Devotions

For anyone to enjoy settled peace, he must cease from self and harken to God’s Word and rest without a single question on its pure, precious and everlasting record. God’s Word never changes. I change; my frame, my feelings, my experience, my circumstances change continually, but God’s Word is the same yesterday and today and forever.

It is a grand and essential point for the soul to apprehend that Christ is the only definition of the believer’s place before God. This gives immense power, liberty and blessing. “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17 NKJV). This is something perfectly wonderful!

Let us ponder it; let us think of a poor wretched, guilty slave of sin, a bondslave of Satan, a votary of the world, exposed to an eternal hell. Such an one is taken up by sovereign grace and delivered completely from the grasp of Satan. He is freed from  the dominion of sin, the power of this present evil. He is pardoned, washed, justified, brought nigh to God, accepted in Christ and perfectly and forever identified with him so that the Holy Ghost can say, “As Christ is, so is he in this world!”

All this seems too good to be true. Most assuredly, it is too good for us to get, but blessed be the God of all grace and blessed be the Christ of God, it is not too good for him to give. God gives like himself. He will be God in spite of our unworthiness and Satan’s opposition. He will act in a way worthy of himself and worthy of the Son of his love.

Excerpt from the writings of J.B. Stoney used in David Wilkerson’s personal devotions.

There are two types of doubt. There’s the unhealthy, skeptical doubt that leads to unbelief. Then there's the healthy doubt that questions assumptions we have made that need testing. We've been told to believe certain things, but in our hearts, in the recesses of our minds, we aren’t sure. That courage to question is good.

The disciple Thomas, sometimes known as “Doubting Thomas,” is probably the most maligned apostle besides Judas. He often comes up as a cautionary tale to believers, the ultimate example of faith strangled by unbelief. What if Thomas was simply the one who said what everyone else was thinking?

Thomas represents a fight almost every believer faces in their walk with God: conflating worry with unbelief. We think if we ask questions, it means we have no faith; but Jesus loved Thomas’ questions and leaned into his doubt. Throughout the Bible, believers are encouraged to question what they’re told about God. In Acts 17, Paul praises the Bereans for carefully comparing his messages with scripture before believing him.

Doubt is defined as a tension between two competing ideas. There are only two ways to deal with them: Face them head-on and come to a resolution, or bury them in denial and say, “A good Christian doesn't think those thoughts.”

I often doubt; it’s one of my favorite tools. I grow more through doubt than I do through anything else. I know it sounds odd for a Christian leader to say, but  I take great joy in my doubts. The great biblical scholars, contemplative prayer warriors, thinkers, and men and women of God who have made an impact throughout history all dared to question and test what they had been told. They put the truth through rigorous quality control and left behind rich legacies and examples for us to follow.

Many churches today have sermons like “Three Steps to Prosperity” or “Five Steps to Contentment in Your Job.” If you preach only those kinds of sermons 52 Sundays a year, ten years later you're going to have a church full of shallow Christians. Your church may be a mile wide, but it will be only an inch deep. Your congregation’s spiritual roots won’t be deep enough to withstand the storms of life and the tests of its faith.

Having doubts doesn’t mean you don’t believe. It means you’re hungry for the truth and honest enough to settle for nothing less.

It’s one thing to invest in people who have never hurt us. It is another thing to be moved with compassion toward people who have wronged us.

Consider this biblical story. “Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, ‘Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, “We will enter the city,” the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians…’” The lepers came into the Syrian camp and found that God had put all the soldiers to flight. They started to enjoy food and drink that had been left. “Then they said to one another, ‘We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.’” (2 Kings 7:3-9, ESV).

In the case of the four lepers, think about how tempting it would have been for them to neglect, and thus get vengeance on, a city that had subjected them to incredible pain and rejection. Perhaps today you find a similar sentiment deep within your heart. You thought a measure of kindness would be extended to you, but you instead found yourself being pushed to the side as everyone else passes you by.

As a Christian in this last hour, you are going to discover incredible provision from heaven. You must be careful, however, lest the thought enter your heart, This is for me and me alone. I am going to eat my morsel by myself, here in my little corner of security. When this all blows over, I am going to emerge as the one whom God provided for. Who cares about my neighbors? What have they ever done for me?

Thankfully that was not the reaction of the four lepers. These men were moved with compassion, and consequently they exemplified the heart of Christ. As we see in their situation, this will often require that we walk in forgiveness. We must be willing to go back into a city that has caused us pain, willing to go back to neighbors or coworkers who were unkind to us.

_{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.} 

Paul describes the love of God as wide, long, high and deep. “That you…may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19, NKJV).

I want to focus today on the depth of God’s love.

Over the years I’ve heard from backslidden Christians who want to return to their first love. One wrote, “I lived for years in awful sin. I am back, but I fear God can’t forgive my unspeakable sins. I have no peace.” Another said, “I want to get back to Jesus, but I’m afraid. I am one of the worst sinners.”

Many people are tired of their lives of sin and heartache, but they believe God has a limit to his love and mercy, a point at which he says, “You have rejected all my pleas and warnings, and now you’ve crossed the line.” Many are embarrassed or convinced that they have sinned away their day of grace.

The prophet Jonah ran from God’s commission, and his disobedience would put the blood of many on his hands. God never left him, though, even as he floated in the belly of the whale, mired in sin and rebellion (See Jonah 2). Jonah believed God had forsaken him for his sin. “For you cast me into the deep…out of your sight…my soul fainted within me” (see Jonah 2:3-7). But when Jonah reached the bottom, he was forgiven and delivered. He received a fresh touch and a special calling.

The Holy Spirit is at work on our behalf even when we are disobedient. No one is too far gone; no one is cast off. The Spirit says, “Repent. I am right here with you and will bring you back.”

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing! “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

The blood of Jesus offers freedom, pardon, mercy and reconciliation with the Father. No matter how deep you have fallen, God’s love and forgiveness go deeper.

Oh, the depth of his love!

When the children of Israel went through times of testing, were they really supposed to express gratitude and thanksgiving in the middle of them? When they were surrounded and in a hopeless situation, did God really expect them to have that kind of reaction?

Yes, absolutely! That was the secret to getting out of their difficulty. You see, God wants something from all of us in our times of trouble. He wants us to offer him a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

I believe James discovered this secret when he admonished, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” (James 1:2 NKJV). He was saying, “Don’t give up. Make an altar in your heart and offer up joyous thanksgiving even as you are going through the storm.”

Of course, the children of Israel did offer the Lord praise and thanksgiving, but they did it on the wrong side of the Red Sea. Yes, they rejoiced all night, but God had no pleasure in it. Anyone can shout in gratitude after a victory. The question God put to Israel was, “Will you praise me before I send help, while you’re still in the battle?”

I believe if Israel had rejoiced on the “trial side” of the Red Sea, they wouldn’t have had to be tested again at the waters of Marah. Had they passed the Red Sea test, the waters at Marah wouldn’t have tasted bitter, but sweet. And Israel would have seen water springing up everywhere in the desert, rather than having to go thirsty.

May God help us to sing the right song on the testing side of trials. May we understand how much delight a song of thanksgiving brings to the heart of our heavenly Father.

Are you going through a difficult time right now? Then sing! Praise! Say to the Lord, “I praise you because I know you can do it. You delivered me before, and you can deliver me now. I rest in joy.”