Joy In The Midst Of Trials
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Hebrews 12:2
Where did we ever get the idea that the Christian life is to be a carefree life without trials?
When trials come, we sometimes act as if God is out of town on vacation. We question God: Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? After all, I attend church regularly, give liberally of my tithes and offerings, and have told others about Christ. So why am I going through this difficult circumstance?
Read the promises of Scripture for the answer. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” He didn’t say that you could have tribulation or that if you aren’t a good person, tribulation will come your way. Jesus flatly stated that you will have tribulation. It is as certain as growing older.
Jesus also said that if He was persecuted, you are going to be persecuted, too, because “no servant is greater than his master.” Actually, people are not so much persecuting you as they are persecuting the Christ in you.
But the wonderful promise of Christ is that while you will have trials and tribulations, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” So Jesus is saying that while people are persecuting you (or persecuting Jesus in you), don’t worry about it. He has already overcome the world, the source of your trials and tribulations.
Have you ever had to worry about a financial debt, only to be told not to worry about it, that someone else would pay the expense? It is a remarkably freeing experience.
That is precisely the experience and attitude God wants us to have in the midst of our trials. God wants us to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He has already overcome similar trials and tribulations and will give us the power to do the same. He waits only to be asked.
Our Father and our God, when trials and persecutions come to me, I pray that You will give me grace and patience to endure them with joy. Help me to live in a way that pleases You, that makes a powerful testimony to those around me that my God is alive and caring for me. Help me to look to Jesus for strength. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
What Is Faith?
Faith is the substance of things hoped for . . .
Hebrews 11:1
Faith must have an object. Faith in faith is meaningless. Telling a person to believe without giving him any evidence or reason for belief is like asking a person to believe that the moon is made of green cheese.
God wants us to know certain facts about Him so that we will have faith in Him and trust Him for the rest.
A child does not repeatedly ask his parents whether he will be taken to a doctor if he becomes ill or whether there will be another meal to eat (at least, not very often in our culture). The reason he does not ask such questions is that his parents have proven to him over and over again that they love him enough to take care of his needs.
It is the same with God. God has proven His love for us in that even while we were yet sinners, He sent Christ to die for us. And He continually proves how much He loves us by providing for our daily needs.
God also wants us to trust that He will continue to provide for us. This is faith. How happy would a parent be if his child constantly questioned him as to whether his needs would be met? The parent would feel frustrated and sad, perhaps angry that the child did not trust him.
There are scores of references to faith, about what it can do for us and how much it pleases God. Jesus was amazed that the Roman soldier expressed great faith when he told Jesus just to “say the word” and his servant would be healed. Christ also told a blind man and a sick woman, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.”
God values faith, our trust in Him, above every other character quality that a Christian can develop. And how do we develop faith? We do it by spending time in the presence of God through prayer and by applying His Word and His promises to our everyday lives. That way, our faith grows and God is well pleased. And when God is pleased, so are we.
Our Father and our God, I put my faith in You and You alone. I know that You are faithful to protect and provide for me and that I can trust You and Your timing. Help my faith to grow, O God. Make me spiritually whole through my faith in You and Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
God Is Love, But…
God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
There is a tendency to focus only on the love of God to the exclusion of the other side of God’s nature. Indeed, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord.
God loves, but He also hates. In fact, love would be sentimental were it not for its opposite, hate. We are told in the Scriptures that God hates divorces, that He hates liars, a proud and haughty look, and all other manifestations of sin. God has promised to judge sin with the fierceness of his wrath (see Proverbs 6:16–19).
David said, “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). It is easy to see from this verse that God does not take sin lightly.
We live in an age when sin is winked at and where God is treated as one who is indulgent, soft-hearted and understanding, and tolerant of those who break His commandments. People today find it difficult to believe that God hates anything, much less sin.
Dr. Karl Menninger correctly observed the absence of a concept of sin in our contemporary culture when he wrote the book Whatever Became of Sin? I will tell you that God has not forgotten about sin, though some men may be pretending it does not exist.
The reason God hates sin is that it is sin which, left unforgiven, sends men and women out into a timeless eternity in hell. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all might come to a knowledge of Him.
What are you doing about sin? Have you confessed your sin to God and received Christ as your Savior? If you are already a Christian, have you let sin creep back into your life so that you are no longer a vessel of honor to God?
Confess your sin today. Don’t wait. Receive God’s forgiveness and restoration so that you might be of use to Him and enjoy His love.
Our Father and our God, faithful and righteous Judge, I come before You in repentance and sorrow. I never want to sin against You, O Lord, and yet I miss the mark so often. Please forgive me, Father, and never let me go. When I start to stray, reach out Your hand and pull me gently back to the Way. Through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Forgiven Sinners
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psalm 32:1
In England a sensitive boy joined the British army, but when the shot and shell began to fly, he deserted. In time he became a great astronomer and discovered a new planet. He was sent for by King George, but the man realized that his life was forfeit to the king for his desertion. The king knew him too; what would he do? Before the king would see him, the man was requested to open an envelope. It was his royal pardon. The king brought him in and said, “Now we can talk, and you shall come up and live at Windsor Castle.” He was Sir William Herschel.
William Herschel was guilty and did not deny it! But King George had mercy upon him and made him a member of the royal household. That is what God promises to do for us. “And he will have mercy upon him . . . for he will abundantly pardon.” To all of us poor, lost, wanton sinners the Bible says, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world though him might be saved.”
The “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, says of this verse:
God, who cannot lie—God, who cannot err—tells us what it is to be blessed. Here He declares that “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” This is an oracle not to be disputed. Forgiven sin is better than accumulated wealth. The remission of sin is infinitely to be preferred before all the glitter and the glare of this world’s prosperity. The gratification of creature passions and earthly desires is illusive—a shadow and a fiction; but the blessedness of the justified, the blessedness of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness is substantial and true.
In Psalm 32:2 David sums it up for me when he says, “Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit” (NIV). I’m sure Sir William Herschel would say Amen! to that.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Dying Words Of Christians
Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.
Psalm 31:5 NIV
Death for the righteous is distinctly different from what it is for the unbeliever. It is not something to be feared, nor is it to be shunned. It is the shadowed threshold to the palace of God. No wonder Paul declared, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23 NIV).
Most Christians have a triumphant spirit in the way they face death. Some of the statements made and recorded from deathbeds are absolutely thrilling:
“Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation. God is the Lord by whom we escape death.” —Martin Luther
“Live in Christ, die in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death.” —John Knox
“The best of all is, God is with us.” —John Wesley
“I have pain—but I have peace, I have peace.” —Richard Baxter
Augustus Toplady, the composer of “Rock of Ages,” was jubilant and triumphant as he lay dying at the age of thirty-eight. “I enjoy heaven already in my soul,” he declared. “My prayers are all converted into praises.”
When Joseph Everett was dying he said, “Glory! Glory! Glory!” and he continued exclaiming glory for over twenty-five minutes.
In my own life I have been privileged to know what some of the dying saints said before they went to heaven. My grandmother sat up in her bed, smiled, and said, “I see Jesus, and He has His hand outstretched to me. And there is Ben, and he has both of his eyes and both of his legs.” (Ben, my grandfather, had lost a leg and an eye at Gettysburg.)
There was an old Welsh grocer who lived near us, and my father was at his side when he was dying. He said, “Frank, can you hear that music? I’ve never heard such music in all my life—the orchestras, the choirs, angels singing”—and then he was gone.
Our Father and our God, I want to face death with joy and anticipation. Help my life to end with peace as I see the sweet face of Jesus welcoming me home to heaven. Make my song of death a jubilant Psalm of praise. Let those who are with me when I die see a reflection of Your peace and promised hope in my eyes. Through Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
A Lifetime Of Favor
For His anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. . . .
Psalm 30:5A NASB
We may suffer affliction or discipline, yet the Psalmist went on to say, “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5b NASB).
In order for a tree or any plant to grow and bear fruit, its seed must first be planted in the ground and die. In order for fruit to appear in our lives, we must first be planted in the Word of God and then die to self. In the face of chastening, adversity, discipline, and affliction, fruit begins to appear.
This process, like steel which has been tempered and made strong by the heat of a furnace, makes us useful to God. But what baby is sent out to fight a battle? The baby must first grow in strength, in size, and in wisdom before he is able to fight. It is the same for those whom God wishes to use.
Joseph would never have been of use to God had he not been sold into slavery by brothers who hated him and wrongly accused by Potiphar, who put him in prison. Even after he had told Pharaoh’s cupbearer he would be restored to the king’s court and asked him to tell Pharaoh of his unjust imprisonment, Joseph had to wait two more years for release from prison.
All of this was God’s preparation for Joseph’s ultimate rise to a position of power and authority second only to that of Pharaoh himself, a position he used to feed all of Israel during a famine.
As we wait upon the Lord, God may sometimes seem slow in coming to help us, but He never comes too late. His timing is always perfect. How could it not be so from a God who favors us, as we do our children, for a lifetime?
Our Father and our God, please teach me to wait patiently on Your timing for my life. I want to follow the plan You have laid out for me. I want to be who You want me to be. Give me peace of mind while I wait for You. I cling to Jesus, the perfect example of patient suffering. In His holy name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Strength Through Suffering
Ascribe to the LORD. O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Psalm 29:1 RSV
Recently I received a letter from a woman who was suffering on a hospital bed in the last stages of cancer. She did not ask that God would relieve her of her suffering or raise her up, but only that we would pray that God’s grace would be sufficient through the trial of suffering.
The Bible teaches that human suffering is inescapable. We must accept it as an integral part of life. Job said, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). Our life has its beginning in suffering. Life’s span is marked by pain and tragedy, and our lives end with the enemy called death. The person who expects to escape the pangs of suffering and disappointment simply has no knowledge of the Bible, of history, or of life.
The master musician knows that suffering precedes glory and acclaim. He knows the hours, days, and months of grueling practice and self-sacrifice that precede the one hour of perfect rendition when his efforts are applauded. The master craftsman knows that years of work, sacrifice, and suffering as an apprentice precede his being promoted to the master of his trade. The student knows that years of study, self-denial, and commitment precede the triumphant day of graduation with honors. Astronauts spend years training for a flight that can be as short as a few days.
The Bible teaches that suffering is a part of life in a sinful world. Paul said, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
To this dear woman on her hospital bed I would say, “Look toward heaven, look beyond the clouds, and you will see that the sufferings that we are undergoing here are nothing compared to the glory that God has prepared for you yonder.”
Our Father and our God, my help in time of trouble, I ascribe to You glory and honor. It is You who teaches me patience in the face of problems. It is You who holds me up when I fall down. It is You for whom I long and love. Help me to be ready, Lord, when You come to take me home with You forever. In Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
God Is Our Strength
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
Psalm 27:1
Because it is a fact that the Lord is my light and my salvation, why should I be afraid? The Scripture reference is a statement of fact followed by a question.
Is the comic strip and movie character Superman afraid of anything? No, because he has superhuman strength. For the Christian, the Lord is our strength (Psalm 28:7), and the Lord fears nothing, so why should we be afraid? The Scripture also declares that God is a “very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
A friend tells the story of having spoken one evening at a church service inside a prison. It was New Year’s Eve, and as he and his wife drove home from the prison at one o’clock in the morning, the car developed engine trouble and stopped.
Despite their efforts, they could not get it going. They were stranded in a remote area with no telephone and the cold wind adding to their distress.
As they wondered what to do, a car came along and stopped. The driver offered to take them to a telephone where they could call for help. The car happened to be a yellow Rolls Royce. God also has a sense of humor!
God is able—indeed, He is eager—to deliver us from all sorts of trouble. He wants to give us strength to overcome the temptation to sin, which separates Him from those He loves.
We do not have to sin. God will help us overcome it. But we have to ask for it, and we must stay close to God so that He can give us His strength.
When was the last time you asked God to deliver you from some temptation and then determined, with His help, to succeed?
Our Father and our God, You are my strength. You are my anchor in troubled waters. You are my Light in this dark world of sin. Because of Your love and grace, I am not afraid to live. I am not afraid to die. Deliver me from the devil’s temptations and subtle tricks to win me away from You. Help me to stay close to You through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Taking Advantage Of Adversity
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
There was a popular song years ago that contained the lyrics “I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden.”
God, of course, did create for man a beautiful Garden of Eden, a state of perfection in which man could live free of any want. But man sinned against God, and God removed him from the Garden. Yet, even now, God has promised to deliver us from all our adversities.
There are two ways to respond to adversity. We can give in and be depressed, or we can triumph over it and be joyful. The problem with giving in and being depressed is that the adversities do not go away and, indeed, seem to grow worse.
One of the best ways to overcome adversity is to praise God in the midst of your turmoil. Begin to sing to God or read the Psalms out loud. Meditate on Scripture, particularly passages like Romans 8:2–39, which includes this wonderful assurance: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Remember that our hope is not based on circumstance. “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. . . . On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
Besides, as another song says, “If I never had a problem, how would I know that God could solve them? How would I know what faith in God could do?”
It is through our adversities that we learn to trust in Jesus, and through trusting, to triumph over them.
Look upon adversities as opportunities from God to grow in your faith and to become a stronger servant of His.
Our Father and our God, I praise You for Your constancy. I praise You for Your grace and mercy. And I thank You for Your selfless love that rescued me from death through the cross of Christ. You alone are worthy to be praised, O God. You are my hope and my song. Through Your Son’s precious name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Until Divorce Us Do Part
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Ephesians 5:28
Thousands of times a day a man and a woman stand before an American clergyman or magistrate to be united in marriage. In virtually every ceremony they vow to remain married “until death us do part.”
Tragically, one out of two of these vows will never be fulfilled because divorce now parts one out of every two married couples. A recent Census Bureau report found that for women in their thirties, 60 percent of them can expect to be divorced. Sixty percent!
There are three elements to a successful marriage, and each needs to be present if a marriage is to succeed. The first is love. Unfortunately, love has been redefined by Hollywood and television to mean something that is only physical, only feelings. But the apostle Paul defined love beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13. Read it and you will know how God defined love. Men are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. What woman could not respond and submit to such a selfless expression of Christ-like love?
Maturity is the second important ingredient in a successful marriage. Too many are getting a divorce at the first sign of trouble. God will give you the maturity to handle your problems even in what seems like a “wrong marriage” if you’ll let Him. He will do this because God hates divorce.
Third, faith must be an ingredient for a marriage to be successful. Marriage is difficult enough these days with all of life’s pressures, but without Christ at the center of a marriage and a home, it becomes even more difficult.
Determine to put Christ at the center of your individual lives and then at the center of your marriage and it cannot fail. Be faithful in your Bible reading and prayer time . . . together . . . as a family . . . and you will build a fortress around your marriage that can withstand any storm.
Our Father and our God, I strip off my selfishness, my pride, my fear, and lay them at the altar. Please take these things away from me so that my marriage and my home may be pure and strong. Give me gentleness, kindness, patience, and love in their place. And please give me the faith and courage to defend my family against Satan’s dangerous tricks. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Death And Taxes
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
Proverbs 14:32
Someone once observed that there are only two great equalizers in life: death and taxes. Actually, that person was only half-right, because some people manage to avoid paying taxes at all, either because of loopholes in the tax law or because they do not make enough money.
The only true equalizer is death.
Everyone dies.
The writer of Hebrews says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Much of the world pretends that death does not exist. We like to speak of the dead as “departed” or persons who have died as having “passed on” or “expired.” We do not like the word death. It seems so final, so irreversible, so hopeless.
But not for the person who has trusted Christ as Savior. Death is only the beginning of the beginning, not the end.
C. S. Lewis once observed that this life is only “shadowlands” compared with the glory that is to come.
There is a wonderful song which says, “It’s as though we see through clouded glass; our eyes cannot see past this veil of tears, our present pain. This world can never comprehend a love that will not end, the life that always will remain. For there, beyond the edge of time, is wisdom so divine, the throne of truth, the shining way. And soon in majesty He’ll come, to take his people home, and in that bright and glorious day . . . we will see Him as He is, the Father God so holy, the truth in endless glory; we will see Him as He is, the wisdom of the ages, the love that died to save us. We will see Him.”
What a glorious thought with which we can comfort ourselves, no matter what our circumstances. We will see Christ someday if we have put our faith in Him.
Our Father and our God, I long for the day when I will behold the magnificent face of Jesus, my Lord. I can’t imagine the thrill of being in Your awesome presence, but I dream of singing Your glorious praises throughout eternity. Thank You for saving me through Your grace and the blood of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
A Refuge In Time Of Trouble
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1
The one hundredth anniversary in 1986 of the Statue of Liberty was a glorious experience and a reminder that America is an immigrant nation. Nearly all of us can trace our roots to another land.
After the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of immigrants came to America as refugees. Many more went to other free countries. The refugees were looking for safe havens for themselves and their families, away from wars and hunger and need. America has provided a safe haven for millions, a place where immigrants can pursue their hopes and dreams.
Like the torch held by the Lady in the harbor, God’s light shines to signify that He is a refugee for all who wish to flee from the storms of life, “a helper in the time of storms,” as the hymn says.
My wife once heard this story about a poor woman who went up to the foothills in a Chinese town to cut the grass. Her baby was tied to her back and a little child walked beside her. In her hand was a sickle to cut the grass.
Just as she reached the top of a hill, she heard a roar. Frightened, she turned and saw a mother tigress springing at her, followed by her two cubs.
The illiterate Chinese woman had never attended school or church, but a missionary once told her about Jesus, “who is able to help you when you are in trouble.” As the tiger’s claws tore into her arm, the woman cried out, “O Jesus, help me!” The tiger, instead of attacking again, suddenly turned and ran away.
The Bible says, “He will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11 RSV).
What “beasts” are attacking you? Chances are you will never be attacked by a wild beast, but you will be attacked by doubts, by fears of other kinds, by worry, by loneliness, by despair.
Cry out to Jesus and He will answer you just as surely as the Chinese woman’s desperate cry was heard and answered.
Our Father and our God, hear my plea! I am in trouble, and only You can save me. Please send Your angels to protect me. Surround me with Your strength. You are the fortress for my soul, my city of refuge. I run to You for comfort and shelter. Through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Time And Eternity
Man that is born of a woman is of few days . . . his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.
Job 14:1, 5
Life is like a shadow, like a fleeting cloud moving across the face of the sun. David said, “We are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers” (1 Chronicles 29:15). The world is not our permanent home; it is only temporary. David went on to declare that “our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.”
When English patriot Sir William Russell went to the scaffold in 1683, he took his watch out of his pocket and handed it to the physician who attended him in his death. “Would you kindly take my timepiece?” he asked. “I have no use for it. I am now dealing with eternity.”
For every one of us time is slipping away.
I had a young friend who went for a ride one day with a friend of his, never dreaming it would be his last ride on earth. He swerved to avoid hitting a car, ran into another car, and was thrown from his vehicle and killed. The newspapers are daily filled with stories of the death of people by accident or by assassination or by war. Those people did not know when they got out of bed that they were beginning their last day on earth.
How different would today be if you knew it would be your last one on earth before meeting God face-to-face? We should strive to live every day as if it was our last, for one day it will be!
The Bible teaches that God knows the exact moment when each man is to die (Job 14:5). There are appointed bounds beyond which we cannot pass. And I am convinced that when a man is prepared to die, he is also prepared to live. The primary goal in life, therefore, should be to prepare for death. Everything else is secondary.
Our Father and our God, when my time on this earth is finished, please draw me safely into Your heavenly home. I pray that You will take me into Your presence when You are ready for me to go.
Help me to be ready for that time. If my work on earth is not yet finished, then please give me the spiritual strength to continue. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Home Security
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11
Is your home built on a solid foundation? Is your home secure? Or is it filled with tension? Is it about ready to break up?
The family is the most important institution in the world. It was God’s idea in the first place. It was not the idea of sociologists who thought it might be a good way to deliver the mail!
Families existed before cities and governments, before written language, nations, temples, churches.
In the home, character and attitudes are formed, integrity is born, values by which we live are made clear, and goals are set.
These last a lifetime.
Many people today are wringing their hands with fear and insecurity because far more than what they see happening on Wall Street or in Washington, D.C., is happening to our families and our homes.
The prophet Nehemiah said, “There is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall” (Nehemiah 4:10).
We see rubbish everywhere—rubbish on television and in films and magazines making fun of the home, making fun of marriage, one of the holiest of all institutions. (A well-known woman was asked on a national television program whether she believed in the institution of marriage. “Sure,” she said, “but who wants to live in an institution?” This is typical of the ridicule now being heaped on the home and on marriage, particularly by those who are divorced or live together without being married.)
Today, Satan is attacking the family as never before. But what are our defenses against such attacks?
As always, our best defense is the Word of God, referred to by the apostle Paul as the “sword of truth.” Put on the whole armor of God. Read the Bible together as a family. Have family devotions. Pray for one another daily by name. And most importantly, commit your marriage to Christ and make Him the center of your home.
Our Father and our God, I lift up to You my family and my home. Please build a solid wall of protection around us, Father, so that Satan cannot break through and steal our unity and joy. I commit myself, my marriage, my children, and our home to You. Keep us in Your care through Christ our King. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Prejudice
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in You?
1 Corinthians 3:16
Prejudice is a word that so often is used in connection with the race of a person. In this sense, prejudice is always wrong because it judges a person’s value by the color of his skin, and God has no favorites.
But there is another sense in which the root of the word prejudice is a good thing. To prejudge something is sometimes necessary.
While it is not good to prejudge a person by appearance, social status, or the lack of education, we can and should prejudge some “entertainment” establishments by what they advertise on the outside and know not to go in.
We can prejudge drugs, which have become such a terrible problem in our culture. By seeing what drugs have done to others, we can avoid them. Besides, we know that the body is God’s temple, and we ought not to cause it to become dirty by doing things to it, like taking drugs, which can cause harm to it.
So, let us avoid prejudice when it comes to a person’s race or ethnic background or circumstances over which he or she has no control. But let us correctly prejudge those persons and places God has warned us about avoiding in His Word so that we do not get into trouble.
Our Father and our God, I know You are the righteous Judge. Please give me Your eyes to distinguish good from evil, right from wrong, helpful from harmful. I want to be pure in Your sight, O Lord. I want to walk a holy path through this life to everlasting joy with You. Through Jesus, the only Way. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Joy
For the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10
What is joy?
Some of us think that joy is a state of perpetual happiness, a bubbling personality, a person who is always smiling and laughing. These can be expressions of joy, but true joy is something far deeper than that.
Joy is produced in our hearts when we know that God loves us, when we have a close relationship with Him through reading His Word, praying, and desiring to honor Him in all that we do, and by serving others.
Joy does not mean that we are never sad, that we never cry. Instead, joy is a quiet confidence, a state of peace in the heart of the believer. Sometimes it manifests itself in an impromptu song while riding alone in a car. Sometimes one is so overwhelmed by the love of God that tears of gratitude form in the eyes. At other times, it is a wonderful feeling of peace in the midst of war and turmoil.
Paul said, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). Paul had joy. So did Jesus, even under the shadow of the cross.
Like happiness, joy cannot be pursued. It comes from within. It is a state of being. It does not depend on circumstances, but triumphs over circumstances. It produces a gentleness of spirit and a magnetic personality.
It is easy to tell who the joyful people are. They are the ones whom others like to be around.
Our Father and our God, thank You for the Holy Spirit who lives in me. Thank You for the peace and joy He brings me. You are the laughter of my heart, O God. You are the joy and celebration of every day. You are the One who deserves to be praised. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, who makes my joy everlasting. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Desperate Circumstances
And when he had spent everything . . . he began to be in want.
Luke 15:14 RSV
Signposts along the highway are there to keep us from getting lost and to keep us safe by regulating our speed and warning us of sharp turns, detours, and other hazards. And when we ignore these signposts, we do so at our own peril.
In the familiar story of the Prodigal Son, the young man ignores every signpost God has erected to keep him from desperate circumstances. Long before the young man reached the pigpen where he finally “came to his senses,” he had numerous opportunities to turn around, to repent, and to go home.
His problems began long before he asked his father for his inheritance and then threw it away on “wine, women, and song.” He was not satisfied to be in his father’s house with all of his needs met. He wanted more. He believed the lie that something more exciting was in store for him away from his father.
Isn’t this how we sometimes behave? We think that God is holding out on us, that there is something better than a close relationship with our Heavenly Father, that the world has more excitement and fulfillment to offer us than God does. By thinking this way and then by acting as the Prodigal Son did, we create our own desperate circumstances. Then we turn to God and cry out in the midst of our desperation.
Fortunately, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, our Father always hears our cries. But it would be so much better if we would not get into desperate circumstances in the first place. That is why God has erected signposts along life’s road—to help keep us out of trouble. They include reading His Word daily, praying “without ceasing,” and determining to seek His will for our lives.
Such a path is sure to see us home safely.
Our Father and our God, hear my cry for help! I have followed a foolish path, and now I’m in trouble. Rescue me, O Lord, from my foolishness, and save me from my sin. I can’t survive without You. You are the source of all comfort and forgiveness. And I know You will welcome me home with open arms because of my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
What To Do With Problems
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.
Philippians 4:6 TLB
What do you do when you have a problem? Do you worry? Most of us do. But does worrying solve the problem? No, it does not. Then if worry doesn’t solve the problem, why worry?
Hezekiah gives us an idea for problem solving: “And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou are the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou has made heaven and earth. . . .”
Then Hezekiah prayed: “Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou are the LORD God, even thou only” (2 Kings 19:14–15, 19).
Hezekiah’s unselfish prayer had a purpose, one that God could not ignore.
Hezekiah, who was used to taking his problems directly to God, took the problem that the king of Assyria was about to attack Jerusalem to the Lord. And God answered and miraculously caused this powerful king to be defeated.
Instead of turning to God as a first resource, we so often turn to Him as a last resort. Follow Hezekiah’s formula. Turn to God first with your problems, for only He is capable of handling them in a way that will be in your best interest.
Our Father and our God, thank You for always answering my prayers. Right now I pray for Your protection and salvation. Only You, O Lord, can save me from the many problems brought on by my enemy, the devil. Defeat him in his attack on my life, Father. Keep me close to You through Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Family And The Work Place
Children are a gift from God; they are his reward.
Psalm 127:3 TLB
Today there are more pressures on the home than perhaps at any time in the history of the human race.
By necessity or by desire, more women are working today than ever before. Many feel guilty about leaving their children in the care of others or having them return to an empty home while they are at work. Many divorced women must work to support themselves and their children, a phenomenon which is becoming more and more common in the age in which we live. But many women (and men, too) devote more time to their working life than they do to their family life. Is it any wonder, then, that so many marriages are in trouble?
To paraphrase the Bible, what shall it profit a man (or a woman) who gains the whole world but loses his or her own family? What achievement in life is equal to a happy home and rearing successful children who grow up in praise of their parents? Every material goal, even if it is met, will pass away. But the heritage of children is timeless. Someone has said that our children are our messages to the future. They will tell others who will never know us who we were.
More importantly, our children have been entrusted to us by God, children made in His image and for whom Christ died. Our primary responsibility is not to make sure they have the best clothes and live in the best houses. It is to make sure they grow up in homes where God is present and the love of Christ reigns so that they will come to know God through His Son.
What could be more valuable than successful children and a happy home life?
Our Father and our God, please hear my humble prayer of thanks for my children. They are the most precious of all the earthly gifts You have lavished on me. They bring me such joy and love. Their innocence reminds me of the innocent Lamb who died on the cross. Help me to guide them to Jesus, the only Way to You. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Foundation Of Marriage
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Matthew 19:6
With the divorce rate hovering around 50 percent, will any homes be left in another hundred years? The impact of divorce on children is staggering and is still to be assessed as the psychological and emotional scars break through to harm some future families.
One of the primary reasons for the breakdown in the home is that we have forgotten the biblical commands relating to marriage and the family, commands which never change. Even some “Christian” writers are publishing books today which reject the Bible’s strict teaching on divorce.
The Bible does not allow divorce on grounds of “he doesn’t love me” or “she doesn’t love me.” The Bible says God hates divorce. He hates divorce because, as Jesus taught, marriage is a picture of the unity between God and the Father, God and the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When people get divorced they are tearing at the very fabric of the unity of God.
From the beginning, Satan has tried to disrupt the unity of the Trinity. First, Satan tried to make himself a part of the Trinity by desiring to be coequal with God. It was his sin of pride that caused his expulsion from heaven. Second, Satan was successful in tempting our first parents into sin, thereby breaking the unique relationship between man and his Creator. Third, Satan tried to pry Jesus loose from His relationship to the Father when he tempted Him in the wilderness. Today, Satan is eating away like a large termite at the foundation of marriage and the family.
Satan never changes, but neither does God. God still hates divorce.
There is no marriage that is beyond repair in the sight of God. If we will first submit ourselves to Christ and then our marriage into His care and keeping, nothing is impossible with God. But we must humble ourselves and lay our pride and desire to please ourselves first on His altar. It is only then that God can restore feelings and bring healing to a marriage in trouble.
The first step in healing a marriage is ours. God provides the salve that heals.
Our Father and our God, I lay my pride and selfishness before You. Please forgive me, Lord, for allowing Satan to disrupt the unity of my marriage. Please help me restore love and devotion to my marriage through my relationship with Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).