Devotions

Have you ever struggled with obeying God because you really wanted to move ahead and do something on your own? If so, I can only urge you to examine your calling. Do exactly what God is telling you to do and go exactly where he is leading. If you are there now, you are at peace. But if you are not at peace, it may be because you are not trusting the Lord in the way you should be.

Perhaps the things you are doing now in God’s place seem insignificant to you. In your mind, they may not be up to what you perceive to be your high calling. But when you make peace with where God has sent you, you will be abundantly blessed. The Lord “knows your frame” and he will instruct you, keep you, and bless you beyond anything you could imagine. The point is, always go (or stay) where he has directed you in his infinite wisdom. Just be prepared to go through some serious testing.    

We read in the Old Testament that many of God’s servants took a first step of obedience but then murmured and complained when things got tough. Every true servant of God may think, “Lord, I don’t know if I can handle this. I’m not sure I can make it through.”

Peter lovingly warns us that we will sometimes question the battle we face. “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Murmuring and complaining can cause our hearts to become hardened, so we need to guard against it. When God tells his servants to trust him, we are to do what he says without murmuring, knowing he has our best interests at heart.

At one time King David asked God to save him from dying and God answered his prayer: “He asked life from You, and You gave it to him — length of days” (Psalm 21:4). But God went much further in answering David’s prayer. Not only did he give him life, he also put a crown on his head and made him king of Israel.

After God made David king, he poured honor and splendor upon him. “You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. ... Honor and majesty You have placed upon him” (21:3 and 5). And to top it off, God added great joy: “You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence” (21:6).

“For with the Lord there is ... abundant redemption” (Psalm 130:7). David was saying, “Lord, you not only extended mercy to me but you poured out your redemption.”

David’s son Solomon also prayed a simple prayer: “Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). Solomon was saying, “Lord, all I want is wisdom to know how to handle your people. I only want to be a just king over them.”

God answered Solomon’s direct request in an incredible way: “Then God said to him: ‘Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, not have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done accord to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you’” (3:11-12).

God was absolutely delighted to over-answer the unselfish prayers of these great men! And your heavenly Father wants to do the same for you. 

Most Christians want to hear and know the voice of God and God certainly wants to speak to his people. But many believers get sidetracked by an idol — a favorite minister, teacher or evangelist — who speaks only good things to them. In order to know the Father’s voice, one must go directly to him without a middleman.

God desires to speak to you as if you were sitting down to dinner with him. He wants to converse with you heart to heart, on any and all matters. The Bible says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

This verse is often applied to the unsaved; we speak of Jesus standing at the door of the sinner’s heart, seeking entrance. But Christ is speaking to the believer! The context shows that he is talking to those who are clothed in white garments (righteousness), who have bought gold refined in the fire, whose eyes are anointed (having revelation), and are loved, reproved and chastened (see verses 18-19). These are repentant, holy people who want to know the voice of God!

The door referenced in verse twenty represents a commitment — one that many Christians have not yet fully made. You pray to God and ask for advice and direction but he wants more! He wants your closeness, your deepest emotions. He wants to sit with you and share all that is in his heart.

Jesus is standing at the door knocking, inviting you to open the door. He is asking for a commitment of faith that says you will open up your heart, soul and mind to him. In his presence, shut in with him alone, you will get to know him. And you will learn to know his voice — the voice of the one who loves you enough to keep knocking. 

As followers of Christ, we must be careful not to fall into a favorite trap of Satan: becoming entangled in the volatile cultural and political mindset that is rife in our world. As Satan makes the world more furious at Christians, he is trying to make us angry and retaliatory. In other words, he wants to replace our deep peace in Jesus with contentiousness, causing us to resist the assaults of persecution rather than enduring them for the sake of the gospel.

The church is not involved in a chess match with the secular world, moving pieces strategically with one goal in mind: winning the culture war. But if we are not careful, we can get caught up in “the game” and be drained of all the salt and light Christ has given us to accomplish his purposes here on earth.

This cultural fight is nothing new. Think of the horrific genocide that took place in Israel when Jesus was born. “A cry was heard in Ramah . . . weeping and great mourning” (Matthew 2:18). Jesus grew up in a culture where there were no boys his age because they had all been slaughtered. He could have grown up with vengeance on his mind, thinking, “Herod will pay for what he did to all my Jewish brothers. One day I’ll bring him down!”

Instead, when Jesus was a young man of thirty, he set about proclaiming good news, healing the sick, performing miracles, even raising the dead. In short, he was about his Father’s business. He kept his focus! Even when the Pharisees told him that Herod Antipas wanted to kill him (see Luke 13:31), he told them to let the king know he was going to continue what he was doing. He knew Herod was a menace but he would not be distracted to do battle with him because he was intent on fulfilling his purpose to set every captive free! 

A life of love is the only way to “please [God] in every way” (Colossians 1:10). Since God is an emotional being, he experiences joy and sadness just as we do. Our daily words and deeds can cause him displeasure or move him to rejoice over us with singing. What an amazing thought! Today you and I can please the God of the universe. Although he is beyond comprehension, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, his heart can still be touched by our loving actions, even in commonplace activities. What else but love could please a God of love?

Love is always the bottom line. That is why the Bible declares: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).

Even though the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham was the circumcision of all baby boys, a new day has dawned and a better covenant has been established. Circumcision, race, talent, money, fame, education, or anything else we highly treasure becomes irrelevant when compared with love. A loving person, or better yet, a church full of loving people, has tremendous power to influence people for God.

An elderly couple from a southern state once visited our church, and after the service they visited with me in my office. The man became very emotional as he said, “Pastor, we have never before worshiped with black or Latino people, never once in our lives. But when you directed folks to greet one another, all kinds of men I’ve never met hugged me as if I were their brother.” Tears filled his eyes as he continued, “I felt more love this morning from strangers than I’ve ever experienced in thirty years in my home church.” 

What a blessing! He didn’t mention my sermon or how the choir sang. What touched his heart and opened his eyes was God’s love flowing! 

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.