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Are You Going On?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

On this New Year’s Eve, you may be wondering what the future holds. What’s going to happen?

Years ago, some men were on a leaky ship in the middle of a rough sea. One of them asked the captain, “Are we safe?” He said, “Well, the boilers are weak and may explode at any moment. The ship is taking on water. To be honest with you, we may go up, or we may go down. But at any rate, we’re going on.”

That’s the way we face this new year. Jesus may come; we may go up. We may die; we’ll go down and then up. But at any rate, we’re going on. Whatever the new year holds, as a child of God, we march on. For when He comes, we want to be found faithful. May it be said of us, as it was of Daniel, “…forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him” Daniel 6:4. And to the early church, Paul said, “Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2).

ACTION POINT:

Reflecting on this past year, allow the Holy Spirit to invade your heart, convicting and drawing you to Himself. Ask for wisdom, courage, and faith to continue on, whatever happens this next year!

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How Long is Eternity?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Your soul, made in the image of God, will exist forever. Evangelist Billy Sunday explained it this way:

“Imagine a little bird taking a grain of sand and flying to a distant planet. It would take him a million years to fly to that distant planet. Then he would drop that grain of sand. Then the bird would fly back to earth, taking another million years. He gets another grain of sand and flies back to the distant planet.

“Back and forth, back and forth he goes. When he will have transplanted every speck of sand on earth to that distant planet, it will only be breakfast time in eternity.”

Your soul will go on, and on, and on.

ACTION POINT:

Where do you plan on spending eternity? Where do your loved ones think they will spend it? Are you depending on “living a good life” to get you to Heaven? Are they? If you don’t know, ask them today. Make sure their salvation is on the right side of eternity.

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Never Knowing the Difference

BIBLE MEDITATION: “Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: When a person dies, his spirit departs. And I’m afraid that’s what has happened to many churches: the Holy Spirit has departed. The organism has become an organization and the movement has become a monument. Dr. Carl Bates said years ago something that shook me to my foundation: “If the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die [now, of course, you know that's impossible. He cannot die] but “if the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die, most of our churches would meet next Sunday and go right on and never know the difference.” I wonder if that’s not true about many churches. The Holy Spirit has not died, but He has departed. I've been in some churches where you’d think that Hallelujahs and Amens cost $100 apiece. You just can't find them. There’s a sort of barren stillness. But I believe there's something contagious about the Holy Spirit of God. ACTION POINT: The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. I don't think we have to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism, but I believe we ought to have a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Cursed

BIBLE MEDITATION: “And unto Adam He said…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” Genesis 3:17 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: The crown of thorns Jesus wore—what does it speak of? It symbolizes the curse upon humanity, on you, on me, on us all, because of sin. When God created mankind and put him in the Garden of Eden, there were no thorns. A curse came upon Adam and Eve because they sinned and disobeyed God. The thorn, the thistle, are the result of the curse of sin upon humanity. Jesus wore a crown of thorns because He bore that curse…the hardship, sorrow, and death that come with sin. Are you having heartaches? Are you having sorrow? Do you know sickness? The thorny pathway we walk is because of sin. The bed of briars we sleep on is because of sin. ACTION POINT: Who is taking care of your sin today? Who is paying the price for it? Is it under the blood? Are you trusting Christ alone for that?

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How to Stay the Course and Finish Well

BIBLE MEDITATION: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: Do you know the way to finish the course? Keep looking to Jesus. I’ve been preaching the Gospel for over 50 years, and God knows I have my faults and sins. He also knows I have repented and aim to get right with Him each and every day. I am far from perfect, but I can say that this same God has kept me on course. He has kept me preaching the Gospel. Finishing the course that God has planned for us is never easy. It takes discipline and hard work. It takes picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off, and starting over. One of these days you are going to have to look back on your life. And I hope you will be able to say that you fought as a warrior and finished as an athlete. ACTION POINT: “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a). Keep short accounts with God. Confess quickly. Get back on the track.

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Believing In the Living God

BIBLE MEDITATION: “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son.” 1 John 5:9 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: I’ve been asked, “Pastor Rogers, do you expect me to believe in Jesus Christ just because your book says that He lived? That’s not enough for me.” I agree. You need something else. If you want to know who Jesus Christ is, ask the Holy Spirit. God says, “If you want to believe, I will help you to understand and to know that these things are true.” Don’t tell me that you cannot believe. You may refuse to believe, but I will tell you this. If you want to believe in Jesus Christ and if you seek Truth, God the Holy Spirit will speak to you and confirm to you that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Read Deuteronomy 4:29 — “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” ACTION POINT: Do you want to know the living God? He is there if you seek Him with all your heart.

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Running From God

BIBLE MEDITATION: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." Psalm 51:10-12 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: The most miserable man on Earth is not an unsaved man but a saved man out of fellowship with God. That is absolutely true. If a person is truly a child of God and is out of fellowship with Him, I can tell you he's carrying a big burden. Now, if he's not saved, he's not carrying any burden at all. But if he is truly saved and out of fellowship with God, that's a different story completely. When David got out of fellowship with God, he said to the Lord, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." He didn't say, "Lord, restore unto me Thy salvation," but "restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." He was miserable running from God. ACTION POINT: Are you running from God? Or perhaps you know someone who is. Pray that they will be restored. Today's passage is a good one to pray for them, inserting their name into the verse, asking God to restore and renew.  —lwf.org

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The Danger of Drifting

BIBLE MEDITATION: "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." Hebrews 2:1 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: Life is like an ocean...a trackless ocean with winds, currents and waves. We'll meet ships we never knew were on that ocean and we'll have all kinds of opportunities, heartaches, tears and fears as we sail into a new year on an uncharted sea. Scholars tell us Hebrews 2:1 refers to the sea--the writer is using a nautical term. He must have spent time at sea, because the phrase "giving more earnest heed" and the word "slip" refer to bringing a ship into the harbor, a difficult and sometimes dangerous task. A ship never just drifts into the harbor. The most skillful part of being a sea pilot is bringing the ship into the harbor. "Let them slip" literally means drift away. You have to be careful when you enter the harbor that you don't end up on the rocks or drift past the harbor. The worst thing that could happen to us this year is that we just drift through it--live an aimless life--letting this year "happen" to us rather than charting a course and getting into God's appointed harbor. The winds of worldliness, the tides of circumstance, and the currents of the old nature are determined to cause you to drift. ACTION POINT: You will drift unless you decide not to drift. You must have an anchor. You need a fixed direction. It's important, because drifting is one of the easiest things in the world to do.

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