September 21 – History Lessons (Psalm 78:9-16)

“They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.”(Psalm 78:11)

IN WORD:
God has done great things. Many of them are recorded in the written Word by generations who wanted their descendants to know of His faithfulness. Many of them are the subjects of biographies and church traditions. But many of them are relics of history, forgotten by a forgetful humanity. They are often buried in the minds of those who have passed on. Sometimes they are faint hints in our subconscious that God has done something good for us, but we can’t remember what. The wonders were marvelous at the time, but they are wasted in the present. Far too often, we don’t let the lingering goodness of God linger long enough.
Why not? What is it about us that can remember who insulted us decades ago but cannot remember the deliverance God gave us last year? We can hold a grudge for a lifetime, but when asked how God has answered our prayers in the past, we struggle for a response. It’s not that He hasn’t answered our prayers, even dramatically sometimes. No, the problem is that we are always focused on the next hurdle, the next problem, the next goal. God is only relevant in our minds when He is relevant to today’s needs.
He would actually seem more relevant to today’s needs if we could rehearse and remember His past victories. It’s much easier to pray to the God who delivered us from an impossible situation when we remember the deliverance. We pray with faith when His miraculous strength stands out in our minds. We pray with ambiguity and doubt when it doesn’t.

IN DEED:
Make sure His strength stands out in your mind. If you are not in the habit of keeping a prayer log, begin the practice now. It doesn’t need to be elaborate. Just make a list of what you ask God for, and then when He answers, check it off. Then, in a day of distress, review all the checks — and watch your faith grow. The spiritual markers you put up in your life will largely determine the depth of your faith today.

“When remembrance of God lives in the heart, then all goes well.” -Theophan the Recluse-

September 20 – Single-Minded Obedience (1 Kings 13:7-26)

“I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the Word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ (But he was lying to him.)” (1 Kings 13:18)

IN WORD:
God had sent a prophet from Judah to Bethel to speak to the king, but with orders not to eat or drink until his task was done and he had returned. The king offered food and drink, but the prophet resisted the temptation. But on the way home, another prophet likewise tempted him, claiming God’s permission. “An angel said to me…,” he asserted, and the man of God believed him. He ate and drank, contrary to God’s command.
What was the prophet’s downfall? What caused his disobedience? He chose unquestioned acceptance of another man’s prophecy over his own instructions from God. He doubted what he had previously known to be God’s voice. He did not keep his eyes fixed on the Word of God.
We run the same risk. Often God will speak to us straight from His Word. We hear the leading of the Spirit and the call of His voice, but we easily let others talk us out of our convictions. “They know more than I do,” we might argue. “I must be missing something,” we might confess. All the while, we are undermining the clear will of God.

IN DEED:
It is a biblically mandated task to check our interpretation of Scriptures with the body of Christ as a whole. We are never given permission to go off on personal tangents of doctrine or practice. We are, however, required to follow God’s voice more closely than the voice of tempers. Just because someone says, “God told me ,” doesn’t mean that God did. Discernment is paramount.
Do you hear the voice of God? Do His words jump off the pages of Scripture and into your heart? When they do, do not reject the Spirit who calls you. Fix your gaze entirely on His Word, and be single-minded in your obedience. Let nothing pull you off course.

“We must not trust every word of others or feeling within ourselves, but cautiously and patiently try the matter, whether it be of God.” -Thomas A’ Kempis-

September 19 – Wisdom Waits (1 Samuel 26)

“The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.”(1 Samuel 26:23)

IN WORD:
David had the opportunity that every oppressed, abused person dreams of: a chance to rid himself of his archenemy. As Saul lay sleeping in his camp, David sneaked through the ranks and put himself in position to thrust a spear into his rival. Surely he hadn’t risked so much entering this camp just to prove a point. But, in fact, he had. As in a similar golden opportunity weeks before, he had no intention of laying a hand on “the Lord’s anointed” (v. 9). David remembered what most of us forget: Our times are in God’s hands.
Most of us would have thought as David’s companion did. Abishai interpreted the event as God’s provision, an ordained moment to throw off the yoke of an oppressive, mad king. Surely God had put David in this strategic position for a reason! And He had; but Abishai thought the reason was Saul’s demise. David knew the reason was to make a statement about his intentions, his innocence, and God’s sovereignty. He had not forgotten that God had placed Saul in his kingship. He dared not violate God’s anointing — even when it had been abused.
Such sensitivity to the wisdom of God would serve us well. David knew Saul would die in God’s timing; but he wasn’t convinced that he himself was an instrument of God’s timing. So he restrained himself. When it comes to God’s will, assertiveness is only appropriate when the path is certain. This path wasn’t certain. Restraint was the better part of faith.

IN DEED:
How do you approach God’s will? When God’s direction seems probable to you, do you forge ahead? Don’t. God never asks us to move ahead on the basis of probabilities. He commands us to move ahead on the basis of His certain promises. But our actions should never be more definite than His timing. If His plan isn’t clear, it is not time to move forward. God does not help those who help themselves. He helps those who trust His sovereignty. He honors faithfulness. When God’s plan is unclear, wisdom waits.

“God aims to exalt Himself by working for those who wait for Him.” -John Piper-

September 18 – Pure Devotion (Joshua 7:1-26)

“That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it.”
(Joshua 7:13)

IN WORD:
God had given the Israelites clear instructions: After the fall of Jericho, they were to destroy all the treasures of the city. None of those items once dedicated to idolatry were acceptable in the holy camp. If not destroyed, Israel’s disobedience would lead to its downfall. The people of God cannot thrive on false spiritual props.
Only one man violated the ban. Achan coveted, so he just took a few pieces of the spoils of war. Perhaps he didn’t see the sense in destroying useful wealth. Maybe he was just a guy wanting to make a little profit on the side. Or maybe he really didn’t trust in the provision of God, so he provided for himself. Whatever the case, God wouldn’t let it slide. The fortune of a nation — the chosen nation — hung in the balance. God let His great name suffer insult because of just one man’s disobedience. A little bit of disobedience corrupted the whole godly effort. The holy purpose had an unholy element.
The parallels to our own lives are clear. We have entered the promised land in the power of God and are marching toward complete victory. He has assured it, if we remain faithful. But the eyes of Achan lust within us for a few small mementos of our sinful past. We want to leave most of our sin behind while taking a few of our highly treasured attachments with us. We want to obey and harbor a little impurity. We want to embrace God without letting everything else go.

IN DEED:
We can’t. According to divine Law, it’s a spiritual impossibility. The principle is sure: God will give us victory if we’re wholly dedicated to Him; He will let us suffer defeat if we’re not. Victory and divided hearts cannot co-exist. God will not allow it.
Who or what are your enemies? Sin? Debt? Broken relationships? Difficult circumstances? God may have His purposes in all, but one thing’s for sure: Your enemies will stand until your idols fall.

“Quit all, strip yourself of all, and you will have all in God.”
-Gerson-

September 17 – God’s Unexpected Wisdom (Judges 7)

“You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.”(Judges 7:2)

IN WORD:
Gideon was only doing what God had called him to do: He was leading a revolt against the oppressive Midianites. And in the moment of decision, God pulled the rug out from under the deliverer. He told Gideon that he had too many soldiers. Victory itself wasn’t the goal; God’s victory was.
We can be entirely on God’s side and still be in conflict with Him. Have you noticed the irony of our efforts? All throughout the Bible, faithful human beings who have given themselves to God are striving to be strong for Him. Meanwhile, God offers us weakness, desiring to be strong in us. We both want strength. We want ours to glorify Him; He wants His to glorify Himself. We who live for His glory better get used to a strange dynamic: It’s our insufficiency that brings Him praise.
Our efforts on His behalf seem so godly. They have pure motives, an element of faith, His agenda in mind, and an abundance of human wisdom behind them. There’s nothing wrong with the pure motives, the faith, or the agenda. It’s the human wisdom that trips us up. God wants us to be used for His purposes even more than we do, but His means are radically different. For His glory to be demonstrated, human glory has to be minimized. We can’t earn honor and then give it to God. We can only submit to Him and let Him display His honor. In this vision-impaired world, we have to be visibly low for God to be visibly high.

IN DEED:
The counter-intuitive wisdom of God is only learned through many years and painful experiences. We don’t like our weakness and we want God to make us strong. But, as Paul reminds us centuries after Gideon, we are to be strong “in His mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10).
If God does not take the lead in our lives and win our victories on His own terms, there’s a muddled picture of glory. Is it His or ours? Understand His purposes. Let your vulnerability be the occasion for His power.

“It will do us good to be very empty, very weak, very distrustful of self, and so to go about our Master’s work.”
-Charles Spurgeon-

September 16 – Adversaries Remain (Judges 3:1-4)

“He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience.”
(Judges 3:2)

IN WORD:
When we’re going through adversity, we have a lot of questions: “Why are difficult people allowed to cause so much disturbance in my life?” “Lord, why don’t You remove these impossible circumstances?” “Why are my prayers taking so long to answer?” And the big one: “Lord, why is the devil still allowed to run rampant in this world?”
Life’s issues are complex. There is no single answer to these questions. But there is one answer we rarely consider: God has let adversity remain in our lives in order to teach us to wage holy battles. For some reason, now obscured by the mysteries of the eternal plan, we need to learn to fight. And not only do we need to learn to fight, we need to do so in the power of God’s own strength and according to His own character. We need to understand His weapons, His ways, His goals, and His strategies. And we can never learn such things in a peaceful existence. There has to be war.
We don’t like that. We don’t understand it, either. God has promised us His peace — His “shalom” — and we fully expect to realize it one day. So why do we need to learn warfare, we ask? Why do our hands need to be trained for battle?
We don’t know. Perhaps there are future battles to be fought before shalom comes — battles that only the hands and hearts of experience can wage. Perhaps we are to be critical instruments in God’s violent opposition to evil. Regardless, for whatever reason, God wants us to have experience.

IN DEED:
Be encouraged. Your adversity is not meant to destroy you, or even to get you down — not by God, anyway. No, He has greater plans for it. He is teaching you to be a useful instrument in an other-worldly conflict. And the opposition of this world is your means to learn.
Do you have difficulties? Conflict? Enemies? Pain? You are being trained. Learn your lessons well; fight the fight. God has left adversaries in your life for a reason.

“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” -African Proverb-

September 15 – Victory In Jesus (John 14:30)

“Now the prince of this world will be driven out.”
(John 12:31)

IN WORD:
We know that Jesus won the victory over the evil one. But we also know that the evil one is still active to this very day. We struggle with the implications of the victory of the Cross, because we don’t always see them. Though we are inhabited by the Spirit of God, the spirit of this world often grips our hearts. And what a grip! No living human has yet fully been released.
Why not? Is the power of Jesus insufficient? No, He is able to save us completely. We are beyond the enemy’s control. But he still attacks. If he can get us completely absorbed in the battle, then we cannot be completely absorbed with our God. We cannot focus on the war and maintain our focus on the Victor — unless we’ve learned to let the Victor fight our battles.
Jesus claimed all authority over the enemy — in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). That has profound implications for us. When we are attacked, we know our source of victory. When we are tempted, we know our source of resistance. When we are discouraged, we know our source of hope. Everything the enemy threatens to do with us on the battleground of this world is countered in the arsenal of Jesus. But there’s a catch. In order to realize this victory in the here and now, we must employ faith in the Beginning and the End. The Alpha and Omega, our Savior and Lord, gives us the key to every weapon. But we must take it and use it.

IN DEED:
Are you battle-weary? Be encouraged. This world is not an everlasting domain. It’s ruler has been legally stripped of power, and his apparent resistance is deceptive. He holds no real power over the person of faith. The world and all that is in it is passing away (1 John 2:17). It’s a dying and desperate regime. When we understand this — really get a grasp of it — the temptations we face and the trials we endure become much more easy to handle. Why? Because our faith is not in our ability to overcome, it’s in the Overcomer. Jesus is the only One to truly transcend this world, and He brings us with Him into glory. Trust in Him. Know the victory that is His. The exiled prince has nothing on you.

“Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory! Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world.” -John H. Yates-

September 14 – God vs. the Evil One (1 John 5:18-20)

“The whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
(1 John 5:19)

IN WORD:
Perhaps we thought that our friendship with the world was a neutral relationship. Perhaps we thought that as long as we defer to God in most things, we are essentially free to pursue anything else our heart desires. Perhaps we thought only the really rebellious sins were sinful. But we are unwise if that’s what we thought.
When we take in the philosophies of our world — the strategies of its false systems, the spirit of its idolatries, the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness first before God — we have taken in poison. It’s the enemy’s lie that convinces us that all is neutral and that God doesn’t care where our affections drive us. The whole world — all of its values, all of its humanistic endeavors, all of its ideologies — is permeated by the spirit of the evil one. He has his hand in everything on this planet. Even the church can be his playground — if we entertain him there.
The Christian life is a separated life. Why? Because there is an evil personality in this world designing his plans to undermine the true worship of God. We can recognize this evil schemer if we’re wise and discerning, but it requires the utmost diligence to do so. We must look with insight into our activities, and we must dive into the depths of our own hearts. We must ask the Spirit to reveal our self-deceptions. Otherwise, we end up aiding and abetting the enemy of the Most High God.

IN DEED:
The earth is a battleground between the Eternal One and His enemy. This enemy respects no rules of engagement and abides by no morals or obligations. And we strike up a friendship with him casually and often. We don’t mean to — we’re only doing what seems acceptable to our culture and our conscience. But culture and conscience are unreliable, and God calls us to find ourselves entirely in Him. We must drink the cup of His holiness, eat the bread of His Word, and spend all of our time with His Spirit. He is our only refuge behind enemy lines.

“It is so stupid of modern civilization to have given up belief in the devil when he is the only explanation of it.”
-Ronald Knox-

September 13 – God vs. the World (James 4:4-6)

“Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?”(James 4:4)

IN WORD:
What does God have against the world He created? Only this: that there are many aspects of this world that He did not directly create. The result is a world that worships self & sin, the created rather than the Creator, the profane rather than the holy. We strive for comfort, prestige, power, security, and love, and then if we have the desire, we may strive for a god of our own imaginations. God hates that. He is the Jealous God (Exodus 34:14, among many other references).
God has often characterized His people in Scripture as faithless harlots. He is not nearly as indifferent about our affections as we are. When we place anything, any person, any ideal or belief above our Creator, we are like a wife who sleeps around. “They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols,” God says of His own people (Deuteronomy 32:21). He despises the unfaithfulness of His people. And yet we gravitate toward such unfaithfulness regularly. Our God is often a Lover scorned, and we can be quite callous about it.
A sign of our ignorance in our relationship with God is our frequent prayers for Him to bless our other loves. We ask Him to fulfill our desire for our idols of comfort and conquest. He will not answer such prayers any more than a husband would send his wife off to another man’s bed. Friendship with this world — the corrupt world of power, lust, status, and greed — is a “Dear John” letter to God. It is our attempt to seduce and gratify His meanest rival — the spirit of the human rebellion.

IN DEED:
Friendship with the world is perhaps the church’s most subtle yet dangerous enemy. It results in lukewarm hearts and fickle souls. It sends us in hot pursuit of compromise, and it’s nauseating to God (Revelation 3:16).
What can we do? Pray for faithfulness, pursue intimacy, determine to be fulfilled only in the tender love of our Lover. Not to do so is to hate Him. But to be found in that love is pure delight.

“The world has advanced to the very door of the church, and is seeking to draw even the saints of God into its grasp.”
-Watchman Nee-

September 12 – The World vs. God (1 John 2:15-17)

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
(1 John 2:15)

IN WORD:
“God so loved the world…” So begins one of the most familiar verses of the Bible, John 3:16. But if God loved the world, and we are to be like God in our affections, why does John tell us not to love the world? Because “the world” of which Jesus speaks is the beautiful creation of God, including the souls of men & women. But “the world” of which John speaks is the corrupt systems we encounter every day — economic systems, political systems, cultural systems, and more. Anyone who falls in love with these — who wants to hang on to them rather than to pursue the Kingdom of God — has chosen the wrong kingdom. He has forsaken the treasures of God for the trinkets of a sinful humanity.
This is one of the Christian’s most chronic problems. We want friendship with the world and friendship with God. We want to love both. But our desires are like those of a husband who wants to love 2 wives or a wife who wants to love 2 husbands. A one-to-one relationship is corrupted by multiple loves. And God always insists on a one-to-one relationship with us. Though he has the capacity to love billions — He is God, after all — we do not. If He is not our highest affection, we are idolaters and He is jealous. He will not be one of our many treasures. He wants all or nothing.

IN DEED:
Our pursuit of wisdom will compel us to choose between God and our other loves. As much as we’d like to, our hearts cannot balance both God and anything else. And our pursuit of wisdom will dictate which one is the rational choice. It should be obvious that the One who designed us for Himself would leave us unfulfilled with our other suitors. Only He can satisfy, because we were created only for Him.
Do you struggle with dissatisfaction? Perhaps you have invested your affections in something that is ultimately unsatisfying. Forsake it and turn your heart toward God. He alone can fill our hearts.

“The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” -Helen H. Lemmel-