Your GPS - a mountaintop or a valley?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Psalm 46:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know that it is an impossibility of geography to have a valley without a mountain? They are beautiful complements in God’s grand creation.

The valley is the place of vision. It is the place of repose and reflection. 

The mountain is the place of discovery and a place to become strong.

If you find yourself in a valley, it is because you have come down from a mountain. If you’re on a mountain, you came to that place by way of the valley.

ACTION POINT:

Are you in the valley or on the mountaintop? Read Psalm 46 about the strength of the Lord. Rest and rejoice in His strength, wherever God has you right now.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Not Nearly Hedonistic Enough

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19–20)

The message that needs to be shouted from the houses of high finance is this: Secular man, you are not nearly hedonistic enough!

Quit being satisfied with the little 2% yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rust of death. Invest in the blue-chip, high-yield, divinely insured securities of heaven.

Devoting a life to material comforts and security and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole. But investing a life in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending:

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. [And thus] provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail” (Luke 12:33).

This message is very good news: Come to Christ, in whose presence are fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. Join us in the labor of Christian Hedonism. For the Lord has spoken: It is more blessed to love than to live in luxury! More blessed now, and forever.

John Piper 

Are you pulling up your radishes by the roots?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. . . Luke 6:38

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When God created the herbs of the field, He said, “Let them bring forth after their kind” (Genesis 1:12).

Whatever we sow, we’re going to reap. If you sow to the flesh, then you’re going to reap what you sow. On the other hand, if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap good things. You can’t even give a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple and lose your reward.

Every seed you plant for Jesus is going to sprout. Whatever it is you want, plant it, sow it, give it, “and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.”

Too many of you are just going around pulling up your radishes by the roots, trying to see how they grow, then jamming them back in the ground again, and you don’t give God enough time to bring the crop in. Give Him time. It’s going to come in.

ACTION POINT:

Would you like to have better relationships? Then start sowing seeds of encouragement and good deeds.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Unspeakable Privilege

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14)

One implication of the magnificent name, I AM WHO I AM, is that this infinite, absolute, self-determining God has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ.

In John 8:56–58 Jesus is answering the criticism of the Jewish leaders. He says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Could Jesus have taken any more exalted words upon his lips? When Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” he took up all the majestic truth of the name of God, wrapped it in the humility of servant hood, offered himself to atone for all our rebellion, and made a way for us to see the glory of this infinite, absolute, all-sufficient God — without fear.

In Jesus Christ we who are born of God have the unspeakable privilege of knowing Yahweh as our Father — I AM WHO I AM — the God

who exists

whose personality and power is owing solely to himself

who never changes

from whom all power and energy in the universe flows

and to whom all creation should conform its life.

May those who know the name of God put their trust in him (Psalm 9:10).

John Piper

He’s got you covered!

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Colossians 1:17 KJV

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

We sing about the Lord having the whole world in His hands. But do you know what’s more remarkable than that? He has the whole universe in His hands.

He’s the One who spoke it into existence. He’s the One who keeps it going. He’s the One who is going to fold it up like a garment and tuck it away in a drawer somewhere. He regulates it; He rules it and He runs it. By Him all things consist.

When you pick up the newspaper and read something alarming, you don’t need to panic. Instead, remember Who has it under His control. He who flung the stars in space has the whole universe in His hands!

ACTION POINT:

Take the hand of a child today and look at the stars twinkling in the night sky or a flower beginning to bloom. Then share with them about the awesome Creator and Sustainer of all.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Only True Freedom

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32)

What is true freedom? Are you free?

Here are four things that need to be true if we are going to be fully free.

If you don’t have the desire to do a thing, you are not fully free to do it. Oh, you may muster the willpower to do what you don’t want to do, but nobody calls that full freedom. It’s not the way we want to live. There is a constraint and pressure on us that we don’t want.

And if you have the desire to do something, but no ability to do it, you are not free to do it.

And if you have the desire and the ability to do something, but no opportunity to do it, you are not free to do it.

And if you have the desire to do something, and the ability to do it, and the opportunity to do it, but it destroys you in the end, you are not fully free — not free indeed — when you do it.

To be fully free, we must have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will make us happy forever. No regrets. And only Jesus, the Son of God who died and rose for us, can make that possible.

If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36).

John Piper 

Was that the Holy Spirit or Satan I heard?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

You will be a miserable Christian if you don’t learn the difference between Holy Spirit conviction and satanic accusation. The devil is the accuser of the brethren. He's always pointing his finger at us before God. Not only that, he will accuse you at the judgment bar of your own conscience.

Have you ever felt kind of guilty overall, but didn't know why? You just felt like you needed to come to God and confess something, but you weren’t sure what. The devil may accuse you of a specific sin you’ve already been forgiven for! But he’s fighting a losing battle. If you put your sin under the blood of Jesus Christ and it comes up again, it’s not God bringing it up.

When the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, He won’t make you sort of “feel bad all over.” He’ll put His finger right on the sore spot and push, saying, “You told a lie,” or “You exaggerated the truth,” or “You were selfish,” “You were filled with pride,” “You disobeyed Me,” or “You've been missing your quiet time.”

He will convict you specifically and legitimately.

ACTION POINT:

Are you under conviction or accusation today about an unconfessed sin? Read Revelation 12:9-11. Claim the powerful blood of Jesus to cover your sin. Repent and believe!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers