The police said that this outcome was unheard of; a child abductor returning a boy to his home, safe and unharmed, but it happened this week. Speculation abounds concerning why. This morning’s news says this person has now been arrested so he may give his reasons. However, I suspect he brought the child home because he could not bear the pressure in his own heart.
The family of this little boy attends a Christian church. No doubt they were praying. Besides that, hundreds of people have been praying for them and their child, even for the person who went into their home and took him from his bed. And God answers prayer.
When an unsaved person is the subject in a bombardment of prayer, God’s answer can be to deeply convict them of sin. This is done by the Holy Spirit. While some people might shake off a mild version, deep conviction usually produces drastic results. A few may even commit suicide. Some will try to make amends for what they have done. The desired result is that the person falls on their knees before God, confessing their sin, repenting and crying out to God for forgiveness.
David was one of the latter. While God called him a “man after my own heart” this did not mean he was perfect. However, when he sinned, he hated it, which is like God. Here is what David says about forgiveness and the effects of deep conviction.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Psalm 32:1–5)
I don’t know if the man who took that little boy felt the heaviness of God’s hand on him, but I would not be surprised. Why else would make a convicted child molester turn from his plans and instead do what thousands of praying people were asking God for? What would make such a person change their mind?
I know the power of conviction. It can be an almost oppressive sense of being wrong, of doing wrong. Because I also know the blessedness of forgiveness and having my sin covered, I know what to do with conviction. It requires confession and abandoning the sin, going a different direction. Because I am in Christ, I know that God forgives me.
God has shown me His power to redeem and turn me around. Because of that, conviction is one of His guides for my life. When I err, I usually know what I did and what I need to do about it, but sometimes the conviction is there and I am not sure. For this I can also go to God and ask Him to clarify. Is this some sort of false guilt (one of Satan’s tricks) or is it real? And if it is real, what did I do?
Verse 6 from this psalm says, “Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.” This tells me that going to God is a good idea, but also hints to quickly do it. If ignored, conviction can deepen, but that sense of guilt can also be pushed to the back burner. Instead of the forgiveness and freedom that come with confession, it becomes a dull ache in the heart, like a lump that should not be there. This lump of unconfessed sin has damaging effects on the whole person. Health can fail. Energy wanes and lifelessness takes over. The weight of it produces relationship problems and even confusion. As David learned, it is far better to talk to God about sin than let it drain my vitality.
*********
Lord, I don’t know about that child abductor’s motivations, but I do know that he needs You. Everyone does. We all sin, perhaps not as he did, but the degree of sin is not the issue. With You, sin is sin. We all do it and we all need forgiveness and cleansing. I pray that for him and for others caught in the web of sin, but also under the power of conviction. Show them the way of confession and the power of Your forgiveness. Release them by Your mercy and grace.
I also thank you for teaching me the blessing of forgiveness and justification. This happens to all who call upon You, regardless of what they have done. Your goodness astounds me each day. I am so thankful that You have lifted the weight of sin from me, putting it on Christ who was able to take and conquer its punishment on my behalf. Because of Him, those who come to You with sin are incredibly blessed with forgiveness and the promise of spending eternity with You.
No matter what you do, somebody is apt to grumble about it. I knew a woman who, when they stayed home grumbled that they never went out, and when they went out, she grumbled that they never stayed home. We all know people who fiddle with the thermostat because it is either too warm or too cold. The tea is too strong or too weak. The toast is too light or too dark. Nothing ever suits them.
Jesus was perfect, the only person who never sinned. He treated everyone with respect and always did and said the right things, but people complained about Him too.
And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2)
For the religious leaders of His day, receiving and eating with sinners was tantamount to defiling yourself with the same sins. Imagine thinking that. If I want to be pure, I could not spend time with people who are impure? Who qualifies? I don’t, and I don’t know anyone who does.
Yet Jesus, the perfect man, receives sinners. Why should He do that? For one thing, He had no fear of defiling Himself. He said that defilement comes from the heart, and His heart was pure. He was safe, but that was not one of His reasons for spending time with sinners. Perhaps the most important motivation was that He had the power to forgive their sin. He loved them so much that He willing gave His life that sinners could be pardoned.
Other people might receive sinners. Those in exalted positions sometimes hold receptions for common people, that they might “receive” them. But this is not the same as what Jesus did. Think of royalty waving to passing beggars or receiving sinners in an “out-of-doors reception place” or a special location where they offer charitable entertainment.
Instead, Jesus opens the gates of His heart, and receives sinners right into Himself. This reception is an intimate personal union in which Jesus makes repentant sinners members of His own body. There is no other reception like this.
Perhaps the most amazing part of it is the humility and lowliness involved. Jesus is far above all others, holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from even the best of humanity, yet He receives all, even the lowest of the low. He is none other than the eternal God; angels bow before Him and worlds were created by Him, yet He receives sinners.
Humanity raises its fist against God, and if not quite that brash, sinners silently and sinfully still go our own way. Sinners reject His plan of salvation or just ignore Him. Yet He still took upon Himself the form of a servant and bore our sins. That He is willing to receive the vilest of the vile, or even the most self-righteous goody-two-shoes is marvelous and beyond comprehension.
However, He does not hold a reception party, pat sinners on the head and wish them a better life. His offer is new life. The sinners that He receives do not have to remain that way. He will take them from whatever state they are in, transform their lives, and wear them as jewels in His crown — but only if they are willing to be received and changed.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12–13)
It is a great wonder that Jesus receives sinners, but for this greater wonder of new life and adoption into the family of God to take place, sinners must also receive Him.
**************
Jesus, many years ago I did not know how to describe You or Your invitation to me. I just knew that my life was a mess and that I needed help. In that helplessness, You walked in, revealing who You are and inviting me to come to You. At that point, nothing sounded better and resistance was not an issue. It is the same today. In You, there is acceptance, love, joy, peace and perfection. Because You have received me, I have absolutely nothing to grumble about.
It is called the “green-eyed monster” because this thing has caused resentment, rivalry, fighting, relationship problems and breakups, even wars between countries. But jealousy has two faces. It is not always the bad guy or a monster at all, but a good thing. Jealousy can produce a fiercely protective desire for others, or a deep desire for what is good and right.
Consider God who says, ". . . for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God . . ." (Exodus 34:14). God has no sin in His jealousy. It is there for us, not for Himself.
Sometimes the words of Spurgeon’s devotional readings are perfect. He has a way of getting to my heart as a mouthpiece for God, using words that resonate with what I know is true. Today is one of those days.
Your Lord is very jealous of your love . . . Did He choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did He buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loves you with such a love that He would not stop in heaven without you. He would sooner die than you should perish. He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and himself.
My heart melts at this jealous love of God. How can anyone resist a love that is so intense, so eager to give Himself for me? Spurgeon adds more.
He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend — worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, He is displeased, and will chasten us that He may bring us to himself.
God knows that trusting Him is the best thing that can happen to us. He alone can take care of us the right way, and in a way that no other can. When we trust Him, we see amazing answers to prayer, even miracles performed on our behalf. How can I trust anything or anyone else?
He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in Him only, this is true love, but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with Him is grievous to our jealous Lord.
Sometimes I am in a crowd and feel a deep sense of being alone. Billy Graham says this is God crooking His finger at me, bidding me to talk to Him. From this I’ve learned that prayer does not have to be in a secret place or a closet. He is beside me all the time, wanting my attention, knowing what He can do for me if I will just give my heart and my ears to Him.
He is pleased to have us abide in Him, and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself. Many of the trials which He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from (all else) and fixing them more closely upon Himself. Let this jealousy which would keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care like this about our love, we may be sure that He will allow nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies.
The trials of life are just that — His goodness drawing me away from selfishness and worldly things. Imagine what a world without trials would be like. I know I would have nothing to bring me up short, nothing to show me how proud and self-centered I am, nothing to change me or make me humble and able to trust the Lord.
**********
God, I pray for grace to keep my heart totally yielded and committed to You. Give me that same attitude toward You that desires nothing else but to be taken up with Your love and Your relationship with me. Shut my eyes to all else and keep me focused and dependent on You, remembering that because You are a jealous God, You will do anything to keep me in Your loving care.
Those who think, “This is just a child’s pair of mittens. I’ll do a better job knitting my next sweater” or “No one knows me in this crowd, I’ll behave much better in church” have missed a fundamental truth. It is hinted at in the incident where Jesus ministered to His disciples.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)
While some congregations take this literally and consider foot-washing an ordinance, it seems that Jesus had more in mind. He demonstrated to them and to us that loving others is about being God’s person in ordinary life, no matter where we are.
Jesus humbly did a menial usually reserved for servants. Today’s devotional asks if I can use a towel as Jesus did? Do I see and take opportunities in the ordinary things of life to be a blessing to others? It is the daily stuff that reveals what I will be like in other surroundings. I cannot muster up “better” in the big things if I am not doing my best in the smaller ordinary tasks.
In fact, no Christian can do anything, big or small, as it ought to be done apart from the indwelling power of Jesus Christ. He is our source and resource, our very life. The love He showed to His disciples and wants me to show to others comes from the Vine to the branches. Unless I am abiding in Him and totally relying on Him, there are no inner resources for loving service at any time or place.
Jesus said that what He did was an example. I am supposed to care for others as He did. This is not about feet washing but about treating people with loving consideration. Not only that, the devotional says to watch the kind of people God brings into my life. My response to them will reveal the kind of person I am. If I am constantly running into and being annoyed by rude, thoughtless and arrogant people, maybe God is showing me the need for change in my own life. Am I also rude, thoughtless and arrogant? If that is true, I need forgiveness and cleansing. I also need to learn how to respond to those people as Jesus treats me, even using whatever is at hand to be a blessing. Can I do that? Can I be what He asks?
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:10–12)
Faithful in the little things means that I’m not thinking I will speak for God and teach His truth only when I am in front of a Bible study class, but “it doesn’t matter” in other situations. Ignoring smaller opportunities instead of waiting for bigger ones is like “trying to produce the munitions of war in the trenches.” Waiting for “more important” things to do could find me woefully short of resources should they come along. Besides, I would look and feel like a hypocrite, a pitiful Sunday-only Christian that is only faithful when it suits me.
**********
God, You are speaking again about continual obedience. It isn’t enough to have a “ministry” that I do each Sunday. You want me to rely on You and Your strength for every moment of every day. My “class” is bigger than the group that comes into the room each week at church. You give me many opportunities. All the people that I meet in other situations also need to know about You.
Sometimes I must open my mouth and tell them. Sometimes You want me to get a towel and wash their feet. Living for You means paying attention all the time and seeing the opportunities all around me. If I’m not polite to rude drivers on the freeway, how can I be polite to needy people on Sunday? I need to rely on You all the time to do whatever You want me to do — on Sunday mornings, but also every moment of every day.
As the oldest person in a seminary class, I was challenged when one of the young students asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was his way of trying to find out why I was taking a masters degree at my age.
The problem with his question is that I’ve never been able to figure out what I want to be. Others have a sense of career or calling, but I never have. When people ask me what I do, I try to pick one of my many activities that might aid our conversation. Since I’ve not had a formal job since marrying my dear hubby, I sometimes quip that I am a “kept” woman.
Spurgeon’s devotional for today is about the calling of God. He uses a passage that describes Jesus’ selection of the twelve disciples.
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13–15)
The first part of this passage shows that Jesus is sovereign. He called those He wanted to call and they came. Right away He reminds me of what He has been saying to me all week, that my life is in His hands and that I need not be anxious about it. He will tell me what I need to do and to know, and for that, I need to “be with Him.”
Spurgeon says, “Impatient spirits may fret and fume, because they are not called to the highest places in the ministry” but adds that I ought to rejoice that Jesus calls whomever He wills, and if He leaves me to be a “doorkeeper in his house,” I must cheerfully obey and do just that. It is by grace that anyone is permitted to do anything small or great for Him.
Further, the call to Christ’s servants comes from a high place. The mountain in these verses represents staying above all that is in the world. Jesus is above in holiness, zeal, love and power. When He calls someone to service, that person must go up the mountain as it were, seeking to rise to His level by constant communion and total obedience.
This leaves out other things such as any honor a person might seek such as excellence in career, or scholastic eminence, or recognition in other pursuits. Also, the call of God to service is like the experience of Moses who went up into the mountain of God and had communion with the unseen God. Otherwise, there is no power or anything else needed to do the job. This is not a part-time occupation.
Jesus often went apart from others to have deep fellowship with His Father. Those who are called to serve God must also do the same if they are going to bless humanity and heed that call on their lives. The calling of God is not without cost. While it seems a noble thing to be sent into the world to preach and cast out demons, the disciples needed to be clothed with power and able to do the job that He called them to do. That power is perfected only in weakness. Weakness is not much fun.
Not only that, spending time with God is essential to any ordination to a lifework. No one can be a blessing to others until they see and spend time with Jesus. No one can cast out devils or work wonders unless girded with divine energy. All human ability and resources must be abandoned for total dependance on that which Christ alone can give.
I know that I cannot do anything apart from Him. I cannot fight spiritual battles without heavenly weapons, nor speak to others about Jesus without His grace and power. This is not the issue for me today. The issue is the idea of being “called” to something. He says to me that He does the appointing and sending. I cannot come up with my own life plan and then ask Him to give me what I need to carry it out. What I want to be when I grow up is not my call; it is His.
************
Father, You warn against selfish ambition. This can apply to any desire to rise above the ordinary and be more than You have asked. I know that I must see Jesus and spend time with You for the power to do anything that each day demands. I must do the same for the direction that doing takes. If You do not call me to a “career path” or a lifetime on one particular track, then I must listen to You every moment of every day simply for Your will for that moment or that day.
As I think about my tendency to not listen very well and do my own thing, I can see Your wisdom in this for me. Without that sense of needing to hear from You almost all the time, I’d not walk as close to You as I should. I’m thankful that You call me up the mountain often, even if You send me back down with rather ordinary tasks that seem to have little significance. I am glad that You know what is best for me and that includes learning how to listen and obey in what seems like a very ordinary life.
Christianity is not a secret society like some service organizations and cults. God actually charges His people to be transparent and without hidden motives or agendas. Yes, we are told to be wise and not “cast our pearls before swine” meaning to keep our mouths shut in front of those who have already openly rejected our message. However, for the most part, we are to freely share the good news of salvation. We are also to be open books regarding all that we believe.
That being said, there is an aspect of Christianity that cannot be seen with human eyes or understanding apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. That is, unless the Spirit unlocks the human heart, the teachings in the Bible are confusing at best and may even sound like total gibberish.
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:6–10)
In a secret society, tenets are conveyed from one person to another, human channels. In Christianity, truth is revealed to each one by the Holy Spirit. He might use the words of another Christian, or anyone else for that matter, but all understanding is given by God. Without Him, we don’t “get” it. This is true before salvation and also after we are saved.
Paul wrote to the church at Colosse explaining that he was suffering for the sake of the church. He told his readers (and us) that he “became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Colossians 1:25–26).
God reveals it, but what is this mystery? That word is used at least two dozen times in the New Testament and each time refers to a different aspect of Christian truth; the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of godliness, and so on. What is more important is that God reveals it — but only to those whose hearts are turned toward Him.
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Again, this happens first in salvation and becoming a Christian, but it is also true afterwards. As Spurgeon says, “. . . . there are reserved and special things in Christian experience: all the developments of spiritual life are not alike easy of attainment. There are the common frames and feelings of repentance, and faith, and joy, and hope, which are enjoyed by the entire family; but there is an upper realm of rapture, of communion, and conscious union with Christ, which is far from being the common dwelling-place of believers.”
He goes on to describe how John leaned against the bosom of Jesus and how Paul was “taken up to the third heaven.” These intimate times with Jesus happen to believers, usually without any expectation or advance notice! Spurgeon also says that these experiences are for those who are involved in prevailing prayer.
While that may be true, in my experience a special revelation of Jesus Christ is also for those who are totally helpless and without any other resources. He can appear in ways that are too wonderful for words, too precious to describe, too singular and intimate to share with the world.
************
God, You reveal the truth of who You are and what You can do to those whose hearts are primed either by prayer or problems. While we may be ready to hear these and other mysteries, it is always up to You how You reveal Yourself in special ways. It could happen when we pray, but it also happens when we need You, even when we least expect You to come alongside and speak or just be here.
Your presence and the revelation of Yourself is a wonder and a great grace. Certainly no one deserves it nor can anyone make it happen. Yet You always know exactly what we need to keep our hearts focused on You. Sometimes that need is answered by Your revelation of a hidden thing. For this I praise and thank You.
Sometimes I read too fast. Speed reading is okay for novels and other lighter fare because I usually get the gist of the story. However, when I clip along at 500 plus words a minute, I can also miss important details.
For instance, the first chapter of Ephesians is filled with long sentences where piles up phrase upon phrase describing all that is ours in Christ Jesus. His descriptions give a similar sensation to that of walking into a candy store. Delights abound. Who can see all that is in those bins? Instead of letting my eyes sweep the store, if I want to find the best treasures, I must carefully look at each bin.
I might not do a speed reading in a candy store, but I must have whipped through parts of that first chapter of Ephesians. I missed something that Spurgeon zeroes in on in today’s devotional reading.
(That you may know) what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. . . . (Ephesians 1:19–20)
I’ve seen this for myself and know that my salvation depends entirely on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He did not rise from the dead, my sins are not forgiven and I have no hope. I also know that this was done by the power of God. What strikes me this morning is how this power is connected to my prayers for the salvation of others.
I’ve known others who say things like, “Oh he will never be saved. He has no interest in spiritual matters and is far too stubborn.” They think salvation depends on us making the choice, but for this Spurgeon says salvation is totally about divine power. Those who suppose that it happens because of human free will and a willingness to know God are in error. When we see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ.
Sin is such that no one cares about God or is interested in God. Without Christ, we are DEAD in our sin, totally separated from God and spiritual life. We do everything our own way and for ourselves. Conversion does not happen even if the Word is read or heard in a sermon apart from being combined with that life-giving, resurrection power that comes from God through the Holy Spirit.
Not only that, His power is irresistible. Spurgeon says that all the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb. Death itself could not hold Jesus as the “great might” of God worked in Him.
Spurgeon says that it is this same irresistible power God employs to raise sinners to newness of life. No disinterest, sin, total corruption, devils in hell or sinners on earth can stop God’s grace when He intends to convert someone. If God omnipotently says, “Thou shalt,” no one can say, “I will not.”
It was this way for me just as it is for others who believe. The salvation wrought by God through the power which raised Christ from the dead is glorious, honors God and produces dismay in the demonic world. This power is irresistible but also everlasting.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)
Those who have genuinely been raised to new life may sin now and then, but they cannot go revert to their old life. “Because he lives we live also.” This is why the Bible says to me . . .
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:3–4)
When I am praying, my human and me-centered focus tends to a burden for the humanness in others. But rather than focus on their sinful state and their spiritual apathy, God speaks sharply to me — their salvation is not going to happen because they can do something about it. Salvation happens only because of the power of God, the power that raised Jesus from the dead.
**************
Father, I don’t know why these wonderful truths slip by me, or are so easily forgotten. I just know that without You, I can do nothing. My life so easily becomes sidetracked and I do not notice or remember even such important things. This proves again that salvation is of You. Your Word says that when I delight in You, You put the right desires, even the right thoughts in my head. Help me hold these thoughts, particularly when I pray for those that I love. I’m asking You to take initiative and employ Your resurrection power to raise them out of darkness and sin and into the life-giving light of Your Son.
