GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 7

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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GOD BATTING A THOUSAND

Numbers 23:19

“God is not man, that He should lie, or the son of man, that He should change his mind.  Has He said, and will He not do it?”

D.L. MOODY

Suppose a man, directing me to the post office, gives me ten landmarks, and that in my progress, there I find nine of them to be as he told me.  I should have good reason to believe that I was coming to the post office.

And if, by believing, I get a new life and a hope, a peace, a joy, and a rest to my soul that I never had before; if I get self-control, and find that I have a power to resist evil and to do good, I have pretty good proof that I am on the right road to the “city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10).

So if things have taken place, and are now taking place as recorded in God’s Word, I have good reason to conclude that what yet remains will also be fulfilled.  But, yet people talk of doubting!

Faith is to take God at His Word, unconditionally.

ERWIN LUTZER

While there are many good reasons to believe the Word of God, Moody noted one compelling reason;  the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in our lives.  If we discover a hatred for sin and a desire to love God within ourselves, then we know that those desires have come to us from God.

I have counseled  many who doubt their salvation.  I try to be very careful for I fear giving false assurance to someone who is actually not converted….not born again.  On the other hand, I know Christians who show fruit of the Spirit and a love for God and give a clear testimony of when they trusted Christ as Savior, yet they doubt if their conversion is genuine.

The very desire we have for assurance is a good sign we are converted.  The unconverted may speak of their conversion as an intellectual curiosity but have no holy desire to make certain they are among the redeemed.  The truly saved are those who pursue God, grow in their faith, and eventually come to the “full assurance of faith”  God’s Word accomplishes all of His purposes, even in you.

PRAYER

Father, please help me to trust You to finish all You said You would do.  Thank You!

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2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.

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Ephesians 1:13-14

    “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

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Romans 11:29

    “For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”

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Philippians 1:6

    “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

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1 John 5:11-12

    “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

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Ephesians 2:8-9

    For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

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Hebrews 11:1

    Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

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Galatians 4:6

    “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

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Titus 3:5

    “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

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