Devotions

In every age, God stationed intercessors on the very front lines to do battle against Satan’s principalities and powers. Today these spiritual soldiers can be found in every nation — and there is a reason they are called “prayer warriors.” Many who write to our ministry describe the intense spiritual warfare in their own lives.

A 91-year-old intercessor wrote the following: “I feel burned out, having served [the Lord for so long] with everything coming at me. I’m weak in body after years of suffering but I still have all the cares and trials of others constantly before me. . . Since I was four years old, I have loved and prayed for others. I’ve been an intercessor all these years. I take back the ground Satan tries to take from me by praying in the Spirit and I receive new strength.”

For an entire lifetime, this saint has taken seriously Jude’s exhortation: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 20–21). The message to those in spiritual battle is clear: “Build yourself up in faith. Keep yourself in God’s love.” Note that Jude qualifies his words with an admonition to pray in the Holy Spirit.

It is utterly impossible to build ourselves up in faith through human strength or ability. Without the Holy Spirit, we are not able to keep ourselves in the knowledge and assurance of God’s love for us. We are absolutely no match for the powers of darkness! We cannot even take up the shield of faith to quench hell’s fiery darts by simply setting our minds to do so. We need God’s Spirit to empower us in all things.

“I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12, my italics). These are the words of a dying man. The apostle Paul was addressing his pupil, the young minister-in-training, Timothy. Later in the same letter, Paul confides to Timothy these difficult words: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (4:6-7).

Although Paul directed these words to Timothy, his message speaks to every servant of Christ who is facing a great affliction. Consider the context: At the height of his own excruciating trials — at the very point of death — Paul was fully persuaded of God’s love for him. Moreover, he was convinced of the Lord’s ability to “keep what I have committed to Him” in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

Beloved, Paul’s counsel here is meant for all who are buffeted daily by satanic forces, engaged in fierce spiritual warfare, enduring great hardships as good soldiers. How was Paul able to speak so confidently of God’s faithfulness through his every trial? What exactly was he persuaded of about the Lord that gave birth to such faith?

Paul never does spell out the things he had “committed to [God] until that Day.” We can only speculate as to what those things were. Yet, like Paul, we too must be fully persuaded of God’s faithfulness to keep those things we have committed to Him. Indeed, to face our trials in these trying days, we must be fully persuaded that Jesus is our Lord and our Savior.

Paul says we have three things to do while we remain here on earth before the return of Christ.

Here is the first: “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9). The word sound here signifies something immovable, inarguable, rock solid. God designed doctrine so that we would have something reliable upon which to base our lives. But it cannot be frivolous or merely exciting to our ears. That kind of doctrine is here one day and blown away by the winds of fleshly whim the next. For some in the church, acquiring sound doctrine may require putting down the latest Christian best-seller and picking up God’s Word, which He provided for our everlasting benefit.

Second, we are to live a holy testimony. “I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people” (3:8).

And third, we are to share the gospel in word and deed: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people” (2:11).

I ask you: As God’s living lights in a darkening culture — as His salt meant to preserve life — are we practicing these things? Or have we lost our holy flavor? Have we reduced His Word to advice on better living, or do we still believe it has the power of resurrection life?

If we really believe Christ’s gospel is Good News — that He died for sinners — we’ll tell others about it without apology. And they’ll know its power by the testimony we live.

Jesus never baptized anyone with water. Why? Because the baptism He would administer was the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire (see Luke 3:16). Don’t mistake those words as indicating two baptisms, one of the Spirit and another of fire. Instead, Luke was using imagery — fire as a symbol representing the Spirit — to describe one baptism. Jesus baptizes in the consuming fire of the Holy Spirit.

If you light a match and set a piece of wood on fire, the fire will penetrate the wood. That’s what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. He goes beyond surface appearances to the root of our beings. The Spirit doesn’t put Band-Aids on anything — He goes to the core of our problems to provide help. Likewise, preaching that is anointed by the Holy Spirit is fiery preaching. That doesn’t mean beating people down or condemning them; rather, it means ministry that penetrates the heart, reveals sin, and vividly shows the need for Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit’s fire, preaching can descend to mere entertainment or displays of oratory.

When Peter preached the first sermon of the Christian era, those ineloquent but fiery words produced deep conviction and a response of, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Teaching aids that help preachers communicate are useful, but without the Spirit’s fire, hearts will never be humbled and broken before the Lord.

In Jeremiah, God asked, “Is not my word like a fire?” (Jeremiah 23:29, emphasis added). The Word preached with the Spirit’s fire cuts through the clutter and deals with the troubled condition of our hearts. Many people probably have little interest in experiencing God’s fiery word; they prefer entertaining services and sermons that aren’t confrontational. But the Spirit’s fire always cuts to the chase and deals with the hindrances that keep us from the blessing of God.

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. 

Our faith in troubled times obtains for us the testimony of “a good report.”

“For by [their faith] the elders obtained a good report” (Hebrews 11:2). The Greek word for “obtained” here means “to bear witness.” Our ancestors in the Lord had a settled, anchored faith. And their unwavering faith became a testimony to the world of God’s faithfulness in the midst of troubled times.

Think of what our ancestors endured: floods, mockery, bonds, imprisonment, fire, torture, warfare, lions’ dens. Through it all, their trust in the Lord never wavered. Why? Because they had an inner witness that God was pleased with them. Our forefathers knew God was smiling at them, saying, “Well done! You have believed and trusted in Me.”

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Whenever we hold our faith position through hard times, we receive the same affirmation from the Holy Spirit: “Well done! You are God’s beloved testimony.”

As you rest in Him through storms, holding your faith position, you are obtaining a “good report.” And you are serving as a beacon of hope to those around you. Those who watch your life — at home, at work, on your block — are learning that hope is available to them. As they observe you in your hour of crisis, they realize, “There stands someone who hasn’t lost his faith in God. He has no fear whatsoever. What enables him to trust through such upheaval?”

Our God has supplied us with everything needed to sustain our faith, even as calamities increase. We have been given the witness of the Holy Spirit, who abides in us, and God’s fully revealed Word in the Scriptures. These will sustain us, obtaining for us the testimony of a good report even as the world shakes.