Monday, February 29, 2016

Surely Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me



BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Goodness and mercy will pursue you all the days of your life. That’s what the word “follow” literally means in Psalm 23:6—to pursue. Jesus pursued you with His call of salvation, and He will continue to pursue you. His goodness and mercy are like two sheep dogs that follow the flock to assure that there is safe journey to the Shepherd’s final destination. How many times have you questioned God’s provision in your life and wondered if He really cared for you? Well, there's no question here. It says surely, not hopefully. Yes, you and I will stumble, but He will pick us up.

ACTION POINT:
How would you live differently today if you knew that grace and mercy were going to follow your every step? How would you treat others?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Evil Is A Spiritual Term In The Physical World

Evil definition, extreme moral wickedness, corrupt, depraved

The bible says: And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD. - 2 Chronicles 12:14



By the mere definition of evil, I would say that it most definitely correlates to sin.
Why? What is sin? Rebellion against God. So if evil is corruption or wickedness, wouldn't that be sin?
Sin drives you to corruption. 
Man had sin from his very beginning.
But where did evil and sin come from?
I think we first heard of evil and sin when Lucifer, in Heaven, wanted to be God.
God cast him out for his sin.
He continues to battle on Earth for souls.
Satan is already defeated by Christ!!!



12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 
13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 
15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.  - Isaiah 14:12-15



12 "Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 
14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 
16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. 
18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.  - Ezekiel 28:12-18



4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 
5 Who determined its measurements-surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?  - Job 38:4-7



1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"
10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."
11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"
12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  - Genesis 3:1-14



For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. - Ephesians 6:12



7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. - Revelation 20:7-10








God’s Providence


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land.” Psalm 37:34

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
We talk about providence, but what is providence? 

Providence means to see ahead of time and to make provision. This is what God does. He sees events before they ever get here and moves everything toward the goal that He has in mind. 

Now there is a lot of evil in the world, so don’t get the idea that everything that happens is God’s will. Rape is not God’s will. Murder is not God’s will. Racial hatred is not God’s will. Adultery is not God’s will. Sodomy is not God’s will. 

Man has a will and man has an evil heart. And in God’s grand design, He gave man a free will. Even when man does evil, where God does not rule, God overrules. 

ACTION POINT:
Read Psalm 37. Find a brother or sister in the Lord and discuss the presence of evil in this world and the providence of God in the lives of His children. Read Psalm 37:4. What is God calling you to do?


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Saturday, February 27, 2016

The Seed


The word, by the power of God and through the death and the raising of Christ from the dead, brings life to all who believe and are obedient to God.

There are no other ways for our justification, salvation and forgiveness!!



10 he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. - Luke 8:10-15


14 The sower sows the word.
15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,
19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold." - Mark 4:14-20


21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. - James 1:21-25

The Lord Will Sustain You



"Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.  - Job 14:1

It starts almost the day we’re born. We’re born crying, and from there it just goes on and on. We have burdens. If you don’t have burdens, the problem is you’re probably not a thinking person. But I want to tell you today what to do with your burdens.

David wrote, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” David was a king; he was wealthy. What do we learn from this? That burdens come to the high as well as to the low. They come to saints as well as sinners. They come to the old as well as the young. What do we do with our burdens? We have to cast them upon the Lord,

Do you have a broken heart?  Has one of your children ripped your heart out? Is there a husband who has forsaken you? A physical malady gnawing away at your body? Is there a problem perplexing you? The Bible says you are to cast your burden upon the Lord (Psalm 55:22). He will sustain you.


Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.  - Psalm 55:22


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Friday, February 26, 2016

The Emptiness Found In Greed


For many, money has become their God!
Their every waking moment is spent on how to "close the deal"!
Money gets them things!
But, do things really make you happy?
I'm not speaking of food, clothes, and shelter!
These are necessities!
Big difference between a want and a need, have you learned it?
When life is almost done and you are about to face God, will it be things you think of?
Will you want to go on one last shopping trip?
Will you want to close the last deal?
Will you want to drive your sporty car one more time?
The things we so often strive for simply will not matter!!!


But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah  - Psalm 49:15


17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. 
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed -and though you get praise when you do well for yourself- 
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. 
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.  - Psalm 49:17-20



10 For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. 
11 Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. 
12 Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. 
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah 
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.  - Psalm 49:10-14

What Is Success?


BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
You’ve heard it said, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” Is that success? Having your dreams come true? Getting all you want? Earning enough money so that you never have to work again? 

May I tell you what success is? And I say this without equivocation. Success is the progressive realization of the will of God for your life. That’s what it is. 

It’s not how much money you have. It’s not how famous you are. It’s not how healthy you are. It’s not how many friends you have or how many toys you have acquired. Success is nothing more, nothing less, than the progressive realization of the will of God for your life. 

ACTION POINT:
Do you want to know God’s will? Do you want your heart’s desire to come true?
Read Micah 6:8. What does God require of you? 
Read Psalm 37:4. What is God calling you to do?


LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers