Devotions

Scripture gives us a sobering reminder of what God truly desires from us. “So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV).

Obedience is better than sacrifice. I say it is also better than blessing. This is the deepest meaning in the story of Abram offering Isaac on the altar. God said, “Go and do this.” He obeyed. Did Abram leave that altar saying, “God changed his mind”? I don’t think so. God wanted obedience, and Abram obeyed.

I have experienced that. God told me to negotiate and then gave me every evidence that I should claim a certain thing. I did everything in my power to obtain it, but I didn’t get it! What now? Shall I question God? Should I doubt that he spoke to me? Will I believe that Satan hindered me? No. I sought the Lord diligently. He said, “Do this,” and I did it. I will rest in the peace of obedience. That makes it better than blessing. God shows you only one side of the coin: obedience.

The servant must obey without question. When a master commands his servant to go, he goes. That, too, is faith.

Can a man purpose in his heart to trust God when it appears that the Lord is breaking a promise? Can a man still speak the language of faith when all his leadings “blow up” in his face? The giants of faith did! They said, as Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15). Men of great faith faced the fieriest trials.

God has peculiar ways of developing faith. The deeper into God you go, the more peculiar your testing will be. Do not fall into the temptation of believing that afflictions are proof that you are displeasing the Lord. Miracles are produced only amidst impossibilities. If you desire to be a child of faith, ready yourself for a life of most peculiar tests. Faith comes by using what you have. Don’t wait for obstacles to be removed. Go forth anyhow! The most critical part of faith is “the last half hour.”

Every victory we win over the flesh and the devil will soon be followed by an even greater temptation and attack. Satan simply will not give up in his war against us. If we defeat him once, he’ll redouble his forces and come right back at us. Suddenly, we’ll find ourselves back in a spiritual war we thought we’d already won.

Scripture tells us, “The Syrians set themselves in battle array against David and fought with him” (2 Samuel 10:17, NKJV). David was facing the same old enemy, one he thought he had already defeated. It’s important to note that David was not living in sin at this time. He was a godly man who walked in the fear of the Lord. David was also human, though; and he must have been awfully confused about what was happening. Why would God allow this enemy to come against him again?

Have you stood in David’s shoes? Many of you have prayed, “Lord, all I want is to please you, to obey your Word and do what’s right. You know that I fast, pray and love your Word. I don’t ever want to grieve you. So why am I being tempted? Why am I facing this same battle?”

I wonder if, in the midst of his confusion, David remembered the promise God had made with him a little earlier. “Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that he will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:11-12).

While the devil was throwing every weapon in hell at David, the Lord had already promised him that he would emerge victorious. In many of the psalms, David moved his attention from the oncoming enemy to the revelations of God’s lovingkindness. This is what God intends for every one of his children when the enemy comes on them like a flood. He comes to them, saying, “I promise you are going to come out of this standing. You may be wounded, but I have already made you victorious.”

Multitudes have declared that they follow Christ; yet the majority of these people, including many who are in ministry, have forsaken Jesus as their source of power. Why?

You see, something happens when we cross the line into the Holiest of Holies. The moment we enter our Lord’s presence, we realize all flesh must die. This includes all desire for spiritual excitement, talk of great revivals, focus on deliverance and seeking out some new work or movement. This is the moment many believers realize how costly it would be to give up relying on their own flesh.

Jesus has to become your everything. He alone is to be your source of excitement and constant revival. He is to be your continual word of direction, your new grace every morning. Once you cross the border, you can no longer rely on gifted teachers, anointed preachers or powerful evangelists. If you still seek out men instead of Christ — rushing from meeting to meeting, looking for some person to bless you — then you’re not satisfied with Jesus. He must be all to you.

Abraham was called “a friend of God” (see James 2:23) because of his intimate relationship with the Lord. A friend is someone who freely gives his heart to another, and clearly the Lord shared his heart with Abraham. God himself testified, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Genesis 18:17, NKJV). Indeed, Paul declares, “God…preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand” (Galatians 3:8). In other words, the Lord showed Abraham great things to come.

Abraham knew Jesus was our promised possession. He saw a victorious Jesus bringing down all principalities and power. He saw the victory of the cross and many nations streaming into the Promised Land, possessing their promise: Christ himself. These people weren’t striving to enter or making empty promises to God. They were possessing their promise by faith alone, trusting God’s Word to them.

Have you possessed your Promised Land? Have you laid hold of the provision and blessing that Jesus won for you at the cross? I urge you, make Jesus your life, your everything. Take up God’s invitation to you and enter into the peace and rest of your everlasting possession, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

I was reading recently about a historical event called the Great Ejection. In 1662 in England, two thousand Puritan ministers said that God, not the king, should have authority of the Church of England. They were promptly removed from their posts on a single day that became known as “Black Bartholomew’s Day.” Many of them were thrown into jail and others were executed. Some of them were forced to leave their parish and their people, and others were kicked out of the country. The influence of their choice echoed down through history and helped inspire the Great Awakening.

A book was created from a collection of these men’s sermons, as many as could be gathered from those who survived. I was reading this book and thinking about how similarly our own modern government is beginning to treat believers. America’s society is starting to tell people what they can and cannot say or speak out against. Then one Puritan pastor’s words particularly stuck out to me.

He said that the problem with England was not the king who was kicking them out. It was not the moral depravity in their nation. It was him. He hadn’t prayed enough. He hadn’t loved enough. He hadn’t cared enough. He hadn’t been in the Word enough. As a pastor, he was not as broken as he should have been to lead people to the place of repentance where they needed to be.

I think the same is true today. Our greatest need is for deliverance, but many of us are tempted to focus on the backslidden, lukewarm condition of the church. We may be lured into saying our nation needs to be delivered first from its spiritual decline and the social issues with open sexual perversity.

However, I think the greatest need for deliverance that we have is inside me and you.

You and I will be on a lifelong journey of deliverance and sanctification. The greatest need for change is in each one of our lives. It's by the grace of God that he woos us into his presence. He restores that desire for repentance, holiness and love. If enough of us Christians allow Christ to transform and heal our own hearts, then we will see a fire and passion reviving churches and impacting culture.

Jesus has been given all authority and power in heaven and on earth. In John 13, he was about to be handed over to the Romans and nailed to the cross. He was preparing through his resurrection to ascend into Heaven and be seated at the right hand of God. He was perfectly in the will of God, on the verge of enacting the greatest moment in human history.

However, at this critical moment, he does not give any orders. Instead, he gives an example of humility. Jesus takes a basin and washes the feet of his disciples. It was the duty usually reserved for slaves who had to wash the feet of their masters after long days of walking on dusty roads. “He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you’” (John 13:12-15, NRSV). Jesus voluntarily takes on the tasks of a servant, calling his disciples and all believers throughout time to follow in his footsteps and imitate him.

My wife and I have not been perfect in this area, obviously. We’ve failed at times. However, we have always chosen to rely on the grace of God and to continue to humbly submit ourselves to Christ’s example in the following areas:

• • Passion for God, for his people and for those who suffer.

• • Generosity, because God’s heart has unlimited and unconditional kindness and generosity towards us.

• • Faith in our prayer life and through our trials, losses, suffering, disappointments and struggles.

• • Fidelity in our commitments and faithfulness in our obedience to the Word of God.

Jesus knew that nothing is more powerful than the model of our lives. If this was true in the time of Jesus, it is even more so today. The young generation is especially characterized by a zero tolerance policy for the whole “Do as I say and not as I do” line of thinking. Your behavior will speak louder than sermons or any advice in the lives of others, particularly young people.

^{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.}