Spiritually Satisfied

 

James 4:8

 

I have a friend who, at one point, was a self-confessed shopping addict. Recently, his family realized that this activity had stopped, though he hadn't intentionally curtailed it. Why, they wondered, did his longing to acquire more goods seem to dissolve?

 

The reason was that my friend had become more satisfied with the Lord. He no longer needed fulfillment from what the world had to offer. What a terrific illustration of growth in Christ.

 

In addition to finding fulfillment in God, there are many other growth indicators that are noticeable to the believer. For instance, offering forgiveness becomes easier over time. Consider our Savior, who asked God to forgive even those who crucified Him on the cross.

 

Also, as we mature, our faith will increase. God loves us, and He gracefully and gently builds our confidence in Him. Then, as our trust grows, we realize how faithful He truly is--which grows our assurance even more.

 

Another mark of a closer walk with Christ is an expanding concern for others' spiritual condition. And finally, as our relationship with the Lord deepens, we will increasingly desire to obey Him. This desire is born not out of fear but out of love for our heavenly Father. Similarly, when we do sin, our hearts will become saddened and repentant.

 

Are you satisfied spiritually? Or do you have a growing, insatiable hunger for more of Jesus? Friend, if you think that you've come far enough in your journey with Christ, you have made a terrible mistake. You are missing great fulfillment and the excitement that comes from getting closer to Him.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

War In Your Heart # 59

Christ Our Provision (continued)

In Christ - The Redemption of the Race (continued)

"That we Might Become the Righteousness of God in Him"

The One without the slightest taint of sin became what the one was without a speck of righteousness. What we are He became, that what He is we might become. The sinless One was made sin that the sinful one might become righteousness. We are His sin: He is our righteousness.

"In Him" we stand in the presence of God so perfectly freed from the guilt and the penalty of sin, it is as though we had never sinned. But oh! it is infinitely more than that! "In Him" we stand so perfectly in the righteousness of God that it is as though we had always possessed that righteousness.

The moment we believe this truth and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord we are made free from sin, for in Him we have the provision for deliverance from the penalty of sin in the past; the power of sin in the present; and the presence of sin in the future. For the believer in Christ the reign of sin is ended.

Death-Life

Through Adam's sin that snapped asunder the link that bound the creature to the Creator, the death penalty came upon the human race. The capital punishment for sin is death. Humanity was brought under the dominion of death with no power whatever within itself of deliverance. Man was the inescapable victim of death. Death reigned.

The sinner is wholly alive to sin and dead to God. Within him there is all response to sin and no response to God. In his whole being he is living contrary to the will of God, to the Word of God and to the way of God. Indeed he is living in opposition to God. He is in the death chamber, for the death penalty rests upon him (Romans 6:23).

Is there no reprieve? No way of escape? No release from the dominion of death? Yes, but only one way, through God's second Man, the Representative Man, taking the sinner's place in death and taking upon Himself the death penalty (Romans 5:8).

He who was the Creator of all life (John 1:3, 4), the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15), Life itself (John 11:25), died. Here again we have one of God's facts absolutely beyond human comprehension, a fact grasped only by the Spirit's revelation. But nevertheless it is a fact that He in whom is all life died. Why did He die?

2 Corinthians 5:14, 15: One died for all ... he died for all.

Hebrews 2:9: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory, and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

God's second Man, the Representative man, took the sinner's place in death. He died the sinner's death, and thereby paid sin its wages in full and nullified its every claim. In fact, when the God-Man laid down His life in death upon the Cross, He abolished death and wrested from it its right of dominion over humanity. Christ's death paid the death penalty of sin (2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Corinthians 15:54).

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 60)

Our Only Hope

For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Romans 8:24-25

Have you ever talked with someone who seemed to have no hope? They were beaten up, beaten down and hopeless. My heart breaks for those who have no hope in the future and have no idea how to take a step towards it. Maybe some of us know people who fit this description; maybe some of us have these same feelings ourselves. To a certain extent I think most people have times in life when it appears that all hope is lost. A sudden tragedy, a chronic illness, or just life in general can bring feelings of hopelessness.

But what is hope? To hope for something is to have an expectation and anticipation of getting it. In a way, hope is like faith because we cannot see hope; therefore, we must believe in what we cannot see. This is easier said than done, especially when we cannot see the sky for the clouds. What can we do in times like these? Our only “hope” is to turn to God’s Word and ask Him for help. Romans 8:25 is a good verse to pray back to the Lord in asking Him to help us with our hope. A sample prayer might be:

Dear Lord, I am struggling with hopelessness and I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. I need Your word to give me hope and I need Your presence to lift me up today. Your word says I am to hope for what I do not see. I do not see (__________) but I pray for the perseverance to eagerly wait for it. Help me to believe in the hope that only You can give so that I may see Your hand upon my life today. Thank You for saving me. Thank You for giving me hope. In Jesus name, Amen.

Try writing your own personal prayer today. Ask the Lord to help you find hope in Him. Explore other verses that speak to your heart and pray them back to God. He is listening and ready to help.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

War In Your Heart # 58

Christ Our Provision (continued)

In Christ - The Redemption of the Race (continued)

As a result of their extravagantly purchased knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve discovered they were "naked," which word may be taken as God's accurate description of their moral and spiritual state. They acknowledged their nakedness, which had produced in them a sense of fear and shame, which led them to hide from God's presence. They knew they had forfeited their their credentials to access and fellowship with God. In themselves they no longer had any right to any relationship with the God whom they had repudiated.

But instead of seeking God and confessing their sin, they tried to robe themselves with a garment of their own making (Genesis 3:7).

However. their homespun aprons of fig leaves were not only utterly inadequate but wholly unacceptable to God. Before the righteousness and holiness of an infinitely righteous and holy God they withered into nothingness. If Adam and Eve were to be saved from their sin and the way of access to God opened, it must be by the covering of their nakedness with a garment of God's own making; even with a divinely prepared robe of righteousness (Genesis 3:21).

Here is the very beginning of human history we have God's flannelgraph of the Cross: His vivid picture of the robe of righteousness provided for the guilty, condemned, judged sinner; even Jesus Christ Himself, who is the very righteousness of God. The prophecy promise of the bruising of the heel of the woman's Seed in Genesis 3:15 is illustrated in the death of the animals, that their coats of skins might be provided as clothing for those first two sinners. The utter futility of man's homemade robe of self-righteousness and the absolute necessity of the God-made robe of Christ's righteousness is unmistakably stated in the two following verse (Isaiah 64:6).

Nothing could be clearer than that no sinner can ever stand unashamed and unafraid in the presence of God except he stand there clothed in the very righteousness of Christ Himself. But how could that ever be? There was but one way. Christ must become the sinner's righteousness. But how? Again there is but one way. He must first become the sinner's sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).

"Him," the absolutely sinless One. Paul, Peter, John all declare Him to be the One altogether without sin. "Who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21); "Who did not sin" (1 Peter 2:22); "in him is no sin" (1 John 3:5); "he made to be sin." Let us not try to pare these words down to the measure of our comprehension, for they are utterly beyond finite comprehension. So let us accept these words by the sheer simplicity of faith as God's fact. But what necessitated such an act on God's part? "On our behalf." God was doing something purely on behalf of the sinner when he made the altogether sinless One become what the altogether sinful one was. As the second Man, the Representative Man, Christ was made sine judicially on behalf of the sinner in Adam. How faithfully the Holy Spirit states this irrefutable fact yet, and at the same time how carefully He guards it!


~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 59)

Devotions from Adrian Rogers

Carrying Our Own Burdens

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” Psalm 55:22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
A man was carrying a heavy load of grain down a country road. Another man in a wagon being pulled by a horse saw the man walking and said to him, “Mister, you need a ride?” And so the man got in the wagon. But he kept the load of grain on his shoulder. The wagon driver said, “Man, put that down and relax!” The rider said, “Oh no. It’s enough for you to carry me without having you carry this too.”

Have you ever done that to the Lord? You say, “Lord, I’ll let You save me, but I’ll carry my own burdens.” How foolish we are to do this with the God who hung the stars and planets.

ACTION POINT:
If you can trust God to save you from hell, don’t you think you can cast your burden upon the Lord right now? 

-------------------------------------------------------------

When It Comes to the Devil…How to Think

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are two mistakes people make about the devil. One, they get into demonology—always studying, wondering, and talking about demons. Their focus rests on Satan rather than on the Lord Jesus. The Bible says we’re to resist the devil; it doesn’t say we’re to chase him.

On the other hand, there are those who are flippant about the devil. They have nicknames for him and think he’s a cartoon or fantasy.

The truth is, we have a powerful adversary, the devil. Peter likens him to a roaring lion! A mature Christian recognizes that he has an enemy. He respects the power of the enemy. Then he clings to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to overcome this great adversary.

ACTION POINT:
Is the lion prowling around your life? Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and break free from his jaws of destruction. 

~Adrian Rogers~

War In Your Heart # 57

Christ Our Provision (continued)

In Adam - the Ruin of the Race (continued)

satan's five "I wills" are outmatched by God's one "I will." "The battle is joined" and God has done it. The warfare between the Lord God and satan is now out in the open and will be fought to a finish. However battles may be lost or won by either side in the agelong conflict, certain victory is pledged to the Seed of the woman, and the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 clearly forecasts through whom the victory will come; also where and how it will come, as we compare Scripture with Scripture. Genesis 3:15 was both a prophecy and a promise which predicated two comings; the coming of a Saviour and the coming of a Sovereign.

In Christ - The Redemption of the Race

Victory was promised through the Seed of the woman. A Child will be born. But the Child would be unlike any other child ever born or to be born, for this Child born would be the Son that was given. The Babe of Bethlehem would be the Son of the Highest (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:30-33).

In Adam, God's first man, the human race had gone down into utter ruin and defeat. But God had pledged redemption and victory through a second Man. As the race had been ruined through the first man's sin, it would be redeemed through the second Man's sacrifice. As though the first Adam's disobedience all were made sinners; so through the last Adam's obedience all might be made righteous. The union of the race with God broken by the first man's death would be bridged through the second Man's death.

Through incarnation God gave humanity a second Man, a last Adam to supersede the first, Adam. The eternal Son became the incarnate Son. In Christ Jesus God gave mankind a Saviour (Luke 2:11).

Christ - The Representative Man

God's second Man was not a man, but a Representative Man, who had the right and power to stand for all men in recreation as Adam had stood for all men in creation. As the first Adam stood for the old race which was latent in him, so would the last Adam stand for the new race contained in Him. As Adam's one disobedience brought sinnerhood and death to all in him, where there was no personal sin, so Christ's one obedience brought salvation and life to all in Him, where there was no personal righteousness.

Sin - Righteousness

In God's sight the sinner is nothing but sin. There is "no good" in him (Romans 7:18). He is utterly devoid of righteousness. However righteous the sinner may seem in his own estimation or even in that of others, in the sight of God he does not possess one shred of righteousness which is acceptable to God (Romans 3:9, 10, 12; Romans 3:23).

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 58)

Developing Grace

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out! (Song of Solomon 4:16).

Look at the meaning of this prayer a moment. Its root is found in the fact that, as delicious odors may lie latent in a spice tree, so graces may lie unexercised and undeveloped in a Christian's heart. There is many a plant of profession; but from the ground there breathes forth no fragrance of holy affections or of godly deeds. The same winds blow on the thistle bush and on the spice tree, but it is only one of them which gives out rich odors.

Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung to and fro; just as the juniper plant smells sweetest when flung into the flames; so the richest qualities of a Christian often come out under the north wind of suffering and adversity. Bruised hearts often emit the fragrance that God loveth to smell.

I had a tiny box, a precious box
Of human love--my spikenard of great price;
I kept it close within my heart of hearts,
And scarce would lift the lid lest it should waste
Its perfume on the air. One day a strange
Deep sorrow came with crushing weight, and fell
Upon my costly treasure, sweet and rare,
And broke the box to atoms. All my heart
Rose in dismay and sorrow at this waste,
But as I mourned, behold a miracle
Of grace Divine. My human love was changed
To Heaven's own, and poured in healing streams
On other broken hearts, while soft and clear
A voice above me whispered, "Child of Mine,
With comfort wherewith thou art comforted,
From this time forth, go comfort others,
And thou shalt know blest fellowship with Me,
Whose broken heart of love hath healed the world."

`L. B. Cowman~