Devotions

If I am to live by my faith, I must do as Noah did and build an ark to ride out the storm.

“By faith Noah . . . moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (Hebrews 11:7).

The ark that Noah built represents Jesus Christ — and there is no other safe place on earth.

When Isaiah prophesied of a king coming to reign in righteousness, he was clearly describing Christ:

“A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2).

All over the world people are desperately searching for a safe place to hide their money. Multitudes are buying guns to protect their families during what they believe will be a dark time of “every man for himself.” These include Bible-believing Christians.

Yet there is no place of guaranteed safety on earth, except to abide in Jesus. I don’t state this as some empty theology that Christians often say thoughtlessly. For over two thousand years, those who have trusted in Jesus for safety have proven God’s Word faithful.

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:2).

Right now, I believe the Church needs a refresher course on God’s majesty and power, much like Job was given. The Lord said to Job, in essence:

“What is all this dark, hopeless talk I hear from you? Stand up and listen to Me. I laid the foundation of the earth; I made the light and the darkness; I created the rain, snow, ice and wind; I gave wings to birds and I feed the beasts of the field. I control all of nature.

“Tell me, Job, who can thunder with a voice like Mine? Who can look into every man’s heart and see its condition? Who is able to identify the arrogant, locate them, and then bring them low?” (see Job 38).

Beloved, the same God who knows the name and address of every proud person also knows your name, your address, your condition. And He will keep you in His heart all of your days, through every calamity. To accept this is to live by faith.

If I live by faith, I will not fear for the future of God’s people or the Church in calamitous times.

“Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

This pledge from Jesus has emboldened the faith of generations. And it is meant to sustain us now in our present global calamity.

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, my italics).

The phrase I emphasize here is familiar to Christians all over the world. For centuries “living by faith” has motivated the daily decisions of believers in every generation.

“By faith” is the only way God’s people are ever able to face a calamity or affliction. It was the only way in Habakkuk’s day, it was the only way in every Old Testament generation, and it was the only way in New Testament times. Now, in our day, the same foundational truth stands: “The just shall live by his faith.”

Yet, what does this mean, to live by one’s faith? God’s Word shows us it means more than simply believing. To live by one’s faith is to see God’s hand and his holiness in all calamities:

“The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth” (Psalm 9:16).

“When thy hand is lifted up, [the wicked] will not see” (Isaiah 26:11).

YES, GOD’S HAND IS IN EVERYTHING

The world doesn’t see God lifting His hand to bring chastening. But those who live by faith readily acknowledge, “What we are seeing is God’s hand at work. This is His holiness being established. He is keeping His Word.”

If we are to live by faith, we must have a reverential fear of God’s power. And it is impossible not to see His awesome might at work in the world today.

Judgment — I am not accustomed to writing messages on this subject, and you may be surprised by this one. I prepared it with great reservations; in fact, it took me far beyond my comfort zone, even though I am dedicated to preaching the whole counsel of God.

Right now I am compelled to speak because of something I see happening in our culture. I have grown convinced that America now stands on the brink of one of the most extreme judgments it has ever faced. And in this bleak hour God has something to say to His Church that may begin to turn the tide.

When I grew up, it wasn’t unusual to hear this kind of difficult message in the denomination my family was part of. Occasionally I heard my father preach on the subject of judgment. What I’m talking about is a prophetic message (although my dad was adamant about not being called a prophet). He said he was a “watchman.”

LOVE TO HEAR HIS VOICE

These days I better appreciate the messages my dad preached and the anguish they caused him. I know he spent hours wrestling with God over the difficult sermons he delivered. As a pastor, I appreciate A. W. Tozer’s lesson that God loves to speak to the man or woman who loves to listen. Yet I fear the church has lost that practice. God wants to speak to us about our family, our marriage, our life’s direction, but our ear is inclined less and less to His voice and more to the world’s.

The Bible calls this condition a famine of the Word of God (see Amos 8:11) — a lack of knowledge of God and His ways. In times of chaos He will use the famine to get our attention and He has my full attention right now! And if He is speaking hard messages about society to grace-oriented pastors such as I am, it tells me He is up to something.

In the eighth chapter of Acts, an angel of the Lord told Philip to stop what he was doing and start out toward the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. At the time, Philip was busy preaching and healing in Samaria. The Lord gave Philip no explanation, and he had no idea why he was being sent. Yet he obeyed.

PROFITABLE DETOUR

While traveling down this road, Philip was passed by a chariot and the Holy Spirit told him to stay near it. When he caught up to the chariot, he heard a man inside reading from Isaiah the prophet. The man, a eunuch from Ethiopia, was an important official of the queen. Immediately Philip understood why the Spirit had led him to this place in the middle of nowhere. He was able to witness to the eunuch and bring him to Christ (Acts 8:26-35).

Had Philip not been listening to the Spirit’s leading, or had he chosen not to heed His direction (or worse yet, failed to acknowledge that the Spirit actually speaks to us), he would have missed out on this divine appointment.

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S AUTHORITY

The truth is, had Philip stayed in Samaria preaching, he probably would have reached many more for Christ during this period of time. Instead, God diverted him for the sake of one soul. It would have been easy for Philip to question this mandate, to second-guess God’s wisdom in leading him away during a successful and busy time in his outreach, but he didn’t. Philip understood God’s authority and knew better than to question His ways.

THE VALUE OF LISTENING

What does it mean to trust God and walk in the Spirit? Jesus offers us a perfect description:

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with every one born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

When and where God leads may not always make sense to us. But a true disciple learns to listen and obey, regardless of his or her own opinions or agenda at the moment.

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run.