Devotions

The Holy Spirit stirred my spirit concerning his love and led me to this passage: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ until eternal life” (Jude 20-21).

As I read these verses, I heard the Spirit quietly whisper to me, “David, you’ve never yet come into the fullness and joy of my love. You have the theology right, but you haven’t experienced the ecstasy and rest of keeping yourself in my love. There is a whole ocean of my love for you to swim in.”

The Bible is filled with the truth of God’s love but at times I allow myself to wonder how the Lord could ever love me. I don’t doubt his love, I just fail to keep myself in the knowledge and assurance of his love for me.

The love of God must be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit and the revelation comes in part when we are born again. If you were to ask most Christians what they know about God’s love for them, they would answer, “I know God loves me because he gave his son to die for me.” And they would quote John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Yet the secret to understanding the love of God is the secret to an overcoming life. Multitudes grow spiritually cold and lazy because they’re ignorant of the Lord’s love for them. They don’t understand that their greatest weapon against Satan’s attacks is to be fully convinced of God’s love.

In Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17, he prayed this remarkable prayer, “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me … that the world may know that You … have loved them as You have loved Me” (17:22-24).

At times David suffered greatly under the Lord’s chastening rod. He was afraid the Lord had utterly forsaken him because of his sin, a thought he could not bear, and he pleaded with the Lord, “Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me” (Psalm 69:15). He was saying, “Lord, please don’t let me go so far down I can’t get out!”

In David’s despair, his praying became intense. We read on many occasions where he cried out to God in anguish: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!” (Psalm 130:1-2).

For many believers, sinking to the bottom means the end. They become so overwhelmed by their failures, they develop a sense of unworthiness, and over time they feel trapped beyond any help. Isaiah wrote of such believers, “O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted” (Isaiah 54:11).

Some eventually get mad at God because they don’t think he is moving quickly enough. “Lord, where were you when I needed you? I cried out to you but you didn’t answer. I’m tired of waiting without seeing any change.” Many such believers simply give up trying and give themselves over to their sin. Others fall into a fog of spiritual apathy, convinced that God doesn’t care about them anymore: “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14).

David was brought up from the depths by remembering the forgiving nature of God. After all his weeping to the Lord, David ended up testifying, “There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared” (Psalm 130:4). The Holy Spirit began to flood his spirit with memories of God’s mercies and the Father’s forgiving, pardoning nature.

Walking in the fear of the Lord makes us able to say, “I know my Father loves me and will never abandon me. He is always ready to forgive me whenever I call on him.”

How often do you pray for others? Too often when we tell someone, “I’ll pray for you,” we forget to do it. Or we pray once and then quickly forget about their need.

The apostle Paul experienced hardships so dire that he feared for his life: “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Paul shared his need with his brothers and after he was delivered, he gave them credit for their support in prayer (see 2 Corinthians 1:11).

We don’t know exactly what Paul’s trouble was but 2 Corinthians 7:5 offers a hint: “For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.” Paul was at a point of exhaustion of some kind, perhaps suffering mental anguish, and he obviously needed prayer support.

Many believers today suffer as Paul did; their greatest anguish is emotional, perhaps caused by those they have loved or helped the most. A significant lesson Paul learned in his anguish was that he had to turn to the Lord. He could no longer trust in his flesh, abilities or willpower. “We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

A precious elderly man wrote to tell me that God had prompted him to pray for me daily and he asked if he could put me on his prayer list — which included widows, the poor, ministers and unsaved people. He leads a simple life and prays without ceasing. I believe that those who intercede for others receive an especially rich reward in heaven. When I think about the souls God has allowed evangelists to reap into the kingdom, I immediately think of the incredible helping prayers of people like this dear saint.

America’s children today are a lost generation. No generation in history has been so plagued by sex, drugs, alcohol, greed and murder at such a young age. Who is to blame for this?

Our educational system has become vile and perverted as teachers are introducing students to atheism, evolution, perversion, permissive sexual attitudes and anti-religious bigotry. A teacher cannot place a Bible on his desk — but he can display literature on subjects ranging from communism to pornography.

I am convinced our entire society is experiencing a moral collapse. Many parents, including Christians, blame this on schools, the government, the media, the church and their children’s peers. All these forces play a part in the disintegration of our youth, but neither schools, culture, media, evil music or backslidden churches alone are causing all this ruin. The truth is, the responsibility for this generation of youth rests primarily with the parents. The home is where most seeds of rebellion and wickedness are being sown.

I sincerely believe that parents need more wisdom and discernment now than at any time in history. Satan has many more wicked inventions and subtle disguises to use against God’s people and only through daily, diligent prayer and immersion in God’s Word will we have power against him as guardians over our homes.

Take special note of this covenant promise for your children: “Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant’ and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses’” (Isaiah 44:2-4).

Parents, plead God’s promises over your children; claim them as yours and hold them up to the Lord in intercession. Then bathe your family in prayer — and watch the enemy flee.

“You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:48-49).

Jesus tells his friends who had been with him in ministry for three years that they had been witnesses to his heart, his mind, his works and his wisdom. And yet he tells them to remain in the city — don’t move — until.

Many of you reading this today need an until in your life. Things are not the way you want them to be or believe they should be. And you are waiting until something happens.

Until God comes, things are going to stay the same. Until God comes, there will be no power encounter with heaven that will transform things taking place on earth.

The author of Luke also wrote the book of Acts and we see again, “[Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promises of the Father” (Acts 1:4). He is telling them again to wait until you have been endued with power from high.

Wait! Don’t rush to get things you believe you were meant to attain in life. We must work at waiting, in a sense. The humility that waiting requires says, “I don’t have the power to do this and I can’t do that in my own strength. I need the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.”

What do you think this waiting looked like for the disciples? They were not groaning, “Oh, we have to wait on God.” No! We see that Jesus blessed them and even as he was carried up into heaven, they were full of great joy. 

“And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24:50-53).