Devotions

I could list an entire catalog of sins that believing Christian’s practice, but none of them would come near to the sin that I want to talk about. The mother of all sins, the one that gives birth to all others, is the sin of unbelief.

I am not speaking of the unbelief of a hardened sinner. The unbelief of reprobates, agnostics and atheists doesn’t move God at all. No, what angers God more than anything else is the unbelief and troubling doubts of those who call themselves by his name. His children who say, “I am of Jesus,” yet hold doubt, fear and unbelief in their hearts grieve him more than all others.

How seriously does God take this sin of unbelief? He takes it very seriously indeed. Jude warned the church with these words: “But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 1:5, NKJV).

Jude is reminding believers of God’s attitude toward unbelief. He is saying, “I am bringing to your remembrance God’s utter hatred for unbelief among his saved people. Having saved the people, afterward he destroyed the ones who did not believe!”

Beloved, God has called me to put his church in remembrance of this same thing. “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). God may no longer destroy his people physically as he did in the Old Testament, but his judgments on our unbelief today are spiritual, and they are just as severe. This is because unbelief is as destructive today as it ever was. Unbelief will cause us to become stiff-necked and bitter. We will be swallowed by troubles, stress and family problems. Worst of all, unbelief will destroy our spiritual lives.

Many of us are guilty of the mother of all sins, and we do not fear it. We do not take our unbelief seriously; in fact, we live as though God winks at it. Nevertheless, it is the one sin that opens our body and spirit to every other sin known to man.

“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living” (Job 28:12-13, NKJV).

I often forget how big God is, and how small and finite my understanding is of him. Almighty and eternal, he dwells in every corner of the universe. He gave us our very first breath and will be beside us when we take our last.

As I ponder God’s greatness, my faith expands exponentially. My limitations, placed next to his omnipotence, drive me to seek him with new energy, new intensity. I desire not just his hand of assistance, but I seek his face. I want to know him, to understand what he is trying to tell me. I want to look past the obvious and see the unseen working of the Spirit — in my life and on the earth.

How easily we shrink our faith down to only what we can see! Lord, escort me into your world, your thoughts, your perspective. Impart to me the trust in you that I crave, trust that you are in control and that I am in your hands. Help me to create an inner environment where wisdom and faith flourish. My desire is to know you, Lord, and to hear your voice, to be utterly attuned to it. It is to leave my sin and failure behind and to live a life pleasing unto you.

Wisdom,
Who can find it?
Where?
The deep says, “It is not in me.”
The sea says, “It is not with me.”
It cannot be gotten with gold,
Neither can silver be weighed
For the price thereof.
It cannot be valued…precious onyx
Or…sapphire.
It cannot be exchanged for jewels,
Not to mention coral or pearls,
For the price of wisdom
Is above rubies.
Where, then, does wisdom come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
God understands
And he knows the place thereof.
He who sees under the whole heaven,
Who measures the weight of wind,
Says to mankind,
“Behold
The fear of the Lord—
That is wisdom.
To depart from evil—
That is understanding.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning
Of all wisdom.
He who would have wisdom,
Let him in love,
Fear God
And forsake his sins.”

The New Testament is filled with promises proving God loves to answer the prayers of his people. One of the scripture’s most familiar promises is in Ephesians. We all know it well, yet few of us live as if we believe it. “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV).

God is able to answer our prayers, but he wants to do for us exceedingly above all we can even imagine. He wants to answer us not according to our puny requests but according to his riches and might.

The Bible tells us he is inclined to answer us with abundance. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38). “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.’ But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). “[Trust]…in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

God is virtually begging us to ask for great things!

We like to call the Lord “our king” but do we pray large prayers worthy of our King’s greatness? A king is obligated to care for his subjects, and his people honor him by asking largely, believing he has all they need and will provide it abundantly. Dearly beloved, you cannot call God your king and then accuse him of letting one of his subjects continue in need.

Have you embarrassed God by your puny requests? “‘Prove me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’” (Malachi 3:10).

“Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed” (Judges 10:9, NKJV).

Ammon had been used by God to correct Israel’s sins (see Judges 10:6-8). Now their army was marching toward Israel. God’s people were perplexed and depressed and they began to confess their sins. “Then the children of Israel said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to you; only deliver us this day, we pray’” (Judges 10:15).

The people were so haunted by their sin that they couldn’t conceive of asking God for anything more than to spare them. Theirs was the simplest of prayers: “Lord, deliver us just this one time. Don’t let us be defeated or overrun by our enemy.”

They prayed for a single victory, but God had something more in mind. He poured out his blessing upon them. Not only did Israel get protection, they got the upper hand.

“So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and . . . the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel” (Judges 11:32-33).

In addition to the deliverance they had asked for, God gave them the courage and direction to defeat the Ammonites. They were never troubled by them again; it was total victory.

That is just how God wants to answer his people today. Most Christians pray, “Lord, just give me victory in this one battle.” However, the Lord responds, “I will give you that, yet I have much more in store for you.” He wants to give you power to not only overcome but to subdue every enemy. He will help you to not just conquer sin but to be more than a conqueror; not simply to have life but life more abundantly; not to merely have joy but joy unspeakable and full of glory; not to be free of fear just for a day, a week or a month—but all the days of your life.

Studies show that nearly 19 million children in the United States are growing up with only one parent, and that over one fourth of these single parents wrestle with poverty. The children are at great physical, emotional, mental and spiritual risk. During their adolescent years, they are especially vulnerable to hunger, abuse, emotional trauma, accidents, medical problems and criminal offenses.

Love in any circumstance is a risk, but loving and caring for a tender child whose entire life has been consumed with merely surviving requires a commitment to that love. In addition to everything else, at-risk children often must deal with rejection by caring adults who cannot commit long-term to the struggle of loving them.

Awhile back I had a conversation with the staff of Father’s Love, a ministry that works with children from low-income, single-parent homes. They said that they have a prayer box where the kids can put in anonymous prayer requests, and the two most common topics in those requests are neglect and abuse. These precious children have been victims for most of their lives but have never had anyone to talk to. When they are able to share their brokenness to get it out into the light and air, they can take the first steps toward healing. Those who counsel them are often the first people to have allowed them to speak about their trauma. It is also, for many, the only time anyone has ever shared God’s love with them.

Jesus had fierce words for those who would harm a child. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:5-7, ESV). A lot of millstones in Jesus’s day were as big as a car and weighed hundreds of pounds. His warning was clear: Don’t harm the children.

Most important, Jesus paved the way to unflinching love. He saw neglected and abused children too, and he embraced them tenaciously. Our Lord never gave up on anyone, especially those who had been rejected. “You must be there for them,” he tells us. “You may be their only connection to me, to hope and a better life. Don’t break that connection. Love them in full commitment and without reserve.”