Our Devotionals come from Love Worth Finding, the ministry founded by Adrian Rogers who has since graduated to Glory. These are so relevant even today!

Do You Feel Forsaken? Love Worth Finding June 25, 2022 Today's Daily Devotional PRAY OVER THIS “All my close friends abhor me, and those whom I love have turned against me.” (Job 19:19) PONDER THIS Can you trust God when others forsake you? Maybe you’re going through that right now. Has your husband forsaken you? Have your children abandoned you? Has a trusted friend or a business associate turned on you? The devil says, “Yes, let that happen to them. God, they’ll curse You to Your face.” But that wasn’t true for Job. Perhaps you’re a preacher and your church has turned on you. Perhaps the pulpit committee that called you to the church now wants you to leave, and the reason is you’re just preaching the Gospel. Don’t think that if you preach the Gospel the world’s going to love you. The same world that hated Jesus is going to hate you. You can get in trouble for preaching the Gospel. Sometimes your closest associates, the people you take counsel with, even in the house of God, will turn against you. You’d better trust God when friends forsake you. When was a time you felt forsaken by friends? How is God your ever-present friend, even in the darkest moments? PRACTICE THIS Write a list of ways God is a faithful friend and worthy of trust in every season.

When God Sends You Into a Storm…
Love Worth Finding June 24, 2022
Today's Daily Devotional

PRAY OVER THIS “Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.” (John 6:16-17)

PONDER THIS It is a shallow theology that says if we’re in the will of God, we’re always going to sail smoothly on the sea of life. We’ll have no sickness, no sorrow, no disappointment, and know no separation. There’ll be no death in our families. There’ll be no problems. This is the gospel of cash, Cadillacs, and tranquility, often known as the prosperity gospel. Friend, there’s a Greek word for that and it’s baloney. We are going to have difficulty. And the first thing you can say when difficulty comes is that God’s providence is over it all. We are governed by His providence. God’s wonderful plan is in effect, no matter what. In today’s passage, Jesus constrained the disciples to go into a storm. They were in this storm because of the providence of God. What storms are you currently facing? How might you trust God’s providence regardless of your circumstances?

PRACTICE THIS List out truths about God that you can trust even as you face the storms of life.

Can You Trust God When You Suffer?
“And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’”

Job 1:21
June 23, 2022

You can have faith and calamity at the same time. Faith does not mean you are always going to escape. Faith is not receiving from God what you want; faith is accepting from God what He gives. Now the question is this: can you trust God when you are submerged in suffering? Perhaps you’re so sick and shut in that you can’t even get out of the house, and the only way that you can worship is through television or the computer. Can you say with Job today, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15)? If you can, you will shut the devil’s mouth.

The devil thinks, “Let those Christians have a little trouble, let them have some persecution, let them have some bankruptcy. Let one of their children die, let them have some greedy maladies that consume their bodies. Let them have those kinds of troubles, and let people blame them for doing wrong when they haven’t done anything in the world wrong. They’ll curse God.” But Job said, “I’m not going to curse Him; I’m going to praise Him.” Job said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

When have you faced suffering and your faith grew?
How are we encouraged to hold onto the Lord in times of suffering?
ACTION POINT
Journal about a time when your faith grew during suffering. Consider who you might tell about this time in your life.

Do You Have a Right View of Suffering?
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.”

Job 13:15
June 22, 2022

There are a lot of people who have a wrong theology of suffering today. They get on television and give this message: “If you get right with God, you’re going to be healthy, and you’re going to be wealthy. It’s cash, comfort, and Cadillacs—you’ll have it all. Oh, by the way, just send me a little money, and you can have it all.” There’s a lot of that going on. Have you noticed that? The idea is that the only reason you suffer is that you’ve done wrong. That you can get everything right and believe in God and have anything you want. There’s just one thing wrong with that philosophy—it’s not true. Some of God’s choicest of saints have suffered, most of all God’s own Son, Jesus.

When have you heard the idea that if you do everything right, God will save you from suffering?
What is tempting about this way of thinking? What is wrong with it?
ACTION POINT
Make a list of biblical examples of righteous people who suffered.

You Need to Be Gentle
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23
June 21, 2022

When you’re setting a broken bone, what do you need? Gentleness. You need tender loving care. You can’t restore somebody if you’re harsh and overbearing. You’ve got to be gentle. Do you know what I’ve noticed about dads whose children love them most? They’re gentle. All children want a strong dad, a dad they can look up to. But they also want a dad that’s gentle. You can restore your children with gentleness rather than lashing out at them, screaming at them, and criticizing them. Try some tenderness with your children. If you’ve got backslidden children, they need tenderness. Your neighbor needs tenderness. “Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1, KJV). Do it gently.

How has God been gentle with you when you needed restoration?
How have you experienced the blessing of gentleness from a Christian brother or sister?
ACTION POINT
Who do you know who needs encouragement or restoration? Take action to bless that person with gentleness today.

You Need to Wake Up Running
“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

Galatians 6:1
June 20, 2022

Some years ago, I read that each morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up and says to himself, “If I cannot outrun the fastest lion on these plains, I will be devoured.” And somewhere that same morning a lion wakes up and that lion says, “If I cannot outrun the slowest gazelle, I will starve.” So, both the gazelle and the lion wake up running.

Every morning, you and I need to wake up running because we are running from sin and Satan is running for us. And sometimes we’re overtaken. Sometimes we stumble and fall. When you get saved, that doesn’t mean you won’t sin anymore. Sometimes we’re overtaken in a fault. Do you know the difference between my life before I was saved and after I was saved? Before I got saved, I was running to sin, now I’m running from sin. In today’s verse, Paul was talking about brothers. He said, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass”—that is, run down by Satan, trapped and snared by a fault—then we are to restore him.

How have you experienced the reality of running from sin and being run after by Satan?
What are some ways we actively “run” in this sense?
ACTION POINT
Write out a list of ways to run from sin and Satan. Put one or more of these into practice today.

Not to Be Served but to Serve
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

John 13:14
June 19, 2022

Jesus is the head of the Church, and yet we find in John 13 that Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. And He said in John 13:13, “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.” Jesus never said He was not Master; Jesus never said He was not Lord, but listen to what He said next: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Husband, I want to suggest that you find ways to wash your wife’s feet. That’s the way you show your headship in the home. It is servant leadership. Jesus said, “I am the Lord and Master, but a husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church.” A leader serves. Your wife is not there to serve you; you’re there to serve her.

What are some other ways Jesus served the Church?
How does this model challenge the world’s view of leadership?
ACTION POINT
Write out the ways you can think of that Jesus served the Church. Consider how you might serve and love others by following the example of Jesus.

Different but Not Inferior Love Worth Finding June 18, 2022 Today's Daily Devotional PRAY OVER THIS “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” (Ephesians 5:24) PONDER THIS The tendency today is to stress the equality of men and women by minimizing the unique significance of maleness and femaleness. The consequence is division and destruction. Why? People are throwing away their God‑given identities. Oneness and equality are not the same. God is for oneness; God is not for sameness. God made us different that He might make us one. God, “made them male and female” (Mark 10:6). And for one to recognize the headship of the other does not mean the inferiority of the one. If you work for a boss, you’d better be submissive, or you’ll be looking for another job. That doesn’t mean you’re inferior to your boss. If you’re on a team, you have to be submissive to the coach. That doesn’t mean you’re inferior to the coach. If you’re a student, you’d better be submissive to your professor, or you’re not going to learn and get the grades. That doesn’t mean you’re inferior to your professor. If you are a citizen, you’d better be submissive to the policeman. That doesn’t mean you’re inferior to the policeman; it simply means that in all of creation and society God has put order. What other examples can you think of in which differences and submission do not equal inferiority? Through His relationship with the Church, how does Jesus model the value husbands are to place on their wives? PRACTICE THIS Write out the examples you thought of that display differences and submission but not inferiority. How do these better help you understand what Paul meant in this text?

Lovingly Lead Your Wife
“For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”

Ephesians 5:23
June 17, 2022

The word head here speaks of leader. The husband is the head of the wife, that is, he is the leader. But he’s not the dictator. The husband is not some sort of a top sergeant, to be beating his wife over the head with a Bible club. This doesn’t speak primarily of a chain of command; this is a line of responsibility. That’s a much better term. To have headship is to have responsibility. That means if a wife is to submit to her husband, she is to submit to her husband for loving leadership. And God gives the model. What is the model? Verse 23 says, “as also Christ is head of the church.”

How does Christ lead the church?
ACTION POINT
What responsibilities has God given you to lovingly serve those around you? Take action in obedient love toward another today.

Come Into the Ark
“Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”

Genesis 7:1
June 16, 2022

In order to be saved from the wrath of God, you have to get on board the good ship of grace. If you don’t get on board, you’re going down. You will not be an unsinkable saint. Genesis 7:1 says, “the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household.’” But Noah had to take that step of faith. Noah had to come into the ark, and that one step of faith is all it took to put Noah in the ark. God said to Noah and to Noah’s family, to his sons and his daughters-in-law, and to his wife, “Come into the ark!” And Noah responded in effect, “Just as I am, I come, I come.” Likewise, we must respond to God, “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me. Oh, Lamb of God, I come to Thee! I come.”

How was the ark a picture of God’s grace that would be revealed in Jesus?
How do we “enter” into Christ as the ark that saves us from God’s wrath?
ACTION POINT
Talk with someone today about the similarities between the ark and Christ as our savior.

Have You Received God’s Grace?
June 15, 2022


PRAY OVER THIS:
“So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:7-8)

PONDER THIS:
We’ve come to a day in which a man’s word means absolutely nothing, whether it’s a treaty between nations, a marriage contract, a business agreement, or a political speech. In Genesis 6, we read that people’s hearts were wicked continually before the Lord. And it had reached such a level that God said, “I’m sorry that I made them! I’m going to have to judge the Earth.” (See Genesis 6:6-7.) The same sins that produced the flood in Noah’s day have reached up to Heaven today.

But what did Jesus say the days of Noah were like? He said they were, “Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matthew 24:38). They were going on with the same old routine of life. The problem in our society is that we’re standing right on the threshold of imminent judgment, but nobody seems to care. We just yawn in the face of God. In these dangerous days, we need to thank God we have His amazing grace. Genesis 6:8 says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

What are signs that the world gives no thought to the things of God?
How have you received grace like Noah?

PRACTICE THIS:
Take time today to journal about the process of your “finding grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

God is Doing Invisible Work
June 14, 2022


PRAY OVER THIS:
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

PONDER THIS:
One time I was in serious danger; thankfully that danger passed. But in that danger, I went to the Word of God and read, “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Psalm 118:17). God took that word right off the page and gave it to me. But the strange thing was, several days after, I received three letters, one from down in Mississippi, one from Georgia, and another from Memphis. They all said in some manner, “Adrian, were you in difficulty? Were you in trouble? God laid on my heart that I should pray for you.” What a blessing it was to get these letters and know the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him.

God is good and He protects His own. We, in times of fear and persecution, can say, “Lord, open my eyes to see the angels that are encamped around me and protecting me.” Nobody and nothing can get to you except through God’s angels. If God allows something, He will allow it for your good and for His glory.

What are some ways God has worked in your life that you couldn’t see with your physical eyes?
How do these moments serve to build your faith?

PRACTICE THIS:
Spend time praying today for someone God lays on your heart. Reach out and encourage that person by saying, “I’m thinking about you and praying for you.”

Are You In Tune with the Unseen?
Love Worth Finding
June 13, 2022
Today's Daily Devotional

PRAY OVER THIS “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

PONDER THIS The Bible teaches that there is a visible material world and there is an invisible spiritual world and these two co-exist side by side. We would be foolish to deny that there is an unseen spiritual world just because we cannot see it with our physical eyes. A blind man would be foolish to deny the radiant splendor of a sunset simply because he cannot see it. If you were to take my great-grandfather and bring him back to this world and tell him that this room right now is full of music, sports, drama, action, automobiles crashing, and news from all over the world, he’d say, “No, that’s not true, you’re telling a lie.” But we know that it is true. If we turn on the TV, it could draw all of these images out of the air. We cannot see them right now simply because we’re not tuned in to them, but we know that they’re there. This gives us a wonderful illustration of another world in this age in which we live that our great-grandfathers did not have. And Jesus is here now, but unless you have your antennae up and tuned into station J-E-S-U-S, you may not know it. You may say, “These people are just conjuring up things and talking about things that are not reality.” But there is more to life than what you can touch, what you can taste, what you can smell, what you can see, and what you can hear. How have you experienced the unseen spiritual reality of the world? How does this reality exist in support of God and in opposition to Him?

PRACTICE THIS Spend time today reflecting on the reality of the unseen spiritual world.