Devotions

God uses people to refresh other people. He so loves this kind of ministry that he moved the prophet Malachi to speak of it as a most-needed work in the last days. Malachi described how, in his day, God’s people built each other up through one-on-one edification: “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another” (Malachi 3:16).

When did this happen, exactly? Malachi’s words came during a time of rampant ungodliness, when the “devourer” had destroyed much fruit in the land. God’s people had grown weary and started to doubt that walking with the Lord was worth it. They thought, “We’re told it pays to serve the Lord, obey his Word and carry his burdens. But as we look around at the proud and the compromisers, they’re the ones who seem happy. They’re pursuing prosperity, living carelessly, enjoying life to the fullest.”

I’m convinced Malachi’s word about this ministry is a mirror image of the present day. He has given us a picture of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, as God’s people stop gossiping and complaining and instead minister refreshing. It’s happening by phone, by letter, by e-mail, and face to face. And God is so pleased with this ministry, we’re told he writes everything down. Every kind word spoken, every call made, every letter written, every effort to comfort the downcast is recorded in a “book of remembrance.” And the Bible says each of us whose deeds are written down will be precious to him: “’They shall be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I make them My jewels’” (Malachi 3:17).

Be a Titus to someone who’s downcast in spirit. Pray to have the spirit of Onesiphorus, who sought out the hurting to bring them to healing. Think of it: You’ve been given all the power of heaven to refresh a hurting believer, someone who needs the consolation that God has given uniquely to you. Yes, there are people who need you and the Lord intends your past consolations to bring refreshing to them. Call that someone today and say, “Brother, sister, I want to pray for and encourage you. I’ve got a good word for you.”

I sought the Lord in prayer and I asked him, “What is the most important aspect of your making us your temple?” Here’s what came to me: access with boldness and confidence.

Paul says of Christ, “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” (Ephesians 3:12).

In the Jewish temple, there was very little access to God. In fact, such access was available only to the high priest, and then only once a year. When the time came, the priest entered God’s presence in the temple with fear and trembling. He knew he could be struck down for approaching the mercy seat with unforgiven sin in his heart.

Today God has emerged from that small, restricted room. And he has come directly to us in all our disgrace and corruption. He tells us, “I’ve come to live in you. You don’t have to hide your filth and despair from me. I’ve chosen you because I want you and I’m about to turn your body into my home, my dwelling place, my residence.

“I’ll send my Holy Spirit, who will sanctify you. He’s going to clean and sweep out every room, to prepare your heart as my bride, but that’s not all. I’m going to seat you right next to me and I’ll urge you to come boldly to my throne, with confidence. You see, I want you to ask me for power, grace, strength, everything you need. I’ve brought heaven down into your souls, so you can have access to it all. You’re rich, yet you don’t even realize it. You’re an heir to all my glory.”

The sole reason your body is holy is because the Holy Ghost lives there. And it’s kept holy only by his continual presence and power. You can’t do it. You’d become a nervous wreck just trying to guard all the entrances. You’d get discouraged when you failed to keep out all the dust and filth that blows in. You’d get weary by running from room to room, sweeping and polishing, trying to make things look good.

Every Christian ought to rejoice in this fact: God is in you! And he is with you always, so who can be against you?

The evangelists George Whitefield and John Wesley were two of the greatest preachers in history. These men preached to thousands in open meetings, on the streets, in parks and prisons, and through their ministries many were brought to Christ. But a doctrinal dispute arose between the two men over how a person is sanctified. Both doctrinal camps defended their positions strongly, and some vicious words were exchanged, with the followers of both men arguing in unseemly fashion.

A follower of Whitefield came to him one day and asked, “Will we see John Wesley in heaven?” He was asking, in effect, “How can Wesley be saved if he’s preaching such error?”

Whitefield answered, “No, we will not see John Wesley in heaven. He will be so high up near Christ’s throne, so close to the Lord, that we won’t be able to see him.”

Paul called this kind of spirit “enlargement of heart.” And he had it himself as he wrote to the Corinthians, a church in which some had accused him of hardness and who had sneered at his preaching. Paul assured them, “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open” (2 Corinthians 6:11).

When God enlarges your heart, suddenly so many limits and barriers are removed! You don’t see through a narrow lens anymore. Instead, you find yourself being directed by the Holy Spirit to those who are hurting. And the hurting are drawn to your compassionate spirit by the Holy Ghost’s magnetic pull.

So, do you have a gentleness of heart when you see hurting people? When you see a brother or sister who has stumbled in sin or may be having problems, are you tempted to tell them what’s wrong in their lives? Paul says that hurting ones need to be restored in a spirit of meekness and gentleness. They need to encounter the spirit that Jesus demonstrated.

May the cry of our hearts be: “God, take away all narrowness from my heart. I want your spirit of compassion for those who are hurting…your spirit of forgiveness when I see someone who’s fallen…your spirit of restoration, to take away their reproach. Take away all exclusiveness from my heart, and enlarge my capacity to love my enemies.”

The early church not only faced temptation to become numb to the perversions of the world around it, it also faced the possibility of numbness toward God. They could go through the motions, sing their songs, preach their sermons, give their tithes and offerings, have their meals together, but the presence of God could still be missing from their assemblies.

The most frightening aspect of this is that it can happen and hardly be noticed. If you know your church history, you’ll know that there was a 400 year silence between the book of Malachi, the minor prophets, and the book of Matthew.

There was a long season where God seemed silent and the windows of heaven seemed shut, and the church was simply going through the motions. On the outside, they had a strong religion. They looked very faithful and godly, but they were missing the heart and what it really meant to be a follower of God. Then Christ came, God in the flesh among mankind, and many of them missed him too. 

But some of them went into the Upper Room, and they waited for God’s power to descend, and it came in the form of the Holy Spirit and tongues of fire. These anointed believers burst onto the scene.

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4, ESV), and those who heard them said, “‘We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God’” (Acts 2:11).

In the middle of a broken culture and a dead church, the Spirit began to move. It is in the midst of the darkest hour that the Holy Spirit shines his brightest light. 

One of your biggest responsibilities is towards your family. God calls you to grow personally because it is impossible to help your children grow if, as parents, you are not growing.

Right from the start, we have tendency to favor or to neglect certain areas of knowledge according to our backgrounds, personalities and lives. We must, therefore, ask God to help us find and maintain a balanced personality, in order to guide our family members in their growth.

However, I would like to point out two terrible lies that the enemy of our souls uses to suffocate us and curb our growth as well as that of our family.

Together, we have to expose and overthrow them in order to free ourselves and keep hope in our family. The first one is “It’s too late” where you end convincing yourself that nothing can change in a particular situation. It is a danger, a temptation and a lie that drives us to give up in our relationships and spirituality.

The second lie is “I don't need to change.” It takes root in our pride and convinces us that it is up to others to change.

I cannot help my spouse to grow if I don’t grow myself. With Jesus, I am called to grow in four spheres:

• In wisdom, whether intellectually, according to my education, my knowledge and learning, my maturity.
• In stature, either by adopting good habits in life or physically in a healthy lifestyle.
• In favor with all men, my social development in terms of interpersonal skills.
• In favor before God, spiritually by nurturing our personal knowledge of God, the Word, his nature, his promises and his plans.

Today, your family needs to hear you say, "Lord, keep changing me. I confess my pride to you. I still need to change. I stand humbly before you and ask you to mold me into the image of your son, Jesus. I want to grow in you and be used by you to inspire and help each member of my family grow in you.”

^{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.}