Devotions

If we want to reach people for Jesus, let’s take a lesson from the apostle Paul. He knew how to reach people with the message of salvation.

While in Athens, Paul became distressed over the huge number of people worshiping idols and false gods. He knew how deeply embedded these rituals were in their culture and he realized that in order to reach them, he needed to gain their trust. He spent time with the people, learning about their values and beliefs and absorbing their culture.

Paul was living out the very philosophy of evangelism that he wrote about in his letter to the church at Corinth: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

When a group of philosophers heard him preaching about Jesus on the streets and in the synagogue, they took him to a meeting to argue with him. They were armed and ready for a fight but Paul wisely laid aside his hostility and used the Athenians’ hunger for spiritual knowledge to his favor. Surrounded by the sculptured images of the many gods they worshiped, he began by commending them for their interest in seeking the truth: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:22-23). 

Instead of insulting their intelligence, Paul used their hunger for knowledge to his advantage. He complimented them on their diligent searching, and when he had their attention, he shared the truth of Jesus. Through this tactful approach, Paul was able to break down the barriers and reach many hardened people for Christ.

God needs people who are willing to embrace sinners and gently guide them to the truth of his Word — compassionate hearts with a compelling message.

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run.                 

Most believers claim to live by faith and not by feelings, but in everyday practice, many do measure their spiritual lives by the way they feel. You may be doing all the right things — regular Bible reading, diligent prayer — and still feel like you are not growing in the Lord.

You may be totally oblivious to the tremendous maturing process taking place inside you. Paul likens our spiritual growth to the growth of our bodies, with our souls being nourished in the same way as our physical joints, muscles and fibers. He calls this “[growing] with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:19). Such growth comes from the Head. Simply put, as you trust and abide in Christ, a never-ending flow 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 being infused into yours, even while you are sleeping. He provides a fresh supply to you every day, no matter how you feel.

How do you think the Israelites survived forty years in the wilderness? They lived on manna, bread sent from heaven. This “angel food” had all the nutrients needed to build up their immune systems and that is why God’s people never contracted any of the diseases of Egypt.

So it is with Christ, our manna today. He is the bread sent from heaven and he builds up our spiritual immune systems against sins of all kinds. We may not see the outward signs that this manna is at work in us but God’s Word promises that all who love Jesus will grow stronger in their spiritual immunity.

Paul writes, “Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith … abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). The apostle is telling us, “As you abide in Christ, you will flourish and bloom like a flower budding with life. Jesus’ life will burst forth from you.”

It is not a sin for a believer to ask why; even our Lord asked this question as he hung in pain on the cross (see Matthew 27:46). We may sometimes cry out, “Lord, why are you putting me through this? I know it does not come from your hand, but still you are allowing the devil to harass me. When will it ever end?”

The secular demands an explanation for all the pain and suffering in life. They say, “I simply can’t believe in your God; I must have more love than he does because if I had the power, I would stop all this suffering.” I am not going to attempt to answer why there is famine, flooding, disease and destruction but I do know that as the world questions, I can respond, “He is weeping over what humankind has done.”

In my opinion, no person other than Jesus has suffered so much as Paul, in so many ways at the hands of so many people. At the very point of his conversion, Paul was forewarned of the sufferings he would face: “But the Lord said … ‘I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake’” (Acts 9:15-16). Jesus himself was declaring here, “I’m going to show Paul how greatly he will suffer for my name’s sake.” Likewise, if you have set your heart wholly on Christ, determined to know him intimately, you will experience hard times and afflictions that cold, carnal Christians know nothing about.  

David writes, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

While God did not bother to explain anything to Paul or bring an end to his sufferings, he revealed to him how he would make it through each trial with victory: “[Jesus] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9). You don’t need to understand it all — God’s grace is all you will ever need.

The prophet Isaiah said of Israel: “‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the Lord, ‘who take counsel but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin’” (Isaiah 30:1). The Hebrew word for woe here signifies a deep sorrow and grief over what God describes as rebellion, meaning backsliding, stubbornness, a turning away.

Simply put, God said, “My people no longer consult me. They don’t look to me for guidance and counsel. Instead, they lean on the arm of flesh and every time they act without seeking me, turning to the world for help, they pile sin upon sin. They have forsaken their trust in the strong arm of the Lord.”

Today, we think of rebellion as refusing to obey God’s Word and turning to drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality and other gross sins. But the rebellion God refers to here is far more grievous than these things. The Lord’s own people were saying, “Let’s not bother God with this; we have the wisdom and we’ll do it on our own.”

God’s people knew full well that they were to trust the Lord in every situation, no matter how insignificant. The Psalms constantly reminded them of this: “My soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge” (Psalm 57:1). “Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice” (Psalm 63:7).

The Lord is grieved when you take steps to make your plans work without waiting for him to act. You really want to pray about everything and let God have control but too often when a crisis arises and things seem to be progressing slowly, you end up taking matters into your own hands. You may grow impatient with the Lord’s timetable but it is vital to remember that your own reasoning will not bring about God’s best plan. And the Word promises a place of refuge and rejoicing when you trust in him.

The Lord is preparing to pour out his Spirit on his people in these last days and I know you want to have a part in it. In order for this to happen, we must move ever closer to him — in our worship, obedience and diligence. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).

Multitudes of Christians allot hours for indulging in sports, movies, shopping, pleasures of all kinds, but they devote to God an ever-diminishing amount of time, resulting in laziness of spirit. But God’s grace toward us is boundless. Jesus assures us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The message here is clear: Devote more of yourself to him and he will pour out his glory on you.

God longs to do for us “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). This is why he wants a people who have a ravenous appetite for him. He wants to fill you with his awesome presence, beyond anything you have experienced in your lifetime.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

“We urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

The Greek word for abound means to exceed, excel — to have enough and to spare, over and above, excessive, exceedingly abundantly above, beyond measure. Paul is saying, “God’s glory in your life is going to exceed the little moments you have had up until now. Your prayers are no longer going to be just asking a blessing over your meals. You are going to pray morning, noon and night.”