Devotions

Christ warned his disciples, “He said to them, ‘Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him’” (Mark 4:24–25, NKJV).

Jesus knew these words might sound strange to non-spiritual ears, so he preceded his message by saying, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:23). Jesus was telling us, “If your heart is open to God’s Spirit, you’ll understand.”

What exactly is Jesus saying in this passage? He’s speaking of how the Lord measures out his glorious presence in various amounts, whether to churches or to individuals. Some don’t receive any of his glory. Others receive an ever-increasing measure, emanating from their lives and churches.

God has promised to pour out his Spirit on his people in these last days. Indeed, all of scripture points to a triumphant, glory-filled church at the close of time. Jesus himself said the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. We won’t be limping into heaven. No. Our Lord is going to bring greater power to his church. This power won’t be manifested merely in signs and wonders. It will be revealed in his people and in the glorious transformation of hearts touched by God’s Spirit.

How can we obtain an ever-increasing measure of Christ’s glory? The Lord told us very clearly in Mark 4:24. Jesus was saying, “According to the portion of yourself you allot to me, I’ll give back to you in like portion. I’ll deal with you in the manner you deal with me.”

If you measure out to God sloth and laziness, taking for granted his great work, you’ll be dealt a spirit of slumber. “Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger” (Proverbs 19:15). As a result, your soul will go hungry.

God’s love, mercy and grace toward us are boundless. The issue here isn’t obtaining his love, mercy or grace; but having the blessing of his glory in our lives.

Jesus states plainly that he measures out different amounts of his glory to us, according to how we measure out our hearts to him. Our part is simply to move ever closer to him in our worship, obedience and diligence.

Some of you come from broken families, and you might feel like asking, “Is there hope for me?” I met somebody not long ago, and their parents had been divorced, and their grandparents had divorced. They were asking, “Can my marriage make it?”

I want to say to you today that no matter what kind of family you’ve come from, no matter what kind of personal history you’ve had, you can be the forerunner of a whole new generation of people who are going to stand up and serve God.

Kelly and I are very close friends with a lovely family. Once time, the wife started telling us her testimony, and we were astonished.

When she was a little girl, her mother had some severe mental difficulties and would have fits of rage and paranoia. Because of this condition, bizarre things would make her mother angry; she would blow up at this little girl who was only four or five years old. The mother would throw her in a closet and leave her in there all day long in the dark. On top of that, her father would come home drunk many nights, and there was physical abuse in the situation.

She grew up in that type of environment until she met Jesus as a 15-year-old. She wasn’t allowed to go to church, but she went anyway, praise God! She started growing in Christ and being healed from the years of trauma. Then she met a wonderful man. They got married and started having children, and we would’ve never guessed her history because she just seemed so emotionally and spiritually healthy.

If you find yourself in a difficult family situation, do not give into despair. When Paul was talking about our future hope in Christ, he said, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14, ESV).

Do not be overcome. Realize that the power of the Holy Spirit lives in you, and he’s going to give you the authority to stand up and be renewed.

I was reading Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis, and he wrote in it, “There is no use in talking as if forgiveness were easy. We all know the old joke, ‘You’ve given up smoking once; I’ve given it up a dozen times.’ In the same way I could say of a certain man, ‘Have I forgiven him for what he did that day? I’ve forgiven him more times than I can count.’ For we find that the work of forgiveness has to be done over and over again.

“We forgive, we mortify our resentment; a week later some chain of thought carries us back to the original offense and we discover the old resentment blazing away as if nothing had been done about it at all. We need to forgive our brother seventy times seven not only for 490 offenses but for one offense.”

How many of you know this to be true? There are moments that are going to provoke old pain. You’re going to hear something, someone's going to mention something, and it's going to bring up a memory.

At those moments, I've got to go 490 on the issue, saying, “I forgive that. I forgive that. I forgive that.” Why do I forgive it? Because God has forgiven me. That's my motivation. I can forgive 490 times because I've been forgiven of so much. I have the ability to cover a wound because God says I can. Now sometimes I can forgive an issue, but I still need to confront it.

How many of you know this verse "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20, ESV)?

How many of you know that Jesus wasn't giving us a verse for bad church attendance? I've heard that verse used more at poorly attended prayer meetings and church services than anywhere else, but it wasn't Jesus saying, “Hey, when you have a prayer meeting and there's only 10 people there, just say these magic words.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Context means everything. You know how that passage starts? “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). Then Jesus walks through the forgiveness grid on how to deal with sin.

He was essentially saying, “I see reconciliation as so important and powerful that I will show up to see brothers and sisters come back to me and healthy community.” If you have a heart to reconcile a broken or damaged relationship, to forgive 490 times if necessary, Jesus says, “My presence will be there.”

^{After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.}

In one way or another, we are all hurting. Every person on earth carries his own burden of pain. When you are deeply hurt, no person on earth can shut down the inner fears and deepest agonies. Not the best of friends can understand the battle you are going through or the wounds inflicted on you.

This is what the Psalmist was wrestling with in Psalm 6:6-7, “I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies.”

Is there a balm for a broken heart? Is there healing for those deep, inner hurts? Can the pieces be put back together and the heart be made even stronger?

Yes! Absolutely yes. If not, then God’s Word would be a hoax, and God himself would be a liar. God didn’t promise you a painless way of life. He promised you “a way of escape.” He promised to help you bear your pain, strength to put you back on your feet when weakness makes you stagger.

Our loving Father said, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV).

Your heavenly Father watches over you with an unwavering eye. Every move is monitored. Every tear is bottled. He identifies with your every pain. He feels every hurt. He will never allow you to drown in your tears. He will not permit your hurt to deteriorate your mind. He promises to come, right on time, to wipe away your tears and give you joy for mourning.

Paul encouraged the church, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

You have the ability to make your heart rejoice and be glad in the Lord. God’s eye is on you, and he commands us to rise up and shake off all those fears causing doubt.

We’ve often heard grace defined as the unmerited favor and blessing of God, yet I believe grace is much more than this. In my opinion, grace is everything that Christ is to us in our times of suffering — power, mercy and love — to see us through our afflictions.

As I look back over the years of great trials, temptation and affliction, I can testify that God’s grace has been enough. I know what it is to question God because my wife endured cancer over and over, and then both our daughters were also stricken. Today, they are all healthy and strong, and for that I thank the Lord. I also know what it is to be buffeted by a messenger of Satan. I’ve been grievously tempted and enticed, and I’ve had enemies stirred up against me on all sides. I’ve been slandered by rumors, falsely accused and rejected by friends. In those dark times, I fell on my knees and cried out to God.

I may still ask why, yet it all remains a mystery. His grace has always brought me through, and that’s enough for today. I’m prepared to accept that until Jesus comes for me. I see no end to my trials and afflictions. I’ve had them for over fifty years of ministry now and counting.

Through it all, though, I’m still being given an ever-increasing measure of Christ’s strength. In fact, my great revelations of his glory have come during my hardest times. Likewise, in your lowest moments, Jesus will release in you the fullest measure of his strength. Scripture tells us, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV).

We may never understand our pain, depression and discomfort in this life. We may not know why our prayers for healing haven’t been answered here and now, but we don’t have to know why on earth.

Someday in glory, my Father will reveal to me the beautiful plan he had all along. He’ll show me how I obtained patience through all my trials, how I learned compassion for others, how his strength was made perfect in my weakness, how I learned about his utter faithfulness toward me and how these events helped to make me more like Jesus.