Wednesday Morning Devotional

For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing:  it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  — Ephesians 2:8-9

This past weekend I was shown a near perfect picture of what grace looks like.  I bought my mom and dad tickets to see the play of the Pilgrim’s Progress in Greenville at the Logos Theater.  We left in plenty of time, and I was so excited to see this for the second time.  When we got there, the lady scanned my ticket, and a big red outline appeared on her screen.  She looked at the ticket and said, “These were for last week’s showing.”

The blood drained from my face and a great big sinking feeling just engulfed me.  I went to the ticket booth and just said, “I messed up . . . we were supposed to come last week.”  She told me to go and see the lady at the door.  I told the lady at the door the same thing I told the lady at the ticket window.  She immediately, without hesitation, led us to four seats that were better than the ones I paid for and had expired.  There was no “stinks to be you,” “you should have paid more attention,” “I’ll bet you pay more attention next time,” none of that.   I felt badly that there was none of that because that is exactly what I deserved.

I sat there and watched the play with the most grateful attitude I believe I’ve ever had.  Christian was at the scene with Apollyon accusing him.  Apollyon pointed out every time he had gotten off the narrow path and let him know that his faithfulness to the King hadn’t been that great.  Christian simply said, “But the king is merciful . . . I have confessed my sins, and the King is faithful and just to forgive me.”  I thought of the many times I’ve dishonored the God I say I love and strayed from the narrow path He asks me to walk.  Just like the ticket lady letting me in and giving me great seats . . . this is how God has treated me my whole life.  I might have had the purest, most childlike faith I’ve ever had for that couple of hours in that theater.  

I hope I never forget.

Lord, how great are You and Your ways?  How does one such as I put my faith in You, fail at so many turns, and You still give me Your best?  I’m so thankful that You are nothing like us.  We are made in Your image, yet we project our attitudes and ways onto You and begin to believe You are like us.  We put people in their place and treat them like we think they deserve to be treated.  Thank You, Jesus for not treating us as we treat others.  You showed me exactly what You are like through the ticket lady.  Bless her, keep her, and make Your face to shine upon her.  I don’t know that I’ve ever been more thankful for the salvation that You offer, and the gift that You are as I sit here typing this.  Thank You!  Amen!

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.  – 2 Timothy 4:6-8

When I read a passage such this, I ask myself all the questions I can.  Am I being poured out?  Am I really fighting the good fight?  Am I proud of the race that I’m running?  Have I kept the faith?  Do I long for His appearing?  What does it even look like to be poured out?  What does running the race even look like?  There are so many questions that I really want to get right.  

There have been several checkpoints in my life that I look back to and say, “Everything changed right there!”  There was the day I got saved in June of 1990.  Nothing about my behavior changed, but my conscience went into hyperdrive.  I was completely aware every time I chose to sin.  There was 1994 when I told a friend about the Lord.  He told me that I didn’t get to tell him about the Lord because the Lord made no difference in my life . . . I acted just like him.  I asked Jesus that very night to help me not just believe but live out what it looks like to follow Him.   I began to devour the word of God.  I began to love God.

I am less than a month away from being fifty years old.  I’ve lived 16 years without the Lord in my life, and I’ve lived 34 with Him.  I can honestly say that there is absolutely no way that I’m where I am now without Him.  My life is radically different in every way.  I desire to be poured out for my Lord.  I desire to represent Him everywhere I go.  Knowing that my race is closer and closer to ending with each day that passes, I want to keep fighting.  Fighting to keep my heart pure, fighting to hold onto my faith, and fighting to help others long for His appearing.  

The end is so much closer than we all think.  Either Jesus comes back and ends it all in moment, or we simply draw our last breath.

Are you fighting the good fight of faith?

Lord, I know what I want to do with my life.  I want to live for You.  I know I go on streaks where I’m on fire, and I know I go on streaks where there is barely an ember.  I know I have the enemies of my flesh, this world, and the devil and his demons.  They’ve all had their say and part in trying to drag me to hell.  But I sit here this morning knowing that You are faithful.  You’ve never let me down, You’ve always pulled me out of the pit, and You’ve always fanned my one little ember back into a flame.  You are the Author and Finisher of my salvation.  Help me to simply keep holding onto You for the rest of my days.  I want to be able to say that I’ve run my race well.  I love You, Lord.  Amen.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel! – Mark 1:15

I was presenting the gospel to someone weeks ago, and I thought it went nowhere.  She knew nothing of the Bible.  John 3:16 didn’t ring any bells, no Genesis 1:1, and didn’t even know there was an Old and New Testament.  So, we talked about why the year was 2025, how that is when Jesus came to this earth and died for us on the cross.  Admittedly, she said she struggled with believing and had no family members familiar with church or the Bible.

Recently, she found me and bombarded me with some questions.  They went something like this: “Is it bad that it is hard for me to believe?  I want to believe, but I really don’t like the thought of sitting in some church and being bored for an hour.  I just don’t enjoy stuff like that.  Does this mean that I can’t go to heaven or be saved?”  I absolutely loved the brutal honesty from her side of the conversation.

All I knew to tell her was this: “The Christian journey is like waiting for an acorn to become a mighty oak tree.  You are only at the point of deciding if you want to plant the acorn of your life or not.  If you plant it, it will begin to grow.  God will begin to work in your life.  You only need to receive and believe that God has forgiven you through Jesus.  Ask Him to change you.  Ask Him to help you learn to love the things that He loves and to hate the things that He hates.  He will answer this prayer.  Your only job is to believe and never let Him go.”

Lord, I don’t have all the answers.  I’m simply trusting that if I talk about You that You will open doors and give me opportunities to lead people to You.  With all my heart, I want to win souls.  I want people to experience the transformation and growth that You’ve allowed me to experience.  Please help this person to trust in You.  Years from now may she just know that You’ve been alive in her and that You’ve changed her heart.  Help me keep my heart pure.  Help me not get complacent in my walk with You.  You’re still working on me.  You are the author and the finisher of my faith.  How I look forward to my heavenly home.  There is no one like You, Lord.  No one saves like this.  Amen.

So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name.  – Acts 5:41

I’ve read Richard Wurmbrand’s book, Tortured for Christ a couple of times.  He was a Romanian preacher who preached when he was not allowed to do so.  The simplest of recantations would have gotten him out of prison and reunited him with his family, but he always refused.  In prison, he was still forbidden to preach.  He and a few others decided that it was worth the beatings to be able to share the gospel.  Hence, Richard Wurmbrand was “Tortured for Christ.”  

This past Sunday I preached up at a wonderful little church up in Mountain Rest.  Every time I fill in, they pay me.  I was discussing with someone about just how much they pay me.  I told them, “Look, I’m more than glad to do this for free.  I feel the Presence of God mightily when I’m here . . . that is all the payment I need.”  They ended up saying that they were going to pay me anyway.

I sit here wondering if I would still do it if I knew my payment would be a beating.  The council of the Sanhedrin told the disciples they were not to preach.  The disciples knew it would cost them if they did.  Acts 5:40 says that they were flogged . . . simply for preaching about Jesus.  A quick Google search says there are about 370,000 church congregations in the United States.  How many of them would still hold services if the money was taken away and the payment was 39 lashes from a whip?  

Richard Wurmbrand said it was worth it.

The apostles said it was worth it. 

I think it is worth it.

I wonder if the days are approaching where we will be made to prove it.

Lord, I live in the ease and comfort capital of the world.  All of us give so much of our resources to eating out, streaming services, phone and internet services, overpriced drinks, and comfortable cars and homes.  Richard Wurmbrand missed how present You were to Him in prison.  He said You were worth the torture that he received.  I’ve endured threats and I’ve had people reject me for Your Name, but I’ve never received anything like Richard or the apostles.  Lord, give me the strength I need to never reject Your Name.  Sometimes, when I play music at certain places, I get a little scared when it comes time to play a song for You.  I’ve even chickened out a couple of times.  Help me to never ever do that again.  I love You, Lord.  You are still and always will be the best thing this life offers.  Amen.

We have been beaten, jailed, and mobbed; we have been overworked and have gone without sleep or food.  – 2 Corinthians 6:5

I maintain that the biggest enemies of Christianity are ease, comfort, and convenience.  As long as we have one or more of those things, we really don’t think we need God.  I also maintain that the words “Christian” and “church” are no longer useful.  Nobody in the Bible ever called themselves a Christian.  They used “disciple,” or “follower.”  As far as church is concerned, Jesus said He would build it.  He never meant physical buildings, but when we say, “let’s go to church,” that is what we mean.

Nearly 100% of my witnessing conversations this year have been with people who say they are Christians who used to go to church.  Yet, in almost no context would anyone look at their lives and say, “here is a disciple who follows Jesus.”  I’m not dogging them at all, I lived in this place for years.  Even now, I can go through the motions and look the part without being the part.  

Look at the verse again, have you or I had any of those things happen to us because of your faith in Christ?  Only very recently have they begun to happen to me, and most certainly not to any kind of extent that they were experiencing.  The closer I get to God and the more I walk in step with Him, the more hell’s fury seems to come at me, my family, and those I love.  

I think I’m going to begin reading Foxe’s Martyrs again.  Somehow reading story after story of followers who died for their faith rejuvenates my own.  I wonder often how so many of those guys sung songs to God while they burned alive.  I can only assume that God gives them the strength, courage, and determination at exactly the right time.  The Bible says that the righteous have never been forsaken. Never.

Almost all of those stories have an element of, “If you simply deny Christ, persecution will end, you will go free, and all will go back to normal.”  I feel that way right now.  I feel like the offer is on the table that if I will simply stop pursuing Jesus so fervently, then evil will leave me, my family, and those I love alone.

Are any of you guys feeling anything similar?

Lord, I know what I want in this life.  I want You!  I want my family to know You.  I want my friends to know You.  I want strangers that I strike up conversations with to know You.  Hell hates it when I try to make this happen.  Yet I know that You have conquered hell, death, and the grave.  As a spoiled American, I want to be able to witness free of persecution, but there aren’t any examples in the Bible where that happens.  All that to say, Help me Jesus!  Fill me with Thy Holy Spirit that I might be found spotless.  There is and never will be another like You.  I love You!  Help all who read today to become true disciples who love and follow You and Your ways.  Amen.