Devotions

Every believer is challenged to stay in the Scriptures until the Holy Spirit makes God’s promises seem to jump off the pages to him or her personally. We can know when that happens because we will hear the still, small voice of the Spirit whispering: “This promise is yours. It is God’s Word given just to you, to see you through hard times.” I am convinced you can’t fight the battle of faith without hearing the assuring voice of the Lord to you.

HIS PERSONAL WORD

When David went down in defeat, he encouraged himself, got back his fight, and immediately acted in faith. When he got back his fighting spirit, he sent for something known as the ephod. This was a kind of garment that included two stones kept in the priest’s breastplate. On occasion God spoke through the ephod, and David was determined to get a word of direction from the Lord.

“David said to Abiathar the priest . . . I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them?” (1 Samuel 30:7–8, my italics).

RECEIVING GOD’S DIRECTION

Consider what David did here. After he had wept, and after he had regained his fight, this man went directly to his knees. The Lord gave him the word of direction he needed:

“He answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all” (30:8, my italics).

God’s direction to David was, “Go forth. You will be victorious.” In other words: “Fight on!”

If your pastor’s sermons are anointed, they will produce life in you. The preaching of God’s Word will always encourage His saints. Likewise, corporate worship will lift you for a season. But how quickly we forget that uplift after a Sunday service is over. As Monday and Tuesday pass and the news begins to turn bad, we often fall back into fits of anxiety and fear.

GODLY COUNSEL

In normal times, I am able to draw advice from my godly wife, Gwen. She is always there to give me a good word — just what I need. I feel toward her the way David did when he said to Abigail, wife of Nabal: “See, I have hearkened to thy voice” (1 Samuel 25:35). But things can be different in calamitous times. When our faith is being threatened — indeed, when our very lives are being threatened — the counsel of spouses, pastors and wise friends can take us only so far.

Today we are living in fearful times and the truth is, only a personal word from the Lord can lead us through such times with the enduring hope we need. Throughout history, God has always been faithful to provide a word to His people.

HE STILL SPEAKS TODAY

In the Old Testament we read this phrase again and again: “The word of the Lord came.”

• Scripture says of Abraham: “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram” (Genesis 15:1).
• We read of Joshua: “According unto the word of the Lord which he [gave] Joshua” (Joshua 8:27).

And so it was with David and also the prophets. As for God’s people today, we have the abiding Holy Spirit to speak a word from heaven to us. Through Him, the comforting, healing, guiding word of the Lord is available to all who trust.

David and his band of men were on the run from King Saul, who had been trying to kill him. At one point the small army encamped in a town called Ziklag, where they settled their families. From there they went out to do battle, leaving their wives and children safely behind.

After a battle, David and his army were making a three-day trip back home when their village was suddenly raided by the Amalekites. This fierce enemy kidnapped the families of David and his men and burned down the whole town.

“So [they] came to the city, and, behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive” (1 Samuel 30:3).

RECOUNTING BLESSINGS

David’s response to this calamity was that “[he] encouraged himself in the Lord” (30:6). I believe he did this by remembering God’s past deliverances. In his young life, he had killed a bear, slain a lion, and brought down the giant Goliath. Now, as he agonized over this loss, he recounted those battles and the many others he had won.

ONLY A PERSONAL WORD

David was saying, “I need a word from the Lord.” He knew that no one could encourage him — not the very wise captains under his charge or, indeed, any counselor at all. David had to have a personal word directly from the One who had delivered him from every desperate situation he had ever faced.

Beloved, the same is true for you and me today. There simply is nobody on earth who can lift your soul out of despair or keep your spirit encouraged through the duration of your crisis. We all must get our own word from the Lord. Like David, we are called to strengthen ourselves by recalling God’s deliverances in our lives. And we must also remember those times when God has proven fruitful in past generations.

Moses knew how important God’s blessings were to Israel. His supernatural works had saved their lives — manna from heaven when they faced starvation and water from a rock when their bodies were parched beyond their limits.

But Moses recognized that the point of these experiences, beyond their miraculous provision, was to know and trust the compassionate, loving God who bestowed them. Moses’ next statement comes as no surprise:

“Please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (Exodus 33:13).

Moses knew that, ultimately, God’s favor wasn’t found in the blessings He provided — it was found in knowing the Lord Himself. 

THROUGH A PASTOR’S EYES

I thank God for all His earthly blessings. As a pastor, I get to see His amazing work in people’s lives all the time. He restores marriages that have broken apart. He provides for those who struggle economically. He brings healing to people’s sick, broken bodies.

As I write this, I think of a little boy named Isaiah who wasn’t expected to live for ten days beyond his birth. After he survived the first year, doctors said he would never walk. Recently, his mom sent me a video of young Isaiah dancing with a little girl at a wedding!

GOD’S BREATH OF LIFE

Such things speak of God’s unlimited favor — His ability to breathe life into any desert wilderness. We all experience His favor in ways too great to measure: our relationships, our health, our work, our school. When we struggle in any area of life, or our circumstances get too difficult, He sustains us with His soothing presence. God has done things in our lives we never could imagine happening. His unlimited favor knows no boundaries.   

Just like any minister today, Jesus preached using only His voice. And just like any congregation today hearing a sermon, the disciples could hear His words only with their ears and process them with their minds. But the truth of God is different from mathematics or the laws of science. It can be understood and appropriated into our lives only when it is revealed to our innermost being: that is where its life-changing power works (see Matthew 13:18-23).

MERE FACTS IN OUR BRAIN CELLS

A divine book must have a divine teacher so that its message can be revealed on a spiritual level. Otherwise the message just crumbles into facts that reside only in our brain cells. That Jesus was born in Bethlehem is a fact. Understanding the glorious meaning of Immanuel, God with us, and the significance of His lying in a stable requires divine teaching. So it is absolutely necessary for the Holy Spirit to be our teacher if the Bible is to be truly understood. The Spirit can overcome the human limitations of voice, ear, and brain because He teaches in the classroom of the heart.

WHAMMO! IT COMES ALIVE

That is why we can read a portion of Scripture for years and then when we read it again, Whammo, it comes alive! We understand it in a brand-new way. We ask, Why didn’t I see that before? That is the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, teachers play an important role, as do apostles, evangelists, prophets and pastors. But even when teachers do their best, the only way for us to be ultimately blessed by the Word is through the inner teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is faithful to help us know truth from error and keep us from satanic distortions. But for all of that to happen, we must come with humble, teachable hearts.

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.