Richard Rogers

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Simply Believe! (November 2, 2023)

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Unfortunately, our Christian faith can fluctuate with the changing circumstances of our lives. We are flawed like all human beings, and our trust in God often ebbs or flows depending upon whether or not we’re experiencing happy times or life’s trials. Satan constantly attempts to deceive us, draw us astray in our walk by faith with God, and bring about our ultimate downfall and defeat. However, we must remember that He who is in us—Jesus Christ living in our hearts through the Holy Spirit—“is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Simply believe!

When doubt and fear cloud our well-placed trust in Christ, we can allay our apprehension and anxiety by focusing on our unchanging and ever-faithful LORD rather than dwelling on our shifting circumstances. We must recall God’s past faithfulness to deliver us from our woes according to His will and perfect timing. As difficult as they are to endure, we should never forget that our hardships offer unique opportunities for spiritual growth and strengthened faith. Remember too that God often uses adversity to test our faith and shape us into the image of Christ. Simply believe!!

In seasons of skepticism and instances of unbelief, we, as children of a God of goodness and grace, can know by faith that our heavenly Father is unwavering in His love and true to His promises to bless our obedience and walk with us through life’s storms. Ponder Jesus’ words to the concerned father before casting out the evil spirits that had long tormented his son, a miracle Christ’s disciples had lacked the faith to do. “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’” (Mark 9:23) Simply believe!!!

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Cry Out to God in Crisis (October 27, 2023)

“In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He heard me.” (Psalm 120:1)

When the battle lines are drawn and the storm clouds of life threaten to shatter the peace and serenity of your world, what plan of action do you follow? Do you forge ahead in an effort to resolve the problems facing you in your own limited human strength and wisdom, or do you first seek the divine counsel and all-powerful intervention of the sovereign God and Creator of the universe? Scripture tells us that the wise response to life’s trials is to trust in the LORD and prayerfully invoke His power to see you through the conflict or crisis at hand.

The Bible is full of examples of frail, but trusting individuals who depended upon God to help fight their battles and deliver them from their enemies. For example, when Asa, the godly king of the ancient Jewish kingdom of Judah, was attacked by an Ethiopian army of a million men, we’re told in 2 Chronicles 14:11 that “Asa cried out to the Lord his God…help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on you, and in Your name we go against this multitude.” Heavily outnumbered by the enemy, Asa and Judah prevailed when the Lord struck the Ethiopians and they fled in defeat.

What mighty foe is threatening to disrupt or devastate your life? Your battle might come in the form of a broken relationship, a devastating health issue, a financial crisis, a drug addiction, a lost job, or another of the imposing hardships that life in a fallen world brings. God wants us to humble ourselves and rely upon His strength and sufficiency, especially when our lives are coming apart at the seams. Like Asa, we must cry out to the LORD our God in faith, confidently trusting that He will deliver us according to His perfect will and purpose.

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.” (Psalm 138:7)

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Our Devine Delight! (October 26, 2023)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

What is your heart’s deepest delight? We all have desires (wants, dreams, goals, and aspirations) that determine how we conduct our lives. Pride is often the driving force behind the desires of human hearts that are focused on materialism and worldly pleasures. However, God desires that we humble ourselves and make Him our delight, promising that He will supply all of our needs and align our longings to His perfect will for our lives. The LORD wants us to seek Him and His righteousness above the passing things of this world, trusting that He will provide rich blessings that bring genuine joy and satisfaction. Because of love for us beyond measure, God’s greatest desire is that we turn away from our sins to receive His offer of grace and His gift of eternal life.

To delight ourselves in the LORD, we must make Almighty God rather than worldly pursuits our highest priority and trust, obey, and love Him wholeheartedly. When we delight God by accepting through faith His beloved Son Jesus Christ as our Savior, the focus of our lives begins to shift from a worldly to a spiritual perspective. The Holy Spirit gradually changes our hearts, transforming us from the inside out into Christ’s likeness. Our old prideful ways of thinking, speaking, and acting lose their appeal as the desires of our hearts are gradually conformed to God’s will and purpose. As new creatures in Christ, we find everlasting fulfillment, knowing that our faithfulness pleases and glorifies God, who becomes our divine delight!

“…O LORD...in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips.” (Psalm 21:2)

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A Rightly Motivated Heart (October 25, 2023)

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2)

When a serious crime is committed and a suspect is arrested, investigators search to identify a motive in the case. All human behavior is driven by motives that underlie our actions. The real reasons that we do what we do can be obvious or obscure. The Bible says that the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So those of us seeking spiritual maturity need to frequently examine our hearts to make sure that our motivations are pure and pleasing to an all-knowing God who weighs our intentions. We must seek to please God, rather than man!

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:1

Many people are motivated by selfishness and pride that prompt them to pursue fleeting worldly gain, self-gratification, and other earthly priorities, neglecting to develop a personal relationship with God that has everlasting value. Even the good deeds that we do in service to other people and the LORD are sometimes driven by self-serving motives. For believers pursuing a Christian lifestyle, a regular inventory of our thoughts and intents can help to ensure that our hearts are rightly motivated by humility and love worthy of God’s blessings and eternal rewards!

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” (Philippians 2:3)

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An Eternally Secure Identity in Christ (October 24, 2023)

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

When voters go to the polls in the general election in two weeks, we will have to present to the poll worker our driver’s license or other acceptable identification in order to cast a ballot. In today’s increasingly impersonal, technology-based society, we are known and identified in the realms of government, business, and the world at large by our Social Security and account numbers, ID cards, and other similar documentation. As we all know, we have to guard this personal information very carefully in light of the fact that identity theft is among the fastest-growing crimes in the world.

While our earthly identities—the digital or physical sources of personal information that distinguish us from everyone else—may be at risk of theft, believers are securely identified as holy and set apart from the world through our relationship with Jesus Christ. By faith in Christ, we have been forgiven of our sins and become permanently identified as children of God. Spiritually, we are no longer residents of this fallen world; we’re just pilgrims passing through to our eternal home on high. We’ve become citizens of heaven and joint heirs with Christ to the riches of glory!

Our identity in Christ is sealed and secure, and, though he constantly tries, Satan can never steal it away. This is the unshakable identity and the blessed assurance that we have in Christ the LORD: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:1-2) We are eternally identified as disciples of Jesus by our love for each other!