Devotions

Some Christians are always in crisis and seem to want to tell you all about the problems they are facing. They feel a need to describe their troubles to others, but seem reluctant to take them to Jesus, as if he has nothing to offer.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not referring to Christians who are going through real, legitimate crises. But it is an important sign of maturity not to challenge God to prove himself to you with visible evidence or a strong, inner voice. The Lord says his sheep know his voice, but often the voice that God uses with his people today is his revealed Word. We read: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2),

When the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it is to remind us of Jesus’ words: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). 

I once spoke to a group of ministers and was directed by the Holy Spirit to have the pastors’ wives pray for one another. As these women held hands and prayed for each other, the sweet presence of the Lord fell on them and they began weeping and sharing with one another. There was no thunder and lightning or other supernatural evidence, but a beautiful, quiet work of the Holy Spirit was taking place. Later we heard from women whose lives had been transformed during that precious time with the Lord.

Don’t fall into the trap of looking for signs and wonders; simply obey the Lord, trust his Word, and leave the results to him!   

We are all creatures of habit. We usually get up at the same hour, eat the same breakfast, make the same drive to our place of work and listen to the same radio station during our commute. We face endless repetition in our daily routines. That’s just life. While it may not seem like it at times, there is real maturity and growth in being faithful and responsible day by day, week by week, year by year. 

The same might be said for our spiritual lives. On Sunday mornings we go to church, sit in the same seats, and sing the same praise and worship music. Even our prayers can sound the same. We are tempted to wonder, “Am I really doing anything profitable for the kingdom of God? I’ve been doing the same thing over and over, but there is very little variety to it.”

Growing in grace does not mean doing more or greater things for God. True growth comes in doing the same things again and again with heart assurance that we are doing everything for him. It’s like learning to write in the first grade. You begin with looping circles and lines, forming big letter. But after a while, the letters become smaller and closer together and eventually you learn to put words together and form sentences. Even though you have been doing the same repetitious things, the whole time something worthy was being accomplished.

In your Christian walk, it takes much grace to keep going when you are tired, broken, downcast or afflicted. In fact, it takes more grace to stay steadfast in those times than it does when everything is new and fresh and exciting. It is wonderful to know that we can trust his Word and know that he is with us.

I encourage you to serve him faithfully and watch the Lord bring you into a new place of peace, trust and purpose.       

Occasionally I awaken in the middle of the night with a free-floating anxiety. The “accuser of the brethren” whispers, “You’re no good; you’re worthless, a burden to others. Look at your history, how many times you’ve messed up.” Satan loves to torment Christians but when Jesus came, he declared, “That ends right now!” Then he adds an amazing reassurance: “Don’t think that I will ever accuse you to the Father” (John 5:45).

As God’s people, we sometimes can actually accuse ourselves. Paul says, “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts . . . and their conflicting thoughts accuse . . . them” (Romans 2:15).  Who is Paul talking to here? It is the Christian who is still trying to live out vestiges of the Old Covenant by striving to please God on his own. This Christian tells himself, “I’ve done well in the Lord all week so there’s no reason I can’t put together another week like this one.”

Others may accuse us, as happened in the case of the adulterous woman when the religious leaders brought her to Jesus and demanded that he accuse her, too. But how did Jesus answer her — and his own — accusers? “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Jesus turned the spotlight where it belonged: on their own sin. And one by one they went away (see 8:9).

Voices may scream in our ears but when they do, we will hear another voice above them all: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

Be still and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “Jesus has set you free.” May God help you to build on the firm foundation that is based on the glorious love of Jesus — and rejoice in his wonderful grace! 

When babies are born, the hospital staff immediately checks for certain vital signs. Good breathing, a robust cry, adequate weight are all indicators of a newborn’s strong physical health. Likewise, spiritual vital signs can tell us how healthy we are. And the most vital sign of all is love.

When we become born-again believers in Jesus Christ, we receive a new heart and spirit. This is nothing less than the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us. Without Him, there is no true Christian experience. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9).

Since the Holy Spirit in us is God, and since God is love, then the essence of the one dwelling within us is divine love. No wonder Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Colosse, he told them how he thanked God when he learned of “the love you have for all God’s people” (Colossians 1:4). Notice the spiritual health of that congregation. It wasn’t measured in attendance figures or magnificent buildings but in what really counts before God — love. And not just love for some people who were easily lovable or with the same ethnic background. No, he rejoiced in their reputation for loving all the people of God.

Too often, if people are “different” — meaning not our color or ethnicity, or not a part or our congregation or denomination — their plight in life rarely touches our hearts. God sent Jesus into a world that was as different or “other” to His holy nature as one could imagine. His Holy Spirit enables us to “be imitators of God . . . and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2, emphasis added).

Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.  

Many Christians measure their spiritual lives by the way they feel and they are convinced they are not growing spiritually. They regularly attend church, hear God’s Word preached, read their Bibles, and diligently pray. But they feel that they’re not making much progress. One saint told me, “I used to weep easily before the Lord but now I’m not as tenderhearted as I once was. I’m simply not growing.”

The apostle Paul likens our spiritual growth to the growth of our bodies. He says our souls are nourished in the same way we are physically: “The Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:19).

Simply put, as you trust and abide in Christ (the Head), a never-ending measure of his life is pumped into your soul. Jesus is a constant life-force in your being, a living stream that never shuts down. Therefore, his life is constantly flowing into you, even when you are sleeping. He provides a fresh supply of his life to you every day, no matter how you feel on the outside.

Jesus is the bread sent to us from heaven to build up our spiritual immune system against sin of all kind. We may not see outward signs of this (just as we do not see our physical body’s immune system growing stronger). But God’s Word promises that all who love Jesus will grow stronger in their spiritual immunity.

Think about it. At times you will be tempted, but over the years you have found a growing power to resist the world’s seductions. You may think your growth is fixed, with no forward motion. But God has given us this covenant promise: “Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Psalm 92:13).  So be encouraged — you are growing!