Devotions

Even though our organization employs many modern, high-tech methods, we do not receive our direction from these “ministry tools.” We spend time on our knees, seeking the Lord for direction in every area of ministry.  

Today, “experts” have taken over the reins of the church. Sin is viewed in psychological terms and is called a disease. Prophets of holiness have been replaced by psychologists and social workers spouting the latest jargon, and altars have been replaced by counseling rooms. Jesus is being dethroned and Freud is being exalted.

Many years ago God led me to start a ministry to drug addicts and alcoholics. With no money and no how-to books — only our total dependence on the Holy Spirit — we hung a sign in our office that read: “NO ONE SHINES HERE — ONLY THE HOLY GHOST!” During our chapel services, we prayed, “Lord, our help is not in psychology, but in the Holy Spirit. We cannot work on the head unless You change the heart.”

Nicky Cruz, one of the first gang members we encountered in New York City, was a killer at heart. A psychiatrist took an interest in his case and after a full day with him, he decided that Nicky was incorrigible, hopeless. (Nicky delighted in confusing all “head doctors.”)

Yet Jesus had plans for Nicky! At an altar, Christ accomplished in five minutes what the experts said could not be done. God sent an arrow straight into his heart, an arrow of truth that cried out, “Nicky, Jesus loves you!”  

In an instant, Nicky’s heart of stone was replaced with a heart of flesh. He wept and hugged everyone around him as he was supernaturally transformed by the power of God. After society’s experts had written him off!

Over these past years, I have watched with alarm as the church has slowly but surely taken Christ off the throne and enthroned the wisdom of the world. But once again, Jesus must become the power behind God’s people. 

Let me give you four tragic results of dethroning the Lord.

“Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself” (Hosea 10:1). Everyone in Israel was looking out for himself and the result was total emptiness. Hosea was speaking here to believers, showing them a picture of what happens to all who push the Lord out of their lives. Such people become selfish and miserable — and their every pursuit ends in emptiness.

“Their heart is divided . . . He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars” (verse 2). Our nation’s heart is divided. Americans pay lip service to God and religion, but they don’t worship the Lord in truth. That has led directly to the breakdown of all our hallowed institutions. Our society no longer trusts God, turning instead to the government, the educational system, Social Security — all in an effort to find some kind of stability. God is saying, “If you don’t trust Me, I’ll make all your trusted institutions fail. You won’t have anything left to believe in.”

“You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity . . . because you trusted in your own way” (verse 13). Hosea is saying, “You stopped trusting in the Lord and now you’re going to reap a harvest of iniquity!” Humankind today is sophisticated, educated, but we have rejected the Bible and prayer. And where has all our sophisticated learning brought us?

“We have no king, because we did not fear the Lord” (verse 3). The heart of king of Israel was full of idolatry. So when Israel’s backsliding began, he was powerless to stop their loss of faith. His words carried no authority and the people murmured, “We have no leadership, no direction. We are drifting!”

The same thing is happening today in our churches. Many Christians mock their pastors, ridiculing their authority. Why? Because their words carry no power! People say, “We no longer have any leadership in our church. We’re lost and confused.” Sadly this is the payday for dethroning the Lord. 

God had blessed and prospered Israel, giving them houses they had not built and vineyards they had not planted. He had raised up godly men to speak as prophets and given the people clear words of direction. For years the people had proven God faithful, listening to His counsel and never turning to the flesh. Whenever God spoke to them, they obeyed, and they were miraculously delivered from powerful enemies.

But an apostasy had come over Israel and the Lord accused them of being guilty of wickedness. The prophet Hosea describes the terrible harvest reaped by those who reject God’s lordship and turn to the arm of flesh. When Hosea wrote his prophetic message, he addressed a people whom the Lord had carried in His arms for years.

“They are deeply corrupted . . . [and] all their princes are rebellious” (Hosea 9:9 and 15). What awful sin had God’s people committed? Drunkenness? Sexual perversion? Covetousness? Adultery? Murder? No, God said their wickedness was in turning away from His counsel, ignoring His word and obeying man.

“God will cast them away, because they did not obey Him” (verse 17). In God’s eyes, the greatest wickedness a believer can commit is to no longer depend on Him!

In essence, the Lord was telling Israel, “You no longer trust in Me. I’m no longer your guide and you are turning to the wisdom of man. You are running back to Egypt for help, back to the place from which I delivered you, rejecting My word and turning from Me.”

A great Puritan prophet once wrote: “Pure power is never anxious for cooperating. It just demands.” In other words, God doesn’t say to you, “You do your part and I’ll do mine. Just check in with Me occasionally.” No, absolutely not! God is pure, raw power and He demands that we follow Him, first and foremost, in all that we do. Anything short of this maligns His kingship over our lives. 

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth . . . whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).

“And He is the head of the body, the church . . . that in all things He may have the preeminence” (verse 18).  

God the Father enthroned Christ as king over all nations and all nature, and as Lord over the church. Paul is saying, “It doesn’t matter what things look like on the outside. Everything may seem out of control and it may look as though the devil has taken power. But the truth is, God has put all things under Jesus’ feet. Christ is still king over everything!”

These passages prove that almighty God has given Jesus Christ dominion over everything. Yet all around us we see our society and government refusing to acknowledge Christ’s authority and kingship. We are removing God from our schools and courts and ignoring Him in the making of our laws.

I believe America’s rejection of Christ’s lordship is the reason behind all the bloodshed, violence, racial hatred, moral decay, drug abuse, and even the outbreak of deadly sexual diseases in our society. Lawmakers, educators, and the media have made God an unspeakable subject.

Even worse, Jesus is being dethroned in churches throughout the land and in the lives of multitudes of believers. It’s understandable that ungodly people would want to dethrone Christ, but how it must grieve the Father to see Him dethroned by those who call themselves by His name!

Because God has made Christ to be all things to the church, we are to have no other resource, reference or counselor before Jesus. All the church’s government, guidance, and counsel are to come from Him: “The government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). 

Many Christians today are exhausted by their efforts to ward off sin. They are drained of every last ounce of joy, and the victory Christ won for them gets lost in their dogged efforts to establish a righteousness of their own.

Righteousness that is pursued by anything other than faith will always fail. You see, there cannot be both God’s righteousness and our own. That would mean there are two gospels: His and ours. We cannot mix our self-righteousness with God’s holy righteousness.

But aren’t we supposed to put forth some effort? Doesn’t the Bible say we are to avoid sin? Yes, but there is only one way for us to avoid sin and that is through Jesus. He is not just a truth we accept, He is the living God and His sanctifying work never stops day or night.

Paul answers the question of self-effort in Romans 9. He speaks of a people who actually attained righteousness: “[The] Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith” (Romans 9:30). These people did not get worn down by their own efforts; they were not weighed down by their failures. They put all their faith in Jesus’ work on the cross for them — and they were sustained by His abundant life.

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). This verse has brought freedom to all generations of believers. Christ is the end. There is nothing else! “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Friend, are you worn down from trying to do better? Are you weary of the endless cycle of recommitment and failure? Then put it all behind you; let your striving end. Your right standing with the Lord does not depend upon your will but on God, who has mercy on us.