Devotions

The instability of today’s global market has left people hard-pressed to find the wisest places to invest. After all, there are no investment strategies that can guarantee dividends in the midst of an uncertain future…except one. The Lord offers a divine principle that, if heeded, will sustain his people in the coming days: learn to invest in people.

If we truly share God’s heart, other people ought to be our focus. This concept is contrary to our natural instincts, particularly in a time of calamity. Our entire focus turns inward, and our tendency is to withdraw our hand from doing good and instead begin to cry out about ourselves. When the disciples found themselves in the midst of a storm and saw that Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat, they began to cry out, “Master, do you not care if we perish?” (see Mark 4:35-39).

They completely neglected the fact that other little ships were traveling in the same storm with them. The disciples were the only ones in the storm who actually saw God and knew that he was with them. You would think that their cry would be “Master, wake up. There are people out there in little boats who are perishing. We have you here with us; you have told us that we are going to the other side, and that is sufficient. But others don’t have you with them. You must do something!” Of course, other people were not their chief concern at the moment. Usually the last thing on our minds during a calamity is investing in other people.

However, giving to others, particularly in our own time of need, is what will actually sustain us. We must never forget that people are the focus of God. He came into the world to redeem fallen humanity, to save you and me. He did not come to make us feel better about ourselves or to give us a bigger slice of the socioeconomic pie. As the well-known verse tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16, NKJV). He found the redemption of our souls worth the price of his own blood and the keeping and consecrating of our lives worth the deposit of his very own Spirit. What an incredible investment he has made in humanity! Let us give to others out of gratitude for this great gift.

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}

The Holy Spirit yearns to bring God’s people back to serving the Lord with joy and gladness. How grieved heaven must be to witness the wet blanket of despair and sadness that has fallen upon multitudes of believers. The Psalmist declared, “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” (Psalm 144:15, NKJV). The prophet Isaiah also said, “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3).

When the Holy Spirit began to deal with me on the matter of serving him with joy, I had a difficult time facing the seriousness of the subject. I did not fully understand God’s attitude. I wondered how important it could be compared to all the heartbreaking problems in the world today.

Few Christians have a knowledge of the truth about liberty and Christ’s life-freeing sacrifice. They have never allowed the cross to set them free from all fear and bondage. We cannot rejoice and be exceedingly glad in our relationship with the Lord when we have limited knowledge of what happened at the cross.

You need not understand all the doctrines of atonement, reconciliation, propitiation, grace, sanctification, etc. All you need to know in order to live joyfully unto the Lord is this one foundational truth: God was completely satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross! It was all that was needed.

God now willingly and joyfully forgives all who repent. To not rejoice in Christ’s forgiveness is to doubt his full payment of our sins. Let the Spirit give you an understanding of this truth that we are called to liberty. God wants us to have an abundance of joy that is full and complete, pressed down and running over!

Christ prayed for his disciples, saying, “…these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13). The Old Testament said, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). God’s Word makes it perfectly clear that he yearns to be enjoyed by his saints.

When you hurt the worst, go to your secret prayer closet and weep out all your bitterness. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and wept at the funeral of a friend. Peter carried with him the hurt of denying the very Son of God, and he wept bitterly! Those bitter tears worked a sweet miracle in him, and he came back to shake the kingdom of Satan.

Years ago, a woman who had endured a mastectomy wrote a book entitled First, You Cry. How true! Recently, I talked with a friend who was just informed he had terminal cancer. “The first thing you do,” he said, “is cry until there are no more tears left. Then you begin to move closer to Jesus until you know his arms are holding you tight.”

Jesus never looks away from a crying heart. In fact, he treasures such a tender spirit. The Bible clearly states, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:15-17, NKJV). Not once will the Lord say, “Get hold of yourself! Stand up, and take your medicine. Grit your teeth, and dry your tears.” No. Jesus bottles every tear in his eternal container.

Do you hurt? Go ahead and cry. Keep on crying until the tears stop flowing. Only let those tears originate from hurt not from unbelief or self-pity.

God wants your faith, your confidence. He wants you to cry aloud, “Jesus is with me. He will not fail me. He is working it all out right now. I will not be cast down. I will not become a victim of Satan. I will not lose my mind or my direction. God is on my side. I love him, and he loves me!” Encourage yourself in the Lord. When the fog surrounds you and you can’t see any way out of your dilemma, lie back in the arms of Jesus and simply trust him.

God’s purpose for every one of his children is that we surrender to the reign and rulership of the Holy Spirit. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25, NKJV). In other words, “If he lives in you, let him direct you!”

I want to show you what it means to walk in the Spirit. I have not yet fully arrived in this glorious walk, but I am gaining ground. We have heard the expression “walk in the Spirit” all our lives, but what does it really mean? I believe the book of Acts offers some of the best examples of what it means to walk in the Holy Spirit.

“After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. …And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:7-10, NKJV).

The early Christians did not walk in confusion. They were led by the Spirit in every decision, every move, every action. The Spirit talked to them and directed them in their every waking hour. No decision was made without consulting the Lord. Christ said over and over throughout the New Testament “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15).

I began ministering in New York City because the Holy Ghost told me very clearly, “Go to New York City and raise up a church.” He told me when to come. No devil or demon could move me from this because the Spirit gave detailed instructions. I remember standing between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, weeping and raising my hands. The Holy Ghost said, “In this very area I am going to raise up a church. Obey me, David. Start a church in New York City!” Times Square Church is not an accident. It is the result of clear, detailed instructions from the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Ghost provides absolute, clearly detailed instructions to those who walk in him. If you walk in the Spirit, you don’t walk in confusion; your decisions are unclouded ones.

In the book of Daniel, three Hebrew men went into the fire with their bodies already dead to the world. “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18, ESV). They were able to offer their bodies joyfully as living sacrifices, and Jesus literally met them in their crisis.

What do you think they said to Jesus when he showed up in the furnace? “Thank you for not letting us feel the pain. Thank you for giving us another chance, for a few more years.”

No! I believe they said, “Lord, take us with you! Don’t leave us here. We have touched the ecstasy, the glory, and we don’t want to go back. Walk us home to be with you.” They surely would have preferred to be with him. Jesus knows this kind of heart, and it is to such that he commits himself.

Are you able to say, “Lord, walk me home”?  Perhaps you’ve never learned to commit your body, your business, your marriage and your crises into God’s hands.

Yes, we are always to pray in faith, believing that God will answer; yet we are to trust him completely with our situation, saying in our hearts, “But if not, Lord, I’m still going to trust you. Lord, you are able to deliver me from this fiery furnace. But if not, I will still believe. Even if I have to go on in this horrible trial, if I have to face more suffering, more testing, I commit everything to you. Just come and walk through it with me.” Can you pray this prayer?

I promise you that Jesus Christ will come into your crisis. He will take you by your hand and lead you through the fire. I consider the coming of Christ into my crisis to be the greatest possible answer to prayer. When he comes, his presence lifts me above all my pain or confusion. When Jesus appears at your side, he takes you by the hand and makes you stand strong.