Devotions

So much distress. So much affliction. So much sorrow caused by sickness, disease and disaster. So many hurting believers. So many people facing financial crises.

The Bible tells us, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Psalm 34:19). However, the second part of this verse changes the meaning entirely: “But the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

David cried, “Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions” (Psalm 132:1). This godly man faced many troubles. His prayer was, “Lord, You have delivered others out of their afflictions. Don’t forget about me! Help me, deliver me.”

The apostle Paul also endured many afflictions. He wrote: “The Holy Ghost [testifies to me] in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions [await] me” (Acts 20:23). Paul added, “No man should be moved by these afflictions” (1 Thessalonians 3:3). He was saying, “Dear saints, don’t question why I have to face so many great afflictions. These things do not cause me to question God.”

“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses” (2 Corinthians 6:4). Note Paul’s emphasis here: “in much patience.” Have you been losing patience in your affliction? Have you become so discouraged you’ve come to the point of casting aside your faith?

Lay hold of the Scriptures and let faith arise in your heart. God has not forgotten you!

As you continually reflect on Scripture and commune with Him in prayer and worship, you will become more and more like Jesus. And as you see how loving and merciful He is to you, you will trust Him more and more to see you through all trials. His Word makes it clear: “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Seek Him with all your heart and desire His presence in your daily life. Then you will know and experience His incredible glory.

I cannot imagine how unbelievers can know any peace whatsoever in these perilous times without the presence and assurance of Jesus. Fear and anguish now hang over humankind like a black cloud.

At a recent gathering of some of the richest men on earth, one speaker said in an agonized tone, “We are all in the worst possible mess. We brought it on ourselves, and we do not know how to get out of it.”

I thank God for the nearness and closeness of Jesus in this awful hour. I am taking all my anxious fears and cares to a quiet place of prayer, where I simply love Jesus. I quietly worship Him there, thanking Him and committing all my pains, stresses and family cares to Him. I daily sing that old gospel song:

Shut in with God in a secret place,
There in His presence beholding His face,
Gaining new power to run in the race,
I long to be shut in with God.

Beloved, Jesus is going to walk with you through your troubles. He rejoices over you. You are going to make it, dear overcomer. 

You may wonder why Moses so earnestly sought a vision of God’s glory and I believe we find the reason in the following verse:

“There I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory” (Exodus 29:43, my italics).

The word sanctified means “made clean.” God was saying, “As you worship Me, I will meet with you and give you My presence. And when you are in My presence I will reveal My glory to you. It will lift you above all your circumstances.”

So, where can we find this revelation of Christ? We find it only as we come to prayer trusting in God’s Word. Paul says as we allow Scripture to reflect to us an ever-increasing revelation of Jesus, we will be changed from glory to glory:

“We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This revelation of Christ’s glory will provide a keeping power for our lives: “Upon all the glory shall be a defense” (Isaiah 4:5, my italics). In other words, His glory will keep us heavenly minded in our worst hour.

What God is telling us here is to take time to get to know His Son. We are to search the Word and turn daily to prayer. Then, as we abide in His presence, our eyes will begin to open to His glory. It is all revealed in Christ. Jesus is the full revelation of His love, grace, mercy and tender kindness.

Some may ask, “What about the disciples’ incredible experience on the Mount of Transfiguration? Wasn’t that a manifestation of God’s glory? There was an overpowering light and the miraculous appearance of Moses and Elijah.”

In that incredible moment, God’s glory wasn’t in Moses or Elijah or even in the spectacular light. Rather, His radiant glory was in Jesus:

“His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. . . . Behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matthew 17:2, 5, my italics).

Here is God’s glory personified in Christ. Jesus is the revelation of all that God said He was to Moses: gracious, merciful, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving sins. At the Mount of Transfiguration God revealed a living picture of His own glory. “It is all now embodied in My Son.”

Beloved, God wants to open our eyes to “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). This means, simply, that all the glory revealed to Moses is embodied in God’s Son. And now Christ has been given to us as our inheritance.

“In [Christ Jesus, our Lord] dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9, my paraphrase).

“Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty” (2 Timothy 3:1).

Paul does not say this to scare us. He attributes it all to the sin of the human heart:

“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people” (2 Timothy 3:2-5).

That’s quite a list of sins. Yet Paul is talking not only to the world but also to us Christians: “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” 

When he says people will be lovers of themselves, he quite accurately describes the situation in many churches today. While evil increases, these churches increase their pursuit of self-promotion, gain and comfort. God never tells us to avoid the unsaved; they are our primary mission. So when Paul tells us to “avoid such people,” he is referring to fellow Christians who deny God’s authority in their lives. In fact, he affirms this, saying, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you’” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). As God’s people, what clearer call to repentance could we hear?

Satan will continue to spew forth death. And only one thing can resist his hell on earth: a church that is able to stand up and speak God’s Word boldly with integrity. Without a holy presence in this darkening world, the world will never know an alternative.