GOD’S WORD FOR  MARCH 8

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.  Besides his many ministries, and many books, Pastor Lutzer was Senior Pastor at Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years and now serves as Pastor Emeritus there.  He is  Chancelor and a former professor at Moody Bible Institute, where he taught Theology and Ministry, and now has numerous radio teachings.

TRAGEDY AND GLORY

John 11:25

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.’”

D.L. MOODY

When a young man , I was called upon suddenly, in Chicago, to preach a funeral sermon.  A good many Chicago businessmen were to be there, and I said to myself,

“Now, it will be a good chance for me to preach the gospel to those men, and I will get one of Christ’s funeral sermons.”

I hunted all through the four gospels trying to find one of Christ’s funeral sermons, but I couldn’t find any.  I found He broke up every funeral He ever attended!  He never preached a funeral sermon in the world.  Death couldn’t exist where He was!  When the dead heard His voice they sprang to life!

ERWIN LUTZER

Yes.  Christ gives life to all who believe on Him;  but physically, we must die.  We do everything we possibly can to avoid death, to eke out one last week of existence.  Yet the Bible presents a very different story.  Death is the chariot;  it’s the limousine God sends to bring us to Him.  When we arrive, we meet the Doorman – the One we have come to trust in this life!   He is there to meet us on the other side.  For the Christian, death is a gift.

Paul says,  “All things are yours, whether….life or death.”  (1 Corinthians 3:21-22).  He writes about our suffering using the imagery of a scale:  if one side held all of your trials and sorrows, this does not compare to the counterweight, which is “the eternal weight of glory” that will be revealed in us (2 Corinthians 4:17).   God’s glory is so much heavier and so much greater than any tragedy we encounter en route to the heavenly city.

When it is time for someone to preach our funeral sermon, may our loved ones and friends experience sorrow mingled with joy.  The one who redeemed us will be with us forever.

PRAYER

Father, please encourage me and Your people to look at the events of life from a standpoint of the eternal glory in Your presence.

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Psalm 116:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.

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2 Timothy 1:9

    “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”

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John 10:28-29

    “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

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Romans 8:38-39

    “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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John 14:2-3

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

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Revelation 22:1-2

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

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Revelation 21:23

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

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Matthew 5:12

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

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