Devotions

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). The love for each other described here is not a mere handshake, a quick hug or flattery. No, this kind of love sees another’s need and does something about it. In fact, according to John, if we see our brother in need and do nothing, the love of God is not in us.

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Obviously, loving one another pleases God, but it is impossible to love others until you are fully assured of God’s love for you. John writes, “God is love and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (4:16). We simply cannot love others until this truth has been firmly established in us: “In spite of all my weaknesses and failures, God loves me!” If you are convinced of God’s love for you, his love will flow out of you naturally.

If we hold a grudge against a brother or sister, we do not possess God’s love. Moreover, if we withhold forgiveness from another, God withholds his forgiveness from us. So love is not just something to talk about. It is a matter of doing, acting, living.   

If you truly want to please God, the Lord will open your eyes to the needs of those around you. Selfish Christians do not know this kind of love for others. The gift of caring is given only to those who seek it and pray for it. The Spirit of Christ will alert you to the needs of others, causing you to cry, “Brother, sister, let me help. I want to stand with you during this difficult time.” God will send you one person after another in need — yet it won’t be a burden. On the contrary, it will thrill you because you will share in God’s own joy!

The church of Jesus Christ today has been mightily blessed by God but unless the driving force behind any ministry is total dependence upon the Holy Spirit, all efforts are futile. Great music, eloquent preaching or persuasive personalities are fine but only the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit can bring people to their knees.

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. He was well-organized, much more educated than his father David, and he did everything bigger and better than any previous generation could have conceived. Everything about Solomon was breathtaking, extravagant, highly impressive! Yet the driving force behind Solomon was wisdom and knowledge — and he delivered a powerless message.

Let’s compare the two types of churches, Solomon’s and David’s. In Solomon’s church, a preacher merely gathers truthful, biblical information and creates a sermon out of it. Then he tells himself, “It’s the Word of God, so it must have an impact.” But no matter how persuasive it is, without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it is a dead word. 

On the other hand, David’s church is filled with godly sorrow toward sin and a deep desire to know the Father. When David was on his deathbed, he spoke to Solomon about intimacy with the Lord.  “My son, I want to tell you the secret of my ministry, why God has been with me everywhere I have gone.” Listen to some of David’s last words to his son: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2).

David was saying, “I didn’t trust in my knowledge and wisdom; in fact, I didn’t trust in any part of my flesh. I was a weak man but I depended upon the Holy Spirit! Every word I spoke was under his unction and anointing. His words filled my mouth!”

All the true treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus Christ (see Colossians 2:3) and they are available to us.

Why did God wait until Abraham and Sarah were old to give them a son? Why did he wait until the situation had become humanly impossible and only absolute faith in him could bring about the promise? It was because this seed was to be birthed completely in faith.

Abraham and Sarah both knew the amazing promise of God to give them a son but their faith was not yet ripe. Sarah became impatient and devised a plan and Abraham went along with it. Ishmael was born and while it was true that he was of Abraham’s seed, he was not the promised heir. In a twist of human nature, Sarah then raged at her husband with jealousy and blamed him. They were both trying to make God’s promise come about by their own efforts (see Genesis 16:1-15).

Perhaps you are wondering why your promise has not yet been fulfilled. You are trying to figure out how God will meet your need, becoming all bogged down concentrating on the hindrances instead of the possibilities.

Abraham and Sarah were given their miracle child but not until they became fully persuaded that God would fulfill his promise in his way and in his time. We know they became strong in their faith but only after having wavered — and Ishmael was a sign of that lapse in faith. Later, however, it was said of Abraham: “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:20-21).    

Beloved, any wavering you have comes from unbelief; do not try to figure things out or debate the issues within yourself. Having faith means you have settled all your arguments and are fully persuaded that God will keep his Word. He wants to do the impossible because the more impossible the situation, the more glory he receives!

"[God] delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:10).

Paul is speaking here of God’s delivering power — past, present and future! He is saying, “God has delivered us in the past, he is delivering us now, and he will deliver us in every future trouble and trial. We do not have to fear anything that comes our way because we know God is going to deliver us!”

That is a powerful declaration but many of us forget the past deliverances of our Lord, just as the children of Israel did. Oh, the deliverances God gave them! Leading them with a cloud by day and fire by night; dividing the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry land; giving them manna out of heaven and streams of water out of the rock. (Read these accounts in Exodus 13:21; 14:21-22; 16:31; Psalm 78:16.)  But still they tempted God and spoke against him.

Sadly, that often happens with us. We say, “Well, I was in a tight spot and God delivered me. But this is different.”

Our loving Father wants us to come to a place in our faith where we trust him in every crisis, every temptation, without question. He wants us to never again doubt his power to deliver us.

Don’t misunderstand me. We still have to fight the good fight of faith. The Lord has a way of allowing us to be “burdened beyond measure” at times, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:8. This means he was tried beyond his own strength and could no longer trust in himself. So he turned to God! 

Sometimes we have to admit we are in over our head and get on our knees before the Lord! I encourage you to cry out to the Lord today and trust him. He is faithful to deliver you.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Paul is writing to the Corinthians and he is reassuring them. “You’re about ready to fall? You feel like you can’t go on? Well, be encouraged because I have a good word for you. A lot of people have walked through the same temptations you are experiencing, but they have not been overcome!” Why? Because God is faithful and he will provide a way of escape.

God is faithful! Those around you may not be faithful; in fact, I am not faithful in my own strength. But Jesus lives in us and the righteousness of God is being worked out in our lives.

When you meet Jesus, the seed of God lives in you. The blood of the Lamb that was sacrificed on the cross energizes you and your body, mind, heart and soul are transformed. Jesus captures your heart and transforms you, making you a new creation.

God will provide the way of escape! Our culture offers many ways of escaping but the Word of God says that Jesus is the way of escape. God will provide! Remember Abraham when he went up the mountain to offer his own son as a sacrifice. He was going in his own strength but God stopped him and said, “Not your own flesh, Abraham. I will provide a sacrifice for you” (see Genesis 22:12-13).

No matter what you are facing today, you can trust God to provide a way out for you — a way of escape. Look to him and confess, “Lord, you are my sufficiency. By your grace I can overcome every temptation in my life: depression, fear, anger, lust, any power of darkness that comes against me.”