Devotions

God’s conversation with Abraham regarding his future son is a lesson in faith for us all. The patriarch was sitting at the door of his tent during the heat of the day when suddenly three men appeared before him, standing under a nearby tree. Abraham went out to meet the men and visited with them. During their conversation, the Lord inquired about the whereabouts of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and then he said something incredible: “Behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son” (Genesis 18:10).

Sarah was inside the tent, listening to their conversation, and when she heard this, she laughed out loud. “Impossible,” she thought. Both she and Abraham were beyond the age of having children, but God had spoken. “And the Lord said to Abraham ‘Why did Sarah laugh? … Is anything too hard for the Lord?’” (18:13-14). 

God asks this same question of his children in these present times: Is anything too hard for the Lord? Each of us must face our own difficulties in life and in the midst of them, God asks, “Do you think your problem is too hard for me to fix? Do you believe I can work it out for you, even though it seems impossible?”

Jesus tells us, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Do you believe this word from the Lord? Do you accept that he can perform the impossible in your family, on your job, for your future?    

When we see our loved ones enduring difficult times, we are quick to counsel them, “Hold on and look up! He is the God of the impossible.” Sarah probably would have offered this type of counsel to her friends, yet she had a hard time believing for herself. Likewise, many Christians today boldly proclaim God’s power to others but do not believe his Word for themselves. It’s vital to remember that nothing in your life is beyond God’s ability to fix!

Paul, a pastor, an elder and an apostle, had started a church in Corinth. He cared deeply for the people in his congregation and had a special message for them: “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).

Paul often taught on doctrinal matters but at this time he was speaking directly to “family” — the people who came together locally. He was appealing to them to become healthy believers, and he wanted to assure them that he loved them beyond reason — as they should love one another. The world is full of division and rejection so new believers need to encounter something entirely different in the church.

For some, it is easier to love the inhabitants of Africa or India or China than it is to love one another in your church body. People have problems and they aren’t always faithful and loving and forgiving. So sometimes it is difficult to remain in the love of Christ for them — but that is what God is calling us to do. And that is what Paul is talking about. You can wear yourself out evangelizing in your city with the passion and zeal of a missionary, but if you don’t love those around you, all that is not effective.

We can make converts to Christianity, but in our hearts we must have love for one another. I long for all Christians to have an evangelistic, on-fire passion to reach the lost and poor and needy, but I also long to see them filled with love. The more we seriously strive to be the Body of Christ that Paul is teaching about here, the healthier the church becomes and, likewise, the healthier new disciples become.

Health is contagious just as sickness is contagious so let’s endeavor to spread the love and joy of the Lord to those around us.

I find that most believers don’t change more than five percent from what they believed when they were only two years in the Lord. When confronted with Bible verses and truth uncomfortable to us, we hide behind, “But this is the way we’ve always done it. This is what we’ve always believed.”

When we pick up the Bible and don’t ask for the Spirit’s help, it is like saying, “God, do a new thing in me, but I’m not going to change anything I believe.” That’s an odd prayer, isn’t it? No wonder we grow so little in our faith and see so few converted to Christ.

Often, we get our definitions for important things not by what the Spirit shows us in Scripture, but by what we saw growing up in church. “Oh, that’s what worship should look like, because that’s the way we’ve always done it in the church I attend.” It is difficult for all of us to come to the Word of God and say, “Holy Spirit, teach me, even if it goes against what I’ve been conditioned to believe.” And yet we must.

It takes time for the Holy Spirit to teach us the meaning of a passage. If we don’t wait on the Holy Spirit, trusting him, we can grow cold and fall out of communion with God even while having devotions every day.

The apostle Paul wrote, “‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love him — these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10, emphasis added).

Every time we open the Bible, let’s stop and pray, whether for fifteen seconds or fifteen minutes, asking the Spirit to teach us. “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands” (Psalm 119:66). Then our lives will be more like Jesus every day.

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.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5).

Of all the wonderful promises God gives us in this psalm, this is one of the most glorious. He says he is going to set a table for us, spread wonderful food upon it, and then serve us a feast. And he does all this in front of our enemies.

The word for table in this verse means “spread” — a vast array of food, a massive feast. And there is only one guest at this meal — you! God does this wondrous work for every individual who loves Jesus and calls himself by his name.

As God is preparing and serving your feast, he makes your enemies sit on the outer fringe of the scene and watch everything unfold. They see the Lord himself spreading your table with food, escorting you to your seat and waiting on you. Then they watch as you fill up your soul with heaven’s delightful fare. I tell you, no demon power, including the devil himself, could ever comprehend this kind of love, mercy and grace.

Jesus tells us that the Father does this for all his children: “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37).

As you dig into the glorious food God has provided for you, the Lord leans down and whispers in your ear, “You don’t have to worry about any of these enemies. They aren’t able to do anything against you.”

With this wonderful assurance in your heart, you are able to sing, “Now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around … I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord” (Psalm 27:6).

Nobody wants to hear bad news and the church today is no exception; the American church seems to be preoccupied with a “feel-good” message. This attitude is prevalent in many of the books and magazines we find in Christian bookstores. It is almost as if our leaders are saying, “Relax! God is our Daddy and we’re all his kids and we’re meant to have a good time.”

A storm is coming and God wants his people to be prepared. It will come like a thief in the night, bringing sudden panic and disbelief. You may be thinking, “If calamity strikes, let it come! I’m in God’s hands, so Jesus will see me through.”

Just before his death and resurrection, Jesus stared into the face of a horrible coming storm. He saw that just ahead, Jerusalem would be surrounded by powerful armies, the temple would be destroyed, the city would be burned to the ground, and their entire society would collapse!

Now, Jesus was the very embodiment of God’s love and he wept over his society because he saw what was coming. “Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Matthew 24:21-22).

If we think about it, we see that Jesus’ day was very similar to ours: peaceful, calm and prosperous. Even as Jesus warned that a storm was coming, he continually sought out secret places to be shut in with his Father. Fully persuaded that God was with him, Jesus knew that he was in complete control!

Beloved, if we are going to face the coming storm, we need to be prepared so that nothing disturbs our spirit. We can do that only by spending time in the Father’s presence — shut in with him until we are thoroughly persuaded that he is at our right hand.

In the presence of Jesus we find joy, hope and rest — all that we will ever need!