Devotions

We can find dry spells plaguing the lives of godly men and women throughout the Bible. This low period in the spirit comes mostly to those whom God intends to use. Indeed, it is common to everyone he trains to go deeper into his ways.

As you look back on some of your own dry spells, ask yourself if those times followed a renewal of the Spirit in your life. Maybe you had experienced a fresh awakening, asking the Lord, “Touch me, Jesus. I feel lukewarm. I know my service to you isn’t moving forward as it should. I’m hungry for more of you. I want zeal to do your work, to pray for the sick, save the lost, bring hope to the hopeless. Renew me, Lord. I want to be used for your kingdom in greater measure.”

Because you got serious with God, your prayers began to get answers and you started to hear God’s voice clearly. Intimacy with him was wonderful, your passion was increasing, and you had a strong sense of his movement in your life.

Then one day you woke up, and the heavens seemed like they were made of brass. You were cast down and didn’t know why. Prayer seemed like agony, and you didn’t hear God’s voice as you once did. Your spirit felt dry and empty. You had nothing but faith.

Beloved, if this has happened to you, do not panic, and don’t beat yourself up! I personally know this kind of plunge from the mountaintop to the lowest pit seemingly in an instant. Peter speaks of it specifically, advising us not to think that some outlandish thing is happening to us: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13, NKJV).

The Lord allows our dry spells because he is after something in our lives. Be encouraged! Rejoice and praise him even though you may not feel like it!

A great blessing becomes ours when we’re made to sit in heavenly places. This blessing is the privilege of acceptance; “He made us accepted in the beloved [Christ]” (Ephesians 1:6, NKJV). The English usage of ‘accepted’ can be interpreted to mean ‘received as adequate.’ It signifies something that can be endured, suggesting an attitude of “I can live with it.” In this verse, however, Paul uses the Greek translation meaning “God has highly favored us.”

Because God accepted Christ’s sacrifice, we are very special to him. He now sees only one corporate man, Christ Jesus, and those who are bound to him by faith. Our old nature has died in God’s eyes. Now when he looks at us, he sees only Christ. We too need to view ourselves through God’s eyes. That means not focusing solely on our sins and weaknesses, but on the victory that Christ won for us at the cross.

The parable of the prodigal son provides a powerful illustration of the acceptance that comes when we’re given a heavenly position in Christ. You know the story. A young man took his inheritance from his father and squandered it on a sinful life. When he finally became bankrupt morally, emotionally and physically, his thoughts turned to his father. Although he feared his father’s anger and was convinced that he’d lost all favor, he knew he had to go home. Scripture says he was full of grief over his sin and cried, “I’m unworthy. I’ve sinned against heaven.” This represents those who come to repentance through godly sorrow.

When the prodigal told himself, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18), he was exercising his blessing of access. Are you getting the picture? He had turned from his sin, left the world behind and accessed the open door his father had promised him. He was walking in repentance and appropriating access.

So what happened to the prodigal son? “When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). What a beautiful scene. The sinful son was forgiven, loved and embraced with no wrath or condemnation. When he received his father’s kiss, he knew he was accepted.

There are few topics more fraught with anxiety than money. Because it is one of the most personal areas of life, even talking about it is socially taboo. If we have been taught poor money skills, we are ashamed and have a hard time seeking help.

Christians often carry additional stress about money. Some have been taught that having wealth is sinful. We all know the parable of the stingy rich man who would not help Lazarus. Here’s another verse most Christian are familiar with: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25, ESV). Conversely, there are those who preach that prosperity is manifest evidence of God’s favor on our lives.

Fortunately, balance and focus are found in scripture. “Keep your heart with all vigilance,” we are cautioned, “for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). God is far more interested in our attitude toward money than he is in money itself.

Diligence in knowing our appetites and aligning them with God’s values determines the financial direction our lives will take. In the process, we must be mindful of our vulnerabilities. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The heart and mind are cunning and can convince us that a poor choice is actually a great one. Anxiety shows up when we realize that we’ve diverged from sound scriptural principles.

Staying focused requires a two-pronged approach. Number one is the practical: Am I spending more than I have? The guide is to live principally, modestly and below our means. Don’t buy things you can’t afford and bury yourself in debt. Decide daily to make good decisions and seek sound advice. When you feel that cautionary nudge of the Spirit, listen to it. God may be steering you away from trouble.

Second, decide to live in contentment. Don’t covet what others have. Resist allowing social media and shopping sites to feed your hunger for more stuff. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Evaluate your spending habits and examine your motives. Ask yourself, “Am I pleasing God? Am I living a life of balance and deliberation?”

Good stewardship requires our full attention. The rewards are peace of mind, confidence, wisdom and a fruitful life that is pleasing to God.

In Galatians, the Apostle Paul wrote, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14, ESV).

The crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord is the unique, incomparably central point for all of mankind and all of history. All of history is split before Jesus and after his work on the cross. It radically changed the whole world. However, it not only changed the world, it also radically changed us. So for how many of you is the ‘before and after Christ’ not just a historical thing but also a personal BC and AD in your life? The realization of the cross and Jesus’ presence changes everything.

The cross is not only the unchanging reminder of God’s eternal intentionality but also his invitation into an eternity with him. Nothing before that invitation is comparable to what comes afterward. Everything that has been ruined and broken by men can be restored at the cross of Jesus Christ, and you would never want to go back.

No one was better equipped to talk about the power of the cross than the Apostle Paul. Very few people had the level of formal training in religious matters and scripture than him. On top of that, very few people had a deeper revelation of the nature of God, salvation and grace; yet Paul also was a man who experienced some of the most incredible manifestations of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, visions, healings and visitations. He even talked about being transported in the Spirit to the third heaven.

Despite all that, he declared that his message, ministry, mind, soul, heart, passion, priorities, convictions and preaching would all be fixed on the cross. The world and all of his achievements and accomplishments in it had been crucified to him. It was dead. That’s how much it was worth to him, compared to the cross. The glory of the gospel and his Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the cross and raised from the grave eclipsed every other thing in Paul’s life.

Do we also live and think that way about the cross? Do we truly grasp how beautiful and powerful God’s work there was? Let’s be crucified to the world and everything it offers to give us value. Let’s fully embrace the cross and the glory of Christ!

_{Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.}

When Adam sinned, he tried to hide from God. When Peter denied Christ, he was afraid to face him. When Jonah refused to preach to Nineveh, his fear drove him into the ocean to flee the presence of the Lord.

The one thing worse than failure is the fear that goes with it. Adam, Jonah and Peter ran away from God, not because they lost their love for him, but because they were afraid he was too angry with them to understand.

The accuser waits like a vulture for you to fail in some way. He uses every lie in hell to make you give up, to convince you that God is too holy or you are too sinful to come back. He makes you afraid you are not perfect enough or that you will never rise above your failure.

It took forty years to get the fear out of Moses and to make him usable in God’s program. If Moses or Jacob or David had resigned themselves to failure, we might never again have heard of these men. Yet Moses rose up again to become one of God’s greatest heroes. Jacob faced his sin, was reunited with the brother he had cheated and reached new heights of victory. David ran into the house of God, found forgiveness and peace and returned to his finest hour. Jonah retraced his steps, did what he had refused to do at first and brought a whole city to repentance. Peter rose out of the ashes of denial to lead a church to Pentecost.

In 1958, I sat in my little car weeping; I was a terrible failure, I thought. I had been unceremoniously dumped from a courtroom after I thought I was led by God to share the gospel with seven teenage murderers. My attempt to obey God and to help those young hoodlums looked as though it were ending in horrible failure.

God’s promise that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9) came in loud and clear that day. I shudder to think of how much blessing I would have missed if I had given up in that dark hour. How glad I am today that God taught me to face my failure and go on to his next step for me.