Devotions

Abraham is known to the church as a man of faith. Indeed, the Bible holds him up to us as an example of faith: “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Galatians 3:6).

God had appeared to Abram (as he was called then) and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward!” (Genesis 15:1). God also promised Abram that he would be buried at “a good old age” (see verse 15). And there’s more! In addition, God pledged that anyone who tried to harm or curse Abram would himself be cursed (see Genesis 12:3).

Beloved, these are incredible promises: protection, long life, heavenly intervention. And God spoke these things to Abram personally. This pious, believing servant of God was visited by the Lord himself and promised personal protection and a long life without fear of harm. And Abram believed God! He trusted that the Lord would shelter, protect and shield him from all danger.

You remember the story from this point. Abram left his country at God’s command — totally by faith. God told him, “Everywhere you put your foot will be your land.” As we continue Abram’s journey, we see that he made some missteps along the way. Remember, he went down to Egypt (a mistake!) and then lied about his beautiful wife Sarai, telling people she was his sister because he was afraid she would be stolen from him. Which, in fact, happened when Pharaoh took her into his house for a time. This situation was quickly rectified when God moved in and no harm came to her (see this account in Genesis 12).

God’s master plan for Abram prevailed in spite of his momentary lack of faith and his miserable failures. Likewise, whatever God determines for your life cannot be stopped if you simply put your life into his hands. He is faithful concerning his promises — even when we are not.

We know Daniel as the stalwart, gifted young man who loyally served Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and interpreted his dreams. But his greatest exploits came as a result of his being a righteous man of prayer.

Daniel lived such a devoted, holy life that you would not expect to find him repenting before the Lord. But his heart was very sensitive to sin and he identified with the horrible sins of the people of Israel. Notice his use of the plural pronoun we in his prayer.

“We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land” (Daniel 9:5-6).

“I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God” (Daniel 9:20). Daniel was saying, in essence, “Lord, deal with me while you are dealing with your people. If there is any iniquity in my heart, bring it out and show it to me!”

Are there really benefits to repentance? Yes! One truly wonderful benefit is the gift of a new, clearer vision of Jesus Christ. After Daniel repented, he had a vision: “I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen [appeared]” (Daniel 10:5). Daniel was the only one who saw the man, who was actually Jesus in all his glory!

Understand, Daniel was not praying for this vision; he was just repenting, confessing and mourning over sin. Jesus took it upon himself to come to Daniel in this revelation — the Lord initiated it! You see, when we humble ourselves before the Lord and make things right with him and others, we don’t have to seek a revelation. Jesus will manifest himself to us! It may not be in a vision but we will know that he is present.

I believe repentance is just as much for believers as it is for sinners; Christians who maintain a repentant attitude bring upon themselves God’s special attention. If we walk before the Lord with a repentant heart, we will be inundated with incredible blessings.

A noteworthy characteristic of a repentant heart is a willingness to accept blame for wrongdoing, to say, “Lord, I’m the one who has sinned.”

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10). And John writes, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

It can be excruciating to admit that we are wrong. We justify our actions and perform all sorts of machinations to escape blame in an effort to divert attention from ourselves. And none of this pleases God.

Being repentant means more than just apologizing or making things right with the person we have wronged. It is also about making things right with God. David exemplifies this for us perfectly — he believed in conducting heart searchings. In the hard discipline of digging out sin in his heart, David cried, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

David continually opened up his heart to God’s searchlight. He welcomed the examination of the Lord, going so far as to cry, “If I’ve sinned against you in any way and I don’t know it, please reveal it to me. I repent.” “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:3-4).

Do you need to allow God to search your heart today? Repenting of any hidden sin will keep your heart soft and pliable before him, tender and easily molded by the Holy Spirit.  

No matter how obscure your surroundings or “unknown” your identity, when God chooses to reveal himself to you, he has no problem finding you. Let’s consider the mother of Samson … the strongest man who ever lived.

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.  There was a certain man of Zorah … whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children.  And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Behold … you shall conceive and bear a son’” (Judges 13:1-3).

For forty years the children of Israel had wandered in the desert, subservient to the Philistines and demoralized in spirit. In the midst of all this chaos and despair lived a faithful, praying woman who knew her God. We see that her husband’s name was Manoah but she was not named — an anonymous servant of the Lord.

Just as happened in the New Testament with a young girl named Mary, Manoah’s wife was visited by an angel, who gave her a striking message: “You’re going to bear a son!”

Manoah’s wife had been very patient during Israel’s time of bondage, shutting herself away in the secret closet with God. Now she received a word from the Lord. Her promised child was not destined to be an ordinary boy, as the angel went on to tell her that he was going to “begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines” (13:5). Then the Lord set forth specific instructions on how the boy was to be brought up and prepared for his special calling. (Read the exciting account of Samson’s life in Judges 13 through 16.)

Samson’s mother believed the promises of God and she trained her son according to the precepts of the Lord. Likewise, today God is looking for patient, devoted servants who will trust him in the most trying of conditions.

Jesus himself highlighted the importance of the Word when he gave us a specific manner in which to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:9-11). Notice that he described it as “our daily bread.” There is a daily provision which Jesus promises to give us.

Jesus said it this way in the book of John: “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51).

Jesus was essentially saying, “I am the bread! I am your strength, your vision, your redemption, your freedom. I am your protector and your guide. Everything that you need for life and godliness can be found in me.”

Biblically speaking, I suppose one could say that you are what you eat! If you choose to go on a diet from the Bible, you are going to become weak, and eventually you will end up very confused. Incorrect thoughts will begin to guide you. Then, in your desperation, you will start turning on the television and listening to voices that are not speaking truth. They will stand before you and essentially say, “Look at me! This is what the Christian life looks like. Come, follow me!”

If you are not reading the Word of God — you are not eating this Living Bread — you will end up being deceived at the end of your days.

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.