GOD’S WORD FOR FEBRUARY 10

We are reading from a daily devotional  called “Running To Win” written by Erwin Lutzer  and the late, great D.L. Moody.   Erwin Lutzer is a light in our day as D.L. Moody was in his.

*** ***

THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Jeremiah 2:19

“Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of Me is not in you, declares the Lord God of hosts.”

D.L. MOODY

I have travelled a good deal, but I never found a happy backslider in my life.  I never knew a man who was really born of God that ever could find the world satisfy him afterward.  Do you think the prodigal son was satisfied in that foreign country?  Ask the prodigals today if they are truly happy.  You know they aren’t.  “There is no peace, says my God,. To the wicked.”  Said Isaiah in 57:21.

ERWIN LUTZER

There’s only one way to avoid the point of no return at Niagara Falls;  watch for the currents’ warning signs.  Just so, we must watch for the warning signs of being swept away by the currents of temptation.  We must also be aware of the warning signs of spiritual decline.

First, pay attention for the feeling of self-satisfaction the feeling you have everything under control.  Beware of harboring sin that masters you and causes spiritual blindness.

Second, watch for any hidden provisions for defeat;  don’t put yourself in a place where temptation lurks.  The third danger is spiritual coasting.  We begin to push God and His word to the circumference of our lives, and soon, compromises lead us to ultimate disaster.  Moody was right in saying that no backslider is a happy person.

I’ve been on a boat that left the shore so quietly that I scarcely noticed it.  That’s the way most backsliding happens.  Only tragic failure makes us realize how far we have drifted from the shore.  Pay careful attention to the warning signs.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, please grand me a sensitivity to sin so that I ay grow in fear and reverence of You.

*** ***

Proverbs 14:14

The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,

But a good man will be satisfied from above.

*** ***

Jeremiah 3:12b

‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord;

‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you.

For I am merciful,’ says the Lord;

‘I will not remain angry forever.’

*** ***

Isaiah 49:15-16

Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you.

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your walls are continually before Me.

*** ***

Luke 9:62

 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

*** ***

Hosea 14:4

I will heal their backsliding,

I will love them freely,

For My anger has turned away from him.

*** ***

James 5:19-20

 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,  let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

*** ***

2 Peter 2:20-21

 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.   For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Published by liveinthelightofourlord

View all posts by liveinthelightofourlord