Devotions

When Paul appeared in court he heard outlandish charges leveled against him: “This man is a political zealot. He’s a troublemaker, stirring up the Jewish population worldwide. And he is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes and provokes great crowds against Rome. He is guilty of sedition!”

This was all a trap set by his opponents, yet Paul saw an even bigger trap: Satan himself was trying to get him off his central message of Jesus.

As a skilled debater, Paul easily could have engaged his opponents. But he refused to become entangled in their political fight. He made that choice for the sake of the gospel he preached.

Eventually, Paul was taken before King Agrippa to defend himself. But in the royal court, Paul chose to preach Christ. At his own peril, he boldly told Agrippa his dramatic story: “King, I heard the Lord’s voice! He knocked me off my horse and told me his name. He said he was Jesus” (see Acts 26:13-14).

The king was stirred by Paul’s message. He refused to rule on the apostle, instead decreeing that he be sent to Rome to appear in Caesar’s court. During the night before Paul’s transfer, the Lord stood beside him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11).

That was all the encouragement Paul needed. When he appeared before the highest political leader of the day, Paul would still stay on message: “Jesus is lord of all!”

This is how we become a testimony of hope in a world without any. When someone asks us, we can answer in confidence and faith, “Jesus is my hope and peace. I do not need this world, I just need him.”

Paul wrote, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

He lived in a time when factions in the church abounded on the left and right, and they fought bitterly. Paul responded to the conflict by saying, “I have nothing to do with this. I am here for one purpose: to live and preach Christ crucified and risen. As a servant of the Lord, I refuse to get entangled in such things.”

Paul was then compelled to write to his young associate Timothy with the following warning: “The Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead” (1 Timothy 4:1-2, NLT). Paul’s warning here is clear: Men will appear preaching another gospel.

Right now, a false Christ is being preached even in some evangelical churches. Theirs is a Christ who calls for no repentance. It is a Christ who embraces immorality and same-sex marriage. It is a Christ of acceptance of false religions, all supposedly in the name of tolerance and love.

Today the church we see is often not as it should be. What is our response to this travesty? We see the real Jesus – the unchangeable Christ – standing victorious over it all! All other human-invented gospels will not offer one ounce of comfort in the hour of need.

As Paul instructed, we can’t let these kinds of issues distract us. We are not to be “corrupted from the simplicity [devotion] that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). All around us the world is breaking down, but we see Jesus! We must trust that he is standing with us in our pain, our suffering, our crises, all things. 

In his later years, the faithful disciple John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos (see Revelation 1).

This was in effect a punishment of solitary confinement. John had no human contact on Patmos except with his jailers. It was a time of extreme cold, hunger and excruciating isolation for this elderly servant. Yet in the midst of his trial John had a powerful vision of the Lord.

“When I saw [Christ], I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last. I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:17-18).

Today I try to imagine being in John’s situation. It had to have been a time of great confusion and questioning, even for this godly man. In fact, I believe things could not have been worse for John. Yet the first words Jesus said to his anguished servant were, “Do not be afraid.”

Even the apostle Paul knew this kind of desperate isolation. Yet in the midst of his own trials, Paul had a vision of Jesus standing beside him, and he was able to declare in the midst of his persecution, “All forsook me. . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me” (2 Timothy 4:16-17).

For John and Paul, life’s circumstances could not have been darker. Yet each of these men testified of seeing Jesus in their trials. Now, dear Christian, I have a question for you: Do you see Jesus in your present situation?

Jesus is with you and you can say with confidence and authority, “Christ stands with me. He is giving me strength despite my circumstances.” 

The more we hustle and rush to accomplish things for God by our own efforts, the more his power drains out of us. This happened in the Old Testament again and again. Israel was always moving ahead of God, frustrating his plans for them and robbing him of the glory he deserved as their faithful deliverer.

At times Israel even aligned with pagan armies to defend themselves against bigger enemies, which God forbade them to do. We have the same tendency today. Our flesh is simply inclined to move ahead of the Lord.

Elijah knew what it meant to wait on the Lord. I love this verse about him: “The word of the Lord came to [Elijah], saying, ‘. . . hide yourself ’” (1 Kings 17:2-3). I believe these are some of the hardest words any follower of Jesus can hear. It’s the equivalent of Jesus telling his disciples, “Wait.” The Lord is faithful to move at his chosen time if we will wait.

For the disciples, waiting was a matter of weeks; for Elijah, it was three years. That was the remaining length of the famine Israel endured after God spoke to him. Imagine how hard that period must have been for Elijah. He had a word from God burning in his heart—but he was commanded to stay silent for three long years.

Once those years passed, however, God told Elijah, “Go, show yourself . . . and I will send rain upon the earth” (18:1). At the appointed time, Elijah took part in an amazing blessing that God imparted to his people.

Today, a lot of us “show ourselves” before God’s appointed time. We end up spinning our wheels, tiring ourselves, becoming weary in doing God’s work. Friend, the only power we’ll ever have for God’s work will come from time spent in prayer.

To the Corinthians, Paul said: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7, emphasis added). There it is staring at us. Now what are we going to do with this verse? The infallible Word of God says the manifestation of the Holy Spirit was given to each one for the common good. To each one, not just to the apostles. Think of the impact of that verse. Is that something we preach? Do we believe it? Expect it? God has promised every one of us a manifestation — supernatural by definition — of the Holy Spirit. It is part of being a Christian.

One of the ways the Spirit glorifies Christ is to build up his Body, which is for the common good. Since the church is a spiritual organism, it needs spiritual ministry to build it up. And spiritual ministry can come only by the Holy Spirit showing himself through human vessels.

Those who engage in false displays and teachings of the Spirit have scared away many sincere people who love their Bibles. Someone who truly loves the Word sees those displays and says, “No, thank you. Let’s just sing some safe praise songs, have a good Bible study and then go home.” But our Lord Jesus Christ never intended that his church operate without visitations and blessings from the living Spirit of God. Why would he send another Helper if not to help us? Just look around at the world. Don’t we see the obvious need for something fresh from God to overcome the powerful influences of evil?

The early church was alive and active because of the Holy Spirit. There is not even one verse that relegates the importance and vitality of the Spirit only to the New Testament church. We have to believe the Holy Spirit is present for us today. 

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.