Devotions

We know that all through the Bible, the number seven is associated with God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, I believe that when God said to one of his prophets, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18, NKJV), he was simply denoting everyone who made up his remnant. The people he sets aside for himself could number 70 or 7 million. What matters is that they are wholly given to him.

So, what are the characteristics of this remnant? Here are three defining marks.

• An unchangeable commitment to cling to the Lord. Every remnant believer has made a single-minded choice to swim against the tide of evil. At some point, you have to make a commitment, declaring, “I don’t care what others say or do. I am the Lord’s. I won’t give in to the wicked spirit of this age.”

• A willingness to identify with the poor. While society’s trend is to associate with the rich and successful, you align yourself with the suffering class. Scripture clearly states, “Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18)

• A reliance on hope. The 7,000 mentioned in 1 Kings endured because of their hope in a coming day of deliverance. Likewise, the church’s blessed hope is the soon return of Jesus. With one trumpet blast, all wickedness will end. Our Lord will do away with all killing of babies, all blatant perversions and all ethnic genocide.

Do these three marks characterize you as a part of God’s holy remnant? If so, God boasts of you, “This one has given his heart to me. He is focused on me. He is wholly mine!”

We are to evangelize, minister and work while it is still day. We are also to live in the hope that King Jesus is coming and that he’s bringing a new world with him. One day, he will rule from his eternal throne. This is the great hope of the 7,000.

Success in God’s eyes is being totally fulfilled in ministering to him. Such servants aren’t striving to “make it” or seeking earthly security. They only want to know their Lord and to minister to him.

Think about the 100 prophets hidden by Obadiah (see 1 Kings 18:4). They lived an isolated existence in caves during a severe famine for probably three to four years. These men had no outside ministry. They were completely out of the public’s view, likely forgotten by most people. They couldn’t even share in Elijah’s victory on Mount Carmel. No doubt, the world would call them failures, insignificant men who hadn’t accomplished anything.

However, God had given these devoted servants the precious gift of time. They had days, weeks, even years to pray, study and grow. God may have been preparing them for the day when he would release them to minister to his people, those who would return to God as a result of Elijah’s warnings and preaching. Others God may have simply wanted to worship before his throne and minister to him.

Years ago, the Lord blessed me with this gift of time. Before I ever pastored a church, I went into the woods and preached to the birds and trees. I had no plans, no agenda, no dreams. I only wanted to get to know God’s heart. I prayed daily, seeking the Lord and ministering to him. I marked my Bible from cover to cover. I was hidden, not seen by anyone, but God knew my address all along.

My advice is to quit looking for ministry. Spend your time seeking God instead. He knows where to find you. He’ll summon you when he sees you are ready. Forget what others are doing. Strive to be a success at God’s throne. If you’re ministering to the Lord and praying for others, you are already a success in his eyes!

When you cover up or repress certain emotions like pain, hurt, sorrow or fear, it’s generally because you don't want to deal with them. The problem with doing this, though, is that we're not built to repress certain elements of our lives. We can't repress pain without also repressing joy. We can't repress fear without repressing peace.

This is why God says, “Bring it all to the table. Bring your fear, and I'll teach you peace. Bring your pain, and I'll teach you comfort.” Jesus clearly stated, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5, ESV).

Well, a lot of Christians in the United States don't believe in mourning. We act as if grief comes from a lack of faith in God. If we repress sorrow and pain, though, we’ll never receive a full measure of God’s comfort.

Recently, in my own personal study of the Book of Psalms, I realized that reading these verses was almost creating in me a sense that I needed to stop. I couldn’t continue until I was willing to be honest with God and the scriptures. Since I’ve faced some serious issues in my life, I actually got out a yellow notepad and started writing things down. I had to admit, “Here's five or six things over the past ten years that hurt deeply, and I tried to bypass dealing with them.” I had to admit that this grief and pain could be good because joy could come out of this place.

I see God protecting us by getting us out of storms but also sometimes by keeping us in the storm. Say somebody is facing depression, and you see God lifting them out of that season of despair. That’s wonderful! At other times, though, you see that God is keeping a person in a tough position. Instead of taking them out of the situation, he gives them peace in the midst of that storm. That’s wonderful too. Our assurance is that God is protecting us no matter what we’re going through.

When Paul wrote, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13), he wasn’t ignoring or repressing the pain in his past or present circumstances. He simply knew God would comfort him and see him through.

Jesus left the earth in the first chapter of Acts. He told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit, and they did. Jesus had discipled them, but after three years of living with them, setting an example for them, they fled on the night that he was betrayed and arrested. One denied him three times; one betrayed him; one doubted to the very end, and they all fled. He warned them, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41, ESV).

It wasn't until the Holy Spirit came that things turned around. That's what the Lord gave us. “The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

You can have all the teaching, guidebooks and study guides — they all have their place — but unless God does a work inside of you by his Spirit, you're just going to act more moral. Only the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. Only he makes Christ real. Only he produces the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In fact, Paul says the Spirit is the spirit of Christ, so he becomes our life. God's not working with the old Jim Cymbala; he wants Christ to live through me and through all believers.

When Peter, the one who denied Jesus, gets up after Pentecost, he preached a sermon so powerful it brought deep conviction of sin. The true gospel which Peter preached is the power of God for salvation, for everyone who believes. Not the sound system, not the building, not what colors you make it, not the signage. Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Peter preached it, and thousands came into the church that day.

The only change for anyone in my church or your church or in me or in you is God’s Spirit in us. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

^{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}