Devotions

How do we get Jesus’s victory and power in our lives? How do we appropriate his resurrection and newness of life? 

First, let me ask you, how do you know you are saved? It is by faith, of course. The knowledge of our salvation comes from our faith alone in God’s Word. 

Likewise, we are to take up the cross, embrace it and receive victory by faith in the overcoming power of Jesus’s shed blood. We must admit, “God, I have no power. I do not have the ability to deliver myself, crucify myself or have any power over sin. I give up all my own efforts to die to sin.”

By faith, we are in Christ and are to enjoy the benefits of all he has accomplished. You see, from the very moment we were born again, we have been in Christ. That means we entered into everything that happened to Christ. This includes his victories as well as his crucifixion. If we agree with God’s Word that our sins are exceedingly wicked, we must also agree with the good things the cross offers. They are ours because Jesus accomplished them for us. 

Scripture says, “Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4, NKJV).

Once we embrace the cross, we are crucified with Christ and resurrected with him into newness of life. We are set free! We can yield our bodies to the service of the Lord and offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness. Sometimes, we may stumble because of unbelief, but we can hold on to the truth. Ultimately, victory is ours when we cry, “Lord, I’m going to trust you until victory comes.” 

I thank God for the cross of Christ and its crisis. I know by experience that the world's greatest “grace preaching” is the preaching of the cross. Have you had your crisis at the cross? What about that one stronghold you long to be delivered from? Deliverance is available for you today, but it won’t come until you kneel before Jesus and have your crisis at his cross. You must agree to no longer continue in your sin, not for another moment, and cry out, “God, I bring it to you now!”

When I was a young minister in Pennsylvania, I read many books about the lives of godly men who had led very simple lifestyles. That sounded like the answer to my desire to be used by God. At that time, I knew a minister who spoke with great authority, and he was a real hero to me. He led a life of total simplicity, living in a small room and owning only one pair of clothes. 

I thought denying oneself meant living a spartan lifestyle. I prayed, “Lord, that’s what I want. I could be a powerhouse for you if I empty out my closets and keep only a few pairs of clothes. I will sell my car and buy a cheaper one. I will buy an old, unattractive house. I’ll give up steak and eat hamburger meat. I could set a great example by having no desire for any material things on earth.” Actually, I was saying, “If I could just suffer enough, get hold of my flesh, and become an ascetic, I could serve the Lord with true power.” 

Soon afterward, my hero began teaching false doctrine, and many lives were destroyed because of it. That’s when the Lord told me, “That’s not what victory is all about, David. The victory isn’t yours, it’s mine.”  

Beloved, at this very point, Jesus comes to us and says, “Take my hand and follow me into my death, my burial and my resurrection. Look at the cross, embrace it, and cling to my victory. That is where the crucifixion of the flesh takes place.” 

Yes, dying in Christ is an act of faith. We have to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death” (Philippians 3:10, NKJV).

When Paul says he wants to know Christ in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, he is talking about Christ’s resurrection and sufferings, not his own or anyone else’s. Dying to self is about Christ’s suffering. Look to the cross!

God looked down upon a sin-sick world of people bound in prison houses of fear and despair, and he sent his own Son. Jesus came to earth, taking on the frailty of human flesh, and told all who would listen, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NKJV).

The invitation of the cross is a call to every soul that is sick of sin. Jesus calls out to all who are burdened with binding chains, powerful habits and besetting sins, “Come to me now with all your heavy burdens. There is no other way but through my cross.” 

Jesus died on the cross not only to forgive sin but also to break its wearying power over us. 

You see, sin wearies the flesh. It saps away all that is good, kind and precious. It hardens the heart, destroying peace and causing guilt, sorrow and shame. It consumes the mind’s thoughts, weakening and darkening the soul. Sin brings on fear, and, worst of all, it shuts off all communion with God. 

If I were to preach in many churches today about the demands of the cross with its death to all lusts and worldly pleasures, the crowds would flee, just as they did when Jesus told them of the cost of following him. Such churches never even mention the cross. Instead, they pour their energies into clever meetings full of showmanship, dramatic illustrations, and sermons on how to cope with life’s problems. 

God seems to have much patience with such well-intentioned, fleshly efforts to promote the gospel. However, we cannot take God’s patience for granted. God help the ministers of these churches who refuse to warn their people to forsake their sins. 

The prophet Jeremiah lamented, “…They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness…But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings” (Jeremiah 23: 14, 22).

Jeremiah’s warning is for present-day ministers: “Bring back the cross, or the people’s blood will be upon your hands!”

In the gospel of Luke, John the Baptist describes what will happen when the gospel arrives. “As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, ‘I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’” (Luke 3:15-16, ESV).

John the Baptist had more revelation and insight into the gospel than any of the Old Testament prophets, and he predicted that when this gospel came, it would be a gospel of the Holy Spirit with fire. 

Jesus came with his fire and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). That’s the gospel, and Jesus desires to bring it to the poor and those who do not have it.

“He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). 

The year of the Lord’s favor is known as the Jubilee year. Under the Old Testament law, every 50 years, slaves were set free and all debts were erased. It was a year of forgiveness, a year of Jubilee. People longed for this year to come, and now Jesus is saying that the gospel has come and is proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. 

Do you know what the gospel is? It is Jubilee! It is setting the captives free! The gospel proclaims that this is the year of the Lord’s favor. It proclaims the good news that Christ has come. The Messiah is here, and the world has been turned upside down. Friends, that is what the gospel is all about. It is the good news of Jesus for our world!

What in the world could a poetic conversation between two ancient lovers have to do with my daily life? I believe quite a lot. 

King Solomon’s bride ask him to “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom” (Song of Solomon 2:15, ESV). While she was most probably imploring Solomon to watch out for and remove the obstacles to their developing relationship, she highlights a truth that carries over to our lives as passionate followers of Jesus. It isn’t the big “in your face” attacks that derail us; it’s the little daily inconveniences that get us off track.

When we encounter “in your face” spiritual opposition, we know what to do. These are the proverbial lions and bears. They’re big, ugly, and hungry, and we know they want to kill us. We pray, fast and ask others to join us as we ask God for a breakthrough. 

Who’s afraid of a fox, though? More than a danger, they’re sneaky and a nuisance. It’s these daily aggravations that can steal our joy. No, we don’t look for the devil behind every bush. However, it has been my experience that the enemy often sneaks in rather than roaring at the door.

A couple has cross words just as they are walking out of the door for work. A young professional woman endures another annoying slight from her boss. Your child misses the bus (again). Car trouble (again). An airline strike causes you to miss an important meeting. A stomach bug prevents a young man you met at the gym from connecting over coffee. A husband or wife leaves town to meet with a ministry leader only to receive a call within minutes that his or her son has fallen and broken his arm. The list goes on.

What do we need to do to prevent the foxes of inconvenience, frustration and worry from stealing our joy? 

Remember that everything has a spiritual side. This reality doesn’t mean that every inconvenience is a demonic attack, but it does mean that our reaction to it determines whether we will walk forward in victory. Let worship be your go-to response (see Ephesians 5:19). Let weariness and worry bow the knee to prayer (see Ephesians 6:18). The Spirit will guard your mind and prevent those fiery darts from finding their mark in your heart (see Ephesians 6:16).

So join with me today in determining that you won’t let the little foxes distract you from the beauty of serving Jesus.

^{Mark Renfroe and his wife, Amy, have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. Mark served as the area director for Assemblies of God World Missions and currently serves as the chief missions officer for World Challenge.}