CONVINCED
BREAD
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to
my father's house, 28 for I
have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this
place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the
Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 ‘No,
father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will
repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If
they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even
if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:27-31 (NIV)
23 They
arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the
place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared
to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law
of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 Some
were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. Acts 28:23-24
14 For
Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and
therefore all died. 15 And he died
for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again. 16 So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old
has gone, the new has come! 18 All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation: 19 that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on
Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no
sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
10 But
it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who
has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel. 11 And of this gospel
I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am.
Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced
that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2
Timothy 1:10-12 (NIV)
14 But
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned it, 15
and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14-15 (NIV)
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Want of
trust is at the root of almost all our sins and all our weaknesses, and how
shall we escape it but by looking to Him and observing His faithfulness. The man who holds God’s faithfulness will not
be foolhardy or reckless, but will be ready for every emergency.” Hudson Taylor
“The Christian is
a new creature, born and taught from above.
He has been convinced of his guilt and misery as a sinner, has fled for
refuge to the hope set before him, has seen the Son and believed on Him: his
natural prejudices against the glory and grace of God’s salvation have been
subdued and silenced by almighty power; he has accepted the Beloved and is made
acceptable in Him; he now knows the Lord; has renounced the confused, distant,
uncomfortable notions he once formed of God…He sees God in Christ, reconciled,
a Father, a Savior and a Friend, who has freely forgiven him all his sins and
given him the spirit of adoption; he is now no longer a servant, much less a
stranger, but a son; and because a son, an heir already interested in all the
promises, admitted to the throne of
grace, and assured expectant of eternal glory.” John
Newton
“The grace of God
is love freely shown towards guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed
in defiance of their demerit. It is God
showing goodness to persons who deserve only severity, and had no reason to
expect anything but severity. We have
seen why the thought of grace means so little to some church people—namely,
because they do not share the beliefs about God and man which it
presupposes. Now we have to ask: why should this thought mean so much to
others? The answer is not far to seek;
indeed, it is evident from what has already been said. It is surely clear that, once a man is
convinced that his state and need are as described, the New Testament gospel of
grace cannot but sweep him off his feet with wonder and joy. For it tells how our Judge has become our
Saviour.” J.I.
Packer
“The risk of grace
is that we turn our lives over to God. Abandoned. Surrendered. We no longer
have to defend ourselves because we are convinced that he loves us so much, but
we no longer try to run our own lives. He is our Lord, our master, and the one we
follow. We don't know where he will lead, but we are willing to go there
because we are convinced that life in him is truly the Grand Adventure. We
don’t know what he will ask us to do, but we’re willing to do it because we’re
sure he knows best. We respond to him like a loved child responds to his mother
[or his Grammy I would add]. We may not
understand everything, and we may ask a million questions, but when we don’t
get answers, we still trust our Heavenly Father because he has proven himself
to us. . . The deeper we press into the price Christ paid to rescue us, the
more we’ll be amazed by his love, and we’ll delight in honoring him all day,
every day.”
Tim Clinton & Josh Straub
“I rest with my whole soul upon the finished work of Christ, and I have not found anything yet that leads me to suspect I am resting where I shall meet with a failure. No, the older one grows, the more one gets convinced that he who leans by faith on Christ, rests where he never needs to be afraid. He may go and return in peace and confidence, for the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but God shall not change, and his purpose shall not cease to stand. Yes, God is worthy of our confidence. And I think we can say, by way of commending our God to others that we feel we can rest upon him for the future. We have been in strange places, and in very peculiar conditions in the past, but we were never thrown where we could not find in God all we needed; and we are therefore encouraged to believe that when death’s dark night shall come, with all its gathering of terror, we shall fear no evil, for the same God will be with us to be our succour and our stay. The Isle of Man has for its coat of arms three legs, and turn them which way you will, you know they always stand; and such is the believer—throw him which way you will, he finds something to stand on; throw him into death, or into life, into the lion’s den, or into the whale’s belly, cast him into fire, or into water, the Christian still trusts in his God, and finds him a very present help in time of trouble. ‘On whom dost thou trust?’ We can answer boldly, ‘We trust in him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never cease, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never be sullied, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed, and whose perfect goodness never can know a diminution.’” Charles H. Spurgeon
“You
cannot imagine how great is people’s foolishness…..by hoping in themselves and
putting trust in their own knowledge.”
St. Catherine
“Hudson
Taylor was an object lesson in quietness.
He drew from the bank of heaven every farthing of his daily income – ‘My
peace I give unto you.’ Whatever did not
agitate the Saviour or ruffle His spirit, was not to agitate him. The serenity of the Lord Jesus concerning any
matter, and at its most critical moment, was his ideal and practical possession. He knew nothing of rush or hurry, or
quivering nerves or vexation of spirit.
He knew that there is a peace passing all understanding and that he
could not do without it…Christ his reason for peace, his power for calm. Dwelling in Christ, he drew upon His very
being and resources, in the midst of and concerning the matters in question. And this he did by an attitude of faith as
simple as it was continuous.” Dr.
& Mrs. Howard Taylor
HEART
SAVOR
- · God wants us to be fully convinced of Who He is and what He has done for us and how very much He loves us. We are not to waver like shifting shadows even if our circumstances are not of our choosing. Emotions are the caboose – we go with what we know to be true and are convinced of. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
- · Some people will not be convinced by our words or our actions as we both hold out and flesh out Christ’s love. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.
- · Want of trust is at the root of almost all our sins and weaknesses.
