Devotions

Whether we believe it or not, it is a fact that Satan is on a mission — a mission as simple as it is single-minded. He is out to steal our passion and he is determined to accomplish it. Imagine how effective he can be if he can carry out this one task — this one pursuit. This one thing he desperately needs to achieve.

If Satan can steal our passion, take away our excitement for Jesus, keep us from getting caught up in thoughts of winning souls and reach the world for Christ, he can effectively keep his dominion on earth intact. He knows that truth, and he works with every fiber of his being to see it happen. In far too many ways he is succeeding.

Too often Christians fret and complain about the future; they cry and moan about Satan’s many victories in the world, how he is winning so many battles and gaining so much momentum in this country, as well as around the world. They talk as if Satan is destined to win. “We’re losing our kids to the culture,” they say. “Our churches are dying in numbers, and our society is growing more evil by the day.” I see it myself but I know that when Satan is winning, it is because the people of God are cowering in retreat instead of standing up and facing the enemy with courage. They are giving up too easily. The Word of God tells us, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).

I long to see a day when Christians stand shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, in this war with Satan and finally draw a line in the sand, right in the middle of his path. You can be a part of this army of soldiers rising up against Satan in this day. Let your heart be ignited by the Holy Spirit and become a warrior in this huge battle for God. The war is being waged, so take up your sword and find your place within his ranks!

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.  

The fearless prophet Jeremiah, a powerful preacher of holiness and repentance, had the mind of God and walked in the fear of the Lord. Yet, as we read Jeremiah 20, we find this great man suffering a horrible eclipse of faith.

Jeremiah was preaching at the temple gate when a Satan-possessed priest, Pashhur, marched up and slapped his face. Then Pashhur ordered his men to drag Jeremiah off and lock him in a public stock, where he was mocked by passing crowds. When he was released, Jeremiah pronounced God’s judgment on Pashhur and his followers: “You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity” (Jeremiah 20:6). In other words, “Pashhur, you and this city are going down!”

As soon as this happened, a darkness of soul descended on Jeremiah and he collapsed in discouragement. The once-penetrating holiness preacher now vented dark feelings toward God: “Lord, You deceived me. The word you gave me has become a reproach and every day I am being ridiculed. You have abandoned me, so I’m quitting you. I am not going to speak your Word anymore because all your promises are empty. My life and ministry have ended in shame. You should have killed me in the womb” (see Jeremiah 20:7-9, 17).

Did Jeremiah cross a line here? How could such language come out of anyone who claims to serve God? We find our answer in the very next chapter: “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord” (Jeremiah 21:1). The prophet’s eclipse of faith passed and God did not miss a beat. He is always aware of the devices and attacks Satan uses against his most effective servants and he knew Jeremiah would endure. God understood that Jeremiah’s cries came out of confusion and pain and Scripture makes it clear that not for a single moment did God lift his anointing from him.

You may have felt that God has let you down. Be aware that the devil is behind these doubts and he is absolutely determined to block your vision of God’s mercy and grace. But reach out to your Father and rest in his love with the assurance that he has never left you.

“God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). All believers are given a portion or degree of faith and that portion must be built up into an unshakable, unwavering faith. How does this happen? As faith grows, it is strengthened in one way only: by hearing and trusting in God’s Word.

The Lord would never ask us to do what is impossible. It is possible for us to stir ourselves to ask, “Why am I so fearful? Why am I on this roller coaster of up-and-down despair? Why does the future cause panic in my soul?” It is because we have not fully committed our lives, our families, our health, our jobs, our homes into God’s faithful hands. We have not made the leap of faith that determines, “My Lord is true and faithful. Though I have failed countless times, he has never failed me. Come what may, I will cast my life and future into his care.”

How are we able to do this? By embracing the word he has given us. Right now, the world is in great turbulence and God has said to us, “My Word is in you and you are covered under the shadow of my hand. You are my child.” “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope” (Acts 2:25-26).

I urge you to make this power word from Isaiah your own: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. … But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31).

God never sleeps and his arm is always outstretched on behalf of you, his beloved child.

“Blessed be the … God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). All over the world, people are going through sufferings and trials and the Lord has promised to comfort us in them. Notice that nothing is said here about deliverance from the battle; we are told only that the Holy Spirit gives us comfort to endure and stay steadfast in our trial.

This comfort, provided by the Spirit in the midst of our troubles, is not simply a temporary lifting of the burden. It is not a sigh of relief, a shutting out of troubling thoughts or fears. Rather, it is supernatural. Such comfort is the exclusive ministry of the Holy Spirit, accomplished by faith as we trust in his love for us.

Scripture tells us, “You will comfort those in Zion. You will have a word of healing for those who are in despair and fear” (see Isaiah 61:2-3). In response to our faith, God’s Spirit promises to create something in us that will bring comfort in every conceivable trouble and fearsome circumstance. He will put in us a word that can heal, comfort and encourage others.

The Spirit said through Isaiah, “I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, and restore comforts to him … I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace” (Isaiah 57:18-19). This is one of the most encouraging promises in God’s Word. The Lord says he will drive out from us the spirit of fear and implant in us his supernatural spirit of peace. Isaiah repeats the word “peace” here to emphasize it is a continual peace. Simply put, the Holy Spirit promises, “I will create peace in you.”

As the gathering clouds cause fear in the world, may you walk according to this word from Paul: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15). Amen!

At Passover, Jesus turned aside to the bold disciple Peter and revealed, “Peter, Satan has demanded that I turn you over to him that he may shake your very life.”

“The Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.’ Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me’” (Luke 22:31-34).

Peter boasted of having an unfailing faith in front of the other disciples, “Lord, I will never doubt you. I would die first.” Satan was about to orchestrate a supernatural attack on Peter’s faith. To sift means to “shake violently.” Simply put, the devil wanted to shake the foundations of Peter’s faith in the severest way possible.

Peter had declared his faith in Jesus’ divinity, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), so his faith was genuine — which was the very reason the devil went after him. When we are in the midst of a trial, it is hard to see that we are in the fire due to our walk with Jesus. But Peter was about to become a pillar of God’s church, launching the gospel into the world at Pentecost, and you can be sure Satan was not going to let that happen without a fight.

Jesus knew the satanic onslaught to come upon Peter was aimed at his faith, so he prepared his disciple by telling him, “I have prayed for you.” Imagine — Jesus praying for you! Many of us may have experienced times of sifting, but few can imagine Satan’s attacks being so severe that we would be tempted to deny Jesus. What a comfort to know that even if we experience a time of a lapse of faith, Jesus is praying for us, bringing us back to strength so that we, in turn, can witness to others.