Devotions

“’Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’” (John 12:27-28, ESV).

At a pastors conference in one of the former Eastern Bloc countries, God had put it on my heart to speak on the purpose of suffering in the Christian life.

Approximately 1,000 pastors were in attendance, and the message I was about to share was one that I had battled with beforehand. “Lord, these men and women suffer already. Why can’t I bring a word of encouragement or talk about some kind of blessing instead?”

Nevertheless, on the first day of the conference, I went ahead and preached what I knew the Lord had given me, only to be met with a silence that was almost eerie. When I was finished, the pastors in that room simultaneously fell on their knees and began to weep. Initially, I thought, Oh God, I’ve brought more despair to their hearts when I should have encouraged them!

After the meeting, one of their leaders approached me and essentially said, “Pastor, you don’t know what has happened today. All this time, we thought that God was angry with us…. We watch television programs from your country and get the impression that if we are children of God, we should be wealthy and abounding.”

At that point, I realized that they had actually been weeping for joy. They finally understand that what was happening in their lives was not God’s punishment. On the contrary, he was preparing them to be able to withstand trials in the days ahead.

Many disillusioned Christians do not make this connection. They reach a point in their trials where they feel wronged, betrayed and abandoned. Then they begin to question God’s commitment to them and cry out, “God, you have failed me!” God has not failed them. They failed to go beyond the surface of Scripture to learn what it really means to walk with Christ. They failed to embrace the truths that promise to sustain those who are determined to walk in the footsteps of their master.

No matter what adverse circumstances you find yourself in today, be thankful that the Lord is bringing you into places of fire where everything unlike Christ is being purged. He is working out his purposes in your life and fitting you to represent him in this generation.

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}

Because God loves you, he will work to cleanse you. You may feel God’s arrows in your soul because of your sins, but you can call upon his chastening love. You will not feel his wrath as the heathen do. The Lord’s rod of discipline will be applied by a loving hand.

Perhaps your suffering comes from making wrong decisions. How many women are suffering because they married men whom God warned them not to marry? How many children are breaking their parents’ hearts? Many times this happens because of the parents’ own past years of sin, neglect and compromise. When you have arrived at this lowest point, you can seek the Lord in repentance and faith.

When you cry out to God, he pours his strength into you. “In the day when I cried out, you answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul… Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me; you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; your mercy, O Lord, endures forever” (Psalm 138:3, 7–8, NKJV).

Christians struggle most to accept the suffering of the righteous. Up to the time of Christ, the Jews associated prosperity and good health with godliness. They believed that wealth and health were because God was pleased with you. Likewise, there is an erroneous doctrine today that says, “If you are in agreement with God, you will never suffer! Just call out to God, and he will come running and solve everything immediately.”

This is not the gospel. The heroes listed in the Hall of Faith all walked closely with God; they still suffered stoning, mocking, torture and violent deaths (see Hebrews 11: 36–38). God wants to plant something in our hearts through our trials.

The Lord wants us to be able to say, “Lord Jesus, you’re my Protector. I believe you rule over the events of my life. If anything happens to me, it’s only because you allowed it. Help me understand the lesson you want me to learn. I trust that you may have some prepared glory and eternal purpose in this that my finite mind doesn’t understand. Either way, I’ll say, ‘Jesus, whether I live or die, I am yours!’”

Do you know it is possible to walk before the Lord with a perfect heart?

To come to grips with the idea of perfection, we first must understand that perfection does not mean a sinless, flawless existence. No, perfection in the Lord’s eyes means something entirely different. It means completeness, maturity.

If you are hungering for Jesus, you may already be trying to obey this command of the Lord. It is possible, or God would not have given us such a call. Having a perfect heart has been part of the life of faith from the time God first spoke to Abraham. “I am Almighty God; walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1, NKJV).

The Hebrew and Greek meanings of perfection include “uprightness, having neither spot nor blemish, being totally obedient.” It means to finish what has been started, to make a complete performance. John Wesley called this concept of perfection “constant obedience.” A perfect heart is a responsive heart, one that answers quickly and totally all the Lord’s call. The perfect heart cries out with David, “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).

God does indeed search our hearts; he said as much to Jeremiah. “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).

Those who hide a secret sin, however, do not want to be searched or convicted. The perfect heart yearns for more than security or a covering for sin. The perfect heart wants the Holy Spirit to come and search out the innermost man. A true child of God wants him to shine into their life and dig out all that is unlike Christ. They seek to be in God’s presence always, to dwell in communion with God. Communion means talking with the Lord, sharing sweet fellowship with him, seeking his face and knowing his presence.

The Lord’s heart-searching is not vindictive but redemptive. His purpose is not to catch us in sin or condemn us, but he wants to prepare us to come into his holy presence as clean pure vessels.

The gospels give us a great insight into Christ’s parables: “All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable he did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 13:34–35, NKJV).

To many Christians today, the parables sound very simple. Many believers skim over the parables quickly. They think they see an obvious lesson and quickly move on. They dismiss a parable’s meaning as not applying to them.

According to Christ, though, each parable holds an incredible secret. There’s a hidden, kingdom truth in every parable Jesus told. That truth is discovered only by those who diligently seek for it. The Bible states clearly there are secrets of the Lord. “His secret counsel is with the upright” (Proverbs 3:32). These secrets have been unknown from the foundation of the world, but Matthew tells us they’re buried in Jesus’ parables. These hidden truths have power to truly set Christians free. Despite that, few believers are willing to pay the high cost of discovering them. Consider with me one of the Lord’s parables.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Matthew 13:45–46).

Jesus is the pearl of great price. He’s of incalculable value because the merchant sells all his other possessions to gain him. Christ is the treasure chest in the field. In him, I’ve found all that I’ll ever need. No more trying to find purpose in ministry. No more looking for fulfillment in family or friends. No more searching for ways to please people.

I give up my filthy rags of self-reliance and good works. I lay aside my worn-out shoes of striving. I leave behind my sleepless nights on the streets of doubt and fear. In return, I get adopted by a King. This is what happens when you seek the pearl, the treasure, till you find him. Jesus offers you everything he is. He brings you joy, peace, purpose and holiness.