Devotions

The apostle Paul said, “[The Lord] 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 1:4, NKJV).

One of the neediest ministries in the church of Jesus Christ today is that of consolation, comforting others in their trouble and affliction. Many believers simply do not know where to turn when they are hurting.

When I am really suffering, I do not want to read a book outlining ten steps on how to find victory or go to a big-name evangelist who will zap me. None of these is the answer because none will reach the root of my suffering. No, I want to talk to an ordinary person who has suffered heavily and has come through it all praising God, comforted and full of faith!

It is suffering people who receive the consolations and comforts of the Lord. They know the sympathy of Jesus because his voice speaks true comfort to them in their hour of darkness. These sufferers become rich in spiritual resources. They develop a confidence born out of having endured tribulations and testing. Best of all, God gives them influence they could not have attained in any other way.

I think of Corrie Ten Boom and the wonderful experience it was for the thousands of people who sat and listened to her talk about Jesus. Many pastors and leaders all over the United States were comforted and encouraged by this once-unknown woman because her suffering had produced a wealth of knowledge of the Lord. She had an abundance of consolation and comfort from the Holy Spirit, and she used it as an influence for Jesus!

Paul could rejoice in his suffering because he knew it was for others’ benefit. He saw his trials as a kind of schooling he was going through. He could say, “God has a purpose in this because he is training me! There will be people who are going to need the comfort and consolation that I have received in my suffering.” Paul referred to his heavenly Father as “The Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). He saw the glorious, compassionate heart of God. He encouraged us to receive God’s comfort with joy and then to pay it forward.

We are facing a time when the word “deliverance” will take on a whole new meaning. In the past, Christians have thought of deliverance mainly as physical healing. Soon, however, the greatest deliverance will be from fear and terror.

Deliverance at that time will mean having a “sure word from heaven.” Jesus said that men’s hearts will fail them for fear as they see the awful things coming on the earth (see Luke 21:26).  Indeed, people will clamor to know what God is going to do next. They will turn in all directions, wanting to hear the voice of someone who is calm, peaceful and not going crazy. They will cry, “Please tell me! Is this God’s judgment? When is it all going to end?”

Who do you think is going to have the answers? It will be you, the ordinary Christian who has been shut in with God. You will be full of calm and peace while everything is falling apart because God is with you, and you’re hearing from heaven. He warned you this was coming, and he promised to protect you.

I believe God is going to use his people in these last days to stir multitudes, revive pastors and awaken churches. God will use us to turn people’s hearts back to God by bringing them to repentance through prayer and godly reproof of sin.

When I speak of a holy remnant in training, I do not mean an army of preachers, evangelists and missionaries. I am talking about ordinary lovers of Jesus who, with peace and calm, point others to him. God doesn’t want a professional army trained in man’s methods. He wants men and women who are trained in prayer by the Holy Spirit. He is seeking believers who have spent time with him, preparing their hearts and learning to hear his voice.

Does this describe you? Is your life a witness to a scared and shaken world? I urge you to get alone with God and let him speak to you. Ask him to reveal the sin in your life. Make yourself available to him by giving yourself to prayer. Through time spent with him, you will then be prepared to stand on the front lines and proclaim his love to the world!

One simple way to measure whether you love well is to examine how you look out for the interests of others.

As a pastor, I have to forge an unwavering vision to do this. I am charged by God with a call to stir my people to action and to relentlessly pursue the mission he has given us. The truth is that I can go about this in one of two ways: through my own ambition, pushing to achieve my individual goals; or to adopt the heart of Christ and make my mission to love.

If my church grows to ten thousand and I don’t have love as my vision...if our church sends out 1,000 missionaries but doesn’t have love…then we are failing in our calling as a believing body. We are raising up false ambassadors and exporting a weak brand of watered-down Christianity empowered by something other than love.

How about you? Are your prayers or spiritual ambitions locked in a world of your own wants, needs and desires? Are you bothered or irritated when others’ genuine needs interrupt your goals?

There is a simple remedy for selfish ambition. Paul wrote, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Philippians 2:3, NKJV). Paul doesn’t say not to esteem yourself, your vision or your life mission, but he reminds us that others also have vision, purpose and a mission. If you will esteem them, you won’t only be helping them. You’ll also be strengthening them in their calling and perhaps affecting many lives.

Think about the power of Paul’s statement. Imagine what might happen if every Christian radically obeyed this truth. We would all have deep, world-impacting interests in others, and none of us would be immersed in our individual goals. The whole body of Christ would be so other-centered that we would empower one another in our individual callings.

If each of us is looking only to interests of our own making, our testimony will be limited at best. If we all are looking in love to build up others, though, every God-ordained mission will have more than ample support to be accomplished. That is what I call a way to live. It is a campaign I want to start today, living for, being in and serving those around me for the glory of God.

When a baby is born, the parents say, “Ah, a new generation!” They stare in wonder at this little treasure, taking in the scent and soft skin of brand-new life. A parent never forgets those first moments in the presence God’s latest, adorable creation.

Then, it’s a blur! The years race by; sleepless nights, diapers and first steps turn into sports, music lessons and graduations. Suddenly, childhood is over. You step back and say, “Wait… What did we teach them?”

Every new generation is a blank slate. What is placed in their hearts and minds, layer by layer, is there because someone taught it to them. I use parents as an example, but it’s true for all of us. No matter who you are, you can teach; and the love, grace and magnificence of God can be taught anywhere, anytime. It’s important to ask ourselves if we’re doing this.

As a parent, mentor, teacher or pastor, do you make sure that God is known to those you teach? Do you teach pop psychology or scripture? God’s splendor doesn’t need a bestselling book, a TED Talk or a counseling session to be known. It only needs to be unwrapped and shared. His attributes are so magnificent that they apply to everything we do, yet we often barely scratch the surface in our teaching. People need the knowledge of God so they can navigate life. They need to know where to turn when they hit a wall. We all need to view God in the light he intended us to see him.

Consider some of his names and how they bring immeasurable peace and comfort: Immanuel (God with us), Jehovah-Rapha (the Lord our healer), Jehovah-Jireh (the Lord our provider), Jehovah-Shalom (the Lord is peace). There are many more. He is holy and righteous; yet he is right next to us, listening for our voice. The next generation needs to hear!

Knowing God and understanding his attributes are the greatest life skills we can have. Still, they must first be taught and then retaught to ensure that we don’t get rusty. Deuteronomy tells us, “When you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7, ESV).Every day, at every opportunity, show them again the God who loves them without end, and show them how to find him.

George Müller once said, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.” 

Theresa and I went to Burundi not long after the great ethnic conflict there between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. We could feel the tension the moment we arrived in Burundi. I noticed that there were no dogs as we had seen running freely in other African nations. When I asked about it, I was told that they had all been shot because they had started eating human bodies in the streets. That starkly reminded me of how fresh the wounds were in this country.

The first public speaking I did was to a national pastors gathering of several thousand Hutu and Tutsi pastors. I spoke to the truth of scripture where it says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21, NKJV).

I went on. “You have the obligation to model the cross of Christ and teach forgiveness, even for those who have killed your loved ones and would kill you.” There was a stunned silence as I opened the altar for those who were willing to forgive. 

Suddenly, one of the pastors knelt and began to wail. His wail was like nothing I had ever heard before. All I could think was this must be the sound of a person coming home to find his family murdered. This haunting cry and the sobbing after it spread like fire throughout the crowd. 

Then from the depths of the grief, an incredible joy broke out. The sobbing gave way to dancing and shouting and hugging. It was astonishing to watch. God had broken down the barriers between them that would have been impossible to dismantle in the natural. 

If we do not love other people, the Bible says we are not yet perfected in God. Where do we get the power to do this, to forgive like this? It comes from God and faith in his power to turn our hearts from old things to his truth. 

_{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.}