Devotions

Jesus told us to work while it is still day. Why? Because the “night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).

In Revelation 7, John describes a multitude standing before God’s throne, a crowd so massive nobody could number it.

^“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10).

This crowd is representative of people from all tongues and nations, dressed in white robes and all praising the Lord. “These are they which came out of great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14).

Dear saint, I believe we are the generation referred to in Revelation 7. We are living in the darkest of hours and all around us are great tribulations. But the light is still shining brightly. Indeed, the darker the night, how much greater is His light!

As you labor in prayer for your loved ones and for a world covered in darkness, I want to remind you of your own story. Remember, in your tribulation time somebody was winning souls. Somebody was praying the lost into the light. Somebody was rising above the dark and proclaiming Christ. Somebody believed Jesus would break out new wine. And it happened! You came into the light! God will draw out of the darkness and into the light those who you are praying for.

Wine in the Bible represents joy and gladness. “Wine that makes glad the heart of man” (Psalm 104:15). In the New Testament, “new wine” is a type of the Holy Spirit.

Yet as I look at the Church today, I see wine jars that are empty. Why? As almost every biblical prophet has said, “Sin takes away mirth and gladness.”

For every mother, father and grandparent who has prayed so long for their lost young one: Hold on. Jesus is watching and waiting. His hour on your child’s behalf is about to come.

The fact is, your boy or girl may still be drinking the old wine of this world. They can’t give up their old friends. They still harbor hurts from the church, holding grudges and having lingering doubts. But the vessels holding that old wine are about to run dry. Their friends will fail them and they’ll be overcome with emptiness.

When that moment comes — when all their efforts have failed — you will see God’s hour of power. Only a miracle of His grace can bring true deliverance. So, keep on praying. God will keep His word to you!

In light of all this, what are we to do?

Mary, Jesus’ mother, gives us the answer. At Cana, she told the disciples, “Just do what He tells you” (see John 2:5). Beloved, He is the new wine, the source of all joy and gladness. And He will tell you what He would have you do. Read His Word — and then do it!

Prayer meetings are being resurrected in churches throughout New York City. Who could have believed this would happen in “Sin City”? Not long ago over 50,000 believers gathered in Times Square to pray. And Christian conferences worldwide are becoming impromptu prayer meetings.

When the Spirit stirs — when sinners are coming to Christ; when the Spirit bears witness that now is the time to pray; when God makes a promise and begins to move — you can’t just sit back and say, “God promised it. I’m just going to ‘take it by faith.’ I’ll relax and watch Him fulfill everything He says.” No! When the Spirit moves, it is time for pressing in with fervency and faith.

When Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy, he calculated that Israel’s seventy years of bondage had come to an end. He realized Israel was about to be delivered from Babylon. God’s people were about to be set free! (See Daniel 9:2)

So what did Daniel do? Did he wait for God to move, “taking it all by faith”? No! Daniel declared, “I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). And, of course, he prayed with abounding faith.

Prior to every great move of the Lord, the Holy Spirit calls us to fervent prayer. And every great move of the Spirit that follows is sustained by prayer.

In Jude’s epistle, we read of a last-days generation given over to fornication and sensuality. It was a time when God’s people murmured and complained. Jude prophesied of it all, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment” (Jude 14–15).

How were God’s people to prepare for this? According to Jude, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20). In the darkest hour, God’s people are always to watch and pray.

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us” (Hebrews 10:15).

You may ask, “What is the Holy Spirit bearing witness to?” The next verse tells us: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them” (10:16). Simply put, the Holy Spirit is witness to an outpouring of mercy upon this last-days generation.

“It is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. . . . He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself” (1 John 5:6, 10). The Holy Spirit bears witness to all of God’s workings and moving, to prepare us for what He is about to do. Right now His Church is being stirred again, showing us that a sovereign move of the Holy Spirit must come. Out of this gross darkness, the Spirit is going to lift up Christ and draw multitudes to Him.

We are also experiencing a time of darkness in the Church. Denominations are affirming same-sex marriages and an entire generation is turning away from God. Yet in this darkest of hours, the Holy Spirit is awakening all who seek Him. If you are walking in the Spirit, you’ve heard the same witness from the Spirit. That is: The hour of man’s darkness is the Holy Spirit’s hour of outpouring. It has always been that way, and so it will be now.

In this hour of bad news, the Spirit is witnessing good news: “He has saved the best wine for last!” 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV).

I could do a ten-year series on how to get involved in ministry and it would have zero effect. But remembering the cross and what Jesus endured there causes the heart of the servant to spring up within him. You cannot come to the cross a broken, dirty, worthless sinner and be redeemed, sanctified and loved by our Savior without being changed. When you come to this cross of Jesus, you realize, “I am crucified with Christ.”

When you live in the power of the crucified Christ, you are incapable of not serving Him. You don’t have to be asked to be a servant; in fact, nothing can stop you from signing up for ministries. You will have to carefully schedule your life because serving will just naturally come out of you.

We cannot change by going on a guilt-trip and telling ourselves we just need to try a little harder. No, we can’t do it by ourselves, but the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus gives us power to lay down our lives for Him and for others. We look around and see that many people are in need — people who are searching for a church that is full of love. They may have had a horrible week, but when they walk through the doors of the Lord’s church, they must see and feel that there is something different about that place.

Because we have been “crucified with Christ,” our servant-heart can reach others with His love and help them also to be changed.