


Luke 7:11-17


Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son


[11] Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. [12] As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. [13] And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” [14] Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” [15] And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. [16] Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” [17] And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.


Colossians 1:1-14


Greeting


[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,


[2] To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: 


Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 


Thanksgiving and Prayer


[3] We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, [4] since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, [5] because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, [6] which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, [7] just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf [8] and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.


[9] And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, [10] so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; [11] being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; [12] giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. [13] He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


Psalm 123


Our Eyes Look to the LORD Our God


A Song of Ascents.


    [1] To you I lift up my eyes,

        O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 

    [2] Behold, as the eyes of servants

        look to the hand of their master,

    as the eyes of a maidservant

        to the hand of her mistress,

    so our eyes look to the LORD our God,

        till he has mercy upon us.


    [3] Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,

        for we have had more than enough of contempt. 

    [4] Our soul has had more than enough

        of the scorn of those who are at ease,

        of the contempt of the proud.


Psalm 124


Our Help Is in the Name of the LORD


A Song of Ascents. Of David.


    [1] If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—

        let Israel now say—

    [2] if it had not been the LORD who was on our side

        when people rose up against us, 

    [3] then they would have swallowed us up alive,

        when their anger was kindled against us; 

    [4] then the flood would have swept us away,

        the torrent would have gone over us; 

    [5] then over us would have gone

        the raging waters.


    [6] Blessed be the LORD,

        who has not given us

        as prey to their teeth! 

    [7] We have escaped like a bird

        from the snare of the fowlers;

    the snare is broken,

        and we have escaped!


    [8] Our help is in the name of the LORD,

        who made heaven and earth.



1 Chronicles 1


From Adam to Abraham


[1]  Adam, Seth, Enosh; [2] Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; [3] Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; [4] Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.


[5] The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. [6] The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. [7] The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.


[8] The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. [9] The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. [10] Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.


[11] Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, [12] Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.


[13] Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, [14] and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, [15] the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, [16] the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.


[17] The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. [18] Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. [19] To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (for in his days the earth was divided), and his brother’s name was Joktan. [20] Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, [21] Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, [22] Obal, Abimael, Sheba, [23] Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.


[24] Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah; [25] Eber, Peleg, Reu; [26] Serug, Nahor, Terah; [27] Abram, that is, Abraham.


From Abraham to Jacob


[28] The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. [29] These are their genealogies: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, [30] Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, [31] Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. [32] The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. [33] The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the descendants of Keturah.


[34] Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. [35] The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. [36] The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and of Timna, Amalek. [37] The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.


[38] The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. [39] The sons of Lotan: Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. [40] The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. [41] The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. [42] The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.


[43] These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah. [44] Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. [45] Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. [46] Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. [47] Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. [48] Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. [49] Shaul died, and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place. [50] Baal-hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pai; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. [51] And Hadad died. 


The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,  [52] Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, [53] Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, [54] Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom.


1 Chronicles 2


A Genealogy of David


[1] These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, [2] Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. [3] The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death. [4] His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.


[5] The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. [6] The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all. [7] The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing; [8] and Ethan’s son was Azariah.


[9] The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. [10] Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah. [11] Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, [12] Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse. [13] Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, [14] Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, [15] Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. [16] And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. [17] Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.


[18] Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. [19] When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. [20] Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.


[21] Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub. [22] And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. [23] But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead. [24] After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.


[25] The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. [26] Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. [27] The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. [28] The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. [29] The name of Abishur’s wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. [30] The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless. [31] The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai. [32] The sons of Jada, Shammai’s brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless. [33] The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. [34] Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. [35] So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai. [36] Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad. [37] Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed. [38] Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. [39] Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. [40] Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. [41] Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.


[42] The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son of Mareshah: Hebron. [43] The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. [44] Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai. [45] The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur. [46] Ephah also, Caleb’s concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez.

[47] The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. [48] Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. [49] She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. [50] These were the descendants of Caleb. 


The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,  [51] Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. [52] Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. [53] And the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. [54] The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. [55] The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

God Keeps His Promises



PRAY OVER THIS

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Matthew 13:44
 
PONDER THIS

For a long time, Israel had been like a treasure buried in the field. The people had suffered unspeakable atrocities and persecution under Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and even some who called themselves Christians. But I want to tell you that Jewish people are important to God. You could no more destroy the Jews than you could remove God from His throne.

God will keep His word to Israel. Jesus is going to come back for His peculiar treasure. There was a treasure chosen, a treasure covered, and a treasure hidden. But He’s coming back for His treasure one day. God kept His word to Abraham, He will keep His word to us, and He will keep His word to His chosen people of Israel.

Why is it important to be reminded of those who are different than us that are important to God?
What are some ways God has seen you through hard times? How has that impacted your relationship with Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray for the Jewish people to come to know the Messiah—Jesus.

 
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Heaven’s Relief in the Coming Wrath



God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted . . . when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (2 Thessalonians 1:6–8)

There will come a time when the patience of God is over. When God has seen his people suffer for the allotted time, and the appointed number of martyrs is complete (Revelation 6:11), then a just and holy vengeance will come from heaven.

Notice that God’s vengeance on those who have afflicted his people is experienced by us as “relief.” “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted.” In other words, the judgment on “those who afflict” us is a form of grace toward us.

Perhaps the most remarkable picture of judgment as grace is the picture of Babylon’s destruction in Revelation 18. At her destruction, a great voice from heaven cries, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” (Revelation 18:20). Then a great multitude is heard saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants” (Revelation 19:1–2).

When God’s patience has run its long-suffering course, and this age is over, and judgment comes on the enemies of God’s people, the saints will not disapprove of God’s justice.

This means that the final destruction of the unrepentant will not be experienced as a misery for God’s people.

The unwillingness of others to repent will not hold the affections of the saints hostage. Hell will not be able to blackmail heaven into misery. God’s judgment will be approved, and the saints will experience the vindication of truth as a great grace.

John Piper

Bible Study


Isaiah 66:15-16


    [15] “For behold, the LORD will come in fire,

        and his chariots like the whirlwind,

    to render his anger in fury,

        and his rebuke with flames of fire. 

    [16] For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment,

        and by his sword, with all flesh;

        and those slain by the LORD shall be many.


2 Peter 3:4-7


[4] They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” [5] For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, [6] and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. [7] But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.


Romans 2:6-13


[6] He will render to each one according to his works: [7] to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; [8] but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. [9] There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, [10] but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. [11] For God shows no partiality.


God’s Judgment and the Law


[12] For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. [13] For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.


Matthew 25:41-46


[41] “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [42] For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, [43] I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ [44] Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ [45] Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ [46] And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Saturday, June 29, 2024

God Is Always Right on Time





PRAY OVER THIS


“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

1 Peter 1:18-19

 

PONDER THIS


When Jesus spoke in parables, He did so not only to reveal but also to conceal. He knew when to share and when to guard. His timing was intentional. Jesus knew the time to reveal the treasure He had. He timed it all perfectly. He revealed the treasure, covered it back up again, and went to redeem that treasure. He’s the One who paid the price to buy the field of Matthew 13:44.


Jesus purchased the field with His own blood. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). He is the One who covered that treasure. He’s the One who’s coming to reveal the treasure, to redeem the treasure, and to reclaim the treasure. What does that mean for us? Everything’s on schedule; God’s timing is not off. He knows exactly what He is doing.


When has it been hard for you to trust God’s timing? Where are you waiting on God right now?

How does God’s intentional timing encourage you?


PRACTICE THIS


Share with a friend something you have struggled with regarding God’s timing.



LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Powerful Root of Practical Love


We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. (1 John 3:14)


So, love is the evidence that we are born again — that we are Christians, that we are saved.


Sometimes the Bible makes our holiness and our love for people the condition of our final salvation. In other words, if we are not holy and not loving, we will not be saved at the judgment day (e.g., Hebrews 12:14; Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:10). This doesn’t mean that acts of love are how we get right with God. No, the Bible is clear again and again as Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast.” No, when the Bible says that we are saved by faith but that we must love people in order to finally be saved, it means that faith in God’s promises must be so real that the love it produces proves the reality of the faith.


So, love for others is a condition of future grace in the sense that it confirms that the primary condition, faith, is genuine. We could call love for others a secondary condition, which confirms the authenticity of the primary and essential condition of faith which alone unites us to Christ, and receives his power.


Faith perceives the glory of God in the promises of future grace and embraces all that the promises reveal of what God is for us in Jesus. That spiritual sight of God’s glory, and our delight in it, is the self-authenticating evidence that God has called us to be a beneficiary of his grace. This evidence frees us to bank on God’s promise as our own. And this banking on the promise empowers us to love. Which in turn confirms that our faith is real.


The world is desperate for a faith that combines two things: awestruck sight of unshakable divine Truth, and utterly practical, round-the-clock power to make a liberating difference in life. That’s what I want too. Which is why I am a Christian.


There is a great God of grace who magnifies his own infinite beauty and self-sufficiency by fulfilling promises to helpless people who trust him. And there is a power that comes from prizing this God that leaves no nook or cranny of life untouched. It empowers us to love in the most practical ways.


John Piper