Devotions

Jesus said that when the prodigal son came home, he was welcomed back into his father’s house. He received a new robe, ate at his father’s table and had full forgiveness. But that didn’t make him an angel.

On the contrary, I believe the prodigal’s father experienced a lot of problems with him before it was all over. However, the one thing this son had to know was that he was secure in his father’s love. He had to know his father would bear with him, work with him and love him.

That’s how our heavenly father is with us. He loved us before we were even born! Yet, we keep telling ourselves, “One of these days, I’m going to be so perfect and right before God that it will be easy for him to love me.”

No. He loved you when you were a sinner, a reprobate, an enemy to him. How much more does he love you now that you’re reconciled to him? God has already said to you, “I loved you when you were an alien to me, when you were in rebellion and sin. Will I not love you even more now that you have committed to sonship?”

We don’t rest confidently in his love as we should. The Lord says of himself that he is love. John wrote, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:15-18 NKJV).

You cannot know God in fullness until you see Christ as God wants you to see him. Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9 NKJV). We must see Jesus, not as man teaches, but as the Spirit reveals him to us, as God wants us to see and know him.

There are many volumes in my library about Jesus, written by good men. Yet, I believe many of these men have never seen Jesus as God would have us see him. We are to get God’s vision and testimony of Christ, then we will know God as he desires to be known. Here is how I believe God wants us to see his Son: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

Jesus was a gift! God wrapped all his resources up in Jesus, and “He gave His only begotten Son” (see John 3:16). Do you see Jesus as God’s perfect gift to you? Do you see him as all you need to live joyfully, victoriously, righteously, and full of peace and rest?

God gave Israel many wonderful gifts in the wilderness: A cloud to shelter them from the desert sun, fire at night to assure and lead them, water out of a rock, a branch to heal bitter waters and a brass serpent to heal the snake bitten. Yet all of these good things were only shadows.

Who was the rock from which water came? Who was the fire? The manna? The brass serpent? Everything God did for Israel was through Jesus Christ. That’s right—Jesus was every one of those gifts. “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).

Today we have much more than the shadow. We have the actual substance, Christ himself! And he lives in us.

Most of us are still dumb creatures looking to the future for fulfillment. We think some future event or change in our circumstances will bring us peace and joy. We say, “Just wait; my day is coming. Somehow, someday, somewhere…I don’t know what is out there for me, but it will happen.” We are like children waiting for Christmas and counting the days.

David once wrote during a mournful, introspective season in his life that he felt the time was going too fast. He had accomplished so little, he thought. Everything at the time seemed to be in vain. “Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you” (Psalm 39:6-7 NKJV). David was depressed, down. His present situation appeared so useless. Out of a perplexed heart, he cried out, “Lord, what am I waiting for?”

God spoke to me with this same question one day when I was walking alone in the hills of Pennsylvania. “David, what is it you’re waiting for? Why isn’t this the best day of your life? Why can’t you now be full and joyous? There is nothing out there that you don’t already have in Jesus.”

I ask you: What are you waiting for? “Oh, for Mr. or Ms. Right,” you may answer. You’re waiting for that godly person you think is going to rescue you from loneliness and fill your soul with unspeakable joy. Some are bored with their mates and waiting for them to go to glory because they’re looking for romance to come into their lives and drive away their emptiness. No! There is nothing out there that will change or save you from who and what you are already. If you think someone else is going to solve your loneliness problem, you’re badly mistaken. You must find deliverance, peace, hope and joy for yourself.

Jesus is the only one who can fill the void. Wake up and live!

Those who truly know God have learned how to recognize his voice above all others. He wants you to be convinced that he desires to talk to you and tell you things you’ve never heard before.

The Lord recently showed me that I was still wavering about hearing his voice. Oh, I know that he speaks, but I doubted my ability to hear him. I kept “checking” the voice I heard, and when it seemed too mysterious, I thought, “This can’t be God. Besides, the devil and lying spirits and the flesh speak, too. Voices come at us all the time. How can I know it’s him?”

I believe three things are required of those who would hear God’s voice:

1.    An unshakable confidence that God wants to speak to you and wants you to know his voice. What he tells you will never go beyond the boundaries of scripture, and you don’t need a Ph.D. to recognize his voice. You only need a heart that says, “I believe God desires to talk to me.”

2.    Quality time and quietness. We must shut ourselves in with God and let all other voices hush away. True, God speaks to us all day long. But whenever he has wanted to build something into my life, his voice has come only after I have shut out every other voice but his.

3.    Ask in faith. We do not obtain anything from God unless we truly believe that he can convey his mind and will to us.

Jesus says, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12 NKJV). If you ask your heavenly Father for a word—a clear direction, a godly correction, a particular need—do you think for a moment he would let the devil come and deceive you?

God is not a tease. He will not allow the devil to deceive you. When God speaks, peace follows, and Satan cannot counterfeit that peace. If you are in a place of quiet and rest, you have an assurance that never changes. You can go back to God a thousand times, and you will receive the same word every time. Trust in him!

Does doubt make us stronger? Is it ‘Christian’ to have doubts? There is very little I don’t doubt. Throughout my life and its many twists and turns, I have often been filled with doubts. The good news is that doubt isn’t going to rob you of the goodness of God. He won’t withhold himself from you just because your faith is mixed in with questions and uncertainties. Jesus still healed the child of the father who cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (see Mark 9:17-27).

God is a holy God, and we should always approach him with reverence; but doubt is not irreverence, and God understands our questions. He doesn’t diminish his relationship with us or his miracle-working power in us if our faith is sometimes mixed with doubt.

Believe it or not, doubt can promote a greater revelation of God within us. We can see more of God’s glory when we are willing to wrestle with our conflicts and get to the other side of our questions with a more solid faith and deeper knowledge of him. 

There are three steps to working through doubt. First, approach your doubt with an honest heart. If we say, “I want truth and life,” we will find truth and life. If we’re trying to simply prove a point or avoid obedience to God, we aren’t being honest.

Next, take time to meditate and study the scriptures. We live such busy lives that many of us are holding on to doubts that we have simply ignored for years. We don’t take the time to quietly contemplate and enter those doubts. I use a notepad and write down things that I'm wrestling with. I reach for my Bible and seek out the harmony of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Finally, find a good Christian friend to talk to. If you're in a church environment where you can't express your doubts, you need to find a person of faith who will listen with an open heart. Even pastors face doubts, and they especially need a trustworthy friend or counselor.

Don’t be afraid to take your questions to God. He loves your honesty, and he has provided a clear path from doubt to faith. It’s a lifelong process of meditation, searching the scriptures and seeking God; but it will always yield a stronger, more robust relationship with him. If you're like me, you’ll enjoy the journey.