Covered By Christ
[Jesus said,] Abide in me, and I in you.
John 15:4
Personal salvation is not merely an occasional rendezvous with Deity; it is an actual dwelling with God. Christianity is not just an avocation; it is a lifelong, eternity-long vocation. David, thrilled with the knowledge that his life was in God, said in Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
If you read and reread this beautiful Psalm, you will discover that in Him we have a permanent abode and residence, and that all of the comfort, security, and affection the human heart craves are found in Him.
Modern psychiatrists say that one of the basic needs of man is security. In this Psalm we are assured that in God we have the greatest of security: “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalm 91:10–11).
Many years ago in China, two Christian missionaries were undergoing a bitter persecution. One night as they were getting ready to retire, they heard the sound of voices outside the compound. They lifted the blinds to find their home surrounded with belligerent men who had gathered there to terminate the couple’s ministry.
The missionary husband and wife, realizing that God was their only refuge, dropped on their knees and prayed for those who would harm them, and reminded God that He had promised to be with them even unto the end. When they arose from their knees, they noticed that the crowd was dispersing, and the excited murmuring of the departing mob indicated that something unusual had happened. The missionaries thanked God for answered prayer and retired. The next morning as the sun cast its rays upon the compound, a native Christian came to the door and begged an audience with me.
“Do you know why the mob did not kill you last night?” he asked. “Our God answered prayer,” replied the missionary. “Yes,” said the native man. “When you were on your knees last night, four creatures like angels dressed in robes of white appeared, and one stood at each corner of your house. The mob trembled and fled, and we Christians who stood helpless in the crowd knew that once more God had intervened.”
Our Father and our God, I run to You for shelter from my enemy, Satan. He stalks me day and night and wants to tear me away from You. Close me in, O Lord, with You, Keep me safe from spiritual harm. Be a city of refuge for me where I am surrounded and covered by Jesus Christ, my Savior, in whose name and power I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Holy Spirit Forever
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:16–17
During His lifetime on earth, Christ’s presence could be experienced only by a small group of men at any given time. Now Christ dwells through the Spirit in the hearts of all those who have received Him as Savior. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
The Holy Spirit is given to every believer—not for a limited time, but forever. Were He to leave us for one moment, we would be in deep trouble.
Walter Knight tells the story about a little boy who had recently received Christ.
“Daddy, how can I believe in the Holy Spirit when I have never seen Him?” asked Jim.
“I’ll show you how,” said his father, who was an electrician. Later Jim went with his father to the power plant where he was shown the gyrators. “This is where the power comes from to heat our stove and to give us light. We cannot see the power, but it is in that machine and in the power lines,” said the father.
“I believe in electricity,” said Jim.
“Of course, you do,” said his father, “but you don’t believe in it because you see it. You believe in it because you see what it can do. Likewise you can believe in the Holy Spirit because you see what He does in people’s lives when they are surrendered to Christ and possess His power.”
Thus, by faith you accept the fact that you are indwelt by the Spirit of God. He is there to give you special power to work for Christ. He is there to give you strength in the moment of temptation.
He is there to produce the supernatural fruit of the Spirit, such as “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22– 23). He is there to guide you over all the difficult terrain you must cross as a Christian.
Our Father and our God, I believe in You and in the Holy Spirit. I believe He lives in me, guides me, teaches me, and comforts me. Every day I can see the mighty works You do on the earth and in my own life through the Holy Spirit. Thank You for living and abiding in me. Through Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Right Side of Heaven
There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am, you may be too.
John 14:2–3 JB
When Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” we find a very interesting meaning for the word mansion. The Greek word used does not mean an imposing house but a resting place. The expression is translated in the margin of the American Standard Version as “abiding places.” This comes from the same stem as the English word remain.
During Christ’s ministry on earth He had no home. He once said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20 NIV). But His home in heaven will last forever.
The early disciples and other Christian pilgrims suffered in many ways, and Jesus knew it—for He suffered more severely than any of His followers. But they were all eagerly anticipating the beauty and permanence of a never-ending home that would last throughout eternity.
A little girl was taking a walk with her father one evening. Looking up at the stars she exclaimed, “Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what must the right side be!”
Our Father and our God, anywhere away from You must be the wrong side of heaven. Lead me and guide me, Lord, through this life until I can come to You on the right side of heaven. Until then, keep me safe from the evil one and help me to remember that my eternal abiding place is with You because of Christ, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Many Mansions
In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2
Heaven is a home which is permanent. One of the unfortunate facts about the houses men build for themselves is that they are not permanent. Houses do not last forever. It is true of the house, the outer shell, and it is true of the family. How quickly the children grow up and leave home.
As much as our homes mean to us, they are not permanent. Sometimes I look at my own adult children and can hardly believe that they are all grown and on their own. The house that once rang with the laughter of children is now empty.
Those who for Christ’s sake had given up houses and lands and loved ones knew little of home life or home joys. It was as if Jesus had said to them, “We have no lasting home here on earth, but my Father’s house is a home where we will be together for all eternity.”
The venerable Bishop Ryle is reputed to have said, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people, and they that enter shall find that they are neither unknown or unexpected.”
Our Father and our God, this world is not my home, for I know it is a fleeting place. I look forward to my home with You. I long to be there now, but I know You have work for me to do here until that appointed day. Help me to work and wait patiently, Lord, just as Jesus did. In His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
An Example Of Love
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 13:35
Our popular music talks constantly about love, and yet divorce rates skyrocket, child abuse is rampant, and our world is shaken by wars, violence, and terrorism. Major news magazines feature cover stories on “The ‘Me’ Generation.” This generation, it seems, would rather see a prizefight than fight for a prize. Not only has the song “Rescue the Perishing, Care for the Dying” disappeared from most of our songbooks; its theme has disappeared from our hearts, except for victims of physical famine, oppressive regimes, and tidal waves. And these are terribly important. It is just that the spiritually perishing need to hear the Gospel.
Several years ago we were visiting India. While we were there a terrible tidal wave hit a fifty-mile section of the coast, killing thousands of people and completely destroying scores of villages and towns. Indian officials graciously provided a helicopter and accompanied us to the area, and we were among the first to view the devastation. I will never forget the terrible destruction and the stench of death—it was as if a thousand atomic bombs had gone off at the same time.
The disaster was virtually ignored by the rest of the world. Why? Because there is so much suffering in the world already that the media cannot cover it all.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “I feel sorry for the man who can’t feel the whip when it is laid on the other man’s back.”
Our Father and our God, give me Your eyes of concern for this lost and dying world. Help me to really see the blank stares and lonely faces I pass on the street. Let me reach out in love with Your Word to rescue them from perishing. I want to be a channel of Your compassion to hurting people. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Is He Your Lord - Or Just Your Savior?
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:36
During the national observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, I was struck by the great emphasis on the number of immigrants who had often left everything behind, coming to America with nothing but the clothes on their backs, risking their very lives for something they valued more highly than everything they had left behind: freedom.
This is a picture of what we must do when we come to Christ. We must forsake allegiance to the things of this world and all that this world has to offer and become immigrants in the Kingdom of God. His statue of liberty is in the form of the cross.
The statue in New York Harbor lifts her lamp “beside the golden door.”
The statue of liberty on that Golgotha hill lights the way into the eternal life. That light is ours if we will only come to God through the One who said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
This light gives freedom to men and women in the darkest of prisons in nations that are intolerant of the preaching of the Gospel. One can have political freedom and still be a prisoner of sin, while one who is in a political prison and knows Christ can be freer than his jailers.
Freedom in Christ is the ultimate freedom to be celebrated not only on special days, but all year around.
Our Father and our God, thank You for the great liberty I have through Jesus Christ. I recognize that my freedom came at an enormous price to You and Your Son. And I bow in humble gratitude to You for that amazing gift. Help me to take the Good News about Him to the tired, the poor, the lonely masses who are longing to breathe free. Through Christ, the Liberator. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Our Statue of Liberty
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:36
During the national observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, I was struck by the great emphasis on the number of immigrants who had often left everything behind, coming to America with nothing but the clothes on their backs, risking their very lives for something they valued more highly than everything they had left behind: freedom.
This is a picture of what we must do when we come to Christ. We must forsake allegiance to the things of this world and all that this world has to offer and become immigrants in the Kingdom of God. His statue of liberty is in the form of the cross.
The statue in New York Harbor lifts her lamp “beside the golden door.”
The statue of liberty on that Golgotha hill lights the way into the eternal life. That light is ours if we will only come to God through the One who said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
This light gives freedom to men and women in the darkest of prisons in nations that are intolerant of the preaching of the Gospel. One can have political freedom and still be a prisoner of sin, while one who is in a political prison and knows Christ can be freer than his jailers.
Freedom in Christ is the ultimate freedom to be celebrated not only on special days, but all year around.
Our Father and our God, thank You for the great liberty I have through Jesus Christ. I recognize that my freedom came at an enormous price to You and Your Son. And I bow in humble gratitude to You for that amazing gift. Help me to take the Good News about Him to the tired, the poor, the lonely masses who are longing to breathe free. Through Christ, the Liberator. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Abundant Living
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
Only those who have been truly converted to Jesus Christ know the meaning of abundant living.
The Bible teaches that worldliness is a force, a spirit, an atmosphere of the cosmos that is in opposition and in contradiction to all that is godly and Christian. Its goal is selfish pleasure, material success, and the pride of life. It is ambitious, self-centered. God is not necessarily denied; He is just ignored and forgotten.
Three times Christ designated Satan as the prince of this world. He said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). In John 16:11, He again said, “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” In John 12:31, He said, “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
Thus the Bible is clear that the world’s inhabitants are either under the influence of this world with its cunning, deception, and spell; or they are in Christ and under the direction of the Spirit of God. There is no neutral ground. The lines are drawn by the Bible.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. . . . Even when we were dead in sins [God] hath quickened us together with Christ” (2:2, 5).
Now the words “course of this world” carry the meaning of current or flow. There is an undertow, a subtle current, which runs against and in contradiction to the will and the way of God. Its eddies are deep and treacherous. They are stirred and troubled by Satan and intended to trap and ensnare those who would walk godly in Christ Jesus.
Satan employs every device at his command to harass, tempt, thwart, and hurt the people of God. His attack is relentless. Paul wrote, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
However, the Christian is not left defenseless in this conflict. God provides the power to give us victory over Satan. Paul said, “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). And John wrote, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Our Father and our God, I know Satan is the prince of this world now. But I also know Your Son will come again and put Satan in his place for eternity. I long for that day, Lord. Please keep me near until then. And as that day comes, I will praise You for saving me in Your great mercy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Priceless
I am the door [said Jesus]: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.
John 10:9
When God said, “Come ye, buy . . . without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1), He was saying “Salvation is free!”
God puts no price tag on the Gift of gifts—it is free! Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are the bearers of Good News—the good tidings that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and that the “grace of God . . . hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). Money can’t buy it. Man’s righteousness can’t earn it. Social prestige can’t help us acquire it. Morality can’t purchase it. It is as Isaiah quotes: “Without money and without price.”
God does not bargain with us. We cannot barter with Him. We must do business with Him on His own terms. He holds in His omnipotent hand the priceless, precious, eternal gift of salvation, and He bids us to take it without money and without price. The best things in life are free, are they not? The air we breathe is not sold by the cubic foot. The water which flows crystal clear from the mountain stream is free for the taking. Love is free; faith is free; hope is free.
We can’t reject God’s grace on the ground that it is too cheap, for the most precious things in life come to us without money and without price. Only the cheap, tawdry things have a price tag upon them. Salvation is free—but it is not cheap!
Our Father and our God, thank You for being the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. I know the greatest Gift of all cost You everything, and I honor and worship You for the sacrifice that You and Your Son made for me. Thank You for Your unspeakable Gift. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Let Your Light Shine!
As long as I am in the world, [Jesus said,] I am the light of the world.
John 9:5
We are holding a light. We are to let it shine! Though it may seem but a twinkling candle in a world of blackness, it is our business to let it shine. Light dispels darkness, and it attracts people in darkness to it.
We are blowing a trumpet. In the din and noise of battle the sound of our little trumpet may seem to be lost, but we must keep sounding the alarm to those who are in danger.
We are kindling a fire. In this cold world full of hatred and selfishness our little blaze may seen to be unavailing, but we must keep our fire burning.
We are striking with a hammer. The blows may seem only to jar our hands as we strike, but we are to keep on hammering. Amy Carmichael of India once asked a stonecutter which blow broke the stone. “The first one and the last,” he replied, “and every one in between.”
We have bread for a hungry world. The people may seem to be so busy feeding on other things that they will not accept the Bread of Life, but we must keep on giving it, offering it to the souls of men.
We have water for famishing people. We must keep standing and crying out, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters” (Isaiah 55:1). Sometimes they can’t come and we must carry it to them.
We must persevere. We must never give up. Keep using the Word!
Jesus said that much of our seed will find good soil and spring up and bear fruit. We must be faithful witnesses.
The Bible says, “He that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).
“Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Salt makes one thirsty. Does your life make others thirsty for the water of life?
Our Father and our God, You are the light of the world, and Your light shines through me. Please help me not to put out the flame but to set it on a lampstand as a guide to those around me in darkness. Help me to be salt and light, Father. Help me to show people that You are the light at the end of their tunnels. Through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Lord Of Life
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.
John 5:26–27 RSV
Why is Christianity so different from the religions of the world? It is because Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with the living God. Jesus, Son of God the Father and second person of the Trinity, is the central figure of our evangelistic message.
Today many voices are making other claims. Atheists say there is no God. Polytheism may allow that Jesus is one of many gods. When I first went to some Far Eastern countries, I had to learn that in giving the invitation to receive Christ, I needed to make it clear to my listeners that they were turning from all other gods and turning to the true and the living God as revealed in the Scriptures. We, as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), boldly echo the ringing conviction of the apostle Peter when he affirmed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The title “Christ” means “anointed one.” It is the term, in the Greek language, for the ancient Hebrew word Messiah—the anointed one whom God would send to save His people.
Peter and his fellow Jews, the first believers of the early Christian church, recognized Jesus Christ as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Their period of world history was one of discouragement and despair. The promised Messiah shone as a beacon in the darkness, and His light has never dimmed. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. . . . That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:4, 9).
Our Father and our God, shine through the darkness and chase away the evil. I know You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And I know You are the King of kings. I worship and adore You, Lord. I place my trust in You. And I draw my encouragement and strength from Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Life That Wins
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 5:24 NASB
While it is difficult for us to believe, it is nonetheless true—God will not force the new life upon us against our will. We must be ready to receive Christ as Lord and Savior with all our hearts. Then the miracle of the new birth takes place. It should be as easy for us to believe in the new birth as it is to believe in the atomic bomb.
I know little about nuclear fission, or of uranium and other elements used in making nuclear explosives; yet I believe in the atomic bomb—so do you. But how can we believe that it exists when we possess no scientific knowledge of how it is manufactured and how it works?
The answer is obvious—by reading accounts of its nature and work and by believing and accepting them. The human mind possesses the ability to accept or reject whatever it reads or hears.
I spend much of my time perusing the pages of a Book—the Bible. It has a message for each of us, and that message is, “Ye must be born again.”
That message contains both a command and a promise. It implies the possibility that I may have a new, changed, transformed nature. And it also implies more emphatically that I will never see the Kingdom of God unless I am born again. Have you accepted the Christ of the Bible into your heart and life? If not, this endless life does not belong to you. If you have opened your heart to Him, it is yours already!
Our Father and our God, thank You for allowing us to be born again into Your family. Thank You for making it possible for me to have a new, changed, transformed nature—a nature more like Yours. Make me like You, Father, Through the power of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
One Woman’s Testimony
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 4:39
We are admonished to seek out the will of the Lord. In Ephesians 5:17 we read, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
To know the will of God is the highest of all wisdom. Jesus said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17).
Living in the center of God’s will rules out all falseness of religion and puts the stamp of true sincerity upon our service to God. As the Bible says, “Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6).
You should covet the will of God for your life more than anything in the world.
You can have peace in your heart with little if you are in the will of God; but you can be miserable with much if you are out of His will.
You can have joy in obscurity if you are in the will of God, but you can be wretched with wealth and fame out of His will.
You can be happy in the midst of sufferings if you are in God’s will; but you can have agony in good health out of His will.
You can be contented in poverty if you are in the will of God; but you can be wretched in riches out of His will.
You can be calm and at peace in the midst of persecution as long as you are in the will of God; but you can be miserable and defeated in the midst of acclaim if you are out of His will.
All of life swings on this divine hinge: the will of God. So it is all-important that we discover His plan for our lives.
Have you discovered God’s plan for your life yet? Have you asked?
Our Father and our God, I want to be wise and to live in the center of Your will. Give me that wisdom. Teach me how to live for You in every different area of my life. Show me true faith and how to practice it. I would be pure and holy like Jesus Christ, in whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Are You Willing To Do God’s Will?
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 4:34
We are admonished to seek out the will of the Lord. In Ephesians 5:17 we read, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
To know the will of God is the highest of all wisdom. Jesus said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17).
Living in the center of God’s will rules out all falseness of religion and puts the stamp of true sincerity upon our service to God. As the Bible says, “Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6).
You should covet the will of God for your life more than anything in the world.
You can have peace in your heart with little if you are in the will of God; but you can be miserable with much if you are out of His will.
You can have joy in obscurity if you are in the will of God, but you can be wretched with wealth and fame out of His will.
You can be happy in the midst of sufferings if you are in God’s will; but you can have agony in good health out of His will.
You can be contented in poverty if you are in the will of God; but you can be wretched in riches out of His will.
You can be calm and at peace in the midst of persecution as long as you are in the will of God; but you can be miserable and defeated in the midst of acclaim if you are out of His will.
All of life swings on this divine hinge: the will of God. So it is all-important that we discover His plan for our lives.
Have you discovered God’s plan for your life yet? Have you asked?
Our Father and our God, I want to be wise and to live in the center of Your will. Give me that wisdom. Teach me how to live for You in every different area of my life. Show me true faith and how to practice it. I would be pure and holy like Jesus Christ, in whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
God Is A Spirit
God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
The Bible declares God to be a Spirit. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is talking to a woman at the well of Sychar. He makes a straightforward statement about God; He says simply, “God is a Spirit.” Immediately you imagine a sort of cloudy vapor. But that is not a picture of God.
If I want to know what a spirit is, I can find out from these words of Christ after His resurrection: “Come and touch me and see, for a spirit has no flesh and bones such as ye see me have.” So I know that spirit is incorporeal—in other words, it is “unbody.” Spirit is contrary to body. Spirit is opposite to body. Spirit is something that is not limited by a body. Spirit is not changeable as a body.
The Bible declares that God is Spirit, that He is not limited to body: He is not limited to shape; He is not limited to force; He is not limited to boundaries or bonds; He is absolutely immeasurable and indiscernible to eyes that are limited to physical things. The Bible declares that because God has no such limitations He can be everywhere at the same time.
I was reared in a small Presbyterian church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before I was ten years of age, my mother made me memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In that catechism we were asked to define God. The answer we learned was, “God is a Spirit—infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.”
Those three words beautifully describe God. He is infinite—not body-bound. Eternal—He has no beginning and no ending. He is the one forever self-existent. The Bible declares that He never changes—that there is no variableness or shadow of turning with Him (James 1:17).
People change, fashions change, conditions and circumstances change, but God never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Our Father and our God, my finite mind cannot fathom Your infinite nature. My physical body cannot comprehend Your spiritual being. And my ever-changing mind cannot grasp Your never-changing ways. Still, I believe You are all these things. Help me to believe even more through Jesus, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Mission Impossible
Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.”
John 4:17–18 RSV
In affluent America thousands of us Christians have become too comfortable. We are too much at ease in this world. We have ceased to challenge the world in which we move; and if God wanted to do a great work in our time, we would probably be bypassed.
In John 4:9 we read “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” The disciples might have thought that the Samaritans were totally outside the Kingdom of God. Perhaps they thought these “outsiders” were unreachable and untouchable by the Message.
How many Christians have given up trying to win their neighbors, their business associates, or their school friends to Jesus Christ? They think they are totally uninterested.
Perhaps that friend or neighbor is watching you very carefully to determine whether you back up your belief with your life.
Some of us have already made up our minds that God has no intention of reaching this person—they are too hard; they are not interested; they are so materially minded; they are so filled with sin, lust, and pride that they are unreachable.
Thus when the woman of Sychar, who had had six “husbands,” was converted to Christ, the disciples were not used.
Many people in history who have been used of God were great sinners and seemed unreachable. John Newton, who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace,” was a slave dealer in Africa and one of the worst sinners who ever lived. Who could ever have believed that he would one day be a clergyman in the Anglican church and become one of the greatest hymn writers of all time!
Even Paul the apostle was Saul the persecutor. Many times God takes the absolutely impossible person and transforms him by His own grace and mercy and providence to become a mighty servant of God. Don’t give up on anyone. There is no person beyond the grace of God.
Our Father and our God, make my life a reflection of You so that my neighbors and friends will have no doubt about Your existence, Your power, Your love, Your mercy. Help me to see the lost as You see them. Give me courage to touch them with Your saving grace, I ask in the name of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Give Me!
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
John 4:15 RSV
This woman who startled a city, who set the people marching out to meet Christ, was a transformed and changed woman. The power of Christ had changed her, and in that very transformation two things were involved:
First, she had repented of her sin. The only thing that may be keeping revival from your life, from your church, from your home, from your community, may be unrepented sin. God can only use cleansed vessels.
The second thing in the preparation of the instrument was prayer. She said, “Give me,” and what an intensity of desire must have gone into that prayer! Thus, she repented of her sin, she believed that Christ was the Messiah, and she began to pray. This simple woman was used to transform an entire city.
After the experience of this day, the Scripture says that Jesus went with them. Revival is not more and not less than the presence of Christ in the heart, the home, the community, and the nation. It is the practical application of this fact that we so desperately need to work out in our lifetime.
The cry of the old Testament prophet was “that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1). Nothing less than this will do. The Psalmist cried, “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6).
Our greatest need at this moment of confusion and revolution is a moral and spiritual awakening. However, this moral and spiritual awakening is not coming until the people of God repent of their sins, and believe with all their hearts, and begin to pray.
That revival must begin with individuals. In the words of an old hymn, “Lord, send a revival, and let it begin with me.”
Our Father and our God, please use me, as You used the woman at the well, to bring revival to myself first, then to my family, friends, and community. Make me an instrument of prodding and prompting toward moral and spiritual awakening in the name of Jesus, who came to bring revival to all people. In His blessed name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Looking For Joy In All The Wrong Places
For God is love.
1 John 4:8
Some years ago there was a popular song which included the lyrics, “I’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places.” What a profound statement that is.
A Christian song puts the despair of looking for love in the wrong place in perspective: “You have searched in vain for something; now you don’t want that something you’ve found.”
How often have you found what you were looking for, only to realize it did not bring the satisfaction you thought it would? It is the ultimate frustration. That frustrating search, which never ends if we are looking for fulfillment in the things of this world, was never expressed better than on a bumper sticker I saw. It said, “All I want is a little more than I have now.”
We look for love, acceptance, and joy in our careers, in money, in power, in all sorts of material things, but if they really brought lasting joy, would we not have testimonies from millions of people around the world to that effect? Wouldn’t someone have written a book by now, the title of which might be, I Found Joy, Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness in My New Mercedes-Benz?
The rest of that Christian song I mentioned goes, “put Jesus first in your life, and turn your life around.” Order is very important in most everything we do. By putting Jesus Christ and His will for your life first, everything else will fall into place. When Christ is out of order, or way down on your priority list, your whole life is upside down.
Try putting Christ first and watch how your life is turned around. You will discover where the love, peace, joy, and acceptance you’ve been searching for is to be found.
Our Father and our God, I know that true joy comes from being one with You and Your Son, Jesus. I pray for increased trust and faith in You, Lord, and less confidence in the things of this earth that will pass away. Help me look for joy in the right place—in Christ Jesus, my Savior, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Necessity of the New Birth
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3 RSV
We cannot explain the mystery of our physical birth, but we accept the fact of life. What is it that keeps us from accepting the fact of spiritual life in Christ?
Just as surely as God implants the life cell in the tiny seed that produces the mighty oak, and as surely as He instills the heartbeat in the life of the tiny infant yet unborn, as surely as He puts motion into the planets, stars, and heavenly bodies, He implants His divine life in the hearts of men who earnestly seek Him through Christ.
This is not conjecture; it is a fact. But has it happened to you? Have you been twice born? If you have not been, you are not only unfit for the Kingdom of God—you are cheating yourself out of the greatest, the most revolutionary experience known to man.
This new birth is an eternal birth. The Bible says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). Our physical birth in life is consummated at death; but if we have been born again, death becomes the bright threshold of eternity.
That unknown writer who said, “Better never to have been born at all, than never to have been born again,” never uttered a truer statement.
Our Father and our God, I celebrate the fact that I have been born again and that I am a new creature. That new birth has cleansed me, saved me, and made me Your child for eternity. Help me to be a child of whom You can be proud, Father, just like Jesus, the perfect One in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Study The Signs
When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:28
The daily events of our world and the prophecies of the Bible are beginning to coincide. We’ve been told in Scripture to study the signs and to learn the signs of the times. If only the world had studied the signs of the Old Testament, it would have known that Jesus was coming the first time. But ignorance and blindness concerning the teaching of the Scriptures led men to fail to recognize hundreds of years before Jesus was born that the Old Testament revealed these things.
The Scripture said that He would be born of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 4:9); He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5); He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7). He would be called out of Egypt (Hosea 11). He would be a prophet (Deuteronomy 18). His own people would reject Him (Isaiah 53). He would be betrayed and sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11). He would be put to death by crucifixion (Psalm 22). The soldiers would cast lots for His clothing (Psalm 22). He would ascend into heaven (Psalm 68). And on and on. Almost every detail which happened to the Lord Jesus Christ was predicted hundreds of years earlier by prophets inspired by the Spirit of God.
Jesus told His disciples that there would be signs for which they could watch when He would come back again. When He warned them on two occasions to beware of setting dates, he said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). He also said, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” To speculate about a date would be absolutely foolish and unbiblical and against the teachings of our Lord. But we are told to watch for the signs.
Although He warned about speculating on the exact time of His return, Jesus did assure the disciples that there were signs throughout the Scriptures, as well as in His own words, which would make it clear to those who have eyes to see that the time is near. He said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). That is the hope that is in the heart of every believer—that our redemption is drawing nigh. Certainly we are two thousand years nearer the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ than we were when He made those predictions.
Are you excited? I am!
Our Father and our God, You are my great Redeemer. You are my Savior, my hope, and my dearest love. You are the source of all grace and mercy, and I cannot live without You. Save me in that final hour, O Lord, because of the purity and sacrifice of Jesus Your Son, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).