GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 4

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.

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GRACE THAT KEEPS US

Galatians 3:24

“The law was our guardian until Christ came.”

D.L. MOODY

Doctrines are like a street that leads me to God, just as a city street might lead me to a friend’s house for dinner.  Doctrine shows me the right path, but if I remain on the street, my hunger will never be satisfied.  Feeding on doctrines alone is like trying to live on dry husks; doctrine points the way, but it is not the end of the journey.  Lean indeed must be the soul which will not partake of the Bread sent down from heaven.

ERWIN LUTZER

Yes, doctrine is intended to lead us to Christ.  In today’s text, Paul emphasized that the law was not an end in itself, but rather points us to Christ.  One day, William Randolph Hearst who loved paintings, insisted on having a certain work of art.  His employees were asked to search for it and he would pay whatever the price might be.  After several weeks, he was told, “We have found what you want, and you don’t have to pay a single dime for it.”  He was surprised.  They said,:

“We found it in your own warehouse.”

We have the riches of Christ already in our possession.  In Galatians, Paul keeps underscoring that we are not justified by the works of the law but by faith.  Throughout the book, he keeps clarifying that the law was only a path, it was not the end of the journey.  We are to walk in grace.  We take strides against the devil in grace, and we receive joy and hope through the grace given to us in Christ.  To put it simply: 

The grace that saves us is the grace that keeps us.

So, again and again, we run to the only Person who is able to save us amid our need – Jesus Christ.  “Because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

 Our “warehouse” is filled with the riches of Christ.

PRAYER

Father, please help me to enter the grace given to me in Christ;  please teach me to claim the riches I already have in Him.

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Ephesians 1:3 – We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

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Philippians 4:19

 God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

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2 Corinthians 8:9

 Christ became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich through His poverty.

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Colossians 2:3

 In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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Romans 8:17 – We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing in His glory.

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1 Peter 1:4

 We have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.

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Matthew 5:3

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

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James 2:5

 “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith?”

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Proverbs 10:22

 “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”

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Luke 12:15

 “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

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1 Timothy 6:17-19

 “Command those who are rich in this present world to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything.”

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Colossians 3:2

 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

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Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?

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Ephesians 2:4-8

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

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