Devotions

One of our directors recently went to Turkey to check on our partners who have been affected by the terrible earthquake there. Let me say from personal experience, when you see devastation like what they are currently living in, the overwhelming human loss and suffering, there are images and memories that will never leave you.

You hardly need me to tell you that there is much suffering in the world, though. Everyone has been touched by anguish in some way. Whole books have been written on this single topic. It would be impossible to touch on every aspect of such a complex subject, but I wanted to reflect for a moment on those who suffer because of circumstances outside their control. Their pain doesn’t come as the consequences of their own sin or from others sinning against them; it’s simply from living in a fallen world.

Like Jesus’ disciples, though, we can be tempted to offer simple answers for pain. Like them, we ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” I believe God’s response to us is the same as it was to his disciples. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:2-3, ESV). Sometimes we can suffer in ways that have nothing to do with our sins, like with natural disasters; but God still has a purpose for pain.

This is why Peter later wrote, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Pain can rock us to our core. It can prompt us to harden our hearts to protect ourselves. Sometimes, it can shake us to the point of jettisoning our faith. Let nothing I say trivialize the magnitude of suffering.

However, suffering is never neutral. It will either draw us closer to God or harden us to his voice. As Charles Spurgeon said, “The same sun which melts wax hardens clay.” We can suffer well if we invite Christ into our pain and lives.

_{Mark Renfroe and his wife, Amy, have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. Mark served as the area director for Assemblies of God World Missions and currently serves as the chief missions officer for World Challenge.}

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV). We become what we observe! The focus of our attention spreads its influence all through our lives. What we behold with our spiritual eyes obsesses us; it takes over.

Paul chose to be obsessed with Christ; the Savior became the sole object of his thinking, preaching and doctrine. “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). He kept his eyes on the Jesus as the head of the body and not on the problems in the body.

God's desire for us is that we be clothed with Christ's presence. Do you want victory over sin and deliverance from all the power of the enemy? Diligently pray for a manifestation of Christ's presence. If you are serious about it, his loving eyes will melt you and bring you to a place of brokenness and contrition.

That same tender presence of the Lord will become the very heart and life of your soul. You will not want to leave his presence. You will lean on his arm and all fear will go, replaced by perfect peace and rest. You can face sin and Satan while clothed in the glorious power of Christ’s presence. God's Word promises, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels” (Revelation 3:5).

The church goes into the last days as “a woman clothed with the sun...” (see Revelation 12:1). This is Christ, our white raiment! We have put on Christ and are abiding in his presence above all principalities and powers. You will be above it all and, like Stephen, you will behold him in heaven (see Acts 7:56).

It really is not complicated. In fact, it can be summed up in four words: Stay close to Jesus. Live in his presence and by faith take your seat beside him in heavenly places. Behold him standing at the right hand of the Father on your behalf and nothing can hinder you.

The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin; it is our atonement. First of all, it is our security. It is God's way of securing to himself a people ready for a full deliverance. Remember that on the night of the Passover the Israelites were safe but not yet delivered. They still had to face a Red Sea, a wilderness, warfare with giants, imposing walls and enemy strongholds.

I am convinced that before I can do battle against principalities and powers, before I can resist the lust and temptations that are our modern giants, I must have the knowledge that under the blood I am secure. Though I am not yet fully delivered, I am out of judgment. The fleshly enemies loom ahead, but the blood has made me a confident soldier.

You cannot pull down strongholds or stand against overwhelming odds unless there is an assurance of absolute security under the blood. No matter what my heart says, no matter how guilty or condemned I feel, no matter what whispering voices I hear, I must know beyond a shadow of doubt that I am safe. I am not going to judgment because the blood on the door of my heart secures me in God’s sight.

If God based our security on our love for him or on personal goodness, we would be in more danger than those who broke the law, for under grace there is a higher claim. God must take security out of our hands so that it stands on his pure mercy and grace alone, not our devotion, our obedience or our goodness.

It was not the unleavened bread that saved the children of Israel but the blood. Not one Israelite moved "in and out" of safety because of some personal fault. They were all safe until judgment had passed. Obedience was to apply the blood to the doorpost. We are called to confess and trust Christ’s redeeming blood. Obedience and devotion are the results when we recognize how safely we are held in the Father’s hands.

God never intended for his children to live in fear. He prepared a rest for them, the perfect, absolute security of the blood of his own dear Son. The apostle Paul states, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). The inalterable fact is that not one thing can be added to Christ’s blood to make us more secure! The blood perfectly shelters us, makes us acceptable to God and saves us from wrath.

“Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces” (Exodus 15:6, NKJV).

Even though some Christians know they are forgiven and safe, they lack a sense of power against the flesh. They have not come into the knowledge of ‘full deliverance’ from their evil nature. By his blood, he secures us; then by his mighty hand, he breaks the power of sin in us. Sin still dwells in us, but it does not rule!

What an incredibly encouraging word in these days of disillusionment and super-human efforts to be free of sin's power! Yet we are so reluctant to acknowledge the work of God's hand. It goes against our pride, our sense of justice and even our theology to accept the truth that our deliverance from sin's dominion comes from a power other than our own. However, look at our example: Israel went out armed, but all the battles were the Lord's. “…the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47).

The blood secured Israel from divine judgment, but the high hand of God delivered them from the power of the flesh. They had experienced security and rejoiced in it; now they needed power. Power to once and for all do away with the old enemy, and power to arm them against all the new enemies to come. That power is in the Lord's high and mighty hand.

We have been given great and precious promises surpassing those given to Israel. God has promised to deliver us from all evil and seat us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, free from the dominion of sin.

However, first we must learn to hate sin. No agreements or compromises. Coddle your sin, play with it, let it remain, refuse to demolish it, and one day it will become the most painful thing in your life.

Do not pray about victory over the sins of the flesh until you have cultivated a hatred for them. God will have nothing to do with our excuses and appeasement. Are you enslaved by a secret sin that causes turmoil and anguish both physically and spiritually? Do you hate it with a passion? Do you feel God’s holy wrath against it? Until you do, victory will never come.

God begins the process of surrender by knocking us off our high horse. This literally happened to Paul. He was going his self-assured way, riding toward Damascus, when a blinding light came from heaven. “He fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’” (Acts 9:4, NKJV).

Paul knew something was missing in his life. He had a knowledge of God but no firsthand revelation. Now on his knees, he heard these words from heaven: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5). The words turned Paul’s world upside down. Scripture says, “He, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’” (Acts 9:6). Paul’s conversion was a dramatic work of the Holy Spirit.

Paul was being led by the Holy Spirit into the surrendered life. He had no other ambition, no other driving force than this new life. “Indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

By today’s standards of success, Paul was a total failure. He didn’t construct any buildings. He didn’t have an organization. The methods he used were despised by other leaders. In fact, the message Paul preached offended large numbers of his hearers. At times, he was even stoned for preaching it.

When we stand before God at the judgment, we won’t be judged by our ministries, achievements or number of converts. There will be but one measure of success on that day. Were our hearts fully surrendered to God? Did we lay aside our own will and agenda and take up his? Did we succumb to peer pressure and follow the crowd, or did we seek him alone for direction? Did we run from seminar to seminar looking for purpose in life, or did we find our fulfillment in him?

I have but one ambition, and that is to learn more and more to say only those things the Father gives me. Nothing I say or do of myself is worth anything. I want to be able to claim, “I know my Father is with me because I do only his will.”