March 13 – Be Not Deceived

Hope for Today: A Daily Devotion from Reasons for Hope*Jesus

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“Sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:32

Be not deceived, therefore, with false notions of faith. Where there is true faith, no sin has dominion. Sin will be ever stirring, often raging, and sometimes it may, for a season, prevail; but on the whole, it cannot predominate in the heart that feels the power of faith.

A believer, through a strong and sudden temptation, may be captivated by sin — but he is no willing captive. He hates sin and prays and watches against it; and, as faith increases, his power over sin increases too. A man having no feeling of the desperate wickedness of his heart may imagine that he has faith enough; but, being once convinced of that, he soon perceives that it is the hardest thing in the world to believe. It requires the same power by which Christ was raised from the dead. Paul most emphatically describes it (Ephesians 1:19-20). How then can any man think it an easy matter to believe? How can he imagine that his own power shall suffice him at his will? O the dreadful blindness and security which all the world runs into! May the Lord open their eyes! Father of Jesus, give me faith, more faith, that I may be strong in faith, giving glory to You!

Devotion by Karl Heinrich von Bogatzky (1690—1774)