Devotions

When Satan came down into the Garden of Eden, he came with a hatred for God that manifested every time he tried to bring to ruin that which was closest to the heart of the Lord: mankind. The devil ended up sowing a thought into the human race that would bring man to his own destruction — the idea that we can become as God in ourselves.

After Satan tempted Adam and Eve, God said to him, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every best of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).

This is the first time in the Bible that we see the redemptive plan of God. Obviously, God was not caught by surprise in the Garden of Eden. He knew that humankind would be created in His image, would subsequently fail, and then would have to be redeemed. So God was essentially telling Satan, “Lest you should exalt yourself, know that I have a plan. You are going to live to conquer and devour those created in my image all the days of your life. I will put an act of opposition between you and the woman — but from the seed of a woman I am going to raise up the One who will actively oppose you and defeat you.”

The One from the seed of the woman was Christ. And as we know the story today, Jesus would be raised from the dead and would tread upon the devil’s imagination that he has the right to captivate those who have been created in the image of God, not just for time but for all eternity.

It is vital to remember that we have power over the devil — and the true source of our power is in prayer. It always has been, and it always will be.   

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.

As Jesus made his way toward Galilee, he came to Jacob’s Well in Samaria where he stopped to rest from his journey. When his disciples went to buy food, a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water and Jesus made a simple request of her: “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7).

Christ’s words to this woman began a long conversation and during their talk, she was amazed at the things he told her. Finally, she said, “‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He’” (John 4:25-26).

The disciples returned and they were amazed to find the Master so deeply engrossed in conversation with this Samaritan. They set about preparing the meal and when the food was ready, the woman hurried back to town. They said to Jesus, “Rabbi, eat” (4:31), and Jesus responded with this puzzling statement: “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (4:32).

Jesus was telling them that he had been fed with food not of this world and he was completely full. He explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (4:34). Likewise, we are to be about God’s kingdom work of witnessing, testifying and winning souls. Jesus accomplished this work with the Samaritan woman, as the Bible says she believed he was the Messiah. She said to her friends, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (4:29).

Christ’s need for fellowship was being fulfilled as he talked with this woman. Jesus said, “All I asked for was a drink of water but she brought me an honest, seeking heart. This kind of communion is food to me.” 

Jesus wants to have quality time with you daily. Each time you wait on him, he promises to speak to you, so wait in his presence until you hear his voice unfolding his heart to you.

Every Christian knows that God doesn’t dwell in manmade temples or buildings. Instead, our Lord has chosen to live in human vessels — that is, in the hearts and bodies of his people. Every believer can boast with confidence, “God lives in me.” Of course, the Lord is everywhere, but according to his Word, the blood-cleansed heart is his permanent dwelling.

When did God begin to abide in us? He did so when we first gave our heart to Jesus. At that moment, Christ’s abiding presence filled our being. He testifies, “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you … If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:20, 23).

Do you remember the day you were saved? Do you recall the feelings you experienced — the pledges you made to Jesus, promising to forsake all others and follow him? Jesus saw it happening eons ago in eternity — and he delighted in you. He knew you were going to receive him, even before you were formed in your mother’s womb.

“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:16).

Before you were even a seed, God knew all about you, and his son, Jesus, delighted in knowing you would grow up to be his habitation. He rejoiced at the thought of opening his Word to you: “I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).

Are you fulfilling his expectation of spending a lifetime with you? Is your intimacy with him increasing or are you guilty of ignoring him? God yearns over you and he has plans for you. Let the Lord make this the first day of a new beginning for you.

Where is the church in the midst of chaos? It is full of religious activity but it is mostly flesh. That is tragic, because our Lord always has a remedy for a world in chaos. A time-tested remedy he has used for generations to wake up his dead, backslidden church, it is simply this: God raises up chosen men and women.

Our Lord uses individuals to respond to a world in crisis. First, he supernaturally transforms them and then he calls them to a life of total submission to his will. These God-touched servants are best described in Psalm 65:4: “Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts.”

In short, God calls such a servant apart and there, in the Lord’s awesome presence, the servant is given God’s mind — a divine call. Suddenly, his soul is filled with an urgency and he emerges with a God-given word, ready to walk in spiritual authority.

Biblical history reveals this pattern again and again. Time after time, God’s people rejected him and turned to idols, adopting heathen practices. And in every case, God raised up a godly servant: a judge, a prophet, a righteous king. 

Samuel is one such example. He chided Israel, “When they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of [their enemies] … Then they cried out to the Lord, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord’” (1 Samuel 12:9-10).

Such God-touched servants became God’s instruments of deliverance. They were able to discern the times and because they knew God’s heart, the Lord used them as his oracles.

Today God is calling many to come up out of the busyness of life and into a pursuit of his presence. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

Have you experienced this divine urge to commune with the Lord in a deeper way? He wants us to spend time with him in quiet worship, waiting to hear his voice.

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah … saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish” (Jonah 1:1-3).

We know the story of Jonah, the man who tried to run away from God when the Lord gave him a mandate to preach judgment to the city of Nineveh. But instead of warning Nineveh, Jonah fled. This story was validated by Christ himself: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). In other words, Jonah’s story was as certain as Christ’s own burial and resurrection.

Why did Jonah refuse to obey God’s clearly revealed Word and run? Clearly Jonah was gifted and chosen by God, yet he fled God’s very presence, shutting off communion with him. As Jonah fled, he heard the Holy Spirit’s voice ringing in his ears every step of the way.

Jonah was given a powerful revelation of God’s grace and mercy: “I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness” (4:2). Of course, God is everything Jonah describes but the Bible also speaks of God’s holy, righteous nature. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).

I believe Jonah disobeyed because he thought, “Lord, every time you pronounce judgment, you are overcome with mercy. I know you’re not going to judge Nineveh because as soon as I prophesy, they’ll repent and you’ll pour out your grace on them.” He had no understanding of the fear of God, his holy, righteous nature.

Every believer must lay hold of a revelation of the fear of God as revealed in his Word: “Fear the Lord and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7). Like God’s mercy, the fear of God is life-giving — “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence” (14:26) — and we must learn to balance the two.