GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 18

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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WE HIDE, GOD SEES

Ezekiel 34:16

“I will seek the lost.”

D.L. MOODY

I do not believe there is a man that the Spirit of God has not striven with at some period of his life.  Every man who has ever been saved through these six thousand years was sought after by God.  No sooner did Adam fall than God sought him.  He had gone away frightened, and hid himself away among the bushes in the garden, but God sought him; and from that day to this, God has always taken the initiative to seek the lost.

ERWIN LUTZER

We’ve all heard a testimony where someone says, “I found  Christ as my Savior.”  We understand what they mean, but we don’t actually find Christ until Christ has found us.  Paul says in Romans 3, “No one seeks for God.” (3:11).  As Moody said, the best imagery of human nature is Adam and Eve in the Garden.  They were not looking for God.  They were hiding themselves in the trees of the garden trying to get away from Him.  They were seeking ways to run from a holy God to whom they had to give an account.  It is God who finds them and initiates the plan of salvation.

Christ came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).  As far as I know, sheep never go seeking a shepherd.  The shepherd has to find the sheep.

If you are saved today, it’s because the good shepherd came looking for you and drew your heart toward Him.  We can only contemplate the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, we cannot understand it fully.  Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the father who sent Me draws him.”  (John 6:44).

Perhaps a  more God-honoring way to give a testimony would be to say, “God found me.”  Meanwhile, we urge people to believe, but we do so in total dependence on God who sent Christ to seek and save the lost.

PRAYER

Father, thank You for seeking me even when I was not seeking you.  I rejoice that You found  me!

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1 John 4:19

We love Him because He first loved us.

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Jeremiah 29:13

    “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

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Isaiah 41:10

    “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

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Psalm 139:7

    “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”

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Luke 15:10

    “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

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Matthew 18:12-13

    “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go look for the one that wandered off?”

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John 10:14

    “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

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