Devotions

Undoubtedly, this generation has taken the sin of unbelief too lightly and right now, we are seeing the tragic results. Many believers are in depression and unrest; of course, some suffer for physical reasons, but many others endure such suffering because of their spiritual condition — often brought on by unbelief.

The Lord always uses strong language when he refers to unbelief among his people, words such as wrath, anger, abhorrence and tempting him. Moses made a point of reminding the younger Israelites of this: “You saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place … And the Lord heard the sound of your words [of unbelief], and was angry, and took an oath, saying, ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers’” (Deuteronomy 1:31, 34-35).

Shortly after the Red Sea crossing, God commanded Israel to go boldly into Canaan and he gave them a powerful word of assurance: “Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it … do not fear or be discouraged …The Lord your God … will fight for you” (1:21, 30). What an incredible promise! But Israel staggered at God’s pledge to them and instead of taking him at his promise, they sent spies into Canaan, who brought back an evil report — full of unbelief (see Numbers 13 and 14). You see, while the spies were there, they were influenced by Satan and failed to take God at his word. Thus, they returned to camp as instruments of the devil.

God brings all his children to the ultimate testing of their faith. In fact, you may be in this place right now. You have a wonderful history with God and he has given you his covenant promises, but the devil has come to you with lies, telling you that you’re not going to make it.

If you have begun to accept such lies and you believe God is going to fail you in your crisis, it is time for you to look into God’s Word and believe it! God has not left you to fight alone, so take his hand and walk into the promised land he has prepared for you. 

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light … He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:6-8).

We are told that Jesus is the light of the world, “that all through him might believe” (1:7). Yet, we read, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it … He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (1:5, 11).

Unbelief has always grieved the heart of Jesus. When he came to earth in the flesh, he brought great light into the world that was meant to open the eyes of men. Yet, in spite of this amazing show of light, Scripture speaks of examples of unbelief.

One such example is seen at Bethany when Jesus was having supper in the home of his friends Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus, whom Christ had raised from the dead. At the time, crowds were passing through town on their way to the Passover feast at Jerusalem and they were intent on catching a glimpse of the man being called Messiah and the man he had resurrected (see John 12:1-9).

In the same chapter, we find these people waving palm branches and singing hosannas to Jesus as he enters Jerusalem on a donkey. They were seeing the fulfillment of a prophecy they had heard all their lives (see Zechariah 9:9). Finally, a voice came thundering from heaven as the Father glorified his own name (see John 12:30).

Each of these things happened before a huge throng of religious people, but still the people asked a question that absolutely stunned Jesus: “Who is this Son of Man?” (12:34). Their blindness was astounding and the Lord warned: “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you” (12:35).

Jesus’ words here apply to Christians who refuse to mix the Word they hear with faith. They neglect to grasp, embrace and walk in the light they’ve been given and one day they will realize, “God doesn’t speak to me anymore.”

Beloved, accept God’s miracle-working power in your life; it will empower you to walk in freedom and assurance. When hard times come to you, you can say with confidence, “I’ve seen your light, Lord. Work your miracles in me again!” 

In generations past, God touched and anointed particular men and women in a powerful way. These followers of God became enraptured with the Lord and his cause and rose up in faith. They awakened and changed the destinies of entire nations — and one such man was Daniel.  

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession” (Daniel 9:3-4).

The prophet Daniel discerned the times because he knew God’s heart. “I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet” (9:2). Daniel came to this path of knowledge and discernment through the study of God’s Word. He allowed the Scriptures to lay hold of him fully, and he quoted them often and at length because he had hidden them away in his heart.

In Daniel 10, this godly prophet was given a vision of Christ. “I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz … his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire … and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude” (10:5-6).

There were other men with Daniel when he saw the vision. These men had to be believers because in his captivity, Daniel had set a standard for himself not to associate with the wicked. Yet these believers who were with him now weren’t like Daniel, so when the vision came, they fled. “I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves” (10:7). Why did they flee in fear? Because they possessed hidden sin in their hearts.

Does God raise up such men and women today? We know God “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We serve the same God as past generations; in fact, we possess something those godly of old didn’t have — the gift of his Holy Spirit.

Beloved, I encourage you to be filled with the Spirit, set your face toward the Lord and step out and be set apart.

“The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep … The sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:2-3, NLT).

We all need guidance for decisions in life, yet in a world as chaotic as ours, getting good guidance isn’t always simple or easy. Jesus makes it clear that it’s different for his children, however. “His sheep” know his voice and “come to him.” The picture he gives is that of a good shepherd providing oversight and care for his own sheep.

Does that suffice for the hard decisions we all have to make? “Whom do I marry? What vocation do I pursue? What is my purpose in life?” Such questions are fraught with tension.  

As our Shepherd cares and provides for us, our enemy, the devil seeks to steal from us. Satan is bent on destroying our precious faith and Jesus describes him as a thief who sneaks into a pen: “Anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! … The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:1, 10).

A hindrance every Christian encounters is the alluring gospel of a false teacher. Jesus teaches, “[My sheep] won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice” (10:5). Such “strangers” look, sound and dress the same as any good pastor but the gospel they preach gradually leads people away from Christ’s rich, satisfying “good pasture” to the destruction of their souls.

It is essential that we learn the voice of our Good Shepherd and be able to distinguish it from the voices of false shepherds. And the only way to detect the counterfeit is to intimately know the original. This comes only by feeding on the meat of our Shepherd: “So faith comes by hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ” (Romans 10:17).     

We all know the story of David — the young shepherd who became a hero when he defeated the Philistine giant named Goliath. David was the youngest son of Jesse, whose three oldest sons were serving in King Saul’s army. Their father Jesse sent David out to the battlefield to check on his brothers and take some provisions to them.

“Take these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of the unit. See how your brothers are doing and bring back news of them. Now they are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. So David got up early in the morning … and went” (1 Samuel 17:-20, AMP).

David’s father asked him to do something small and he obeyed, never imagining that this insignificant task would lead to a great victory for himself, for the Israelites and for God. David was bold and he ended up killing Goliath, who had been taunting the men of Israel relentlessly — a feat that would define his life (read the full story in 1 Samuel 17:23-51).

Think of it. The Holy Spirit was not moving on David to take cheese to his brothers, he went because his father told him to. David was making a cheese delivery, a menial act of service, when he was supernaturally positioned for the destiny God had planned for him.

Hudson Taylor, British missionary to China, said, “A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing.”

Your entry ramp into your destiny starts with humble tasks that may not even match what you want to do. You must pass the humility test. Many people are never selected to fight the giant because they didn’t want the cheese assignment!

Go from the beginning of the Bible to the end and over and over you’ll find the stories of men and women with servant hearts, minds and spirits who made the world a much better place:

Moses didn’t say, “I don’t do deserts.” Ruth didn’t say, “I don’t do mothers-in-law.”

Noah didn’t say, “I don’t do boats.” Mary didn’t say, “I don’t do virgin births.”

Paul didn’t say, “I don’t do letters.” Jesus didn’t say, “I don’t do crosses.”

Be the believer who does the seemingly insignificant act of service on your way to finding your destiny in Christ. Deliver the cheese!

^{After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.}