Devotions

Jezreel was known as a city of chariots. It excelled in warfare because of its vast fleet of iron vehicles made for swift movement in battle. Chariots represented the strength of men. They signified the power to speed ahead with great agility and the ability to accomplish something through a powerful, dominating resource.

Today, there is something I call a “chariot lifestyle”, one of comfort and ease where all our needs are provided. If we need something, we write a check for it. If we want to do something, we go ahead and do it. 

To a Christian, the chariot lifestyle can have great appeal. In the world’s standard of success, we see impressive “chariots” and “stallions.” These are the means and material wealth that provide people with ease, security and comfort at all times.

The servant of God does not seek those things. Instead, he seeks to obey his master’s voice and pursue the concerns of his kingdom. Many believers, though, may sometimes find themselves without the needed resources to do certain things for their family. A calling or ministry isn’t being fulfilled. These Christians may be tempted to think, “The resources are out there, and the world is using them to great effect, but I don’t have any of them. I need them to accomplish God’s work. How can I get hold of them?”

Elijah knew better than to look to the world’s resources. Imagine the scene as he addressed King Ahab. The king was perched in his brilliant chariot, towering over the lowly prophet. Nevertheless, Elijah boldly said, “Prepare your chariot and go down” (1 Kings 18:44, ESV). Next we read, “The hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to…Jezreel” (1 Kings 18:46). God’s man outran a chariot over a distance of many miles! 

The apostle Paul tells us we have been called by God to run a race. We need to prepare ourselves for the contest by reinforcing our belief and trust in the Lord. When you see chariots in front of you, carrying people swiftly toward their goals, don’t despair. Do not be dismayed at the power they have and you lack. God has a different way for you. When you set your eyes on the Father and let his powerful hand come upon you, you too can outrun chariots.

When God sent Moses back to Egypt to set his people free, they had known 400 years of captivity. That generation and their parents and their grandparents had never known anything other than this dominant, oppressive culture telling them when to go to bed, when to get up, what to think, the parameters around their behavior. They probably lived with the constant mockery of people saying, “You’re supposed to be the children of God. If that is true, why are you being dominated by us? Where is your God? Where is the strength of your God?”

I know that believers today fight those thoughts all the time. Many who have known Christ their whole life still have the devil whispering into their hearts, “If you really are a child of God, why do you struggle the way you do? Where is he now when you really need him?”

Look at how God answered this question for the Israelites. “Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 4:30-31, NKJV). 

When we walk into a situation and we’re not there in our own strength, when we give God the glory and we’re not there for ourselves, we can see God move. God is calling us to face our greatest fears oftentimes. I know what this is about. I suffered from panic attacks for nine years. It was nine years of hell on earth, sometimes even being taken to hospital by ambulance because of this affliction.

One night, I found myself in the midst of one of these panic attacks, and I finally said, “Satan, you can only kill me if God allows you to; and if he does, heaven is my home tonight. In life or death, I win.” A heat went through my whole body, and God delivered me in a moment. 

This deliverance was not in the natural or by men’s power, and so will be your deliverance. God will look upon your affliction, and his power will heal. 

^{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.}

God accepts only one kind of righteousness: perfect righteousness. Nothing else will stand in his presence on Judgment Day. Unless our righteousness is absolutely perfect, he cannot save us, justify us, recognize or accept us. This perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord can be had only by faith.

The writer of Hebrews introduces us to the truth that this righteousness is the inheritance of all true believers. It is something Jesus has left for us, something that belongs to us, a legacy. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7, NKJV).

Noah became an heir not by building an ark but by what he believed and preached. He grasped this knowledge of righteousness which God had revealed to him, a righteousness that is by faith; and he became an heir of a perfect righteousness.

Beloved, you and I were given a great inheritance when Christ departed the earth. He left us a title and deed to his very own perfect righteousness. Of course, Jesus lived in absolute poverty while on this earth; he owned no land, had no money; but he left us riches greater than the diamond mines of South Africa, greater than the oil fields in the Middle East, greater than the gold and silver buried under America’s mountains. Jesus gave us an inheritance that can make us far richer than any person on the face of the earth. It is an inheritance to a perfect righteousness that allows us to stand before God without condemnation.

Once you understand this inheritance, you can stand against every devil in hell. Satan will not be able to accuse you before the Father, your brethren or your own conscience because you are an heir to the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ!

I believe I am speaking to a number of godly people who love Jesus with all their heart and who are at a point of deep despair. What is the way to victory?

1. Dive into God’s Word. Lay hold of your special promise, take it into the secret prayer closet, and hold God to it. I present my favorite promises to God whenever I cry out to him: “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11, NKJV). 

Ask the Lord to set you free, to take away all your shame, to remove all the stain of sin. He longs to do it for you. “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Take this promise to God every day, saying, “Father, you said you would do well above everything I ask so today I’m asking you to over-answer my prayer.” God is pleased by such faith!

2. Trust the Holy Spirit. The Father has sent his Spirit to reside in your heart but you must acknowledge that he is within you to answer. God doesn’t have to send an angel to speak to you; he has already put his resources within you: the Holy Spirit himself.

Say to him, “Holy Spirit, you know the way out of this mess. I don’t. It’s completely beyond me. I’m resigning right now, and I give direction of my life to you. I know that what I’m going through is not uncommon to believers, and I am going to hold the Lord to his great and precious promises. I will trust you to do the rest because you know the very mind of God.”

Dearly beloved, if you make this simple confession, you will know times of refreshing from the Lord. Even when you are ready to give up, he remains faithful to deliver you.

Perhaps like Paul, you are being pressed beyond measure, tested beyond your endurance. Your strength is nearly gone, and you are on the brink of giving up. You want to run, but there is no place to go. Now you say with Paul, “This is above my strength!”

What is the way to victory? All I can tell you is how God continues to bring me out. Here are two important truths he has given me:

1. Don’t think you are experiencing some strange, unique battle. On the contrary, you are in good company. Recall Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, David and Paul. What you are going through is common to believers throughout the centuries.

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13, NKJV).

2. When you think you can’t go on another hour, when everything looks absolutely hopeless, cry out to God with all that is in you, “Lord, help!” Consider the counsel of the psalmist in the following verses: “As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me” (Psalm 55:16-18). 

“I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. …In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; he heard my voice from his temple, and my cry came before him, even to his ears” (Psalm 18:1-2, 6).

Here is a key verse: “For he will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper”(Psalm 72:12). Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to be your helper, and he will not turn a deaf ear to your cry for help!