Devotions

Paul urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus even though it appeared Timothy didn’t want to (see 1 Timothy 1:3-4). We believe the reason may have been because of problems the Ephesian church was facing. It seems the church was living in self-righteousness, trying to look good. When you are self-righteous, you often are deceived and you become greedy and ambitious; you may even start to hoard things.

At this time there was a famine in Macedonia and also in Jerusalem, resulting in extreme poverty. While Macedonia and Jerusalem were struggling, the economy in Ephesus was good; they had a lot of resources but they were clinging to them for themselves.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17-18: “Charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.”

Paul’s first word, charge, means to “command or give strict orders.” In some translations we read, “Command those who are rich in this present age to be generous.”

Why would Paul tell them to command people to be generous and to no longer cling to things for themselves? It sounds so legalistic and it is — it’s the Law. The Law shows us where we are off grace, where we are wrong. The command that Paul said Timothy should give to the Ephesians was not to get them to give an offering only, but to get them to see that something of grace was missing in their lives.

In the New Testament, Christ is the perfect Lamb of God who is offered for the sins of the world. His blood is shed on the cross and it is a supernatural Passover for each of us. We are saved from death and we find eternal protection and peace in Him. Whoever places himself, by faith, under the blood of Christ is spared from eternal death and finds salvation.

Fifty days later, it is Pentecost, the beginning of the Church where the promise of the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit is powerful and personal. The laws, desires, purposes, plans and promises of God are not written on tables of stone any longer, but can be written by the Holy Spirit every day on the tablets of our hearts. It is one of the truest and most extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Spirit available to human beings.

Ezekiel, the man of God and biblical writer, received a prophetic picture. It is a promise for every believer who will pray, “Lord, increase our faith.” Ezekiel prophetically described what would supernaturally take place when someone sincerely asks God to be empowered to receive His resolution by Him and for Him.

“I will give you a new heart and I will put a new Spirit in you. I will take away the heart of stone (impenetrable) and I will give you a heart of flesh (upon which God can leave His imprint — a modern analogy would be like wet cement). I will put My Spirit in you and I will cause you to know and obey my ordinances. I will write my laws upon your hearts and you will walk in my commandments” (see Ezekiel 36:26-27).

What assurance, what confidence! God promises that by His Spirit new passion, values, changes, convictions and commitments are made possible.

Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.

The Old Testament is filled with accounts of the wonderful blessings that came to those who walked in God’s presence.

God’s presence was so evident in Abraham’s life that even the heathen around him recognized the difference between their lives and his: “Abimelech . . . spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest” (Genesis 21:22). This heathen king was saying, “There’s something different about you, Abraham. God is with you wherever you go.”

God promised Joshua that no enemy could stand against him when His presence was with him: “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:5–6). When God’s Spirit is present with us, we can be strong and courageous because we trust His promises.

God told Isaiah of a special promise He makes to those He loves: “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God . . . and I have loved thee. . . . Fear not: for I am with thee” (Isaiah 43:1–5, my italics).

With God’s presence abiding in you, you can go through any fire, and you won’t just survive but will be kept and protected through it all.

These Old Testament accounts aren’t mere stories. They are meant to encourage us to trust God for His presence in our own lives.

“But 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).

If Jesus Christ is your Lord, He has commanded the light of His loving-kindness to shine in your soul.

This glory of Christ — this tender loving-kindness that shines in our hearts as we pray and search His Word — changes us, “from glory to glory,” into the likeness of Christ. And the revelation of love, compassion and caring we receive from Him must shine out of us to others.

This revelation is increased daily within us “by the Spirit of the Lord.” Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit who leads us into the glory of Christ. The Spirit shines in us and changes us through every circumstance. Finally, He shows us how to shine His caring, loving-kindness to others who are in need.

I ask you: What are your present circumstances doing to you and in you? Is there a sweetness of Christ shining out of you? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see the pains and needs of others? That is the changing that Paul says takes place in us by the Spirit of God.

Only those who are at rest in the perfect will of God can trust that “all things are working together for good” in the worst of circumstances. So, dear saint, lift up your head and testify to yourself, to heaven and to your circumstances: “I am living in the perfect will of God, come what may.” 

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17–18).

Paul is telling us, “Get your eyes off your troubles. Don’t focus on the things that are coming upon the earth because they are all going to pass away. Your problems mean nothing in light of the eternal glory awaiting the people of God. After one moment in paradise with Him you won’t remember any of it!”

It is written of Christ, “For the joy that was set before him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus Himself said, “When you see these things coming, look up and rejoice! It all means your day of redemption is at hand” (see Luke 21:28).

According to Paul, when darkness and uncertainty are closing in, God commands a marvelous light to shine in our hearts.

Paul is speaking here of a glorious manifestation of the knowledge of the glory of Christ that comes to us in our trials:

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Paul is describing nothing less than a fresh revelation of the glory of God in the person of Christ.

When Paul received this revelation, he was in prison and penniless. Even though he subsisted on lowly prison food, he was made alive by the fresh revelation of the glory of Christ he received daily.