Dared To Be Disciplined
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life will lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 16:24-25
Christian living presupposes Christian conviction. But unfortunately, it is possible to have beliefs which do not find expression in conduct. This belief of the head is often confused with real faith. The simple truth is—one really believes only that which one acts upon. When I see a person who claims to be a Christian and believes all the creeds and calls himself an evangelical Christian, but he does not live the Christian life—his life is not characterized by brokenness, tenderness, and love—I remember the words of Jesus when He said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” After being born again we are to demonstrate our faith by our works. As James said, “Faith without works is dead.”
The effective Christians of history have been men and women of great personal discipline. The connection between the words disciple and discipline is obvious. To be a true, effective disciple of Christ we must seek to discipline our lives and endeavor to walk even as He walked. The thing that has hindered the progress of the church is not so much our talk and our creeds; but it has been our walk, our conduct, our daily living. We need a revival of Christian example, and that can only come when professed followers of Christ begin to practice Christian discipline.
Where do we begin? Having found the life which is in Christ, strict disciplinary trails lead to a full-bodied, rich, and complete life.
The great “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, once said, “I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord’s workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most.” I echo that sentiment!
Our Father and our God, I bring You my undisciplined life, and I ask You to help me develop personal control. Eliminate from my heart the unruly desires for worldly pleasures and materialism. Destroy my love of earthly power and pride. Draw me to wholeness through simple, pure thinking and living in Christ. Through Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Worthy of Our Worship
Then they . . . came and worshipped him, saying, of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Matthew 14:33
Jesus Christ is who He said He is: God in human form. And that is a crucial truth that undergirds the reality of our salvation. Only the divine Savior could die as the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins. Only the divine Lord could tell us how we should live. Only the risen and ascended Son of God is worthy of our worship and our service. “We confess Jesus Christ as God, our Lord and Savior.”
During His time here on earth, He was God in the flesh, true God and true man. He is from eternity to eternity. Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, became the Gospel. As His ambassadors we must represent Him in all His fullness totally and truthfully. Anything less disqualifies us from our high and holy calling.
The Nicene Creed that came out of the Council of Nicea in AD 325 affirmed that He is “very God of very God, . . . being of one substance with the Father.”
By faith Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). The present evil world system does not yet acknowledge His lordship; it is still under the deceiving power of the prince of this world, Satan (Ephesians 2:2). But those whom Jesus indwells have authority over the evil one and all his demons. The apostle John declares, “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Therefore, in spite of our human limitations and even our failures, the Lord is sovereignly directing His own work of redemption. And we are linked to the vast resources of His power so that we don’t merely “get by” in our lives and ministries but “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him” (Romans 8:37). And, as the context of that inspiring and reassuring verse promises, nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). God can turn the greatest tragedies into that which is for our good and for His glory, for “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Because Jesus is Savior, He saves us from the penalty of sin. Because He is Lord, He, by His Holy Spirit, gives us power over sin as we daily walk with Him. And some future day He will take us to be with Him, far from the very presence of sin (Hebrews 9:28). Only because Jesus is God and we have confessed Him as Savior and Lord can He bestow and we receive these benefits, this blessed assurance and hope (Romans 10:9).
Our Father and our God, I confess that Jesus Christ is the living Lord of my world and my life. I know He is one with You and I have access to Your power through Him. Teach me to live as a conqueror and to lead others to You through Him and in His power. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Unused Power
And when [Jesus] had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Matthew 14:23
John Knox prayed, and the results caused Queen Mary to say that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than she feared all the armies of Scotland.
John Wesley prayed, and revival came to England, sparing the nation the horrors of the French Revolution.
Jonathan Edwards prayed, and revival spread throughout the colonies. History has been changed time after time because of prayer. I tell you, history could be altered and changed again if people went to their knees in believing prayer.
What a glorious thing it would be if millions of Americans would avail themselves of the greatest truth this side of heaven: Jesus Christ died to make communion and communication with the Father possible. He told us of the joy in heaven when one sinner turns from sin to God, and in his heart breathes the simple prayer, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Today we have learned to harness the power of the atom, but very few of us have learned how to develop fully the power of prayer. We have not yet learned that a man can be more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons that can be developed.
We have not learned that a nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into weapons. We have not discovered that the answer to our problems can be through contact with God.
When the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” the Savior answered their request by giving them His model petition, “The Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord’s Prayer, however, was only the beginning of His sacred instruction. In scores of passages, Christ offered further guidance, and because He practiced what He preached, His whole life was a series of lessons on prevailing prayer.
Have you learned His lessons yet?
Our Father and our God, be merciful to me, a dreadful sinner whose failures offend You greatly every day. Look into my heart and find a place of purity where You can live. Chase away my pride and prejudice. Destroy my hate and hopelessness. Save me through Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Voice of Authority
And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:53– 58 RSV
Jesus’ teaching was unique. He took God out of the theoretical realm and placed Him in the practical. He used no qualifying statements or phrases in declaring His way of life. He didn’t use such phrases as “I venture to say” or “Perhaps it’s this way” or “It is my considered opinion.”
He spoke with authority! He spoke with finality! He spoke as though He knew . . . and He did! When the Sermon on the Mount was completed we read that “the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29).
His was not the soft, empty conjecture of the philosopher who professes to search for truth but readily admits he has never found it. It was more the confident voice of the mathematician who gives his answers unhesitatingly because the proof of the answer can be found within the problem. Am I listening to Him—or am I a cynic as were so many of His countrymen?
Our Father and our God, I praise Your mighty works—creation, humanity . . . I fall down and worship You as the One who has all authority and power, both on earth and in the heavenly realms. Bless me, O Lord. Cover me with Your grace and power. Teach me to share Your powerful words with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
A Fabulous Future?
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Matthew 13:44
President Theodore Roosevelt said, “When you educate a man in mind and not in morals, you educate a menace to society.”
Science is learning to control everything but man. We have not yet solved the problems of hate, lust, greed, and prejudice, which produce social injustice, racial strife, and ultimately war. Our future is threatened by many dangers, such as the nuclear destruction that hangs over our heads.
However, the greatest danger is from within. Every major civilization before us has disintegrated and collapsed from internal forces rather than military conquest. Ancient Rome is the outstanding example of the fall of a civilization. While its disintegration was hastened by foreign invasions, in the opinion of Arthur Weigall, a world-famous archaeologist, it collapsed “only after bribery and corruption had been rife for generations.”
No matter how advanced its progress, any generation that neglects its spiritual and moral life is going to disintegrate. This is the story of man, and this is our modern problem.
The Christian believes in a fabulous future, even though the present structure of modern society should disappear and all its progress should be wiped out by self-destruction as a result of man’s failure and folly.
There is a sense in which the Kingdom of God is already here in the living presence of Christ in the hearts of all true believers. There is also, however, the ultimate consummation of all things, which is called the Kingdom of God. This is the fabulous future! It will be a future in which there will be no war. There will be no poverty. There will be happy and peaceful human relations. There will be full and ample opportunity to exploit all our abilities. There will be a state of complete reconciliation between man and God—between race and race—between nation and nation.
Our Father and our God, You hold the future in Your hands—a fabulous future indeed. I long for the day when peace will reign and reconciliation between peoples and nations is complete. I know the day of complete reconciliation will only come when Christ Himself comes once again to take us home. Through Him. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The University of Life
[Jesus said,] “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.”
Matthew 11:29 RSV
What are the required courses in the university of life? You are going to have to face life; you are going to have to face death; you are going to have to face judgment. You can’t really face any of them without Christ. There are three required courses in the university of life. First, life itself. You had no control over the fact that you were born. There is nothing you can do to stop living. “Oh,” you say, “I can commit suicide.” No, you can’t. You were created with a soul or spirit which will live forever. Your body will die and go to the grave, but you, the real you, will live forever. You can kill your body, but you cannot kill you. So “life” is one course you have to take, whether or not you like it. You cannot be unborn.
The second required course is death. The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27). Every generation dies. You may die in an automobile accident. You may die of cancer. You may die of heart disease. You may live to old age, but you are going to die. God told Hezekiah, the king, “Thou shalt die, and not live.” The Bible says there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Are you ready to die? Adam lived 930 years, but he died. Seth lived 912 years, but he died. Methuselah lived 969 years, but he died.
At the end of every person’s life it can be said, “He died.” There’s a day, an hour, a minute, for your death. A prominent man was quoted in the press as saying, “I’ve prepared in the course of my life for every eventuality except death. I’m unprepared to die.” Are you prepared to die?
The third requirement in this university is to face the judgment of God. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, a wonderful thing has happened. The cross where Jesus died for our sins was a judgment. The Bible says that He was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). It was in the plan of God for the redemption of the human race that Jesus Christ should die. That was a judgment. God judged His Son for our sins, instead of us. Jesus became sin for us. And Jesus did it voluntarily, because He loves us.
Our Father and our God, prepare me for living, for dying, and for judgment at Your throne. I know I have so much to learn and that I fail often, but please hold my hand. Keep me on the road to life eternal with You. Don’t let me waver from Jesus Christ, who is the one and only Way. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Mind of Christ
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.
Matthew 11:29 AB
The Bible plainly indicates that our mental powers are to be brought under the control of Christ. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” says Paul in Philippians 2:5. “let [don’t hinder, allow] this mind be in you,” suggests that we can have the mind of Christ, or we can reject it. A popular song describes this attitude with the words “all or nothing at all.”
Oliver Barclay observed, “Fundamentally, to love God with all our mind is to let God’s revealed truth work through our lives so that our thinking, our attitudes, our worship, and our deeds are consistent. They should all be the result of God’s holiness and love and grace toward us. . . . The Bible, when it talks of the mind, is not asking us to develop a philosophy . . . but to allow revealed truth to control us.”
The human mind cannot be a vacuum. It will be filled either with good or evil. It will be either carnal or Christ-like. We cannot control the kind of thoughts that enter our minds. Negatively, the mind must be turned away from all evil. We must choose the kind of television programs we see. We must be careful of the kind of things we read; the things we think about; the things that occupy our daydreams. Positively the mind must be set on things that are above. It is not enough to put bad thoughts out of our minds. Godly thoughts must be put in by Bible reading, prayer, and communion with Christ, fellowship with other Christians, and Christian fellowship in the church.
Some unknown wise man has suggested, “Give your mind to Christ that you may be guided by His wisdom.”
The poet M. W. Biggs put it well:
Be Thou my Object, Lord, this day,
Controlling all I do or say;
That thro’ this mortal frame of mine,
Thy blessed traits may ever shine!
Oh! Fill me, Lord, with Thy deep love,
Attract my mind to things above;
That I a pilgrim here may be,
And truly serve and follow Thee!
Our Father and our God, I want to have the mind of Christ. Help me to fill my mind with good and not evil. Help me to put bad thoughts away consistently. Teach me to focus on righteousness, goodness, truth, and love. And always keep my mind on Jesus, the keeper of my soul. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Meekness From The Master
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Matthew 11:29
God is no respecter of persons. Each of us deserves our just share of happiness. Each of us has the same capacity for God. I should not stand back lamenting my bad luck and my bad breaks in life. I should be joined to the source of power. Take Christ’s yoke upon you, “and ye shall find rest unto your soul!”
“But I can’t live it! I would surely fail in the attempt to be a Christian!” you protest.
Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you.” It is His yoke, and I may rest assured that He will bear the heavy part of the load.
Before He left His disciples, Christ promised that He would send a Comforter to help them in the trials, cares, and temptations of life. This word comforter means “one that helps alongside.” He is the Holy Spirit, the powerful Third Person of the Trinity. The moment we are born again He takes up residence in our hearts.
We may not emotionally feel Him there, but here again we must exercise faith. Believe it! Accept it as a fact of faith! He is in our hearts to help us in our Christian walk.
We are told that He sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts. He produces the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23). We cannot possibly manufacture this fruit in our own cannery. It is supernaturally manufactured by the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts!
I must yield to Him . . . surrender to Him . . . give Him control of my life. Through that surrender I will find happiness!
Our Father and our God, I yield to You. I surrender my heart and my life to You. I give You control of all You have entrusted to me. And I pray for Your tender mercy and grace. I need Your love and patience, Father. And I need Your Son to lead me safely home to You. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Rest For The Weary
Come unto me . . . and . . . rest.
Matthew 11:28
Few people know how to rest these days. Even on vacation, many people rush to cram in as much as they can before returning to their jobs, where they spend twice as much energy catching up on the work and mail that has piled up in their absence. Many of us need vacations just to rest from our vacations! Perhaps we have been looking for rest in the wrong places.
Jesus said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” Like peace, rest can be found only in one place, from one source, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we rest, truly rest, we place our confidence in something outside of ourselves. We acknowledge that while there may be work to do, it will eventually be done. But there is nothing more important at that moment than resting, than taking our shoes off, stretching out on a couch or a hammock, and thinking about anything but work.
As we contemplate the all-powerful, always-in-control Lord of our lives and Lord of the world, we can rest in the knowledge that Christ has the whole world in His hands. Despite the headlines in the newspapers and some of the scenes we see on television, we know that all is going according to God’s plan and foreknowledge.
Jesus gives us the ultimate rest, the confidence we need, to escape the frustration and chaos of the world around us. Rest in Him and do not worry about what lies ahead. Jesus Christ has already taken care of tomorrow.
Our Father and our God, I rest in the knowledge of You and Your ever-presence in my world. I know You are in control and You are working Your plan for my life. Take away the frustration and chaos of my heart. Let me sleep in peace with You, knowing I am covered by Your grace and the love of Your Son. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Jesus Loves All
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ‘sinners.’” But wisdom is proved right by her actions.
Matthew 11:19 NIV
The late Dr. Harry Ironside once said, “Beware lest we mistake our prejudices for our convictions.”
To be sure, we must deplore wickedness, evil, and wrongdoing, but our commendable intolerance of sin too often develops into a deplorable intolerance of sinners. Jesus hates sin but loves the sinner.
I was amused and shocked to hear a man of considerable religious background declare on television not long ago that “you didn’t catch Jesus associating with questionable people or those whose basic ideas and attitudes were at variance with what Jesus knew to be honorable and right!”
Such a man should have known that Jesus wasn’t afraid to associate with anyone! One of the things which the scribes and Pharisees criticized bitterly was His willingness to help and talk with anyone, be they publicans, thieves, learned professors, or prostitutes, rich or poor! Even His own followers decried some of the people with whom He was seen in public, but this did not lessen the compassion that Jesus felt for all the members of poor, blinded, struggling humanity.
Jesus had the most open and all-encompassing mind that this world has ever seen. His own inner conviction was so strong, so firm, so unswerving that He could afford to mingle with any group, secure in the knowledge that He would not be contaminated. It is fear that makes us unwilling to listen to another’s point of view, fear that our own ideas may be attacked. Jesus had no such fear, no such pettiness of viewpoint, no need to fence Himself off for His own protection. He knew the difference between graciousness and compromise, and we would do well to learn from Him. He set for us the most magnificent and glowing example of truth, combined with mercy of all time, and in departing said, “Go ye and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
Our Father and our God, thank You for Jesus and His love for the lost, no matter what their station in life. He loved even me, Father, and I am so grateful for that. Help me to be like Him and go in love to the lonely, the poor, the lost, and the abandoned. Show them Jesus through me. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Saved to Serve
[Jesus said:] The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Matthew 10:24
Jesus invites each of His followers to become His disciple. “Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). We are saved to serve; we are redeemed to reproduce spiritually; we are “fished out of the miry clay” so that we in turn may become fishers of men.
During our crusades thousands of young people have surrendered their lives to Christ for full-time vocational Christian service. (All Christians ought to consider themselves in the service of God full-time, no matter what their calling.) There is evidence that the new generation of young people is responding to Christ more than any previous generation in American history.
Young people seek adventure and excitement; but youth wants more—it wants something to believe in; it wants a cause to give itself to and a flag to follow. The only cause that is big enough is the cause of Jesus Christ; and its flag is the bloodstained body that was lifted on the cross of Calvary for the redemption of the world.
This invitation to discipleship is the most thrilling ever to come to mankind. Just imagine being a working partner with God in the redemption of the world! Jesus challenged, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor” (John 12:26).
Christian discipleship gives us the privilege of being associated with Christ intimately. And the faithful discharging of the glorious responsibilities of true discipleship invokes the approval and favor of God Himself.
Our Father and our God, make me a fisher of men. I want to bring other souls to You. Give me the courage, the words, and the right attitude to approach those who need to know Christ so badly. I know He is their only hope. Use me and the talents You have blessed me with to reach the lost with Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Giving, Not Getting
[Jesus said:] Freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8
There are clearly two philosophies about money. The first is Satan’s. He says to every man as he said to Christ, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9).
The second philosophy is Christ’s. “Sell all that thou hast, and [give it to] the poor . . . and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). The first is motivated by selfishness; the second, by unselfishness.
The first has greed at the center; the second has God at the heart. The first has an eye for this world; the second has an eye for eternity. The first is slated for failure; the second, for success.
Tell me what you think about money, and I can tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than almost anything else.
It is a staggering fact that in recent years Americans have spent more than ten times as much for luxuries and nonessentials as we have for charitable and religious purpose. This is more than a cold statistic. It is a commentary on the shallow and superficial religious faith in a nation that is nominally Christian.
The Scripture teaches that we are stewards for a little while of all we earn. If we misuse it, as did the man who buried his talent, it brings upon us the severest judgment of God.
One of the worst sins that we can commit is that of ingratitude. In the midst of sorrow and trouble, this life has many blessings and enjoyments, which have come from the hand of God.
Life itself, preservation from the dangers to which life is at every instant exposed, every bit of health that we enjoy, every hour of liberty and free enjoyment, the ability to see, to hear, to speak, to think, and to imagine—all this comes from the hand of God.
Even our capacity for love is a gift from God. We show our gratitude by giving back to Him a part of that which He has given to us. What have you done lately to show your gratitude to God for all that He has done, and is doing, for you?
Our Father and our God, You are the Giver of life and love. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for every gift You have given me personally—my life, my family, my job—I humbly offer back to You my heart, my talents. Please use the possessions You have entrusted to me to magnify You. In the Master’s name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Choosing Christ
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Matthew 6:24
Who is your master? We have to make a choice.
When sin gives an order and we follow it, sin becomes the master of our lives. We become its slave. The Bible says, “You are slaves of sin” (Romans 6:17). When we come to Christ the Scripture says, “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14). Sin is no longer the master. Christ is.
Right here on this earth there are two worlds: a world dominated by evil and a world dominated by Christ. We have to choose between them. We have to live in this world, but we are not to be part of it. We have to be willing to be different. We have to be willing to be laughed at, sneered at, made fun of. We have to be willing to go to the cross and take a stand for Christ where we live, where we work, where we study. Everyone must know that we are of Christ.
Those of us who know Christ march to a different drumbeat. You see, most of the world goes in one direction, but the followers of Christ go the other way, marching to the drumbeat of heaven against the flood of evil. That’s the reason it’s so important for a follower of Jesus Christ to pray daily, to study the Scripture daily.
God gives people the freedom to choose. If you sense a longing for God, a desire to change and be a new person, that’s God speaking to your heart. And when you respond to Him, God will change you.
When you make that choice for Christ, you pay a price. It means that your whole life must change. You must repent, and repentance means to turn around, to change your way of living. That is what’s involved in coming to Christ.
God demands an immediate decision from each one of us. He says, “How long will you halt between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21). Delay makes the right decision harder. Indecision itself is a choice. If you decide that you are going to wait until some other time, that is a choice away from God. The Bible says, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1). Nowhere in the Bible does it say, “Tomorrow.” The Bible says, “Now is the accepted time” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Make a choice for Christ now. Grow to maturity in Him, be His disciple.
Our Father and our God, You are Master of my life, and I am Your humble slave. I want to do what You would have me to do. Change my heart, O God, and cleanse my soul to reflect only Your glory. Take away my desire to be like the world, and make me in the image of Your precious Son. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010)..
How To Pray
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7 RSV
Even a child can understand these instructions. Prayer is for God’s children. Jesus said, “When ye pray, say, Our Father. . . .”
There were children in our neighborhood for whom we provided all clothing, food, and the necessities of life. They asked freely of us, and their requests were usually granted. Why did we do this, and why did they respond this way? They were our children! By virtue of their relationship to us, we had a particular responsibility to them.
God has a particular responsibility to His children; and unless we have been born into the family of God through the new birth, we have no right to ask favors of God. The Bible says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
I have had new Christians say to me,” I don’t know how to pray. I don’t have the right words.”
When our children were just learning to talk and had difficulty finding the right words, they still managed to make themselves understood to my wife and me, and the mistakes they made only endeared them to us. In fact, I am sure I treasure their early attempts at conversation more than the words of most adults speaking without hesitation and without error.
Oh, my anxious friend whose prayers have not been answered, God invites you to the intimacy of spiritual sonship. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
Our Father and our God, hear my prayer, even though my words get in the way. You know my heart, and You know my needs without my saying them, but here are the things that are troubling me right now. . . . Help me to hear Your answers, Lord, through Your Word and through Your Spirit. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
A Message For Mothers… And Others!
They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
2 Corinthians 8:5 NIV
Living creatively for Christ in the home is the acid test for any Christian man or woman. It is far easier to live an excellent life among our friends when we are putting our best foot forward and are conscious of public opinion, than it is to live for Christ in our home. Our own family circle knows whether Christ lives in and through us.
If I am a true Christian, I will not give way at home to bad temper, impatience, faultfinding, sarcasm, unkindness, suspicion, selfishness, or laziness. Instead, I will reveal through my daily life the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long suffering, and all the other Christian virtues which round out a Christ-like personality.
Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children. The Bible relates the stories of some women who had an evil influence on their children. Some of the greatest criminals of history have had bad mothers.
On the other hand, most of the noble characters and fine leaders of history have had good, God-fearing mothers.
We are told that George Washington’s mother was pious, and that Sir Walter Scott’s mother was a lover of poetry and music. But Nero’s mother was a murderess, and the dissolute Lord Byron’s mother was a proud and violent woman.
Lord Shaftesbury was correct in his famous utterance, “Give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in twelve months.”
If we had more Christian mothers, we would have less delinquency, less immorality, less ungodliness, and fewer broken homes. Every mother owes it to her children to accept Christ as her personal Savior, so that she may be the influence for good in the lives of those whom Christ has graciously given to her.
Our Father and our God, thank You for my own mother. I pray Your richest blessings on her. I pray that You will find her holy and righteous on the day Christ returns to take us home. Help me to be gentle and kind to her. And help me to be the kind of person she can respect and point to with pride. In Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
God and History
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
I have become confirmed in my belief that the Bible is right in saying that God has fashioned the hearts of men alike. We are not together in today’s world linguistically, culturally, or racially. We are divided. We have become a neighborhood without being a brotherhood. Yet there is one area in which I am convinced we are all alike—the spiritual dimension. I believe the hearts of all of us are the same. Our deep needs are identical the world over, for they come from within. Our need is God.
Probably it sounds a bit intolerant and narrow to you for an evangelist to go around the planet preaching the cross—and you are right; for Jesus said that the gate to the Kingdom of heaven is narrow. But we are narrow also in mathematics and in chemistry. If we weren’t narrow in chemistry we would be blowing up the place. We have to be narrow. I am glad that pilots are not so broad-minded that they come into an airport any way that they want.
Why then should we not be narrow when it comes to moral laws and spiritual dimensions? I believe that Christ is different; that He is unique. I believe that He is the Son of the living God and that He did change my life.
Many intellectuals are asking where history is going; they are speculating on what the end will be. I believe that Christ’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”—the prayer that you and I often pray—is going to be answered. And when the human race stands at the edge of the abyss, ready to blow itself apart, I believe God will write the last chapter of history. I believe that the future Kingdom is to be the Kingdom of God, that there is a destiny for the human race far beyond anything we can dream. But it will be God’s Kingdom and will come in God’s way.
Our Father and our God, help me to be Your humble servant and by whatever means are necessary draw me closer to You. I want to dwell in Your Kingdom, both here on earth and in heaven for eternity. I bow in reverence to You, Lord, and I await Your command, for I know Your Son is the King of kings. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Where to Cast Your Care
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”
Matthew 6:31 RSV
Has God left us alone to cope with the trials, tribulations, and temptations of life? I’m glad He has not! Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, has told us in specific terms just what we are to do about worry. The Bible offers a workable formula for care and anxiety.
What are we to do about these past, present, and future worries? The Bible says that we are to cast them upon Him. Our guilty pasts, our anxious presents, and the unknown future are all to be cast upon Christ. All of man’s burdens and anxieties are wrapped up in these three words: past, present, and future. For the guilt of the past, God says: “I have redeemed thee” (Isaiah 44:2). “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:1). “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
For the present Christ says: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). If the Burden Bearer is with us, then why should we be crushed by our burdens? The French translation of this phrase, “Cast all your care upon Him” is “Unload your distresses upon God.” Have you ever seen a dump truck get rid of its load? It would be of no use if it carried its burden forever. The driver simply pushes a button or pulls on a lever and the heavy load is discharged at the prescribed spot.
We were never meant to be crushed under the weight of care. We push the button of faith or pull the lever of trust, and our burden is discharged upon the shoulder of Him who said He would gladly bear it. Cast the anxious present upon Him, for He cares for you—says the Bible. The worries of the future are obliterated by His promises. “Take therefore no thought for the morrow. . . . But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:34, 33). This promise, if we obey it, takes all the aimlessness out of life and puts purpose into it. It brings all life into balance, and earth’s hours become so joyous that they blend into the glory of eternity. Boredom, fretfulness, and anxiety are lost in the wonder of His wonderful grace.
Our Father and our God, I know You control my past, my present, and my future. I commit my past failures to You; I give You all my present worries and frustrations; and I dedicate my future to You, knowing that You alone can guide me safely home, through Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Intolerant Christ
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24
In loving, compassionate intolerance Jesus says, “Enter ye at the strait gate . . . because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” (Matthew 7:13–14).
His was the intolerance of a pilot who maneuvers his plane through the storm, realizing that a single error, just one flash of broad-mindedness, might bring disaster to all the passengers on the plane.
Once when we were on a flight from Korea to Japan, we ran through a rough snowstorm; and when we arrived over the airport in Tokyo, visibility was almost zero. The pilot had to make an instrument landing. I sat up in the cockpit with the pilot and watched him sweat it out as he was brought in by ground control. A watchful man in the tower at the airport talked us in.
I did not want these men to be broad-minded. I knew that our lives depended on it. Just so, when we come in for the landing in the great airport of heaven, I don’t want any broad-minded advice.
I want to come in on the beam, and even though I may be considered narrow here, I want to be sure of a safe landing there.
Christ was so intolerant of man’s lost estate that He left His lofty throne in the heavenlies, took on Himself the form of man, suffered at the hands of evil men, and died a shameful death on a cruel cross to purchase our redemption. So serious was man’s plight that the Lord could not look upon it lightly. With the love that was His, He could not be broad-minded about a world held captive by its lusts, its appetites, and its sins.
Having paid such a price, He could not be intolerant about man’s indifference toward Him and the redemption He had wrought. He said, “He that is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). He also said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
We have the power to choose whom we will serve, but the alternative to choosing Christ brings certain destruction. Christ said that! The broad, wide, easy, popular way leads to death and destruction. Only the way of the cross leads home.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Best Investment
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:19–20 RSV
What if I were to tell you that, contrary to popular belief, you can take “it” with you to heaven, depending, of course, on your definition of “it”? Now, of course, you cannot take your money or your house or your car or investments with you to heaven. You wouldn’t need them anyway. But you can send things on ahead so that they will be waiting for you when you arrive.
An old man, a great man of God, lay on his deathbed. He summoned his grandson to come to his side. Calling the boy’s name, he said, “I don’t know what type of work I will be doing in heaven, but if it’s allowed, I am going to ask the Lord Jesus to let me help build your mansion. You be sure you send up plenty of the right materials.”
Living a holy life, leading others to Christ as we share our faith, doing good works in Christ’s name, all of these things are materials that may be sent on ahead and can never be touched by the fluctuations in the earthly economy, by natural disaster, or by thievery.
What kind of materials are you sending up to heaven? What kind of mansion will you live in when the building process has been completed?
Our Father and our God, thank You for preparing a room for me in Your heaven. I know that life with You will be wonderful. Help me to live a holy life, to share my faith in You with others, and to be an example of love and joy to my world. I want them to see Jesus living in me. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Abundant Giving Equals Abundant Living
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them . . . But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.
Matthew 6:1–3
Again and again in the Gospels, Christ mentioned money. Though His Gospel was spiritual, He had much to say about the material, because there is always a relationship between the two, paradoxical though it may seem.
He said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). And yet He strongly hinted that God was entitled to some of Caesar’s money, and that Caesar stood in need of the mercy and grace of God.
So grace and gold are inseparably bound up together; and as long as God’s Kingdom is upon earth, the need of earthly mammon is indicated and is closely tied to our spiritual lives.
Our Lord’s command was, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38). Yet it was more than a command. It was an invitation to glorious and abundant living. If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life.
The chief motive of the selfish, unregenerate person is “get.” The chief motive of the dedicated Christian should be “give.” The Prodigal Son set off a series of negative events marked for failure when he said to his father, “Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me” (Luke 15:12). But Jesus said, “Give, and it shall be given.” It is a promise, and we know that Jesus never breaks His promises.
Our Father and our God, I know that Your grace and my gold go together. Help me to be open handed and generous to others, as You have always been to me. Remind me often that everything I have really belongs to You. And help me to give it away, Lord, as You would do Yourself. Through Jesus, who gave His all for me. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).