Devotions

I know what it’s like to feel poor. I know what it’s like to grow up with very little hope. I know what it’s like to look into the future and see emptiness. I know what it’s like to be completely bound by fear. I too was beaten up by the enemy, and I was deeply wounded in my heart.

In my former angry, sullen, drunken adolescent state, I recall often walking past a particular church in my hometown. I only found out later that it was a born-again Baptist congregation. They once had outdoor meetings and exciting worship, but the city shut them down and even threw the pastor in jail. The church went to court to fight the prohibition against their outdoor meetings and won; but for some reason, even though they’d won the legal right to worship outdoors, they never did it again, that I saw. 

That church never knew that there was a depressed, drunk kid walking past its doors on a regular basis; that kid didn’t know that there was eternal life and joy inside those doors. 

It wasn’t until that kid was eventually converted by a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman named Irv that he knew the freedom of God. Someone opened their doors and took me inside and began to speak words of life into my heart. Irv poured the love of God into me. Because of that, I found Jesus Christ as my Savior. God, by his mercy, called me into ministry, but I’ve never forgotten where I came from, and I’ve never forgotten what the gospel is all about. 

The scriptures show us that the congregation that followed Jesus wasn’t made up of the most religious or the wealthiest people. In fact, the religious could not understand him. The poor, the blind, the prostitutes, the lame, the lepers, and those whom society didn’t want — they became Christ’s congregation. He went out and found them in the streets; he loved them, and he poured his life into them. Most importantly, they knew that he loved them.

Have you experienced the freedom that only Jesus Christ can give? Has the Lord poured his life into yours? 

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020, he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}

Isaiah chapter four opens with a concise and tragic description of what I call the church of forgiveness only.

“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.’” (Isaiah 4:1, NKJV).

I believe we are living in the last days, and this chapter in Isaiah is one of the clearest prophecies about how the church will look just prior to the coming of the Lord. The seven would-be brides that Isaiah mentions are clearly a type of many in the last-days church. They are seeking to lay hold of one man, whom I take to be Christ; yet these brides are not interested in loving him. On the contrary, they have only one thing on their minds: the removal of reproach. They even say, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name.” 

The number seven is used in regard to these brides to remind us that in every church there are such people. They attempt to “take hold of one man”—Christ—only to get relief from the guilt and condemnation of their sin. They do not want intimacy with him. They want nothing more than to have the reproach of sin removed. This type of church only wants forgiveness, not repenting or relationship.

These self-centered, would-be brides have no desire to submit to the authority of a husband. They do not want to know God’s heart, and they do not care about his concerns.

Out of intimacy with Jesus, we receive discernment, direction, a knowing of what is right and wrong, and a surety of what is holy and pure. Intimacy with Christ gives us a firmness wherein we are not tossed around by every wind of doctrine. Stay close to him so that you will have discernment about the foolishness going on around us.

Are you facing trouble in your business or career? As you read the following verses, be reminded that career people here are likened to seamen in ships. The great waters signify the big world of competition, an ocean of activity.

“Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. . . Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end” (Psalm 107:23-27, NKJV).

These people are God’s beloved saints. They are in awe of his greatness and power, but a storm breaks out that is beyond their control. It is not judgment for sin, yet suddenly waves are swamping them, swallowing up their boat. They are staggered by problems on all sides, and it looks as if their ship is going down. Suddenly they are confused and perplexed: “Their soul melts because of trouble” (Psalm 107:26).

Speaking of their careers, many people have told me, “It looks bad. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly, I’m in a mess.” They were able to solve their own problems in the past and to escape one crisis after another. With this trial, however, there seems to be no way of escape. They are mentally and physically exhausted.

How easily we forget that our loving heavenly father is our partner in our work, regardless of our career or calling. Indeed, nothing happens to us without his involvement. He has power over all of our difficulties, and he has a reason and purpose behind them all.

What can you do when your business partner has no advice and consultants cannot help you? Where do you turn when your spouse, your pastor or your best friend has nothing to say to you? I am not a businessman, but I can point you to the seamen in Psalm 107: “Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so he guides them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:28-30).

“Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons – because they rebelled against the words of God...therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help” (Psalm 107:10-12, NKJV).

They were bound in affliction because they rebelled against God and rejected his counsel (see Psalm 107:11). Beloved, could this be you? You have sat under godly preaching, and the Holy Spirit has convicted you, but still you are miserable and continue to sin.

When a person willfully disobeys God, our tendency is to hide and cower in fear. We may feel that it is all over, thinking, “God can’t use me.” When you are in that condition, the devil will whisper to you, “There is no deliverance for you. You’re one of those people who never change. God has had it with you; your sin has caused him to hide his face.” 

Satan will pound you with scriptures, misquoting them all. When you sit in church, you will hear only judgment, not God’s mercy, because you are under such condemnation and fear. 

I am not referring to people who hide from God because they love their sin. Rather, I am talking about Christians who have taken a fall but still have sorrow and a hatred for their sin. Something inside them cries, “I have hurt God.”

To this Christian, God’s Word promises, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. . . . For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two” (Psalm 107:13-16).

God never has and never will hide his face from a crying child of his. No matter how far you have fallen or how many promises you’ve made to him and broken, he will always hear your cry for help and bring you back into close fellowship with him.

“Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death” (Psalm 107:17-18, NKJV).

According to the dictionary, a fool is someone who lacks judgment or good sense, one who does silly things without thinking of the consequences.

What could be more foolish and unthinkable than indulging in sexual activity with an unknown person? The whole world knows that sexually transmitted diseases are an international problem, and yet people all over the world are still contracting them. People simply refuse to be alarmed. Women risk their lives, and men trade their futures for an hour of carnal pleasure.

Some of these diseases are extremely serious, and many people suffer serious consequences for their foolish acts. They talk about the dread they felt when they first sensed something strange in their body. They knew something wasn’t right, and suddenly a haunting memory came back to them of a reckless act in their past. It happened when they were living in sin, playing the fool.

“Because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, [they] were afflicted” (Psalm 107:17). The despair of many such Christians is unspeakable. They feel helpless, on the verge of giving up. One man said, “I feel like my life is over. There’s nothing I can do.”

“They drew near unto the gates of death” (Psalm 107:18). Beloved, you do not have to live without hope. God has given you his word that he does not walk out on fools. The next few verses shine with hope: “The they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:19-20). 

The Lord knows there are things we cannot change, words we have spoken or things we’ve done that we cannot undo. He is not asking us to do penance or make promises. All he asks is that we cry out to him in our desperation. He wants to heal, prolong life and provide supernatural grace.