Devotions

A heart that is no longer on fire for God, or perhaps never had the fire, has distinctive characteristics.

• A lukewarm heart is a prayerless heart that has no desire to pray or enter into the presence of God. 
• A lukewarm heart is unawakened by God’s Word. It finds parts of the Bible interesting and emotionally moving but does not grasp the power of scripture to transform hearts.  
• A lukewarm heart is disobedient to the Word. When the lukewarm heart begins to respond to the Word and the Holy Spirit breaks through and reveals a truth, this heart is like the man spoken of by James: “He is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror…and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23-24, ESV). The lukewarm heart is not a doer of the Word. 
• A lukewarm heart has little or no passion for souls and little or no desire to pray for or reach out to the lost.  
• A lukewarm heart only attends church when convenient. Even though scripture clearly states that we are not to neglect to gather together, the lukewarm heart doesn’t feel that it is significant (see Hebrews 10:25).  
• A lukewarm heart grows emotionally dull; it is unmoved. It will read this message and hear this truth, yet will not care. It becomes emotionally dull to the things of the Spirit, the Word, prayer, and the lost. 

Yet, with all these characteristics, there is hope for the lukewarm! “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is calling you out of your tepid state. He is saying, “Yes, I am knocking on the door of your house. I want to come in and share a meal with you and see the fire of God reignited in your heart and life.”

There’s a word for many believers today who see themselves as faithful. “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.’” (Revelation 2:2-4, ESV).

These people are laboring for the namesake of Jesus. Obviously, they’re studying the scriptures, or else they wouldn’t be able to test false teachers and find them to be liars. They don’t tolerate evil, and they long for truth. What’s more, they’re not weary of doing all of these things!

Nevertheless, Jesus accuses them of forgetting their first love, of leaving him. They got so enamored with religious works that they lost sight of Christ, and he takes it so seriously that he says that he will remove his presence. 

What is the only thing that makes us different than the people of the world? It’s the presence of God. 

I have no doubt that the preachers in the Ephesian church that Christ was speaking to in this passage had great doctrine and great preaching where they exposed lies and expounded on truth. We probably have many churches like this in America where there is great doctrinal truth in the pulpit, but there’s a strange coldness among the people. The presence of God strangely doesn’t seem to be in their midst anymore. 

In their flurry of religious activity, they walked away from Jesus. He didn’t leave them. He’s still where he’s always been. It’s like when Mary and Joseph lost Jesus; they left him behind at the Temple in Jerusalem (see Luke 2:41-52). They assumed that he was traveling with him even though they hadn’t seem him or spoken to him. When they realized he was gone, they went back to find him where they had last seen him. Their solution is also our answer. 

We’ve left Jesus. We have to search diligently for him. We have to go back to the temple to find him. 

^{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.}

In Psalm 5, David writes: “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers” (Psalm 5:4-5, ESV).

Most of us are uncomfortable with the idea of our loving God hating something, yet David’s statement that God hates all evildoers isn’t problematic; it is both profound and instructive.

A popular phrase used freely in the church today is “God hates sin but loves the sinner.” We all get the gist of this, but in a sense, the phrase separates the sinner from the sin in a way that bypasses the sin committed. Scripture makes clear that God has something else in mind.

We know that God so loved the world that he gave his begotten Son for it, and this love includes all sinners. His sovereign desire is that all humankind would repent and be saved. 

On one hand, scripture gives us a powerful sense of God’s love, yet we cannot deny the equally powerful sense in scripture of what God hates. He can love the world and the people in it and yet also hate what those people do, hate the wickedness they bring, and the harm and destruction they cause in others’ lives. 

This twofold character of loving and hating does not end with God. It has to be a part of our lives, transforming our hearts and informing our minds. If we have God’s love in us, we will hate the evil done by those who oppose God’s love. For instance, if you love children, you’re going to hate abortion and child abuse. If you love peace, you’re going to hate war, and the death and destruction it brings.  

God is love, and he is also just, which means he hates evil. In his awesome love, he will not stand by forever while evil is done. In time, he will pour out his wrath of righteous justice upon wicked evildoers. God is faithfully at work, and David told us the Lord won’t let evildoers continue in their ways. God is sovereign over them, too. 

^{This devotional has been adapted from Gary Wilkerson’s book, The Altar of Our Hearts: An Expository Devotional on the Psalms.} 

It does not matter what you do to try to clean yourself up. If you don’t trust Jesus to save you through his grace, all your righteousness is as filthy rags in God’s sight. The transformative power of the gospel is that all flesh was done away with at the cross, and now the Christ-man has come forth. True faith is not just a belief; it is a confidence in what he did for you. 

You may find it hard to believe that a troubled, failing Christian like yourself could be precious to God. You may think he has to be disgusted with you because of all your problems. You may believe he still loves you, but surely God is disappointed because you have failed him so often. 

In Isaiah 43, the prophet’s message of grace was spoken to people who had been robbed, snared in holes, and cast into prison because of their foolishness and unbelief. Despite all their failures, God came to them with a message of hope and love: “Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you” (Isaiah 43:4).

I will never forget the pain I endured when one of my teenage children confessed to me, “Dad, I’ve never once felt as if I have pleased you or felt worthy of your love. I feel like I’ve let you down my whole life. You must be really disappointed in me.”

Those words hurt. I embraced that tearful child, hurting deeply inside myself. I cried with my reply, “But you have always been special to me. You have been the apple of my eye. Sure, you’ve done foolish, wrong things at times; but you are forgiven. You were truly sorry, and I never once thought less of you. You are nothing but a joy to me.”

So it is with many Christians in their relationship with the heavenly Father. The devil has convinced them they have disappointed God and will never be able to please him. Consequently, they don’t accept his love and live as if his wrath is always breathing down on them. What a horrible way to go through life. Oh, how pained God must be when he sees his children living this way. 

As Christians, we can be assured that we are precious in God’s sight. Trust in his love and grace, which can change our lives, no matter how unworthy or disappointed we may feel.

In Song of Solomon, the Lord says of his bride: “How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!” (Song of Solomon 7:6, NKJV). 

These words describe Jesus’s thoughts toward his bride as he beholds her. He looks at her and says, “How beautiful, sweet and delightful you are. You are precious to me, O love!” Then the bride boasts, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me” (Song of Solomon 7:10). The meaning here is that he runs after me with delight and chases me because I am so precious to him. 

These same thoughts are found throughout the book of Psalms: “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his mercy” (Psalm 147:11), and “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he will beautify the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

Understanding that you are precious to the Lord is the key to your deliverance from every battle that rages in your soul. It is the secret to entering into the rest God has promised you. Until you lay hold of it and it becomes a foundation of truth in your heart, you will not be able to withstand what is ahead in this wicked time.

Isaiah had a revelation of God’s great delight in us. He prophesied to Israel this word from the Lord: “O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you’” (Isaiah 43:1-2).

Isaiah was not talking about a literal flood or fire. He was talking about what the people were going through spiritually and mentally. At that time, they were in captivity; the floods were trials, the fires were temptations, and the rivers were testings. The devil attempted to destroy and overwhelm God’s people.

Isaiah’s words were a message of pure mercy to Israel. They were in captivity because of their own stupidity and foolishness, and they deserved nothing. However, God sent them a weeping, brokenhearted prophet who said, “God wants me to tell you that you belong to him!” Beloved, receive those words today. You belong to God, and he delights in you!