Devotions

I believe the greatest devotion of the Christian is practiced on the front lines, in the heat of battle, with fires raging all around. In fact, I know many believers whose devotion has been strengthened in the midst of hectic activity and spiritual warfare. They don’t have to be on a mountaintop to love him with a whole heart; they don’t need to live in some isolated village to yearn for his coming. They have learned to love Jesus as passionately during their drive to work as when they are in their prayer closet.

Beloved, your sense of Jesus’ nearness to you cannot depend on your feelings. When you feel down, depressed and blue and do not have time to seek the Lord, the devil will flood you with feelings of guilt and unworthiness. You may think Jesus has left you and is saying, “I’ll come back when you have time for me.” But the nearness of Jesus is maintained by faith! It has nothing to do with your feelings.

When someone is pushing or shoving you on the subway or in an elevator, just whisper to him, “Oh, God, I believe by faith that you are here, very near to me. Protect me, Lord. Keep me and don’t let the junk of the world seep into my system.”

Those who truly love him yearn for his company, no matter how hectic things get. Devotion to Jesus means trusting him alone for every need — body, soul and spirit. When you are suffering in your soul, run to Jesus — do not seek answers from any other source. 

The Bride of Christ will be comprised of those who have given up trying to find help, solace, comfort or satisfaction from anything on this earth. They have learned to depend wholly on the One they love to fully satisfy their every hunger and thirst. Stay passionately in love with Jesus — and trust him to manifest himself in his fullness to you.

“Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).

The Bride of Christ is to live in continual, joyful expectation of his imminent return because he may come at any moment. Jesus warned, however, that in the last days evil ministers will infiltrate the Church in an effort to put the Bride to sleep. They will attempt to take away her heart of love for her Bridegroom by claiming, “[The] Master is delaying his coming” (24:48).

This gospel is preached by men who do not want to pay the price of obeying Christ’s commands. They have sinful habits and lead double lives, so naturally they do not want Jesus to come back. Therefore, they have concocted their own doctrine to justify their continuing in sin. The Bible says that those who claim Jesus has delayed his coming are “evil servants” (see 24:48).

Beloved, do not let such teaching persuade you. It leads to awful worldliness and results in the fading of any motivation for holy living, of any passion for Jesus. Some compromising Christians say, “Why should I live expecting him to come if I’m going to die a normal death? I can do as I please and live it up — partying and carousing! And, like the thief on the cross, I’ll cry out to him just before I die, ‘Lord, have mercy!’”

I encourage you to look for his coming! If you are a part of the Bride of Christ, you will be so homesick for your Lord that you won’t be able to wait to see him! You will cry out, “Lord, I am ready for your return. I know you’re near — I can sense it — and I can hardly wait to see you. My heart cries out within me, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom is coming.’ Even so come, Lord Jesus!”

The Word of God bears witness to the fact that afflictions teach us to bend our knees and cry out to the Lord in all our problems and troubles.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word” (Psalm 119:67).

“I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me” (119:75).

In the last verse, David is saying, “Lord, I know why you afflicted me. You saw that when all was going well, I went astray and became very careless, so you allowed trouble to come upon me. You knew it would drive me to my knees and bring me back to brokenness. My affliction was evidence of your faithfulness to me!”

We need to understand something about the heart of God — he hurts when we hurt. He feels our affliction with us, no matter what it is. “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:9-10).

The Lord is moved whenever his children cry out to him from affliction. “[Israel] cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning” (Exodus 2:23-24). Israel’s cry moved God’s heart. Every time they were afflicted, God hurt with them. The Bible tells us that even when Israel sinned against the Lord and misery fell on them, “His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel” (Judges 10:16). 

Many people battle awful bondages in their lives and temptations in them rage daily. Yet, I say to all such people, “God cares!” Yes, he knows the misery you endure and he alone has the power to deliver you. In every battle, he is teaching you to run to the cross and cry out to him for deliverance!

“Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted” (Psalm 107:17).

According to the dictionary, a fool is someone who lacks judgment or good sense — one who makes silly mistakes. He does his own thing without thinking of the consequences.

What could be more foolish and unthinkable than indulging in sexual activity with some unknown person? The whole world knows that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are an international problem, yet people all over the world are still contracting them. People simply refuse to be alarmed. And now many are suffering the consequences of their absolutely irrational acts.

A growing number of Christians are paying a high price for past acts of foolishness. Some are sinking into a financial hole because of foolish spending. Others are locked in a terrible marriage because they rushed into it recklessly.

You may be living in regret of some sort, but I want to reassure you that you do not have to live without hope! Don’t give up! God has given you his Word that he does not walk out on fools. “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:19-20).

The Lord knows there are things we cannot change, words we’ve spoken that we cannot take back. Yet he is not asking us to do penance or make any promises. All he asks is that we cry out to him in our desperation and he will heal, prolong life, and provide supernatural grace.

Be encouraged! God may send someone to you with his Word or perhaps your pastor will deliver a message designed just for you. The Holy Spirit may direct you to a particular healing passage in your daily Bible reading. But you can be assured that when you cry out to God, he will provide a way out.

 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (4:11-13).

In this letter to the Philippians, Paul, this rugged warrior of the cross who went through all kinds of hardship, could speak to the body of believers whom he so deeply loved and say to them, “Brothers and sisters, I want you to be able to rejoice in the Lord the way I am rejoicing in the Lord!”

By his example, Paul showed that he knew how to thrive in any circumstance because he had learned the secret of trusting in the Lord — even rejoicing — independent of his circumstances. Interestingly, Paul is writing to them from a prison in Rome. It was more than a prison, actually; it was a dungeon, a cave, so damp that the condensation collected on the floor and when Paul lay down to sleep at night, water was on his face and body. Such horrible conditions could have made him angry, but the Holy Spirit had worked a gentleness into this man’s character that caused him to give thanks in every situation. Even when battles raged around him, he rejoiced in the goodness of his Lord.

Do you work in a stressful environment, among people with petty attitudes? Your family situation may be difficult, full of strife and anger, and even your neighborhood may be in turmoil. Paul is instructing us on how to react to things we cannot fix: in fact, he was so sure of his message that he repeated it: “Rejoice! Keep your heart focused on the Lord and rejoice!”