Devotions

James said, “If you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth” (James 3:14).

As messengers of Christ’s gospel, we simply cannot hold onto jealousy or envy. James makes it clear that this will hinder us from having a testimony with spiritual authority because we are living a lie.

In plain terms, the sin of jealousy or envy is a bitter poison. King Saul provides the clearest example of this in all of scripture. In 1 Samuel 18, we find David returning from a battle in which he slaughtered the Philistines. As he and King Saul rode into Jerusalem, the women of Israel came out to celebrate David’s victories, dancing and singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7).

Saul was wounded by this joyous celebration, thinking to himself, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” (18:8). Immediately, Saul was consumed by a spirit of jealousy. In the very next verse, we read the deadly effect it had on him. “Saul eyed [envied] David from that day forward” (18:9).

Saul seethed, pouting in self-pity. He probably thought, “I’ve worked so hard, giving up everything to serve these people, and now they turn on me. They’re singing the praises of my assistant minister while they ignore me.”

Tragically, after this, “Saul became David’s enemy continually” (18:29). The truth of this story is that, no matter how loudly the people cheered for David, God’s Spirit was still upon Saul and Israel still loved him. The Lord’s promise to build him an everlasting house was clearly still in place. Had Saul acknowledged his envy and drawn near to the Lord, God would have heaped honors on him; and David, his loyal captain, would have gladly secured the kingdom for Saul with his military skills. But Saul would not humble himself; and as a result, the Spirit of the Lord departed from him (see 18:12).

In these troubling days, our first priority should be to draw near to Jesus. Spend time in prayer, make him the most important work in your life, and he will show you his heart. By his Spirit, he will remove from you all that is unlike Christ, and he will pour out his spiritual anointing on you.

Our trust in God pleases him, and we are counted as righteous like Abraham because we heed the call to entrust all our tomorrows into his hands (see Romans 4:3). Jesus also calls us to this way of living. “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33).

Jesus then adds, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (6:34). Jesus doesn’t mean that we are not to plan ahead. Rather, he is simply saying, “Don’t be anxious or troubled about tomorrow.” When we think about it, most of our anxieties are about what might happen tomorrow. We are constantly harassed by two little words: What if?

What if the economy fails and I lose my job? How will our family survive? What if I lose my health insurance? What if my faith fails me in trying times? We all have many “what if” anxieties.

Jesus interrupts our “what ifs” and tells us, “Your heavenly Father knows how to take care of you. You don’t need to worry because your Father knows you need all these things, and he is faithful to feed you, clothe you and supply all your needs.”

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? … Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:26-29).

We gladly give all our yesterdays to the Lord, turning over to him our past sins, failures, doubts and fears. So why don’t we do the same with our tomorrows?

Paul says, “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3:13). I urge you to trust the Lord with all your tomorrows and let your present trial preach the message of his faithfulness.

“Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6).

Paul took a ministry trip to Troas where he was to be joined by his spiritual son Titus. He longed to see his godly son in Christ and knew his spirits would be lifted by his presence. Yet after Paul arrived in Troas, Titus didn’t show up.

Doors of ministry opened for Paul in Troas, but the apostle’s heart had grown heavy as he waited for the arrival of Titus. Paul wrote of the experience, “When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother … [so] I departed for Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).

Paul did something he had never done in his life, something that was contrary to everything he preached; he walked away and wandered restlessly to Macedonia. What a picture of a wounded soldier of the cross. The great apostle was beaten down in mind, body and spirit. Why? What had brought Paul to such a point? The apostle himself explains it. “I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother.” He was alone, and he desperately needed fellowship.

Satan always comes to attack us when we are weary from battle. That is when we are most vulnerable to his lies, and the enemy might have buffeted Paul with two vicious ones: “Titus hasn’t come because he has rejected you” or “Titus isn’t here because you are no longer effective, Paul. Your ministry is simply not bearing fruit.”

If you have walked in intimacy with the Lord, you know very well what Paul was facing. Satan is the father of lies, and right now he may be sending you similar lies. “Everyone has rejected you. You have no place in God’s kingdom work. You’re just taking up space.”

Titus made it to Macedonia, and he arrived with a refreshing spirit. Paul’s heart was uplifted as the two men fellowshipped, and he wrote, “I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all [my] tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

God uses people to refresh people! Today, look for an opportunity to be a Titus to someone who is downcast in spirit. Perhaps a simple phone call will bring consolation and refreshing to a brother or sister in Christ and result in healing of spirit.

“With my whole heart I have sought You … Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You … I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways” (Psalm 119:10-11, 15).

As a ministry leader, I occasionally ask myself and my co-laborers, “Why are we here? Why do we do what we do? What is our purpose?” The short answer on the surface is that we conduct a worldwide ministry to build up the body of Christ, reach the lost and minister loving care to the needy. The real answer to the core question of why we are here is the same for both the youngest disciples of Christ and the most experienced, wise ministry leader. The answer is we’re here to minister to Jesus.

It is impossible to minister to our Savior and Lord unless we begin in his presence. No Christian will ever be misdirected, misguided or get off base if he or she starts out in Christ’s presence and never leaves it.

King David is an example of the importance of this practice. He faced enemy armies that required quick, purposeful thinking in the midst of life-or-death situations. And he had to rule a divided kingdom between Israel and Judah. So how did David accomplish his purposes to bring glory to God and end up as Israel’s most renowned king?

David moved in victory because his heart was to minister to the Lord in every situation. The Bible makes this clear in his actions and in all the worshipful, yearning psalms he wrote. Ministering to the Lord was always at the forefront as David pursued the words God set before him.   

Another example is Samuel. He was known as a great prophet in Israel but not because of his strategic relationships to kings and leaders. Scripture makes it clear that Samuel had a heart to minister to the Lord from a very young age. Even as a boy, Samuel was continually in the temple seeking God’s presence, and that relationship above all gave Samuel influence with people from the lowest rung of life to the highest offices in the land.

David and Samuel show us that to achieve the works of God, we have to know his presence. The same holds true for every believer today. Following the Lord means being Jesus-focused, Jesus-centered and Jesus-empowered. The Bible calls Christ the Alpha and the Omega — the beginning and the end of all things — and that applies to our lives. He has to be everything to us!

There are many Hebrew and Greek words in the Scriptures that express the nuances, depth, and meaning of God’s commitment and “resolution” toward us, and of our vows and decisions before him. A definition of the concept of “resolution” in the Old and New Testaments is: “A divine decree; a human hope; a proclamation of true intention and firm will; a challenge to be answered; a heart and will commitment; a decision that will make the moment; a new era; the beginning or the end of a period or set of behavior; a public or personal declaration or proclamation reflecting true commitment and a profound desire.”

“Faith with a resolution” is the meeting of an honest human decision with divine power that provokes and changes us. It is the Holy Spirit’s intervention and transformation in our history. It is the hand of God holding ours. Listen to this promise Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and that God himself is writing to you:

“This is why we always pray for you that our God may fulfill by his power all of his plans of goodness and grace toward you by the working of your faith that by his power he would allow you and make you capable to fufill, giving life to your faith by his grace.”

It is of utmost importance that we realize that God alone, by his grace and Spirit, can make us capable of keeping any resolution. Paul reminds the Philippians of their only source of power: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). This is a spiritual principle, a kingdom law — that moment when God answers in response to the heart that completely recognizes its inadequacy and absolute inability to please Him by its own strength or volition. It is the death of self-will, self-resolve, self-dependency and self-confidence that brings us to resurrection power. It is the divine connection and moment when all of heaven’s potential, omnipotence and capacity comes in to make possible your human resolution.

It is only by his power that we can fulfill and accomplish the resolution that he writes in our hearts by his Spirit.  

^{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.}