GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 21

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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ONE PROMISE, MANY BLESSINGS

Genesis 12:2

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

D.L. MOODY

There is no name in history so well known as the name of Abraham.  The Muslims, the Persians, and the Egyptians make a great deal of Abraham.  His name has been, for centuries, favorably known in Damascus.  God promised him that great lineage through his offspring.  Was there ever a nation that has turned out such men?  Think of Elijah and Daniel and Isaiah and all the other wonderful Bible characters that have sprung from this man!  Then think of John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, and Paul – a mighty army.  No one can number the multitude of wonderful men and women that have descended from this one man who was called out of the land of the Chaldeans.  He probably was an unknown idolater when God called him; and yet, literally, God has fulfilled His promise that through him, He would bless all the nations of the Earth – all because he surrendered himself fully and wholly to let God bless him.

ERWIN LUTZER

We call Abraham our father but we do not inherit all the promises God gave him.  For example, Christians are not promised the land whose boundaries God gave to Abraham’s physical descendants.  But through Abraham, we are spiritually  blessed; after all, Christ is the ultimate seed of Abraham.  Thus, we are all the children of Abraham by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-27).

But Moody’s point is important for us today:  God sovereignly called Abraham, but Abraham proved his calling by his obedience, even willing to slay his precious son, Isaac.  God calls us, but we are expected to prove our calling through our surrender and obedience.

Let us ask God to show us what that obedience means for us today.

PRAYER

Father, You have called ne.  Let me rejoice in that calling and grant me the strength to prove that calling in all I do today.

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Galatians 3:24-29

Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.  For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

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Romans 4:20

    “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.”

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Galatians 3:6

    “So also Abraham ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

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Exodus 3:6

    “He said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”

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Galatians 3:29

    “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

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Galatians 4:22

    “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.”

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Romans 4:13

    “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.”

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Galatians 3:8

    “Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’”

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