05.07.09
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This devotion is written by Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch
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Living in God’s Calling
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Esther 4:10-14 NIV
10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai,
11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai,
13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.
14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
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Knowing that we have a calling from the Lord is one thing, but living it out is another. Esther reached a point in her life when fulfilling God’s plan became risky and dangerous. The Lord had placed her in a position of influence, but using that power could cost the young woman her life.
Few are called to be kings or queens, but we have all been given places of influence to one degree or another. The Lord has placed you in your family, community, and church to fulfill His purposes for your life in this generation. As long as you are breathing, He is still working out His will for you.
How will you respond to His calling? There are only two options: cooperate by submitting to His plan, or resist Him. Trying to avoid or ignore the opportunities He presents is a form of resistance. Maybe the cost of obedience seems too high, but what about the cost of disobedience?
Eventually, every Christian is going to encounter a situation that tests his or her willingness to obey God. When that time comes, remember the lesson from Esther. If you refuse, the Lord will use someone else, and you will lose the opportunity to fulfill His calling. Maybe you have been placed in a difficult situation “for such a time as this”–to be an influence for Christ in our dark world.
Living in God’s calling isn’t always easy, but it is always worth the risk. Each step will reveal the faithfulness of our Lord, encouraging us to trust Him in the next opportunity He provides. As our faith grows, His perfect timing will become evident, and we’ll look with joy and expectation for what awaits us.
05.06.09
“SATAN’S SHOW OF POWER”
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This devotion was written by Neil Anderson, Daily in Christ
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SATAN’S SHOW OF POWER
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2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline
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Once I counseled a former high priest of Satanism who desperately wanted to be free of the demonic powers who had ruled his life. But Satan was not about to let go of him without a fight. As I tried to talk to him, Harry ranted and raved and rolled around the office like a crazy man. The demons who controlled Harry were using his mind, his will, his muscles, and his emotions in a noisy display of resistance.
But I just sat still. I learned a long time ago that Satan’s show of power is just another facet of his deception designed to provoke fear. He knows that if he can deceive us into being afraid of him, fear will control our lives instead of faith. Satan “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Why does a lion roar? To paralyze its prey with fear. Once its victim is immobilized by fear, the lion can easily subdue it and kill it.
But because of our position, authority, and protection in Christ, Satan can’t touch us. If you cower in fear at Satan’s show of power, then he has you on the defensive. But Peter instructed, “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). Satan is defeated; believe it and stand up to him. When you do, he has no choice but to eventually back down.
As the devil roared at me through Harry, I began to read Scripture aloud and pray in a normal, controlled voice that the enemy would be bound in silence. After I had spent several minutes taking authority in Christ through prayer and reading Scripture, Harry fell flat on his stomach in front of me. “Lord Jesus, I need You!” he cried out. I led him in a prayer of commitment to Christ. And when Harry finally stood up, he was free. He embraced me with a childlike joy he had never experienced before.
The devil’s bark is much bigger than his bite. Stand firm in the faith and resist him, and he will flee.
Prayer:
Lord, help me be bold and not fearful in the face of Satan’s attacks. I want to walk in freedom and help others find freedom as well.
05.05.09
“THE UNRIVALED POWER OF PRAYER”
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This devotion was written by Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest..
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THE UNRIVALED POWER OF PRAYER.
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“We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
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We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer, and we know what it is to pray in accordance to the Spirit; but we don’t often realize that the HOly Spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.
“He,” the Holy Spirit in you, “makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (8:27). And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.
The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. “…your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…” (1Corinthians 6:19). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, “…He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.” (Mark 11:16). The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bough and sold in teh temple, and said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer…But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’ ” (Mark 11:17)
Have we come to realize that our “body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have ot remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of the total person, is to be regarded by us as a “temple of theHoly Spirit.” He will be responsible for the unconscious part, which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attentio to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.”
05.04.09
“EXPECTATIONS BEYOND US”
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This devotion was written by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman Streams in the Desert
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EXPECTATIONS BEYOND US
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“But prayer” (Acts 12:5).
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But prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need.
How significant the picture of the Apostolic Church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle’s blood, and everything else against it. “But prayer was made unto God without ceasing.” And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms, a spectacle of hidden retribution, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory.
Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer! –A. B. Simpson
Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things. –Andrew Murray
Our prayers are God’s opportunities.
Are you in sorrow? Prayer can make your affliction sweet and strengthening. Are you in gladness? Prayer can add to your joy a celestial perfume. Are you in extreme danger from outward or inward enemies? Prayer can set at your right hand an angel whose touch could shatter a millstone into smaller dust than the flour it grinds, and whose glance could lay an army low. What will prayer do for you? I answer: All that God can do for you. “Ask what I shall give thee.” –Farrar
“Wrestling prayer can wonders do,
Bring relief in deepest straits;
Prayer can force a passage through
Iron bars and brazen gates.”
05.01.09
“THE PRICE OF PEACE”
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This devotion was written by Leslie Snyder
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THE PRICE OF PEACE
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In your anger do not sin! Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.?– Ephesians 4:26–27
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The headlines are all too common:
“Angry parent charges onto field, attacks Little League coach.”
“Road rage causes fatal accident.”
“Jealous mom plans hit on daughter’s rival.”
Anger is everywhere and it doesn’t take long to notice its destructive results. A friend once said to me, “Anger floats on a sea of fear,” and the more I think about it, the more I agree. Anger is an emotion common to all people regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or age. It begins on the playground and can continue to the grave. When anger takes hold of someone, it acts like a deadly poison, slowly seeping into every part of that person’s life. And, if left unchecked, will ultimately affect every relationship the person has.
Fortunately, Scripture offers this prescription for dealing with anger: Ephesians 4:31-32 reads, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Sometimes this is easier said than done. In some cases, your anger may be justified. The pain you experienced at the hand of another may have been great. However, the greatest gift you can ever give someone is the gift of forgiveness. When you release your anger, the power of God is released to begin the healing process.
A seminary professor once stated that when you forgive someone you set a prisoner free…only to find out that the prisoner was you.
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GOING DEEPER:
- Examine your own life. In what areas do you hold onto anger? What are its results?
- Today, you may need to offer someone forgiveness, or even seek forgiveness for your own anger. Don’t delay. You can experience the healing power of forgiveness today.
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FURTHER READING:
Matthew 5:23–24; Matthew 18:15-1; Hebrews 12:14
04.30.09
RUN WITH PATIENCE
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This devotion was written by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, Streams in the Desert
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RUN WITH PATIENCE
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“Let us run with patience” (Heb. 12:1)
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O run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet, I do not think the invalid’s patience the hardest to achieve.
There is a patience which I believe to be harder–the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing!
Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic quiescence, but in active service–in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse, in the contribution to another’s joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the “running with patience.”
This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running–a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow — a minister to others’ joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard. –George Matheson
“When all our hopes are gone,
‘Tis well our hands must keep toiling on
For others’ sake:
For strength to bear is found in duty done;
And he is best indeed who learns to make
The joy of others cure his own heartache.”
04.29.09
“WHEN PEACE ISN’T POSSIBLE”
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This devotion is from Answers for Each Day
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WHEN PEACE ISN’T POSSIBLE
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Romans 12:18 says,
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
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By implication, this verse is telling us that it is not possible to live peaceably with some people because they refuse to make peace. They take the posture of being an enemy, being an antagonist, and they refuse to shift from that position no matter what you do.
But as much as it depends on you, you must pursue the things that make for peace. You need to pray, you need to communicate, and if God leads you, you need to give a gift. And certainly with your actions, you need to express the fact that you want peace.
Sometimes somebody may not yield. They may not yield to the influence of God’s Spirit; they may not yield to your endeavors. But once you have done all you can do, all you can do has been done.
Does that give you a license to be rude to them or to treat them unpleasantly? No. The next few verses address that. Look at Romans 12:19-21,
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Continue to extend the olive branch. If they never respond, at least you will have a clean conscience. God will deal with the things that you cannot deal with. Do not take matters into your own hands. “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord.
04.28.09
“FAITH IS SPELLED R.I.S.K.”
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This devotions was written by Os Hillman, Today God Is First
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FAITH IS SPELLED R.I.S.K.
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“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matt 14:29-30).
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Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat. There is always a risk when we attempt something never done before. Naysayers seem to come out of the wood work. Why? Because it’s not their vision, it’s yours. Sometimes we fail the first time out. It’s a fact that most entrepreneurs fail before they are really successful.
“Success,” said Winston Churchill, “is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Everybody fails. It’s part of the process that leads us to maturity and success. Most successful entrepreneurs don’t think of their failures as defeats. They think of them as lessons.
If you hope to succeed, learn everything you can from your failures. In The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar, Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams observed, “Our experiences may not all be triumphs and successes, but so what? Failure is usually a far better teacher than success – if we are willing to learn the lessons. As Houston Astros pitcher Larry Dierker observed, ‘Experience is the best teacher, but a hard grader. She gives the test first, the lesson later.’”*
God never gets mired in our past failures. He is constantly viewing our lives with future success in mind. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isa. 43:19). Someone once said, “When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you’re headed for the grave.” God wants to give us new dreams that are bigger than anything that has ever happened to us in the past.
Don’t let past failures keep you from future successes.
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*Pat Williams and Jay Strack, The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 2004), p. 103.
04.27.09
SEEKING GOD FOR THE RIGHT REASONS
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This devotional was written by by Sarah Jennings, Crosswalk.com Family Editor
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SEEKING GOD FOR THE RIGHT REASONS
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For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1: 21
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I ran across an article a couple years ago that really touched me. In her piece “A Change of Plans,” Lindsy Pike details the excruciating decision to call off her wedding to a man she loved dearly. Reflecting on the mix of pain and peace that comes with any situation where we must give up something precious, Pike rewinds a few centuries to Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac:
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“God promised to give Abraham a son and finally, after years of waiting, God came through, with Isaac. Why in the world would God ask Abraham to give up that gift? In my opinion, it is for the same reason He asked me to call off my wedding. God wants us to love Him more than we love His promises. The minute we get those out of order, He readjusts us.”
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While we don’t really know the mind of God in Abraham’s situation, Pike’s simple thought sheds light on a struggle I think all of us encounter at some time in our lives — the struggle to love God above everything else, even His blessings. God wants us to love Him because of who He is, not what He can give us. Yet, how often do we confuse our love of God’s promises with love of Him? How often do we see Him as the divine blessing machine, ready to dole out happiness on our terms? The popularity of “prosperity theology” reveals how easy it is for believers to twist love of God into the pursuit of earthly happiness.
To be honest, it’s not just greed that gets in the way of loving God. It’s also a limited understanding of who God is. I used to wonder how some Christians could sit for over an hour praying. Is God really that interesting? I’d wonder. This type of thinking reveals a fundamental flaw in how I perceived God, and I think that flaw is what keeps many from coming to Christ in the first place. It’s easy to see Him as limited like we are limited. It’s easy to forget that God is truly our all in all. As C.S. Lewis once said, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
Still, had I not gone through a similar situation, I might not have believed Pike’s sincerity when she says: “I am thankful for His grace that saved me from ruining my life by pursuing my dream.”
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In a “reach for the stars, be anything you can be” culture, the idea that pursuing any dream could ruin my life seems foreign. The more I think about it, though, the more I see that living outside God’s will — even if it is for a “good reason” — is a recipe for failure.
Yet, when we give up our dreams for something greater – for Someone greater than ourselves – we begin to see we can trust God no matter what. We find solace in the incredible peace that comes with knowing that even if life here includes sorrow or dreams unfulfilled — which it very well could — there is a God that transcends not only all that’s missing in this life, but also all the good this life has to offer.
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Intersecting Faith & Life: This week, do something for God without expecting any reward or blessing in return.
04.24.09
“THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY”
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This devotion is from Answers for Each Day
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THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY
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In 1 Samuel 16:6-7, when Samuel came to Jesse’s house to anoint the next king of Israel, we see the criteria God uses to choose people for service to Him,
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So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
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This is a fascinating story with a very strong lesson I want you to understand. Right after these verses, Jesse parades each of his sons before Samuel…except for David. Jesse knows why Samuel is there, but he doesn’t even bother to get David.
David’s own father had written him off. His own father didn’t see enough potential in him to call him before Samuel.
But David was anointed king that day. Not based on what Jesse thought was important, but on what God thought was important…David’s heart.
Maybe your own father has written you off. Maybe your parents said you would never amount to anything. Maybe your teacher said, “Look, you’re not going to amount to much. You just better get yourself a minimum wage job.”
Only God can see things in your heart that your father can’t see, that your mother can’t see, that your teachers didn’t see, that your family doesn’t see, that the people around you don’t see.
It is not that God overlooks ability or talent or training. All of those things are important. But God looks first at the most important quality for service, and that is the heart.
Don’t let someone else write your history before it happens.
