Devotions

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).

God created everything — the oceans, the rivers, the birds, the animals, sea creatures, all vegetation and “man in his own image” — and after each day of creation he proclaimed, “It is good” (see Genesis 1:4, 9, 11, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). After creating man and woman, “God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion’” (1:28).

“Blessed” is a powerful word here. The kind of blessing God gave was the power to achieve things yet to be realized. He was saying, “I have filled the earth with glorious and wonderful things that I call good and now I am giving you power to fill up the earth with the things that please me. I am blessing you and giving you dominion over every living thing on the earth.”

As we understand that everything we have is a gift from God, we must also realize that Satan will attempt to manipulate God’s blessings and turn them into things that we would try to control ourselves (see Genesis 3:1). Satan is crafty and he will try to take the good things God has given us and make them a snare for us. The first sin in the Garden of Eden was using good things in a sinful way.

We are to take the blessings of God and use them to glorify the King. It is wonderful to see the cycle of receiving and giving — giving generously — to those in need. I encourage you to look at your own blessings and ask God what he would have you to do for others. He blesses those whose hearts are open to give of their possessions or their time to make a difference in the lives of others. God has blessed you to be a blessing!

Fear presents itself in many ways — fear of rejection, opposition, suffering, and failure, to name a few. And let’s be honest. Just because I am a pastor doesn’t mean I am any different from anyone else. I have the same desire to be liked, to fit in with everyone else. And I am not immune to the temptation to fear.

With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can experience the same courage that God gave to the early believers, who were threatened by the very authorities who had arranged the crucifixion of Jesus. Upon their release from jail, they gathered with other believers in a prayer meeting (always a good idea when faced with an assault on our faith). “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31, emphasis added). Praise God! They felt the heat, but through a time of prayer, they experienced a fresh infilling of the Spirit and a new boldness.

Other than going through the emotional suffering of rejection or opposition, there isn’t a lot of deep suffering for Christ in North America. At least not the kind of suffering faced by the early church. But it is a different story in other parts of the world. Take, for instance, China.

The communist regime tried to wipe out Christianity in China; in fact, they often tried to erase any mention of God. But a church movement has been growing miraculously for many decades in China, and despite the threats and danger, there are now tens of millions of strong, vibrant Christians there.

Do you feel prompted to do something for God? I encourage you follow his leading, even if it means leaving your comfort zone and stepping out into uncharted waters. Share a Bible passage with someone on the phone, start a prayer ministry, witness to a co-worker. Don’t hold back because of fear of failure. Be bold in the Spirit!

Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.

The Lord told Peter, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

Clearly, belonging to Jesus’ church means more than merely believing in him. Many Christians today “cast a vote for Jesus,” but then they walk away and forget all about his lordship over their lives. Our Lord makes it clear that belonging to him involves living a life of self-denial and taking up a cross. “He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38).

Jesus is saying, “If you are in my church, then be prepared to be persecuted and ridiculed if you hunger and thirst after me. And be prepared to deny yourself all fame, acceptance and worldly pleasure-seeking.” The fact is, Christ’s church has never been accepted by the world and it never will be. People will be uncomfortable around you and want to separate from your company. “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you … for the Son of Man’s sake” (Luke 6:22).

Jesus shows us the path that leads to true fulfillment: “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). In other words, the only way you will find meaning in life is to be sold out for Jesus. Then you will find true joy, peace and satisfaction. Christ tells us, “When you come to me, you must die to self, to all ungodly ambition and ego. By faith you will be buried with me, but I will raise you up into new life!” 

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Only the words of Jesus can produce life and we must consume them as we would food and drink — by daily reading the Word of God and spending time in his presence.

In Isaiah 51, the Lord delivers a powerful message to all who pursue righteousness. He declares, “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord” (51:1). A few verses later, he again calls to those “who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is My law” (51:7). When Isaiah delivered this message, his immediate audience was Israel, yet God directs this call to every devoted believer today — everyone who would pursue Jesus with a greater passion. Later God addresses his hearers as “you afflicted, and drunk but not with wine” (51:21).

At the time Isaiah prophesied, Israel was enslaved by Babylon and God wanted his precious people to know he recognized their plight. Likewise, today, he is addressing every Christian who has become captive to some form of bondage. This bondage may be mental, physical or spiritual — it does not matter to God. His eye is on every saint who staggers under the weight of an awful burden and he gives them this word:

“Do not think for a moment that this weight has come upon you as a result of sin. On the contrary, you are under a direct attack from Satan. The enemy of your soul has accused and tormented you and now, like a person who is drunk on wine, you are woozy from the effect. You have been blindsided by the devil but I want your ear because I have a word to speak to you.”

If you are enduring a dark night of the soul, weighed down by sinful chains or sitting on an ash heap of perceived failure, God has a message just for you: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling … But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you” (51:22-23).

The Lord is saying, “I am here to plead your cause, to intervene for you. I will take from you the cup of fear that is plaguing your life and place it in the hands of those who oppress you. I will not allow this harassment to continue.”    

Consider one of the most powerful promises in all of God’s Word: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge … He make wars cease” (Psalm 46:1-7, 9).

God’s Word is so powerful, so immovable, that he tells us, “You will never need to fear. It does not matter if the whole world is in turmoil. The earth may quake and cause mountains to crumble and oceans to swell. Things may be in complete chaos but because of my Word, you will have peace like a river.”

Even now, as our world is in a fearful time and many are experiencing personal troubles and suffering, Psalm 46 echoes to God’s people: “I am with you through it all. My people will not be destroyed or moved.”

Try to grasp what the Lord is telling us in this psalm. Our God is available to us at any time, day or night. He is at our right hand, willing to speak to us and guide us, and he made this a possibility by giving us his Holy Spirit to abide in us.

Peter writes, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Supernatural peace is a part of God’s divine nature and is available to all who are obedient to his Word.