Devotions

The only thing that can abort God’s wonderful purpose for you is the sin of stubborn pride. We see this in the life of King Saul.

Scripture tells us that God’s Spirit was on this man from the day the prophet Samuel saw him coming down the road. God had called Saul, and he was using him, but something in Saul was emerging quickly: an arrogant pride. Saul would not confess or admit his sin. Instead, he blamed others to justify his actions. He was more concerned with keeping up appearances than with what God thought of him.

Beloved, the difference between David and Saul was pride. Think about it. King David, who ruled Israel after Saul, sinned as grievously as Saul did. David even killed another woman’s husband to cover up his sin, but he quickly repented before God. When Nathan the prophet pointed out David’s dreadful act to him, he didn’t justify it. Rather, he immediately cried out, “God, don’t take your Holy Spirit from me! All I want is to please you. I know I have failed you but please forgive me. Cleanse my heart.” (See 2 Samuel 12:13 and Psalm 51.)

When Saul was caught in sin, however, he grabbed hold of Samuel’s skirt and cried, “Don’t take my kingdom from me. Please stand with me so I won’t look bad in front of my people.” (Read 1 Samuel 15:22-35.) Saul was more interested in what the people thought about him than in having grieved the Holy Spirit.

Beloved, it is pride and a haughty, immovable spirit that brings us down. A broken heart, a contrite spirit, captures the heart of the Lord. It does not matter what you have been through or how you have failed God. If you run to him and weep it all out after you have failed, he will stand with you. He always stands with those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

We all fail the Lord; no one in his church is perfect. Yet every time we are unfaithful to him, he remains faithful to us.

Peter was the man who said he would never desert Jesus. Not only did Peter end up denying that he knew the Lord, but he did it with a stream of profanities pouring from his mouth.

“And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, ‘This is one of them.’ But he denied it again. And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, ‘Surely you are one of them…’ Then he began to curse and to swear, ‘I do not know this man of whom you speak!’” (Mark 14:69-71, NKJV).

If you had been standing near the fire listening to Peter, you may have thought, “Is this the man who was on the Mount of Transfiguration? Is this the one who laid hands on the sick, and they recovered, the one entrusted with the keys to the kingdom? Listen to what’s coming out of his mouth! How could he walk so intimately with the Lord and then blow up like this, lying, cursing and denying him? It’s all over for Peter. He might as well go back to his fishing nets. He’ll never be heard of again.”

Had you run to the Lord, exclaiming about Peter’s cursing, he would have answered, “Yes, Peter has failed me; but I know his heart. He’s going to be on a hill in a few hours, weeping and coming back to me. He is on his way to Pentecost and to a life of ministry for me. In fact, he will die a martyr, crucified upside down for me”.

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful; he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). It is true that Peter was terribly unfaithful, but God remained faithful, and his eternal purpose in Peter’s life was not thwarted. Why? Because God cannot deny who he is.

No matter what you have been through or what you have done, God looks on your heart. If you have a broken and contrite spirit, he will be there for you. His eternal purpose for you will not be ruined because he will see it through!

“After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram” (Genesis 15:1, NKJV). This verse basically means that after Abram looked around fearfully at the enemies surrounding him, after he felt dejected that he hadn’t made any progress, the Word of the Lord came to him.

The first thing God told Abram was “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (same verse). In this single verse, God has given us the secret to the greatest blessing any believer could ever have. The meaning for shield here in Hebrew is “protector, defender.” God is saying, “I will fight for you, and I will be your champion.”

The Lord is telling Abram, “Go ahead and look at all those armies surrounding you. Nobody can touch you because I am your protector. Entrust your life and future to my hands.” Moreover, this verse tells us the Lord is much more than a shield to us. He is also our exceeding great reward. God says to Abram, “You will have your son, and he will be a joy to you, but I will be the one who fulfills your deepest needs.”

God knows all about human nature. He knew that Abraham (as God later renamed him) would have a great measure of joy when his son was born. Abraham could then say, “God did it! He promised this to me, and he kept his word.” Yet God also knew that Abraham would not be totally fulfilled when the child came. He would still have an inner hunger, a restlessness, an inexplicable need that no human could touch.

Isn’t this what happens to us when we finally get the thing we have wanted so badly? All along, we think, “If only I can get this one thing, I’ll be happy. It will make my life wonderful and end all my problems.” No, it won’t! Only the Lord himself can fully satisfy our deepest need.

Our High Priest says, “The secret of my blessing is that I am what you are looking for. I am your answer, your blessing and your reward.”

A. W. Tozer said that every problem we face is actually a theological problem. Strange, isn’t it? You would think it would be a psychological, emotional or physical problem. I agree with Tozer, though; the core of most of our problems is theological.

Theology dictates not only our behavior, but it defines the core values of our lives. Our behavior, actions, will and emotions spring from that. If we don’t understand that God is a God of grace, then we’re going to live under condemnation, guilt and shame. If we don’t understand that he’s a God of holiness, we may end up living a compromised life because we feel like he isn’t worried about us and that our lives are no big deal. If we don’t believe God is fair and just, we’re without direction like feathers blowing in the wind.

Justice is a subjective word to humans but not to God. What God does is just, but it also comes out of the justness of his very character. It’s the arbiter, the red line, the final word of fairness in all of the universe. He is just; therefore, he is impartial. He is non-discriminatory. He doesn’t see life as we humans do because, as the source of all things, he is outside of time and space. 

There is no outside rule that God must look and adhere to. Rather, he is the rule. In other words, when God does a thing, it becomes just because he defines—he is—justice. Whatever he wills to do becomes a just action in itself. This is probably the most common and serious problem people have with God. We measure him by our human perception of him rather than understanding that he is the yardstick that everything and everyone is measured by.

Even at the height of our own intellect or experience, we “see in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV).There is hope, though, beyond our feeble powers of understanding! Letting go of ourselves and spending time with God are the superpowers that deliver peace. 

The closer we are to God, the more we comprehend him and the fact that he is completely trustworthy. Rather than raging against him because he doesn’t meet our expectations, we lean into and rest in him. He is wholly just and fair and good, and his love for us is without limit.

God was going to make a man who would change his nation. Where did this man come from? He came from one of the most heartbroken women and from a very, very dysfunctional family. Let’s look at how his story began. 

“On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb”(1 Samuel 1:4-6, ESV). This is a terrible, fractured situation. 

Hannah didn’t give up on God or quit going to worship, though. She never said, “What’s the sense in worshipping? Look at me! I have no children. I have a terrible rival who mocks me for having no children in the middle of the worship services. What’s worse, she’s my husband’s other wife. I wish she’d just drop dead.”

Hannah got vexed and heartbroken, but she kept her eyes on the Lord, and God said, “That’s the woman I want to be the mother of my future prophet.” 

When she had her son, Samuel, she dedicated him to God. She returned to that temple and told the priest, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:26-28). 

Maybe that son or daughter or person you’re praying for is a complete mess. You’ve wept through the night over them. Right there is where God wants to show his power and do extraordinary things. Charles Spurgeon used to give an illustration in his sermons about a jeweler; when the jeweler brings out his best diamonds, he puts them on black velvet so the darkness will show the gem’s luster. That’s how God is. 

Out of the worst situations, God does his best work. 

^{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}