Devotions

God’s compassion has a purpose. His love has a significance that goes beyond simply supplying our needs. I’ve seen God heal people of terminal sicknesses like cancer, but if Jesus doesn’t return soon, all of them will eventually die anyway. God isn’t going to continue restoring their bodies until they’re 462 years old, right? 

Jesus answers our prayers so that we will ask him, “Who are you?” That’s the question that Jesus wants us to ask. We see it so many times in scripture.

“…A windstorm came down on the lake, and they [the boats] were filling with water and were in danger. And they [the disciples] went and woke him [Jesus], saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’” (Luke 8:23-25, ESV). 

It’s not enough that Jesus provides miracles or heals us or answers our requests. Asking “Who is this?” marks the real beginning of our discipleship journey. We move from loving him for what he does for us to loving him for who he is. 

Please hear me, I’m not saying that you ever ‘outgrow’ asking God to heal you or help you. Christianity isn’t a journey where you get mature enough and then stop asking God, “Will you restore this relationship? Will you bring someone I love to you? Will you heal my body of this illness?” We will still pray those prayers, but Jesus is inviting us to also ask, “Who are you? What are you like? Are you trustworthy in my current situation?” 

Jesus is ultimately taking us to a place where we will finally hear him when he says, “I am.” He is love, justice, graciousness, mercy, the bread of life, the light of the world, the sustainer of our bodies, hearts and minds. He is the door to freedom, joy and a full life. He is all that we could ever desire. 

I love the mountains. I love looking at them, hiking over them, driving through them, taking pictures of them…well, you get the point. I love them in the fall when the aspens are fire-yellow. I love them in the winter when they’re covered in snow. I love them in the spring when they are as green as a southern suburban lawn. I love them in the summer when the meadows are full of wildflowers. In case I wasn’t clear, I love the mountains.

I can walk onto my back deck and look at Pikes Peak, ”America’s Mountain.” Looking at it never gets old. When I drive home from visiting family in Missouri, I can see the top of the mountain from 70 miles away on a clear day. That view stirs warm feelings in my heart, but I’m sure it was not the same for those early pioneers. Why? Because their perspective was very different than mine.

What I think of as home, they thought of as a terrible obstacle to their future. After all, people died trying to cross those mountains. They had made plans for a life on the other side of those mountains, but in the earliest days, there were no roads. As more and more people made the trek to California, traversing the Rockies got easier. Today, with a decent car and anything other than blizzard weather conditions, you can make it from one side of the mountains to the other in just over two hours.

I often hear those in Christian ministry talk about pioneering. I applaud their hearts for making followers of Jesus everywhere, but we must remember that there are few places we’ll go today where someone hasn’t already gone. As I mentioned, I love hiking in the mountains, and some of those trails are difficult…but there are trails. The existence of a trail indicates that someone was there before you, and it was harder for them than for me.

So while it’s good for us to think about pioneering in ministry, let’s have the humility to remember that while the modern-day version of that activity might be difficult, there was a time when it was much more challenging. Remember that the same Lord who sustained them will sustain us if we stay humble and dependent.

^{Mark Renfroe and his wife, Amy, have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. Mark served as the area director for Assemblies of God World Missions and currently serves as the chief missions officer for World Challenge.}

Our minds have a natural tendency to wander and drift. Often we can’t sleep because we are unable to shut down the barrage of thoughts that invade our minds. I call these “unwilling distractions.”

As I sat in church during worship recently, my mind was flooded with invading thoughts about ministry, my next sermon, church finances, the need for more space. These are all important things, but I was totally distracted from worshiping the Lord. I had to keep bringing my thoughts into captivity.

When God communed with Abraham and made covenant with him, Abraham killed five animals and laid them out as a sacrifice. Scripture says, “When the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away” (Genesis 15:11, NKJV).

That is exactly what happens to us during worship. Thoughts fly down on us like bothersome birds, interfering with our intimacy with him and trying to devour our sacrifice. Like Abraham, we need to drive them all away.

Every time I shut myself in to pray, within ten minutes my thoughts begin to run off in all directions. I hear my mouth worshiping the Lord, but my mind is completely on something else. I try fighting off the flood of thoughts, but even more come pouring in. The flesh constantly wars against our spirit, wanting our attention.

The same happens to me in God’s house. I can be praising the Lord, full of love for Jesus, when suddenly my mind begins chasing after some other matter. Our wandering thoughts are not always of the devil. Sometimes they simply crowd in on us, thoughts of business, family, problems, difficulties. They must always be brought into captivity, however, because we are at war!

The flesh will always try to interfere with our worship or our prayer time. We are commanded to resist the flesh, and we must keep bringing Jesus back into focus. If we keep our mind centered on God, his fire will fall on our holy sacrifice.

“In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped” (Isaiah 4:2, NKJV).

All through the Old Testament, the branch that is mentioned as coming forth is none other than Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. According to Isaiah, there will be a church to whom he will appear beautiful, excellent and comely. They will be passionately in love with a man whom they see as glorious.

Right now, there is a remnant church that desires nothing but Christ. He is the center of attraction, and the people focus totally on him. These are the ones Isaiah refers to as being “…escaped of Israel.” Indeed, the last-days church that will be filled with God’s glory is more than just a forgiven church. It is a holy church, one that has been purged by the consuming fire of God’s convicting Word. Holiness and purity characterize its people. Isaiah adds, “He that is left in Zion…shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 4:3).

The best evidence here that Isaiah is referring to the last-days church is found in the next verse. “And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place…a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night” (Isaiah 4:5).

Isaiah is predicting that God will create a new pillar and cloud to cover his people. We know that when Isaiah prophesied this, the pillar and cloud in the wilderness had already passed away. Obviously, this was something that had yet to be created.

The cloud has to do with direction and comfort, with preservation from evil and terror, and with guidance. This means God’s last-days remnant people will have clear direction.

God is saying, “I am going to see you through. Even in the worst storm, you will have clear direction from me because I will give you a pillar of fire to lead you as I did Israel in the wilderness!”