Paul’s Thorn In the Flesh
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13
The apostle Paul, by firsthand experience, knew what it meant to suffer. As he was telling the people of Corinth about some of his personal experiences with the risen Lord, he confessed that he had a serious potential problem: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7).
We don’t know exactly what that “thorn in the flesh” was, but it must have been a physical ailment. It may have been some type of eye disease or epilepsy; or, as Sir William Ramsay thought most likely, malarial fever. However, we do know how he handled his problem and what his subsequent attitude toward it was:
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8–10 NIV)
Certainly Paul did not like that thorn in the flesh. But when he knew that it was not possible to get rid of it, he stopped groaning and began glorifying. He knew it was God’s will and that the affliction was an opportunity for him to prove the power of Christ in his life.
Would you be able to live above your circumstances as Paul did? To withstand suffering as severe as his in our own power would be impossible. Yet with the apostle we can say, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13 NIV).
Our Father and our God, I, too, have a thorn in the flesh which is. . . . I have often prayed, as Paul did, that it be taken away, but it is still with me. Teach me to delight in my weakness so that Your strength can be evident in my life. Teach me to depend on Your grace and Your Son. In Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Path To Peace
I will listen to what the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints.
Psalm 85:8
There are no troubles that distress the mind and wear upon the nerves as do borrowed troubles. The Psalmist said, “Fret not thyself . . .” (Psalm 37:1). The implication is that fretting, complaining, and distress of mind are often self-manufactured and can be best coped with by a change of attitude and transformation of thought. As someone has said, “Worry is an old man with bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks is lead.”
The Psalmist also said, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). Job asks, “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?” (Job 34:29).
Many of our troubles are caused by self-centeredness. The human mind is not meant to be limited to such a narrow scope. It is to be free to soar, to dream, to hope, and to trust. When our eyes are turned inward instead of upward, we suffer from spiritual nearsightedness.
Anticipation of trouble makes trifles appear unduly large, and the troubles that never come make up an imagined burden that will crush the spirit. They are haunting specters, as insubstantial as a bad dream, and we spend the strength that should be expended in constructive work and services in fighting problems that do not even exist.
Instead of “borrowing trouble” we should listen to the Lord when he says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Our Father and our God, forgive my fretting about life’s little problems. Tune me in to Your grace and peace. Don’t let Satan steal my joy by loading me down with worry and discontentment. Help me keep my eyes on You and the promises of Your Word. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Anxious In Nothing
Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6–7 RSV
Happy is the person who has learned the secret of coming to God daily in prayer. Fifteen minutes alone with God every morning before one starts the day can change our outlooks and recharge our batteries.
But all of this happiness and all of these unlimited benefits which flow from the storehouse of heaven are contingent upon our relationship to God. Absolute dependency and absolute yieldedness are the conditions of being His child. Only His children are entitled to receive those things that lend themselves to happiness; and in order to be His child, there must be the surrender of the will to Him.
We must admit we are poor before we can be made rich. We must admit we are destitute before we can become children by adoption.
When we realize that all our own goodness is as filthy rags in God’s sight and become aware of the destructive power of our stubborn wills, when we realize our absolute dependence upon the grace of God through faith and nothing more, then we have started on the road to happiness.
We do not come to know God through works—we come to know Him by faith through grace. We cannot work our way toward happiness in heaven; we cannot moralize our way, we cannot reform our way, we cannot buy our way. Salvation comes as a gift of God through Christ.
Our Father and our God, I am spiritually poor and destitute before You. Without You I am alone, weak, and useless. I am completely dependent on Your grace and mercy, Lord. Forgive me; save me; empower me. Increase my faith in Your grace and in Jesus Christ my Savior, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Anxious In Nothing
Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6–7 RSV
Happy is the person who has learned the secret of coming to God daily in prayer. Fifteen minutes alone with God every morning before one starts the day can change our outlooks and recharge our batteries.
But all of this happiness and all of these unlimited benefits which flow from the storehouse of heaven are contingent upon our relationship to God. Absolute dependency and absolute yieldedness are the conditions of being His child. Only His children are entitled to receive those things that lend themselves to happiness; and in order to be His child, there must be the surrender of the will to Him.
We must admit we are poor before we can be made rich. We must admit we are destitute before we can become children by adoption.
When we realize that all our own goodness is as filthy rags in God’s sight and become aware of the destructive power of our stubborn wills, when we realize our absolute dependence upon the grace of God through faith and nothing more, then we have started on the road to happiness.
We do not come to know God through works—we come to know Him by faith through grace. We cannot work our way toward happiness in heaven; we cannot moralize our way, we cannot reform our way, we cannot buy our way. Salvation comes as a gift of God through Christ.
Our Father and our God, I am spiritually poor and destitute before You. Without You I am alone, weak, and useless. I am completely dependent on Your grace and mercy, Lord. Forgive me; save me; empower me. Increase my faith in Your grace and in Jesus Christ my Savior, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Inner Joy And Outward Victory
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4 NIV
When our hearts are surrendered totally to the will of God, then we delight in seeing Him use us in any way He desires. Our plans and desires begin to agree with His, and we accept His direction in our lives. Our sense of joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment in life increases, no matter what the circumstances, if we are in the center of God’s will.
Resentment or resignation is not the answer to the problem of suffering. And there is a step beyond mere acceptance. It is accepting with joy. We need to listen to the words of James: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (1:2–4 NIV).
The Christian life is a joyful life. Christianity was never meant to be something to make people miserable. The ministry of Jesus Christ was one of joy. The Bible teaches that a life of inward rest and outward victory is a Christian’s birthright.
“What a witness to the world Christians would be,” wrote Amy Carmichael, “if only they were more evidently very happy people.” Joy is one of the marks of a true believer. Miss Carmichael quoted Prebendary Webb-Peploe as having said, “Joy is not gush; Joy is not jolliness. Joy is simply perfect acquiescence in God’s will, because the soul delights itself in God Himself.”
The ability to rejoice in any situation is a sign of spiritual maturity.
Our Father and our God, I surrender my heart and will to You. Please use me in any way You desire. Center me in Your will and Your Way, Father, and fill me with Your joy and celebration of life. Help me to live as You created me to live—with contentment, joy, and satisfaction through Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Fellowship Of His Sufferings
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
Philippians 3:8–10
Christiana Tsai, the Christian daughter of a former governor of Kiangsu Province in China, wrote, “Throughout my many years of illness, I have never dared to ask God why He allowed me to suffer so long. I only ask what He wants me to do.” Saint Augustine wrote, “Better is he that suffereth evil than the jollity of him that doeth evil.”
The eagle is the only bird that can lock its wings and wait for the right wind. He waits for the updraft and never has to flap his wings, just soar. So as we wait on God He will help us use the adversities and strong winds to benefit us! The Bible says, “They that wait upon the LORD . . . shall mount up with wings as eagles” (Isaiah 40:31).
Christians can rejoice in the midst of persecution because they have eternity’s values in view. When the pressures are on, they look beyond their present predicament to the glories of heaven. The thought of the future life with its prerogatives and joys helps to make the trials of the present seem light and transient. “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Our Father and our God, help me to wait patiently for Your timing. I am impatient and stubborn, I know. Bless me with Jesus’ calmness and quiet acceptance of Your will. Give me pleasure in just serving You in the way You have planned for me and in Your own good time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Summary Of Salvation
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:8
The heart of the Christian Gospel with its incarnation and atonement is in the cross and the resurrection. Jesus was born to die. Jesus did for man what man cannot do for himself. He did it through the cross and the resurrection.
Today we look for man-made philosophical panaceas. Discussions and debates go on in every center of learning in a search for ultimate wisdom and its resultant happiness. No solution has been found. We still wrestle with the same philosophical problems that concerned Plato and Aristotle.
We are searching for a way out of our dilemma, and the universal sign we see is “no exit.” But the cross presents itself in the midst of our dilemma as our only hope. Here we find the justice of God in perfect satisfaction—the mercy of God extended to the sinner—the love of God covering every need—the power of God for every emergency—the glory of God for every occasion. Here is power enough to transform human nature. Here is power enough to change the world.
Samuel Rutherford, the great Scottish theologian and pastor who died in 1661, put it well when he wrote, “The cross of Christ, on which He was extended, points, in the length of it, to heaven and earth, reconciling them together; and in the breadth of it, to former and following ages, as being equally salvation to both.” The apostle Paul indeed gave us the summary of salvation when he wrote, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Our Father and our God, I lean on the cross for support and salvation. Nowhere else can I find hope for rescue from this life. Nowhere else can I find forgiveness and mercy. The cross of Christ is my only power for living and my only hope in dying. Thank You for Jesus, who gave the cross significance and in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Christian’s Mind-Set
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5
We Christians are not to be conformed to this world mentally. The world by its advertisements, its conversation, and its philosophy is engaged in a gigantic brainwashing task. Not always consciously but sometimes unconsciously, the Christian is beset by secular and worldly propaganda.
Ads which proclaim that “the man of distinction” prefers a certain brand of whiskey imply that abstainers are not people of distinction.
Tobacco ads loudly proclaiming that “thinking men” prefer a certain filter imply that only fools would reject their brand.
Much entertainment, even on Sunday, is slanted to those who feed on violence, sex, and lawlessness. It would seem that some diabolic mastermind is running the affairs of this world and that his chief objective is to brainwash Christians and get them to conform to this world.
The world’s sewage system threatens to contaminate the stream of Christian thought. Satan will contest every hour you spend in Bible reading or prayer.
However, above the din we can hear the voice of Scripture: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), and “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
We Christians are not even to be conformed to the world’s anxieties.
Many Christians are wringing their hands and saying, “What’s the world coming to?”
The Bible has already told us that “the world and the lust thereof ” are going to pass away. We have already been told in Scripture that the world is coming to a cataclysmic judgment. We Christians are to be lights in the midst of darkness, and our lives should exemplify relaxation, peace, and joy in the midst of frustration, confusion, and despair.
Time yourself the next time you read the Bible and pray. Compare this amount of time to that you spend, say, watching television. Is God getting His share of your time and attention?
Our Father and our God, forgive me for getting caught up in the world’s allure. I know it’s really Satan pulling me away from You. Build a fortress around me, Lord, and hold me close to You through Your powerful love. Help me to be a light in the dark world, because of Christ. Through Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Success Without Suffering?
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.
Philippians 1:29
We can find comfort in the midst of mourning because God can use our sufferings to teach us and make us better people. Sometimes it takes suffering to make us realize the brevity of life, and the importance of living for Christ. Often God uses suffering to accomplish things in our lives that would otherwise never be achieved.
The Bible puts it succinctly: “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4 RSV). Some of the godliest people I have ever known were men and women who had been called upon to endure great suffering and yet, because they knew Christ and walked in the joy of His presence every day, God blessed them and turned them into people who reflected Christ. Often I have gone into a sickroom or hospital room to encourage someone and have left feeling I was the one who had been encouraged and helped, because God had used their trials to make them more like Christ.
Before the power of the atom was discovered, science had to devise a way to “smash” the atom. The secret of the atom’s immeasurable and limitless power was in its being crushed.
Dr. Edward Judson, at the dedication of the Judson Memorial Church in New York City, said, “Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.”
Our Father and our God, Your suffering is often difficult for me to understand at the time, but I know it will eventually make me into a better person. Help me to bear up during the trials, patiently knowing I will gain spiritual health and wisdom as You work through it all. In the name of the Savior. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Victorious Suffering
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.
Philippians 1:29 RSV
One person whose name is synonymous with “victorious suffering” is the courageous, gifted quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada. As the result of a diving accident, she is confined to a wheelchair, unable to care for her simplest needs. And yet she is one of the most vibrant, beautiful human beings I have known.
She has shared the platform with us many times in our crusades, and her testimony to what the Lord has done for her in and through her testing never ceases to amaze and humble me. Joni has emerged from the fire of her testing with an unbelievably broad and perceptive insight into not only the meaning of suffering, but also into all the great theological truths that bear on this subject. Joni has had her own small Armageddon.
Her ability to grasp the deepest truths and phrase them in simple terms awes and inspires me. I know of very few people, including some of our greatest theologians, who have such a practical and wide-ranging grasp of who God is and what He is doing in His world. Her service for God is many times greater than if she had never had that accident while diving into the Chesapeake Bay.
Most of us will never experience the kind of handicap Joni has faced. But we complain just the same.
If you are physically well, praise God and learn not to complain about comparably minor irritations. If you do suffer from a physical infirmity, remember that the Lord is your strength and that He will not only see you through this life, but He will give you a brand-new body in the next life.
Our Father and our God, You have given Jesus to me as an example of how to live through suffering with grace and patience. I pray that I will be able to emulate His attitude when suffering comes to me. Bless me, Father, with heavenly understanding for my earthly life through Jesus and Your Word. In Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Suffering
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. . . . Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.
Ephesians 5:2, 25
At the heart of our universe is a God who suffers in redemptive love. Because of this, we experience more of His love when we suffer within an evil world.
High up in the foothills of the Himalayas is a beautiful city called Kohima. It is in Nagaland, one of the states of India. We were there to help them celebrate a hundred years of Christianity. It was there that the Japanese were stopped in their thrust toward India during World War II. Buried in a cemetery are the bodies of hundreds of Indians, British, Americans, and those of other nationalities who made up the Allied force that halted the Japanese advance. At the entrance to the cemetery there is an engraved memorial which says, “They gave their tomorrow that you might have today.”
After sixteen difficult years as a missionary on the continent of Africa, David Livingstone returned to his native Scotland to address the students at Glasgow University. His body was emaciated by the ravages of some twenty-seven fevers which had coursed through his veins during the years of his service. One arm hung useless at his side, the result of being mangled by a lion. The core of his message to those young people was, “Shall I tell you what sustained me amidst the toil, the hardship, and loneliness of my exile? It was Christ’s promise, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end.’”
We, like David Livingstone, may claim the same promise from our Savior and Lord. He does go with us through our sufferings, and He awaits us as we emerge on the other side of the tunnel of testing—into the light of His glorious presence to live with Him forever!
Our Father and our God, how can I thank You for the incredible love You have shown me by allowing Your Son to die on the cross in my place? I will live the life You gave me so that it glorifies You both in trial and triumph. I wear Your Son’s name humbly, yet boldly. And it’s in His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Renewed, Not Just Religious
Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:23–24 RSV
We Christians are not to be conformed to the world spiritually. We are not to be conformed to the world’s definition of what it means to be religious, but are to make sure that we have met God’s requirements for discipleship.
No nation was ever more religious than Israel in Isaiah’s day. The Temple was filled. The altar ran red with the blood of sacrifice. The religious festivals were strictly observed, and the voice of prayer was heard in the house of God. But there was a lack of depth and true devotion in Israel’s worship. The nation was deteriorating morally, even though record crowds were attending the Temple. Speaking as God commanded, Isaiah said, “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot [endure]; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting” (Isaiah 1:13).
Then Isaiah told them how to regain the favor of God. These people who were members of the church—these people who had been reared according to the formalities of their religious laws, but during the week were not living a righteous life Isaiah warned of the judgment of God.
Then he told them how they could be cleansed from their sin. He said, “Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil . . . Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:16, 18).
There are thousands of people who do not give themselves to Jesus Christ, because they have conformed to the world. They are afraid of being called fanatic, pious, puritanical, or religious. A true Christian is a nonconformist. He does not conform himself to the worldly concepts of religion. Instead, he is to become a true disciple, a “follower” of the Lord.
Our Father and our God, cleanse me from all my impurity and unholiness. Wash me in the blood of Christ so that my sins are removed and I am as white as snow in Your eyes. Make me a true disciple in word and in deed. Give me the mind of Christ so that my eyes may stay fixed on You. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Learning From Adversity
You did not so learn Christ!
Ephesians 4:20 RSV
Alexander MacLaren, a distinguished Manchester preacher (1826–1910), wrote, “What disturbs us in this world is not trouble, but our opposition to trouble. The true source of all that frets and irritates and wears away our lives is not in external things but in the resistance of our wills to the will of God expressed by eternal things.”
To resent and resist God’s disciplining hand is to miss one of the greatest spiritual blessings we Christians can enjoy this side of heaven.
Whatever it is—aggravations, trouble, adversity, irritations, opposition—we haven’t “learned Christ” until we have discovered that God’s grace is sufficient for every test.
Though Job suffered as few men have, he never lost sight of God’s presence with him in the midst of suffering. He emerged victorious on the other side of sorrow and testing because he never allowed resentment to cloud his relationship with God.
The attitude which can overcome resentment is expressed by the writer to the Hebrews: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (12:11 NIV).
Our Father and our God, teach me Your righteousness, whether through blessings or burdens. Give me an understanding heart, an attitude of service, a longing for purity. Discipline me when I need it, Father, out of Your great parental love. Teach me humility and patience in suffering. Through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Love That Passes Knowledge
. . . That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may . . . know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17–19 RSV
Behind the love of God lies His omniscience—His ability to “know and understand all.” Omniscience is that quality of God which is His alone. God possesses infinite knowledge and an awareness which is uniquely His. At all times, even in the midst of any type of suffering, I can realize that He knows, loves, watches, understands, and, more than that, He has a purpose.
As a boy I grew up in the South. My idea of the ocean was so small that the first time I saw the Atlantic I couldn’t comprehend that any little lake could be so big! The vastness of the ocean cannot be understood until it is seen. This is the same with God’s love. It passes knowledge. Until you actually experience it, no one can describe its wonders to you.
A good illustration of this is a story my wife told me about a little boy in China who saw a man selling cherries; and when he saw the fruit, his eyes filled with longing. But he had no money with which to buy cherries.
The kindly seller asked the boy, “Do you want some cherries?” And the little boy said that he did.
The seller said, “Hold our your hands.” But the little boy didn’t hold out his hands. The seller said again, “Hold out your hands,” but again the little boy would not. The kind seller reached down, took the child’s hands, and filled them with two handfuls of cherries.
Later, the boy’s grandmother heard of the incident and asked, “Why didn’t you hold out your hands when he asked you to?” And the little boy answered, “His hands are bigger than mine!”
God’s hands also are bigger than ours!
Our Father and our God, You are so great and powerful! I cannot begin to understand the vastness of Your knowledge or grace or love. I can only be amazed and overjoyed at the depth of Your care and concern for me. Thank You, Lord, for showering Your blessings and joys on me. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
He Is Our Peace
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us . . . to make in himself of twain one new man . . . that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
Ephesians 2:14–16
Outside the work of the cross, there is bitterness, intolerance, sedition, ill will, prejudice, lust, greed, and hatred. Within the efficacy of the cross, there is love and fellowship, new life and new brotherhood. The only human hope for lasting peace lies at the cross of Christ, where all men, whatever their nationality or race, can become a new brotherhood.
Recently a university professor said, “There are two things that will never be solved—the problems of race and war.” I say that these and all other problems can be solved, but only at the cross. The cross of Christ is not only the basis of our peace and hope; but it is also the means of our eternal salvation. The object of the cross is not only a full and free pardon; it is also a changed life, lived in fellowship with God. No wonder Paul said two thousand years ago, “We preach Christ crucified.” This is the message for the world today. This is the message of hope and peace and brotherhood. This is what the world calls foolishness but what God has been pleased to call wisdom.
The poet John Greenleaf Whittier put it well when he wrote:
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our striving cease;
Take from our soul the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
He is our peace!
Our Father and our God, I lay my burdens down at the cross. And I pick up in their place the bundle of peace and joy You have for me. Help me, Father, to relax in Your quiet peace and to develop a calmness, even in the midst of trouble, that is evident to all. Thank You for Jesus, who delivered Your peace to earth and in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Centering On The Cross
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ . . . [reconciling] us both to God in one body through the cross.
Ephesians 2:13, 16 RSV
The fact of the death of Jesus Christ is the very heart of Christianity. The sacrificial cross of Christ is the secret of Christianity’s survival through all the ages and the hope of its victory in the ages to come.
The cross is more than an example. It is more than a system of ethics. It is the mighty act of God’s justice and love. God is saying to the whole world, “I love you. I am willing to forgive your sins.” God is saying to all of those who are filled with guilt today, “Your sins are forgiven because of the cross.” God is saying to all those who are lonely today, “Behold, I am with you until the end of the age” (cf. Matthew 28:20). Every person reading these words is guilty of sin, and there is no way to remove that stain of guilt except by the sacrifice of Christ.
In Westminster Abbey there is a memorial tablet erected by the British government in memory of Major John André, with whom Benedict Arnold negotiated for the surrender of the fortress of West Point and who was hanged as a spy on October 2, 1780. It was a case where the man who ought to have been hung escaped and the man who was caught in a strange series of circumstances was hung.
André was still in his twenties. He was a gifted writer. Just before his execution he wrote a poem entitled, “Hail, Sovereign Love,” in which the great truth of the atonement, Christ’s substitution for the sinner, was gloriously told; he described in this poem how his own soul was for a time too proud to seek Christ. However, there came a time when André was convinced of his sin, and he went to the cross and found a glorious and wonderful peace.
I read about a clergyman some time ago who was conducting a communion service. Because he no longer believed in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross for our sins, he distributed flowers to the congregation instead of the bread and the wine.
The idea of the atonement was repugnant to him, so he gave flowers as a substitute. But there is no substitute for Christ and Him crucified, no substitute for the rugged and bloodstained cross.
Our Father and our God, You have substituted Your precious Son on the cross for me. He took my personal sins to that tree and hung there in agony in my place. Forgive me, O merciful Father. Find in me a pure heart, and save me through the blood of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Blood For The Battle
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
Ephesians 1:7
We are involved in a spiritual conflict. This is a battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan. We must choose sides.
The Bible warns us about being taken in by the evil of this cosmos. Satan’s lies are cleverly mixed with truth. When he tempted Christ, he was convincingly logical and even quoted Scripture. So the Bible commands that Christians make a clean break with all the evils of the world and that we be separated from them. The apostle Paul said, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Jesus ate with publicans and sinners (see Mark 2:16). Nearly everyone He associated with was an outcast. But His relationship with them was not purely social; it was redemptive.
Now, we are not to get our worlds mixed up at this point. This is where the confusion lies. God meant that we are not to mingle with the world, but we are to witness to the world. We are to love the world of men whom God loves. We are to weep with those who weep (Romans 13:15), suffer with those who suffer, and identify ourselves with the poor, the sick, and the needy.
This then is our problem: to associate with and love those who are involved in the world without being contaminated, influenced, or swayed by them. This distinction can only be achieved by a close walk with Christ, by constant prayer, and by seeking the Holy Spirit’s leadership every hour of the day. God has provided us the power to resist the world and be separated from it, and it is ours to appropriate that power every hour of our lives.
We are in the world, but the world is not to be in us. It is good for a ship to be in the sea, but bad when the sea gets into the ship. As our Lord prayed, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil” (John 17:15).
Our Father and our God, I pray for Your constant vigil on my behalf. Protect me from the evil influences of my world. Help me to walk with Jesus and be led daily by the Holy Spirit toward being in the world but not of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Be On Speaking Terms With Him
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14
The Bible reveals that God has a plan for every life, and that if we live in constant fellowship with Him, He will direct and lead us in the fulfillment of this plan.
Many of us have God’s plan second or third at best. However, if you have substituted the good for the best, do not despair. Wherever you are at this moment, yield your life unconditionally to God, and He can still make it a thing of beauty and an honor to His name.
The Bible says, “Be ye transformed . . . that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). God does not reveal His plan through fortune-tellers, soothsayers, and workers of hocus-pocus. His will is reserved for those who have trusted Christ for salvation. He shares His secrets only with those who are redeemed and transformed.
You cannot know the will of God for your life unless you first come to the cross and confess that you are a sinner and receive Christ as Lord and Savior. If you want the perfect plan that God has for your life, you will have to go by the way of Calvary to get it. It is only through Christ that we can be on speaking terms with God and know God’s plan for our lives.
Our Father and our God, take my life, redeem it, and transform it into something beautiful to glorify and worship You. I bring my broken life to the foot of the cross and leave it there to be repaired and renewed by You. Bless me, Father, through Your Son and my Savior, Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Really Living
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Galatians 5:22–23
The moment you come to Christ, the Spirit of God brings the life of God into you and you begin to live. For the first time you begin to live with a capital L. There’s a spring in your step and a joy in your soul and a peace in your heart, and life has taken on a new outlook.
There’s a whole new direction to your life because the Spirit of God has given to you the very life of God, and God is an eternal God—that means you’ll live as long as God lives.
The Bible also teaches us that the Spirit of God produces the fruit of the Spirit. Now these nine clusters of fruit are to characterize the life of every Christ-born child of God. But what do we find? We find in the average so-called Christian today the very opposite.
Everyone before he comes to Christ is dominated by one nature—the “old man,” which is also called the “flesh,”—which controls your life. You’re controlled by your ego; you’re controlled by yourself. The moment you receive Christ as your Savior, that self is put down, and Christ is put on the throne in your life and the Spirit of God dominates your life.
However, self is still there—sometimes hidden, sometimes quiet, sometimes secondary—waiting his opportunity and his chance to attack the citadel of your soul and take control again.
As a Christian you have the willpower to yield either to the flesh and live a fleshly, carnal life; or you have the power to yield to the Spirit, to live a Spirit-filled life. Our life is an up-and-down experience. God never meant it to be that way. God meant the Christian life to be on the highest possible plane at all times, bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
Our Father and our God, thank You for the joy You bring to my life. Every day I put away my “old self ” again and choose to follow You. Please help me keep my commitment to You in a dynamic and effective way. I love You, Lord, and I pledge my heart to You. Through Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Peace: The Fruit Of The Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is . . . peace.
Galatians 5:22
Peace carries with it the idea of unity, completeness, rest, ease, and security. In the Old Testament the word was shalom. Many times when I meet Jewish friends I greet them with “Shalom.” And often, when I greet my Arab friends I use a similar term that they use for peace, “salam.”
Recently as I watched the televised report of passengers disembarking from a hijacked plane, I saw terror, horror, and fear on their faces. But one woman had a little child in her arms, calmly sleeping through it all. Peace in the midst of turmoil.
Isaiah said, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3). This is the picture of any Christian who stands alone on life’s spiritual battlefield, by faith garrisoned round about with God’s holy weapons, and in command of the situation. Such a man is not troubled about the future, for he knows who holds the key to the future. He does not tremble on the rock, for he knows who made the rock. He does not doubt, for he knows the One who erases all doubt.
When you and I yield to worry, we deny our God the right to lead us in confidence and peace. Only the Holy Spirit can give us peace in the midst of the storms of restlessness and despair. We should not grieve our Guide by indulging in worry or paying undue attention to self.
What are you worried about? Why?
Our Father and our God, I rest in Your peace. Help me focus my mind always on You and know Your great calmness in my soul. Give me the quiet confidence to face life day by day, come what may, just as Your Son, Jesus, did in the midst of His enemies. Through Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).