Truth for Life - January 24, 2015
January 24, 2015
Two Deliverances
God delivers His people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From and out of. First, He delivers them from the snare--He does not let them enter it; and secondly, if they should be caught in it, He delivers them out of it. The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is the best to others.
"He will deliver you from the snare." How? Trouble is often the means God uses to deliver us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and He in mercy sends the rod. We say, "Lord, why is this?" not knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil. In this way many have been saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses.
At other times God keeps His people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, "How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"1 But what a blessed thing it is that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out of it!
O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair. Wanderer though you have been, hear what your Redeemer says: "Return, O backsliding children; I will have mercy upon you." But you say you cannot return, for you are a captive. Then listen to the promise--"For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler." You shall yet be brought out of all evil into which you have fallen, and though you shall never cease to repent of your ways, yet He who has loved you will not cast you away. He will receive you and give you joy and gladness, that the bones that He has broken may rejoice. No bird of paradise shall die in the fowler's net.
Family Bible reading plan
verse 1 Genesis 25
verse 2 Matthew 24
Prone To Wander
Confessing our sins might seem like a gloomy business—God already knows about them, so what's the point of dwelling on failure? But confession is more celebratory than we think. It does not simply remind us of our guilt, but points us to our great Savior, who has atoned for us and lovingly pursues us despite our wandering.
These prayers open with a scriptural call of confession, confess specific sins, thank the Father for Jesus' perfect life and death in our place, ask for the help of the Spirit in pursuing holiness, and close with an assurance of pardon.
Inspired by the Puritan classic The Valley of Vision, these prayers were developed for both personal devotions and church use.
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From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
