“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” —MATTHEW 7:24

The final story Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount is possibly the most familiar. It is the story of two men who each built a house, which to all appearances were equal until a storm broke. The rain hammered down, the streams rose and the winds beat against the houses. One of them remained firm and erect. The other fell with a great crash. 

The difference between the two houses was the foundations on which they were built. One was built on sand, and the other on a rock. The assumption frequently made is that the sand represents a foundation built on anything but Christ, and the rock represents a foundation in Christ. This, however, is not the case. Jesus said the wise man who built his house on the rock was the man who “hears these words of mine and puts them into practice.” The foolish man who built his house on sand was the man who hears the words of Jesus, but does not put them into practice. The rock represents obedience and the sand disobedience.

It has often been said that the greatest need of many Christians is not to know more, but to obey what they already know. To listen without obedience is deception. James tells us, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). Spiritual growth is more than an intellectual process; it is a volitional process. The word of God is effectively read and understood only from a disposition of submission and obedience to God.

The more we know, the more our capacity for sin increases. James tells us, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” (James 4:17). It is a sobering thought to realize every new lesson we learn, which does not meet with a response of submission, creates a new avenue for sin. With knowledge and understanding comes responsibility, and it is in submission to the word of God and obedience to the will of God that we build a rock foundation.

New trends, religions, philosophies, and new age thinking will come and go, but as Peter says, “the word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25). Jesus tells us, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). Obedience to the will of God is the rock foundation in which Christ is our stability and security, regardless of how fierce the storm is.

Dear Lord, help me build my life on the rock foundation and become more obedient to your word. Thank You, Lord.

In what areas do I need the Lord’s help in obedience?

“So Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only...” —1 SAMUEL 7:3

After two successive losses against the Philistines, the response of the Israelites can be summed up in three words: remove, return and rest. Firstly, they ‘removed’ all the foreign gods that had been imported into Israel. Secondly, they ‘returned’ with all their hearts to the Lord, and thirdly, they began to ‘rest’ in God’s strength and sufficiency. 

C.K. Chesterton famously said, “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.” I would like to come alongside that and say, “When people stop depending on God, they don’t become independent; they don’t depend on nothing; they depend on something else.” If we are serious about God, we have to rid ourselves of every object of dependence other than God Himself. 

We may have dealt with the same sin many times, but like the Baals in Israel, they rear their heads again and again. If our guard is not up, just as the gods from Canaanite pagan religions had repeatedly infiltrated God’s own people, they will creep back into our lives and drive us increasingly further from God. We need to confess them, and bring them in humble repentance to God. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This is not passive, but active. We are not simply confessing our sin, but are returning to God to serve Him only. 

One of the biggest needs in our Christian lives is not actually to go on, but to go back. Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4). Growth in the Christian life is not a growth from one point to another, but a growth in our relationship with Christ; in our knowledge of Him, dependence on Him and experience of Him. We do not grow out of anything as we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, but we can slide away, and Christ says we need to return and remember the love we first had for Him.

Having removed the barriers, and with all our hearts returned to God, we are to rest in His sufficiency. Resting in God is living every day dependent on Him, not only for material needs, but in every circumstance we face. Victory in the Christian life is never won, but received, yet many are still living in a frantic self effort to accomplish what only God can accomplish. Returning to God with all our hearts is what allows us to rest in His total sufficiency.

Dear Lord, I ask for your help to remove any form of dependency there is in my life other than on You. Thank You, Lord. 

Do I feel a need to return to God with all my heart?

“Why did the LORD bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’S covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” —1 SAMUEL 4:3

What God blesses as an expression of Himself, He will condemn when it becomes a substitute for Himself. This has been the case throughout the history of the Israelite people, and is a commonplace among Christians today.

The Ark of the Covenant had brought success to the Israelites before, but after losing a battle against the Philistines, the Israelites believed bringing the ark from Shiloh and taking it into their next battle would bring them victory. They did this, and not only did they suffer an even greater defeat, but the ark was captured by the Philistines. Wherever the Philistines brought the ark, God caused an outbreak of tumours. After seven months, it was returned to the Israelites, and brought to a place called Kiriath Jearim. 

1 Samuel 7:2 says, “The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time - twenty years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD.” Samuel then tells them to rid themselves of foreign gods, commit themselves to the Lord, and He will deliver them from the Philistines. “So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only” (7:4). The people fasted and confessed their sin. They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines” (7:8). God gave them victory, throwing the Philistines into such a panic they ended up killing their own men and running from the Israelites. Throughout the rest of Samuel’s lifetime the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 

Something very different is happening now. The people recognized their own ideas and means of dependence were bankrupt of any power. Only God is alive and active. Detached from God, the ark was a lifeless piece of furniture, and merely representative of God. All the pagan gods imported and erected in Israel were, of course, useless. The subtlety of our day is that the better the object of our trust, the greater the illusion we have. 

What are the arks of our day that represent hope that help us? Perhaps family, friends, pastors, counselors, programs, techniques or self help books? These may be of tremendous value, but there is no substitute for dealing with God Himself. After the Israelites' victory, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it ‘Ebenezer’, meaning “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” If we bring God in and if we keep Him in, the Lord will help us.

Dear Lord, may I never fail to bring You into every circumstance as my source of strength and deliverance. Thank You, Lord. 

Have I substituted dealing directly with God with something else?

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” —1 SAMUEL 16:7

How do I become someone after God’s own heart? What is He looking for? What will please Him? In Acts 13:22, Paul records what God says about David. “God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’.” 

David’s predecessor was Saul who disobeyed God in order to please the people. He said, “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them” (1 Samuel 15:24). David, in contrast, obeyed God, and always “inquired of the Lord”. In every generation, the views and expectancy of others can be so influential we tend to think like Saul. Life is easier to go with the flow, but a person after God’s own heart does not make their own plans, but will go against the flow, because their ears are tuned into the voice of God. 

A person after God’s own heart does not manipulate their own process. David spent years on the run from Saul, but did not do anything to instigate or speed up the process of getting himself on the throne of Israel. Though he had several opportunities to slay Saul, he refused to even harm him, leaving the course of events entirely up to God. When we sense God’s leading, there is often opposition that will block our way, and the temptation is to manipulate it out of our way. But then, it becomes our fight, our responsibility. Rather than trying to fight God’s battles for Him, our role is to trust Him, and allow God to bring about His purpose His way. 

A person after God’s own heart does not manufacture their own power. David was fully aware of his own inabilities, but at the same time, fully aware of the power of God. He said to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty…” (1 Samuel 17:45). Saul would have been the likely candidate to battle Goliath, but he trembled in fear, because his strength was no longer sourced in God, but in himself.

To be someone after God’s own heart is being obedient to Him, doing what He says, and knowing that every day we live in dependence on Him, aware of His presence and being grateful for it. God is the fixed point for any crisis, any temptation, any illness, anything that frightens us, and we not only trust Him in these times, but live in His strength, confident He is working out His good purpose for us.

Lord, help me to live in your strength, dependent on You every day, and trusting You in every circumstance. Thank You, Lord. 

In my actions, does the voice of God take priority over what others may think?

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” —ROMANS 6:5

Six times in the opening verses of Romans, Chapter 6 Paul describes us as having died with Christ or having died to sin. What does he mean? How have we died with Christ? And how can we die to sin, when we know very well that even if the devil were to die tonight, we would still sin tomorrow? 

In verses 4 & 5, Paul talks about being united with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. To be united to Christ is to be made one with Him, and to be made one with Him means that what is true of Christ is declared to be true of us. In other words, what happened to Christ is legally regarded as having happened to us. In the reckoning of God, it was not just Jesus who was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, but as our representative, in the legal councils of heaven, we also were crucified with Him outside the city walls of Jerusalem. 

Death in Scripture is almost always associated with sin, and is the consequence of sin. In the beginning, God said to Adam, “…but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:17). Sin and death are intricately connected. Turning to the end of the Bible, we read in Revelation 21:8 about the final destruction of all sinners; the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, and the murderers, the sexually immoral, the idolaters and all liars. This is the second death, the first being physical death. 

Paul tells us in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death,” but when Christ died, He satisfied the just wrath of a just God. He received in full the wages of sin and having died, sin no longer owes Him anything. As He took upon Himself all our sin, and became our substitute, we too have met the demand that sin incurs. It has paid its wages. It has produced its death, is now fully spent, and no longer holds power over us. 

When Paul says we died to sin, he does not mean we are unresponsive to it, but it no longer has the ability to destroy us as it once had. We will, of course, still battle with sin and its earthly consequences, but it will not defeat us, because our identity is in Christ, and our union with Him means we are already conquerors of both sin and death.

Dear Jesus, I acknowledge my sin and the fact that along with it, I was crucified with You. Thank You for taking my place and living in me now.

As a Christian, do I understand how I died with Christ?

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best…” —PHILIPPIANS 1:9-10

It is from the heart and hub of our prayer, communion and alignment with God that we are able to minister to the world. This involves intercessory prayer and is actually not a simple thing at all. Oswald J. Smith’s book entitled, “I Have Walked Alone with Jesus,” is a book of daily readings, and his entry on January 1st reads:

“Intercessory prayer is without doubt not only the highest form of Christian service but also the hardest kind of work. To the person who is not an intercessor, such a statement seems absurd. Prayer to most people is looked upon as an easy occupation – that’s because they know nothing at all of the ministry of intercession. Their prayers for the most part are centered upon themselves, their loved ones, their own personal interests and an occasional petition for the perishing world. Their prayer life is spasmodic; it is considered a side issue and is readily neglected if other things demand attention. Such a person is in no way affecting the kingdom of Satan – hence prayer, so called, is easy.

But the Christian who enters into the ministry of intercession will pass through a very different experience. Satan will do everything in his power to hinder and obstruct. There will be a conscious realization of his presence and opposition. Then, too, discouragement will cross our pathway. We continue to pray for a certain time and then because the answer does not come, we grow discouraged and give up.

Thus Satan uses his most successful weapon against us and breaks down our determination to become intercessors. And then when all else has failed, he will burden us with work. Satan would rather have us work than pray anytime.”

Prayer-less work will be powerless and fruitless. If Satan can keep us so busy we do not have time to pray, he will have accomplished his purpose. Intercessory prayer is work. It is a battle. All of Paul’s prayers on behalf of others were for things only the Holy Spirit can give. The world we live in today desperately needs the work of the Holy Spirit. We can turn on the news at any time of the day, and are given plenty of reasons to make intercessory prayer a must in our lives.

Dear Lord, I am saddened by the strife and suffering in this world, and ask for discipline in making much more time for intercessory prayer. Thank You, Lord. 

Am I moved to spend more time in intercessory prayer?

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” —MATTHEW 6:6

We usually place value on prayers being answered, but in the above verse, Jesus places value on prayers being rewarded. What is the nature of the reward Jesus is talking about?

There are three significant ways in which prayer is rewarded. The first is that it brings us into an intimate communion with God. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He began with, “Our Father in heaven…” This is the first time in the Bible that God is ever addressed as ‘Father’ in a personal way. God is called ‘Father’ in the Old Testament in a metaphorical sense, and as the Father of creation, but in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks 17 times of God as Father in an intimate way. This was radically new to the Jewish people as no one ever addressed God as their Father. But when Christ becomes our Saviour, God becomes our Father in that we become united with Christ, and share in His sonship with all the privileges a child has with their father.

The second reward is that prayer brings us into alignment with God. The communion with God in the first two clauses - “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”, leads to alignment with God in the second two clauses - “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth…” This is not about a middle road between our will and God’s will, but about being totally aligned with the will and purposes of God. Our communion and alignment with God are intricately connected, because we will not know God’s will if we are not in communion with Him. In coming to know God, we can confidently pray for God’s will to be done, whatever the issue, because He is sufficient for any situation, and we know we can trust Him.

The third reward prayer brings is provision from God. There are three personal requests: “Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” This presents our physical, moral and spiritual needs. Physically, God provides today what we need for today. Morally, though we cannot put every relationship right because it takes two people, we can be forgiving as God is forgiving. Spiritually, the closer we come to God, the more we can be sure Satan will try to lure us away, and without God’s protection, we are no match for Satan. 

Intimate communion with God, alignment with God, and provision from God are received from Him, not as an answer, but as a reward. The answers are secondary to the value of our prayers.

Precious Lord, thank you for hearing me. Thank You for knowing my heart, and for your patience and love. I treasure my prayer time with You.

Does my prayer bring me into a deeper relationship with God?

“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Before a word is on my tongue, you, LORD, know it completely.” —PSALM 139:1-2 & 4

It is not easy to be exposed, to have our hearts open and naked before God. Some of us are frightened of this sense of intimacy, and consequently, are reluctant to pray. We instead keep things buried inside for protection or as a defense mechanism. Nothing is hidden from God. 

Henri Nouwen, author of 39 books on spirituality, writes this about prayer: “Prayer is no easy matter. It demands a relationship in which you allow the other to enter into the very center of your person. You allow Him to speak there, to touch the sensitive core of your being and allow Him to see so much that you would rather leave in darkness, to let Him into that place where your life gets its form. And that is dangerous to us and it usually calls for defense.”

It is in that secret place of communion with God our hearts are scrutinized. Sometimes our lack of communion with Him is a defense against parts of our hearts we would rather leave untouched, because sadly, some of our sins we actually enjoy. Though we know they always pay a bitter price at the end, in our weakness, we still hold on to them. We all battle with sin and temptation, but if we cherish sin, accept it, tolerate it, defend or rationalize it, rather than battle with it, we will lose touch with God. 

Sin gives its rewards only for a season, but when we come to God in prayer, our sin is dealt with, and the reward is huge. Prayer is both the cause and effect of our intimacy with God. We may have to wrestle with getting into that place of being alone and honest with Him; this will be the door opening for a deeper fellowship and the way paved for God to work in our lives. 

The one place we can be absolutely disarmingly honest about our hearts is alone with God. He will not be shocked; it will not be out of His depth. In our reluctance to pray, we not only deprive ourselves of intimacy with God, but all that He would otherwise do in our lives. We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain when we come in humility before God; get honest with Him, and expose the truths of our hearts.

Help me in my weaknesses, Lord. I am unable to do it on my own, and pray for Your strength and Spirit to fill me. Thank You, Lord. 

Am I reluctant to pray because of a persistent sin in my life?

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’.” —LUKE 11:1

Prayer is, of course, the communication part of our relationship with God, and is paramount to the Christian life. It involves a perpetual state of heart, mind and spirit that remains unceasingly aware of God’s presence. Prayer becomes the setting for God to speak, and to show us things, not only in relation to what we are praying about, but things about ourselves.

Jesus was not asked, “Teach us how to pray”, as though there were techniques and methods, but simply “to pray”. Prayer is to come from the heart, presenting openly and honestly with thanksgiving our petitions before God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:7). The primary message Jesus gives here is that when our words exceed our hearts, as it did with the hypocrites, standing on the street corners “to be seen by men”, prayer becomes pretence. 

Praying is about being alone with God, behind closed doors where our hearts are most earnest and genuine before Him. It is not a mechanism by which we come to God. There are no rules, no hoops we have to jump through, no mediator we need, other than the Lord Himself. Prayer is a matter of the heart, and we are all blessed with the incredible privilege of voicing our hearts and minds directly with God. 

God said to Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Praying is seeking with all our hearts the heart of God, His will and His response to us. God answers prayers in many ways. Sometimes in His silence, He is telling us “no”, or perhaps a barrier must be removed in our lives or He may be waiting for the right time. Sometimes God answers in visions, dreams or words placed in our hearts. Just as there is no fixed pattern for praying, there is no fixed pattern God has in responding. He knows what pulls at our heartstrings, and speaks to each of us in His own unique way. 

Prayer does not make us Christians, it rather changes our hearts. The word “repent” literally means to ‘change the mind’, and it is the change of mind, settling into our hearts that changes our disposition toward God, where we are brought into relationship with Him. We must not make the mistake of thinking prayer is powerful. It is God who is powerful, but the measure of our prayer lives will be the measure of our intimacy with Him.

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of having direct access to You. Thank You for understanding our hearts, and always being available to us.

Am I praying daily? 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces.” —MATTHEW 23:13

Religiosity or legalism is again and again one of the great barriers to the Christian life. Jesus warned of three issues in particular that take away from the simplicity and freedom we are meant to have in Him.

The first issue is the imposition of laws and regulations by the Pharisees and teachers of the law replacing the relationship. When God gave the law to Moses, it was in the context of an intimate relationship with Him. Over time, the content of the law replaced the context in which it was given. Jesus said, “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders…” (Matthew 23:4). The heavy loads were the commandments, which Jewish leaders had expanded to 613 laws, layer upon layer of new rules to qualify the Ten Commandments. All these laws were restrictive, oppressive, heavy, and above all controlling.

Any understanding that the Gospel imposes a heavy burden is the opposite of what Jesus came to do. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). If we are not enjoying a personal relationship with Christ, we will substitute the context of the law for the content. The context of the law is what enables us to keep the content, because it is Jesus in us who is our enabler.

Secondly, Jesus warned about the externals replacing the internals. He said of the Jewish leaders, “Everything they do is done for people to see” (Matthew 23:5). A mark of religiosity is that you are always looking over your shoulder to be seen by others. God does not enter into the equation, and if you do not have God, all you have is an audience. The third issue Jesus warns about is position replacing principle. The Pharisees loved to be called rabbi, teacher, father, but the position they enjoyed replaced the principle. That is, God Himself, and Christ, alone, is our Father and Master in the sense that He is the only one who imparts new life. 

What Jesus thought of religiosity is the very thing that crucified Him. The religious hierarchy of His day had the externals, but not the internals; the content, but not the context; and they held the positions, but not with God. When Jesus came on the scene and said that it was all about God, about life and relationship, liberty and joy, they crucified Him. But God raised Him from the dead in order that we might be indwelt by His Spirit, and enjoy a meaningful, intimate relationship with Him, free of the condemning and burdening restraints of religiosity.

Dear Lord, I know I cannot keep the laws without your indwelling Spirit. Thank You, for the work You are doing in me. 

Am I living in dependence on Christ in keeping the laws of God?

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” —ROMANS 8:18

Paul wonderfully explains that as Christians we can live with any burden when we live with the confident hope of a glorious future. In Romans 15:13, Paul calls God the ‘God of hope’. Hope is actually contagious. As the saying goes, there are things better caught than taught, and hope catches. In relation to our attitude towards life and our level of hopefulness, international evangelist, John Stott, said there are three kinds of Christians: the optimist, the pessimist, and the realist. 

The optimist is the one who wants everything now. They not only rejoice in all that is available in Christ, but they look for everything He has promised to be in the present. As a result, they are looking for no sin, no suffering, no sickness, and no troubles! That is the optimist, and they will get frustrated, because Scripture does not promise an easy road. In fact, the optimist’s expectations will likely impede their spiritual growth, because it is often in our sin and troubling circumstances that God does His best work.

Next, there is the pessimist who focuses on the future. Life for the pessimist is simply “grin and bear it,” and one day in the sweet hereafter they will start enjoying life. But this too is frustrating, not only making for a dull and stagnant Christian life, but a fruitless one, as the Christian life is not meant to be passive. We are not set apart to watch the world go by, but to get involved so that we may become a blessing to others. 

The realists are those who live between the tension of the present and the future. They get hold of all that is available to them now, and live in the good of it, but they know there is more to come. Paul writes, “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession…” (Ephesians 1:13-14).This is the deposit, the down payment of the firstfruits of the Spirit. 

The realities of our present circumstances may appear to stand in contradiction to the things God has promised, but because we do fail and are subjected to hardships, the forgotten ingredient in many of our lives is hope. We need to be encouraged in the present by the power of God and the divine resources we have in Him. We also have wonderful hope for the future and can look forward with confidence to our heavenly home, which to the man on the cross beside Him, Jesus called “paradise”.

Dear Lord, keep me as the realist, enjoying all that is available in You, but looking forward to a glorious future in paradise with You. Thank You, Lord.

Which of the three types of Christians do I most identify with? 

“A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean’.” —MATTHEW 8:2

The faith exercised by those who were healed by Jesus was a disposition towards Him that trusted Him to do for them whatever He wished to do. Faith does not prejudge what God may do. It is the attitude of trust that allows Him to do whatever He may choose to do, and in whatever manner He chooses to do it.

If, for good reason, God chooses to allow us to remain ill, or in a difficult circumstance, or if He chooses to heal us or take us out of that circumstance is His prerogative, both results would be a result of faith. There are many times when our faith will produce good and wonderful results, but there are many occasions when God’s objectives are different from ours. It is not the consequences of our faith that measure its effectiveness. Faith in God allows God to be God in our lives, and when living by faith, we live with the certainty of His will being accomplished, whether it involves miraculous interventions or not.

The disposition of trust in Jesus does not prejudge His actions. Knowing His will in a particular situation is not a prerequisite to exercising faith in His ability. It has been stated that faith is not saying “God can”, but is saying “God will”. The above passage would suggest the reverse is true. The leper came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” In effect, he was saying, “Lord, I know You are able, but I do not know if You are willing.” Jesus’ response was to say, “I am willing. Be clean” (Matthew 8:3). A little later, He said to two blind men, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (9:28). To believe Jesus is willing is to prejudge His actions, which is legitimate if He has disclosed His will, but is not legitimate if He has not disclosed His will.

To believe Jesus is capable is to have every confidence in His ability, but not necessarily to be aware of His intentions. When the blind men answered, “Yes, Lord,” Jesus touched their eyes and said to them, “’According to your faith let it be done to you,’ and their sight was restored” (9:29-30). Their faith was demonstrating confidence in His ability, and the readiness to let Him work according to His own agenda and purpose. How God chooses to work in our circumstances is up to Him, but the reality of His working is always in response to our faith.

Dear Lord, I know with You all things are possible, and it is my prayer that in everything Your will be done in my life. Thank You, Lord.

Am I praying for God’s ability to improve my circumstances or for His will to be done? 

“Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” —ROMANS 7:9-10

In the above verse, Paul refers to the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is the moral law of God, which reveals His moral character. Paul talks about this law as something negative; the obvious question is why.

One of the traps we can so easily fall into is when we begin to measure our relationship with God by our ability to keep the law. The problem with the law is that it can only be applied externally. It can demand what is right, but cannot accomplish what is right. If we seek to live by the law, all that will do is ‘house train’ us. We house train animals mostly by rewarding them, but they are not aware of why they are being house trained. We, however, are aware of what is right and wrong, and our struggle is often in doing what is right. We know whether we have been evangelically house trained if the way we behave when no one is around is different from when someone is around. 

The law will let us know what is good, what is right and proper, and although it can house train us as far as outward actions and behaviours are concerned, it cannot change us on the inside. The law remains purely an external force with demands that are humanly impossible to keep. What we need is new life and a new spirit that comes from within, and God has provided that.

Paul explains in Romans 7:5-6, “For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” We have died to the law, Paul says, and he sets the law and the Spirit in contrast with each other, not in their meaning, but in their empowerment to keep them. 

In dying to the law, we become alive to the Spirit, receiving the life of Christ, who is our enabling to keep what the law demands. Far from being house trained, the Christian life is being liberated, free to live in dependence upon the Spirit of Christ who transforms us on the inside so that our attitudes and behaviours reveal the moral character of God, for which we were created.

Dear Lord, I am grateful that the law exposes our need of You, and thank You we can go beyond that to receive new life by your indwelling Spirit. 

Am I trying to keep the law under my own steam?

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place…” —2 PETER 1:19

For many people, the Old Testament prophets and their books are a little like entering dark mysterious houses, and when you walk into the first chapter, you wish someone would turn on a light. It seems full of doom and gloom and confusion. There are many judgments and rebukes, but there are also glimpses of light. Amongst all the rubble, the lights are like finding diamonds in the rough, which are beautiful truths of Scripture.

A prophet basically talked about three things. They told the people what was wrong with the world, and in particular, Israel and Judah. Their messages were diagnostic in nature and would speak about what was happening and why. Secondly, their messages would deliver what God was going to do to bring about correction, which usually involved chastisement, judgment or the threat of an invading power that would overrun the nation of Israel. The third aspect was that in the midst of devastation and turmoil, there was the offer of hope. Chastisement was not an end in itself, but was always remedial, designed to bring people back into fellowship with God. 

One of the most dramatic ways God communicated through His prophets was their personal experiences. Jeremiah was melancholy and needed companionship, but God told him never to marry, because that would send a message that he believed in the future when God wanted to convey to the people that Judah would be destroyed. Ezekiel was not allowed to mourn in public the loss of his wife whom God had put to death. He had to grieve silently and privately. Hosea was told to take an adulterous wife, who left him, turned to prostitution, and he bought her back at half the price because no one wanted her. A great portion of his book reveals God’s broken heart over the adultery of His people with other gods. 

As it was with the prophets, if we are going to personally know God, with little exception, we are going to enter into a heart that experiences pain. The truth of God must come to us first before it can ever go through us. God gifts us with touching His heart in our pain so that we may become channels of blessing to others in the area of our suffering. In the process, we learn something of God’s heart, and in hindsight, can see those diamonds glittering amongst the rubble of our pasts, because God does not waste anything in our lives. He uses them not only to build and strengthen us, but greatly blesses us with a deeper revelation of Himself.

Precious Lord, keep me in harmony with your heart, and with an ever increasing desire to turn the hearts of others towards You. Thank You, Lord.

Do I think about God’s heart over people’s rejection of Him? 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” —MATTHEW 7:7-8

All through life we are faced with needs and theoretically, at least, we know God has the solution to those needs. For that reason, a constant feature of life is to ‘ask’, to ‘seek’ and to ‘knock’. The promise is that everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds and to everyone who knocks the door will be opened. It follows that the only people who do not receive are those who do not ask, do not seek and do not knock. This is the privilege and right of access to God that is open to every Christian.

The spirit of trust, however, in which we ask is a key characteristic of effective intercession. Jesus asks, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” (Matthew 7:9-10). The illustration is almost absurd. No decent father will give his son a stone sandwich in place of bread or snake and chips when he is expecting fish and chips. But that is exactly a fear many of us have where it concerns God. Jesus goes on to say, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (7:11)

We do not need to detail the fine print of how we would like our prayers answered, but simply bring God in with the assurance He knows what He is doing and He does what is right. When bringing a need before God, we often fear the snake instead of the fish, because deep down we assume God may not be kind to us or we do not deserve what we ask. It is true God may not give us what we ask, for He is too wise, too kind and too knowing for that, but He does give us what is right!

It is in this spirit and with this confidence we are invited to ask, seek and knock. Our poverty can so often be attributed to one source, “You do not have because you do not ask.” When we ask with right motives and treat others as we would like to be treated, it is bread, not stone, and fish, not snake God gives us. God is actually on our side! He loves us and is committed to us, and we enjoy that to the measure we, in turn, love God and are committed to Him. In fact, our response to the love of God reciprocated in love for Him creates the relationship and framework from which all else derives.

Thank you, Lord, that we are able to come to You with our needs, knowing that what You give may not be what we ask, but it will be right!

Have my prayers been answered by God in a way I did not expect?

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” —PHILIPPIANS 4:7

In Rome, Paul was in chains for Christ and the whole palace guard knew it, yet Paul rejoiced and remained confident in the Lord. He wore his chains as a mantle to advance the Gospel, and dared all the more to proclaim it without fear. We are all bound by chains at one point or another, and they come in many forms; some merely troublesome, but others causing great anguish with no end in sight. Where then is this peace Paul talks about? How did he not only cope, but rejoice in chains? 

The chains that seep into our lives may simply be a rut we are stuck in; a lack of purpose and significance, which turns every day into a drudgery. We can be chained to a body that does not function; chained to financial stress, marital problems, addictions, or being deeply hurt, longing for intimacy, harbouring anger and resentment, failing at school or at work; dreams, hopes and aspirations dashed, loneliness; all these are chains that cause us to cry out inwardly or visibly.

How do we find peace in these circumstances? By his example, Paul demonstrates how to cast off those chains and be content regardless of circumstances. He lived with the eternal in mind, trusting wholly in Christ, and fighting the good fight, knowing God was accomplishing His purpose through Him. That brought Paul immeasurable joy, and at times when many would think God had deserted them, Paul praised and worshipped God. Through all the perils he faced, he drew upon the Spirit of Christ within him, and it was the peace of God which sustained and strengthened him.

Peace with God is not the same as the peace of God. Peace with God is received when we have acknowledged our sin, and are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Peace of God is experienced through tough, trying times where we do not know what the end will be, but like Paul, we are sustained and strengthened, knowing God is working out His will and purpose in our circumstances. 

We know we are experiencing the peace of God when with prayer and thanksgiving we have genuinely turned our chains over to Him. Anguish begins to dissolve, replaced instead with a deep inner confidence in a God who knows where we are at and exactly what He is doing. Paul writes, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). “In all things” includes every circumstance, and the peace that transcends all understanding derives from Christ, guarding our hearts and minds as we trust Him and love Him.

Dear Lord, grant me your grace that by your presence in me, I will experience the path you have chosen for me in all that I do.

In times of hardship, am I truly able to trust the Lord to lead my way?

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” —MATTHEW 7:15

The art of falsehood is to appear genuine. To print counterfeit currency, for example, we would not print a three dollar bill for the simple reason it does not exist. For something to be counterfeited, it must have the marks of the genuine article if it is going to stand a chance of deceiving anyone. 

From the infancy of the church of Jesus Christ into our present day, false prophets have covered themselves well, and Scripture warns us they will continue to do so until the end of this age. False preachers convincingly play the role, learn the Christian language and give the appearance of performing good works. In Matthew 7:22, Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’”

In today’s world, many people have become accomplished performers and exercise what appear to be spiritual gifts. They will plead with God on the Day of Judgment, and argue their case with the delusion that their deception may have extended even to Jesus. But the One who is never deceived replies, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (7:23)

Cults and aberrations of true Christianity rarely identify themselves as such in their initial stages. They generally appear as having rediscovered a neglected emphasis, and are careful to use legitimate language. Many of the more disastrous cults of recent decades have their roots in evangelical Christianity, from which they drew new recruits, training them to deceive people with familiar terminology usually for monetary gain. But they are describing something that proves alien. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing! 

“By their fruit you will recognise them, “Jesus said. (7:20). Fruit takes a while to mature. It is wise to test any new idea or movement which is ambiguous for its genuineness, not on the initial sweet smelling blossom, but on its maturing fruit. The fruit of any Christian movement is not to be measured by whether it does people good, for any movement would die a swift death if it did not have its beneficiaries. The measurement by which the genuine article may be assessed is not evident in luxury cars, tailor-made suits and seaside mansions, but in the salvation of souls and the making of disciples. The ultimate test of the fruit is its conformity to the person of Jesus Christ, for He is Himself Christianity.

Dear Lord, grant me discernment in recognizing falsehood in what many pass off as Christian teaching, preaching and healing. Thank You, Lord. 

Would I recognize false Christian teaching?

“LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” —JEREMIAH 10:23

In the above verse, Jeremiah expresses a universal sense in saying that our lives are not our own. What this means is that human capability is not sufficient enough to give lasting fulfillment and purpose. Most of us realize if we are going to experience God’s plan for our lives, we need His guidance, and there are two basic essentials we need to know; firstly, we are loved by God, and secondly, we are to become the subjects of His Lordship.

Psalm 138:8 says, “The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.” This verse is stating that God’s purpose for our lives is a consequence of His love for us. When we realize the love God has for us and have submitted to Him, we become subjects of His Lordship. To illustrate, the United Kingdom has a monarch and the people are ‘subjects’ to the monarch, but Canada is a republic, and its people are called ‘citizens’. Kings and queens do not have peers. They only have subjects. When Jesus talked about the work of God, He said, “The kingdom of God is near”, which means anyone who is going to be a part of God’s work in this world becomes His subject, not His peer. 

Fundamental to our understanding of the will of God must be the recognition that when we come into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we are coming into relationship with a King, a Lord, a Master. The person who brings his or her life into submission to Christ is not simply the heart of the Gospel; they become the Gospel. Paul tells us, “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9). 

Surrendering to Christ is that disposition that says, “Lord, I want You to have Your way in my life.” That is not to say everything will go smoothly. We will encounter the tough times, but as we grow in our understanding of Christ’s Lordship, we will grow to surrender to Him and will experience more of Him. We are who God loves; therefore, we can trust Him, and as the subjects of His Lordship, we obey Him. Then He promises to guide us into the plan He has for us, and it is this that gives us a deeply rooted and lasting sense of purpose, significance and fulfillment.

Dear Lord, I pray for your will to be done in my life, and ask that You help me submit everything to You. Thank You, Lord. 

Am I willing to submit wholly to God?

“….we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” —ROMANS 8:23

We have the intellectual, moral and social aspects of both the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ of the Christian experience. Added to this, are the physical and spiritual aspects.

Physically, in the ‘now’, our bodies are aging, decaying and will eventually die. We are told in Isaiah 53:4, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,” and in verse 5, “By his wounds we are healed.” When speaking of the healing ministry of Jesus, Matthew quotes from Isaiah, saying, “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:17). 

In the ‘not yet’, Jesus is the fulfillment of God healing our diseases and carrying our infirmities. Though it is true that God in His sovereignty will sometimes intervene with our illnesses, it is not a promise of Scripture. Our bodies are not redeemed in this life. As Christians, we anticipate the future, “when the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). This transformation takes place in the ‘not yet’. 

Lastly, in the spiritual area which is comprised of every believer in Christ is the perfection of Christ’s church. As it is now, we are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. Paul speaks of the church in 1 Timothy 3:15 as “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” This is the ‘now’, but the church is not yet brought into perfection. The book of Revelation talks about the church becoming the bride of Christ. “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (21:9), and in 22:17, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” The church will become the bride of Christ without blemish, and this, of course, has yet to come. 

As Christians, Paul tells us in Romans 8:17 we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, which means we have something to inherit. Part of the Spirit’s ministry is to direct our focus to the future, and know that whatever happens in this life, there is a perfect end that is coming. We have a reason to live in the ‘now’ with confidence, because the final chapter of God’s story promises a new heaven and a new earth of which we will be a part.

Thank you, Lord, for the promise of an everlasting future with You. Help me to live every day with the eternal in mind. 

Am I living with eternity in mind?

“But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” —ROMANS 8:24-25

It is important we understand and hold in right balance what we may call the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ aspects of Christian experience. The kingdom of God has both a present and a future dimension, and we must be careful not to confuse what is promised for the future as being for the present, or not enjoying what is in the present because we have delayed it to the future. There are five areas of the Christian experience we can identify, which have the present ‘now’ and the future ‘not yet’ experience. These are intellectual, moral, social, physical and spiritual. The first three will be addressed today, and the latter two tomorrow. 

Intellectually, God has revealed Himself in creation, in conscience, in scripture and in Christ. Paul writes, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). God has revealed enough of what we need to know so that we do not have to flounder in darkness. There are things of God we do not know, which may be revealed in the ‘not yet’, but we would do well to have more confidence in what God has revealed, and more humility in what He has not yet revealed. 

In the area of morality, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and Christ-likeness is growing within us. As Paul tells us, “we are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are wonderful qualities being produced in us and are the ‘now’, but the ‘not yet’ aspect of our fallen nature, is yet to be eradicated. It will not come to completion in this life, but in the ‘not yet’, we will be fully conformed to the likeness of Christ.

The third area is socially. In society and our relationships with others, we are declared by Jesus to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are to care, to love, to give. This is the ‘now’, but we can have confidence in the ‘not yet’. Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and He will reign for ever and ever.” Micah 4:3 tells us, “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” In the ‘not yet’, there will be everlasting peace, and we can know this with certainty.

Dear Lord, thank you for revealing enough of yourself so that we have hope and confidence in our future. Amen.

Do I sometimes expect future promises of the Bible to be happening now?

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” —ROMANS 15:13

Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is considered Paul’s great chapter on love, and he concludes it with, “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (13:13). We understand why the greatest is love because we know that God is love. We understand why faith is in that list as it is an essential ingredient in our relationship with God. Paul then throws into this trio of virtues the one we hardly ever talk about - hope. Hope does not sound as though it has the same force or importance as love and faith, and yet it may be that this is one of the most important ingredients we need in our lives.

The word hope comes across as a rather weak word. If someone were to ask you, “Are you a Christian?” and you answer, “I hope so,” they would probably think you are not too confident about that. If they were to ask, “Does your wife love you?” and you say, “I hope so,” they would most likely feel a bit dubious about your marriage, because the word ‘hope’ sounds uncertain, ambiguous, tentative, a little vague, and therefore we do not think of hope as being a particular virtue in any way. But actually it is. 

The kind of hope Paul is talking about is not the wishful thinking kind, but a hope based on confidence and realism. It is the kind of hope that may encourage and help us to orient ourselves outside of the present into a future, not as a form of escapism, but as an expression of realism. Many of us are often discouraged or have fallen into sin and feel regret, or perhaps we are simply aware of the tension, conflict and corruption all over the world. Hope is forward looking, and as believers in Christ, hope not only allows us to look forward in the present with confidence to a future God has planned, but also to the promises of God that help us in our present day struggles. 

When human beings sinned, God cursed the earth and one day it will be liberated. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, with no more sin, pain, tears or shame. So while we need to be confident about what is “now”, at the same time, we realize there is a “not yet”, and we have reason to live, because the final chapter of the story tells us the best is yet to come, and this is characterized in our sense of hope.

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us a future that we eagerly look forward to, and which gives us hope in difficult times. 

How does the hope of God’s promised future help in my present struggles?

“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me.” —2 SAMUEL 1:26

It is easy for us to say the Christian life is living in the strength of God, but how do we apply that practically, especially when everything seems to be caving in and our world is falling apart?

There is a hidden ingredient in the Christian life that will defy all natural explanation. It is the life of God Himself, but if there is no trust in God, we will simply be living by human experience. To illustrate, were we to take a flight somewhere, it is not in our strength we get to our destination, but in the strength and capability of the plane. We board the aircraft, take our seats, but do not have to flap anything. We sit back, relax and enjoy the flight, trusting the plane, not ourselves. The plane itself is the ability to fly, just as God Himself is the ability to live the Christian life. 

One of the great tragedies in Christian living is when we unwittingly take God out of our Christianity, and turn the Christian life into a lifestyle, in which it merely becomes the way we do certain things. We love our neighbors; we are kind to folks; we give to charities, but lots of people are kind and give to charities. We live by certain values and call that Christian living. We obey certain biblical laws and principles and call that Christian living, but many people have values and principles they live by. If that is how we explain our Christian lives, it will not be any different from an unbeliever. We will be trying to fly without the plane, and inevitably will run into difficulties. 

It is the life of God living in every Christian that is empowering. Jonathan did not tell David to ask God for strength, but he went to Horesh to help him find strength in God, which is very different from asking God for strength. In the book of Psalms, David himself says many times God is his strength, his shield, his rock, his fortress. Just as there was nothing divinely powerful about David, there is nothing divinely powerful about us. Our strength is in Christ alone, and when we get hold of that, we will realize we cannot live the Christian life anymore than we can fly. It is lived solely in relationship with Jesus and it is learning to live in His strength.

Dear Heavenly Father, not only in difficult times, but I pray that in my every day activities and interactions with others, your strength be revealed in me. Thank You, Lord.

Am I learning to live in the strength of God, leaving the outcome to Him?

“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me.” —2 SAMUEL 1:26

Loyalty is one of the noblest qualities we can have in life. It is meaning what we say, and standing by someone through thick and thin. Jonathan was a friend like this to David. Though he was the firstborn son of King Saul and heir to the throne of Israel, he is never on the main stage himself, but plays a crucial role in David’s life. Jonathan recognized God’s anointing on David, and his loyalty remained first and foremost with God. 

From the time Jonathan first appears in Scripture, he is constantly with his father. He has a special place in Saul’s care, not only because he is his son, but he is heir to the throne, and Saul had invested time in nurturing him to that end. Jonathan’s long time friendship with David, however, was forged in conflict. Saul, having turned from God, and driven by jealousy over David’s military success and popularity, conspires to kill him. Faced with the truth, Jonathan is confronted with a choice; standing by his beloved friend and God’s anointed, or the father he loved whose throne he was to inherit.

Jonathan knew the sun was setting on his father’s reign and his line, but the sun was rising in David’s life. He aligned himself with God’s agenda, and stood strong with David. The security he knew in his family enabled him to share himself as he did with David, because undergirding the conflict between himself and his father was the love and respect he had been raised with. Jonathan could say to David, “Don’t be afraid. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel, and I will be second to you” (1 Samuel 23:17). Jonathan died in battle before that opportunity arose, and David greatly mourned his loss. But he knew Jonathan had enough security in God that he did not have to defend any position, but simply allow God to make the decisions and stand by them.

There is only one agenda that is important in our lives, and that is the agenda of God. Jonathan is a beautiful example of following this through. 1 Samuel 23:16 gives a wonderful account of a true and loyal friend. It says, “Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him to find strength in God.” He did not make himself indispensable to David, but encouraged him to draw upon the strength of God. Out of love and loyalty, that is the best thing we can do for a friend – point them to God so they may discover His strength in every circumstance.

Dear Lord, grant me a loyal and discerning heart in directing my loved ones to the strength they may discover in You. Thank You, Lord. 

Am I pointing loved ones to God, especially in their time of need?

“So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.” —GENESIS 19:29

No one automatically becomes a Christian. We are drawn by the Spirit of God, and when we come in humble repentance to Christ, we are indwelt by His Spirit, and become Christians. But what do we do if within our close circle of family and friends, we are the sole believer? 

When we look at the story of Lot, we are given invaluable insight. Lot was Abraham’s nephew who lived in the shadow of Abraham’s faith. His interests were entirely for himself, which led him to become one of the leaders of Sodom, a city saturated in sin and wickedness. God, planning to annihilate Sodom and its sister city, Gomorrah, because of their evil, sends two angels in the form of men to assess the situation. They stay at Lot’s house, and a mob surrounds his home, demanding the release of these two men for homosexual activity. Incredibly, Lot offers his two virgin daughters instead, but the angels strike the mob with blindness, affording time for Lot and his family to escape. 

Lot recedes from the story until we get to the New Testament, and Peter gives a startling revelation when he writes, “if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless…” (2 Peter 2:7). How are we to understand Lot as a righteous man? He not only participated in the debauchery of Sodom, but was one of its leaders. 

There is one glimmer of hope in the life of Lot, and that was his relation to Abraham. God remembered Abraham, and Lot, though hesitant to leave Sodom, becomes a beneficiary of Abraham’s righteousness and of God’s mercy. Genesis 19:16 says of Lot, “When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.”

We cannot devalue the presence and influence of a Christian as a means of God doing something in the life of an unbeliever. We can only be saved by coming to Christ out of our own volition, but as Christians, we are bringing the presence of God into the situation, providing a channel for His grace to work in the lives of unbelievers. Perhaps all we can do is face them in the right direction, trusting God to bring them to Himself. But the one thing we cannot do is give up. We are meant to be ‘salt of the earth’, and ‘light of the world’, so that others will be saved and come to know Christ for themselves.

Precious Lord, I pray for everyone who has yet to know You. May your Holy Spirit draw them to the Truth, and open their hearts to You. Thank You, Lord. 

Are there family members and friends I am praying will come to know Christ?

“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring… He is the father of us all.” —ROMANS 4:16

Throughout generations and millenniums, God has raised up people from every walk of life who have a relentless desire to serve Him. They are people of prayer, dedicated to doing business with God, dependent on Him and obedient to Him. And this is the heartbeat of God. 

Before the foundations of the earth were laid, God had His plan in place. Paul tells us, “For he chose us in him (Christ) before the creation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4). God’s plan began with Abraham who saw the day of our Lord and rejoiced in it. Ever since, God’s strategy has been through His people, but it is a two-way street in which there are blessings God gives us, but also our responsibility of obedience to Him.

From the above verse, we can conclude three imperatives which apply to every Christian. The first is that the promises of God must be aligned with the purposes of God. There is always the temptation to claim the promise and detach it from its divine purpose. God’s promise to Abraham was not simply to make his name great or their nation great, but out of that richness, to become a blessing to the world. As it was for Abraham, all the blessings we receive are designed to make us a blessing to others. 

The second imperative is the fruit of a ministry must be aligned with the root of the ministry. The history of Israel experiencing the desired fruit for which God had called them was to the measure they remained connected with the root. In the church of Jesus Christ today, we go back to the New Testament to know and understand our responsibilities. The book of Acts, the Gospels and epistles are our reference point from which we derive our objectives. A church that changes its identity and purpose will eventually wither and die. We need, of course, to keep adjusting our approach to the demands of the day, but they must always be true to the root, which is the word of God. 

The third imperative is that direction from God must be aligned with dependence on God. The “you wills” stated to Abraham were utterly dependent on the “I wills” that God had said about Himself. A key verse we need to believe and trust is, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Abraham was credited with righteousness because of his faith and dependence on God, and as God promised, he became a blessing to the world. No one ever regrets serving God, because we are not only deeply enriched by our service to Him, but we become a blessing to others.

Dear Heavenly Father, grant me a heart so deeply aligned with yours that becoming a blessing to others takes precedence in my life. Thank You, God. 

How has God blessed me and in what ways can I pass that on?