Devotions

You should never go to church without praying, “God, give me Holy Spirit ears to hear. Help me to hear, understand and apply your Word to my life.” Just as the Holy Spirit anoints a pastor’s tongue to speak, he also has to anoint our ears to hear. In a Holy Spirit church, you will always hear a gut-wrenching cry of repentance. In fact, you cannot be a Holy Spirit person until you “cry out from your guts” yourself. 

King David’s church wasn’t perfect; in fact, it was a type of Corinthians church. David committed adultery; he killed an innocent man; he walked for a season in horrible deception. After David sinned, though, he uttered this agonizing cry from his innermost being: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:2-4,11, NKJV).

A cry from the heart is the mark of a Holy Spirit church. Of course, there are people in this church who fail and live in deception. True believers, like David, have become so sensitive to the work and moving of the Holy Spirit, however, that they don’t always need a prophet to tell them they have sinned. They repent before a prophet even comes to them because they feel wounded by their sin.

David said, “The sorrows of Sheol [hell] surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God…. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me” (2 Samuel 22:6-7, 17-18).

God is going to bring the Solomon church to ruin and resurrect David’s church from out of the ruins. “After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up” (Acts 15:16). This church will have a godly sorrow for sin. It will cry out in anguish and repentance and be wholly dependent upon the Holy Spirit!

The driving force behind David's church was total dependence upon the Holy Spirit. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13, NKJV).

When David was on his deathbed, he said to his son Solomon, “I want to tell you why God has blessed me. I want you to know the secret of my ministry.” Listen to David's last words to his son. “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2). David was saying, “I didn't trust in my knowledge and wisdom. I didn't trust in any part of my flesh. I was a weak man, but I depended on the Holy Spirit! Every word I spoke was under his anointing. His words filled my mouth.”

When we opened the ministry doors at Teen Challenge here in New York City, our motto was “The Holy Ghost is in charge here.” It wasn't “how to cope” preaching that saved gang members. They didn't fall on their knees because we preached concise, pithy sermons. They weren't convicted by pointed illustrations and nature stories. No, these former drug addicts testified to their friends, “I once was on the street like you, but look at me now! The Spirit of God changed me.”

Solomon spoke of trees, hyssop, beasts, fish, creeping things; but David spoke of intimacy with the Lord, of brokenness and contriteness. David was convicted and changed by his own preaching. He so valued the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life that he asked the Lord never to take his Spirit from him. David knew he was nothing without the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul agreed when he said, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). “We also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches… But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:13-14).

“Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly” (2 Chronicles 1:1, NKJV).

God’s church today has been strengthened and blessed by him. Provision has been made for achievements of all kinds. Consider the big, beautiful churches being built around the country. Millions are spent on broadcasting, books, tapes, CDs, missions, institutions, colleges and parachurch ministries of all kinds. When all these works began, each one had something of God’s anointing. Indeed, most started out with the same blessings that God poured out upon Solomon. 

Solomon was well organized and much more educated than his father, David. He did everything bigger and better than any previous generation ever could have conceived. The driving force behind Solomon was wisdom and knowledge. He asked God, “Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10).

Isn’t this a wonderful prayer? It sounds so good, and God was pleased that Solomon did not ask for selfish gain. Nevertheless, there’s a problem. This prayer is largely man-centered. This talented, self-confident king was saying in essence, “Just give me the tools, God, and I’ll get the job done. Give me wisdom and knowledge, and I’ll set everything in order among this people. I’ll accomplish it all!”

Solomon’s prayer was not the prayer of his father, David, a man who was after God’s own heart. No, Solomon’s prayer was that of a new generation, an educated people with new ideas and skills. His cry was “I need wisdom and knowledge.” I believe Solomon represents the spirit and nature of the last-day Laodicean church. This church is headed for the same ruin Solomon faced.

Solomon had a head full of wisdom and a mouth full of songs. He could preach and teach with incredible skill. He had a well-organized operation and talented leaders. Everything about his church appeared to be decent and in order, but all that Solomon did ended up with the phrase, “All is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). The Solomon church believes it has the answers. It looks great on the outside, but it is absolutely lifeless inside, and it ends up in vanity, idolatry, sensuality, emptiness and despair. Beloved, let us not end up there!

There’s a phrase we Christians often use to bring comfort to one another. We say, “God is sovereign.” It does bring comfort, but what exactly does it mean?

In general, we think it means that God is in control. Even when ferocious winds are blowing, our lives are a mess and we’re filled with fear, we can take comfort in knowing that it’s going to be alright. Why? Because God is bigger and stronger than the chaos and the storm.

There’s more. God is so multi-dimensional that we couldn’t explore all of him in ten lifetimes. He isn’t just in control; his sovereignty infuses all of life. Sovereignty is all-encompassing, which means God’s attributes are as well. He’s not partially merciful; he’s all merciful. Think of it. Mercy without end!

If God was not sovereign, he would only be partly holy or just or merciful; but he isn’t a “sometimes” God. He is utterly just, merciful and holy.

I love how Easton’s Bible Dictionary puts it: “God has the absolute right to do all things according to his pleasure.” He is not subject to the whims of anyone or anything. No outside sources can force his hand or dictate anything to him.

For example, think of a time when you needed God’s mercy. You felt the entire world was against you, and you thought, “God won’t be on my side this time. I won’t receive forgiveness or mercy. There is no way back, no path to restoration for me.” Yet, there he is, the God of grace, opening the door wide for you. Yes! He has already laid out a path for your future and a brilliant one at that. You have before you a productive, rich life, crafted by God himself! 

Lamentations reminds us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV). It is generally thought that the prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. Who better than a man who knew God so intimately to proclaim that the God we serve lavishes his mercy upon us from our first breath to our last? 

“Settle this within your heart today,” the Lord says. “My love, mercy, holiness, counsel, power – all that I am is complete and without end. I am yours, and you are mine. Come to me!”

Mother Teresa once stated, “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right there where you are, in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, rejected by society, completely forgotten, completely left alone. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.”

What interests me about chapters 5 through 7 in Matthew is not just Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, but what took place the day after the sermon. This is when the crowd shrinks to the individual. The audience now has a name. We see it immediately in Matthew 8:1-2: “Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared” (MSG).

Life just got real. The worst disease came after the greatest sermon. You know what I’m talking about. After the singing and the preaching, there is debt, marriage problems, addictions, cancer, diabetes, divorce and abuse.

Chapter 8 is all about what happens on Monday after the great and inspiring Sunday morning worship service. To know the Bible and how to sing Christian songs is important, but that doesn’t translate into making other people’s lives better when we meet them in a tragedy. You can’t be compassionate without people. No one is compassionate alone. Our Calcuttas are right next to us, and they need our compassion.

Every one of us has three resources to show compassion: time, treasure and talents. I heard someone once say, “You can see the priorities of a person’s life by two documents: a checkbook and a calendar.” I would add this question: What is your talent? You have at least one; everybody does. The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:10, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Whether your gifting is loving people, helping people, serving people, giving to people, bringing people to church…it’s always about people. That’s how you show compassion.

Where is your Calcutta? Where does life get real for you? How might you show compassion during your Monday?

_{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.}