Devotions

When Jesus walked the earth, He made Himself accessible to the whole population. He taught in synagogues, on hillsides, on boats. He healed the sick, performing wonders and miracles. He lifted His voice at the feasts, crying, “I am the living water. Come to Me, and I will satisfy your thirsty soul.” Anyone could draw near to Him and be satisfied.

But our Lord’s invitation was mostly ignored. He cried over the people, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37). He was saying to Israel, “I’m here now, available to you. I’ve told you to come to me for healing and to have your needs met. But you won’t come.”

How did Jesus respond to the people’s rejection of Him? He declared, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (23:38). The word Jesus uses for desolate here signifies loneliness, waste, unfruitfulness. He said, “Your church life, your household, your spiritual walk—they are all going to dry up and die.”

Think about it. If parents don’t seek God daily, their children certainly won’t. Instead, their home will be filled with worldliness, spiritual barrenness, a loneliness beyond description. Eventually, that family will end up in total desolation.

Keep in mind, Jesus spoke these warnings in a day of grace. He added, “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). The meaning here is, “I’ve given you all the access you need to live an overcoming life. But you’ve ignored My offer. I’m sorry, but your decision is going to bring desolation to your life and home. And you won’t see Me again until eternity.”

When was the last time you came to God to find everything you needed for life? Were you in trouble, facing a crisis with your family, your job, your health? There’s nothing wrong with appropriating access to God in times of severe need. Isaiah writes, “Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them” (Isaiah 26:16). The Psalmist testifies, “I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble” (Psalm 142:1-2).
 

What is the greatest pain Christ’s soul could ever experience? I believe it is that a generation that has received full, unrestricted access does not come to Him.

For centuries, God’s people yearned and longed to see the blessing of our day. The access we now enjoy is the very access Moses yearned for. It is the same access David’s heart could see but could not obtain. It is the access Daniel never had, though he prayed to the Lord three times a day. Our forefathers saw this access happening in our day, and they rejoiced for us.

Yet we who have been given the right to this wonderful gift take it for granted. The door has been opened for us, yet we refuse to enter for days and weeks at a time. What a crime! Every time we ignore the access Jesus bought for us, casually walking past the door, we take His blood lightly. Our Lord told us we have all the resources we need if we would only come to Him. Yet we continue to snub His costly gift.

Scripture admonishes us, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. . . . Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)” (Hebrews 10:22-23). This passage clearly speaks of prayer. God is urging us, “Come into My presence often, daily. You can’t maintain your faith if you’re not drawing near to Me. If you don’t enter My presence boldly, your faith is going to waver.”

You may know Christians who were once on fire for Jesus, always making quality time for the Lord, searching His Word and shutting themselves in with Him. They knew to draw to Him to keep their faith alive.

Yet now these same Christians merely “think” their prayers. Or they rush into God’s presence for a few minutes just to say, “Hello, Lord. Please guide Me today. I love You, Jesus. Goodbye.” Their seeking heart is gone. The unhurried communion they once enjoyed is no more. And when you ask them about their abandoned prayer life, they claim to be “resting on faith.”

I tell you, prayerless people soon become faithless people. The more they forsake the gift of access, refusing to draw on God’s provisions, the more they drift away.
 

In one sudden, glorious moment, Jesus provided total, unrestricted access to the Father. The Bible says that at Golgotha, on a blood-stained cross, “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51).

At the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil in the temple in Jerusalem was literally ripped apart. That’s the moment our destiny was sealed. In the instant that our Lord gave up the ghost, we were given total, unrestricted access to the holy of holies: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19).

This tearing of the physical veil represented what took place in the spirit world. Finally, we were able to enjoy something that generation after generation could not. We have a privilege even Abraham, Moses and David did not have—access to the Holy of Holies, the very throne room of almighty God. The door was no longer shut to us. Unrestricted access was made possible.

Moreover, at His death, Jesus became our High Priest. He ascended to the New Jerusalem, to a temple not made with hands, where He took on the role of high priest. He walked right into the holy presence of God and, with the incense of His own intercessions, presented His blood at the mercy seat. Then He sat down at the Father's right hand, with all power, might and glory.

At that point, Jesus claimed His Covenant right to receive into one spiritual body all who would repent and receive Him as Lord. And He sent the Holy Spirit to issue a call to His children: “I have opened the door to the Father. You are now accepted simply by being in Me by faith. So, come boldly to the throne! I’ll take you into the presence of My Father, who is now your Father. You have unrestricted access to Him, day and night.”
 

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross would be sufficient for all time. His saving, forgiving, cleansing power and victory are available to every person in every era, from the most devout believer to the most hardened sinner.

Even as a young boy, I understood my need for Christ’s gift of salvation. I knew that when I accepted Jesus, His saving work on my behalf had been achieved once and for all. But not long after I accepted Him my anger erupted at one of my siblings, as happens so often among kids. Suddenly I was aware that I needed Jesus’ cleansing blood in my life all over again. I felt utterly lost, wondering whether my salvation was real.

Eventually I learned that I needed not only Christ’s salvation but His cleansing power in my life daily. Jesus demonstrated our need at the Last Supper when He took a towel and basin and began washing His disciples’ feet. Peter puzzled over this symbolic act, saying, “Lord, if You’re going to wash my feet, why not clean my head too?” (see John 13:9). Jesus answered, in essence, “Peter, you’re going to be saved by My blood. But you still live in a dirty world, and as you walk through it you’ll get dust on your feet. You’re going to need Me to wash your feet just as much as your heart.”

It’s true that Jesus has made us new creatures, having justified us once and for all. But as we walk through the mire of a dark and evil world, we can’t avoid picking up flecks of its anger, lust and hardness. Jesus says to us, just as He told Peter, “If your life is going to be pleasing to Me, I have to rid you of these things daily.”

To walk in His holiness, we must realize that Jesus wants to drive things out of our lives. In Matthew 21:12-13 when He ran the moneychangers out of the temple, He was ridding the church of a certain callousness that had overcome them. It wasn’t so much the exchange of money that upset Jesus; that practice had existed for years, as a convenience to faithful believers who traveled great distances to Jerusalem. What upset Jesus more was the focus on commerce, which had overtaken people’s passion for God. In their hearts, a house of prayer had been turned into a house of trade.
 

“A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!’ Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, ‘I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?’ Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.

“The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices” (Acts 19:13-18, NLT).

What a story! We see in it, clear as day, a picture of thousands of churches, ministries and believers today. Notice a few characteristics of the sons of Sceva. They had a religious background, a second-generation tradition with a history of rituals and religiosity. They had standing and reputation in God’s house, for they were sons of the High Priest. They knew the Scriptures, and they had learned well the jargon of spiritual warfare.

But they were pathetic parakeets repeating the words, intonations, and prayer formulas while having no true communion and relationship with God. They had the lingo down pat, but there was no victory, no true supernatural authority. They knew how to keep up appearances, but had no power, no divine capacity to deliver; they were just a pale imitation with illumination. They wanted to cast out demons but they had not developed their relationship with God in the secret place. The result was dreadful and dangerous.

Are you thirsting for an anointing of freedom, authority and victory? Do you burn with the desire to walk by the faith which “gives life to what was dead”? Cry out with me, “Lord, increase my faith.” There is no limit to the delivering power, protection and strength that will be yours if you stand against the enemy with faith that says, “To men this is impossible; but to God all things are possible” (see Matthew 19:26).

Claude Houde, lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada, is a frequent speaker at the Expect Church Leadership Conferences conducted by World Challenge throughout the world. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.