LHM Daily Devotions - Please Note: You Are Invited

"Please Note: You Are Invited"

Dec. 1, 2018

(Jesus said) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out."

~ John 6:37 (ESV)

You need no experiment and research to prove the power of Christ. As soon as you are His, as soon as you kneel before Him and pray this ancient prayer, "If You will, You can make me clean," and immediately, as if in echo, the answer comes, "I will, be clean" (see Matthew 8:1-3), you have the testimony of His power in your own life. You can know -- and there is no "maybe," no "perhaps," no "if," in this clear-cut conviction of a living, trusting faith -- that, when before the bar of justice your Savior points to you and pleads with divine power: "Father, I was wounded for his transgressions; I was bruise for his iniquities" (see Isaiah 53:5) you can exult: "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (see 1 John 2:1-2) You know that, with the burden of sin removed, Jesus answers every prayer for the strengthening of your faith. He guides Your life according to His divine and higher knowledge.

When He says, "Follow Me," He leads you along "the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake" (see Psalm 23). If you try to lead a cleaner, better, truer life; if you want to break the chains of drunkenness, escape the slavery of hidden sins and gnawing vices, and ask Him for strength, He looks down and promises: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (see Hebrews 13:5) When the hurricanes of life break over our defenseless head and you rise from one staggering blow only to be hurled down again by another impact, because you love Jesus, all these adversities "work together for good" (see Romans 8:28). As you face that specter which disturbs all human happiness, you know that, though the form of this earthly body, pitted by sickness, broken by accidents, furrowed by old age, disfigured by sin, will decay and in the grave return to the dust whence it sprang, nevertheless, by faith in Him who in His own resurrection defeated death forever, our graves will be opened and a new and glorious resurrection body will come forth, without spot or blemish, without injury or fracture.

Once more I have laid before you the great love of Jesus Christ. God will not force this salvation upon you. You can resist the Savior and repel His love. You can reject Him and forfeit the blessing that could be purchased only by His holy blood. But you cannot, from this moment on, say that you have never heard of the love of Christ and the invitation to come unto Him for forgiveness, for eternal life and happiness.

Men have died for this faith. Will you not live by it?

THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, may Your Holy Spirit come into many hearts and many homes so that there may now be raised, throughout North American and world, a chorus that will repeat this pledge: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" Amen.

From "Clear-Cut Conviction," a sermon excerpt from Walter Maier, the first Speaker of The Lutheran Hour. Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
You need no experiment and research to prove the power of Christ.