An Endless Hope
We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.
Hebrews 6:19 NIV
An unbeliever only sees a hopeless end to life. But the Christian sees an endless hope. In a network television program, Malcolm Muggeridge reflected that a true Christian “is longing for the termination of life in time as one longs for the end of a long and arduous three-week sea voyage when one is in the last three days. I look forward to the time when my life will partake of eternity with near irrepressible eagerness.”
Perhaps these words of Malcolm Muggeridge do not describe your feelings about death. Perhaps you are afraid of death and don’t relate to the quiet confidence this famous British journalist and TV personality feels. The torturing, tormenting fear of death is a condition that is perfectly normal for any who have never come to Christ. Death is an experience from which people instinctively shrink. Yet for the Christian the fear is removed. He has the assurance that the sins for which he would be judged at death have been dealt with, whereas the non-Christian has no such assurance. I do not look forward to the prospect of dying—but I do look forward to death itself. It will be a glorious release. It will be the fulfillment of everything I have ever longed for. The Scripture says, “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).
Our Father and our God, thank You for Jesus, who anchors my soul in the troubling seas of this life. He is my Savior, my eternal life preserver, my rescuer. He is my joy, my peace, and my ever-present comfort in times of trial. I wait impatiently for His coming again to take me home. And in His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The One And Only Way
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
Hebrews 5:9
A man in a car stopped to ask a pedestrian the way to a certain street. When the man told him the way, the driver asked doubtfully, “Is that the best way?” The man replied, “That is the only way.”
There is only one way of salvation. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). The last invitation of the Bible says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).
This is still an age of grace. God’s offer of forgiveness and a new life still stands. However, the door will one day be closed. Someday it will be too late. That is why the Bible continually warns and challenges. “Now is the accepted time” (2 Corinthians 6:2). We’re proclaiming the Gospel, asking people to come to a knowledge of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it is still a day of grace, and the door of salvation is still open. When the flood came, Noah was safe and secure in the ark. He trusted God and took Him at His word. You, too, can be safe and secure in the world in which we live by believing and accepting what the world calls “foolish”—the fact that Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose for our justification. But to those of us who are saved, it is the power of God unto salvation.
This may make very little sense to this dying world. But to those of us who know Christ, it is a tremendous power and a great and glorious peace. Do you know this peace that only Christ can give? You can know it today by repenting of your sins and receiving Christ as your Lord, Master, and Savior. And you can do it right now wherever you are, anywhere in the world.
Our Father and our God, I want to follow Jesus with all my heart. I know that He is the only way to You and life everlasting. Please give me the gifts of endurance, faithfulness, and determination that I may not falter in the face of temptation and evil. Thank You for Jesus, who gives me peace, and through Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Power Of Prayer
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
We are not the masters of our fate either as individuals or as a nation. How can people boast that they control their own destinies, when they cannot control a virus, invisible even under powerful microscopes?
One such virus, causing hepatitis, can lay low thousands of people.
How can the people of this nation, in spite of our military might, our tremendous wealth, and our foreign alliances, insist that we are the masters of our own fate, when history testifies that God shaped this nation’s course?
Our nation was founded by people who believed in prayer. When our government was in the process of being formed, Benjamin Franklin addressed the chairman of the Constitutional Convention, meeting at Philadelphia in 1787, saying, “I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, it is probable that an empire cannot rise without His aid.”
Today the world is being carried on a rushing torrent of history that is sweeping out of control. There is but one power available to redeem the course of events, and that is the power of prayer by God-fearing, Christ-believing people.
Abraham Lincoln, beloved and legendary president during the tumultuous days of the Civil War, said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.” Would that our leadership were as humble today!
Our Father and our God, You are the One who puts governments into place and takes them down at Your holy will. Give our governmental leaders humility and dependence on You for wisdom. Help me to support them, Father, knowing that their election and authority are from You. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
God Is Our Comfort
Because [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18 NIV
Once, when I was in my latter teens, I was in love with a girl. It might have been puppy love, but it was real to me, the “puppy”! We became tentatively engaged to be married, even though we were both much too young. However, she was torn in her heart and felt that the Lord was leading her to another young man who was one of my best friends, and who was already an experienced young clergyman. I suffered a broken heart, and I remember going to a clergyman friend of mine to seek his help. He turned me to 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, 6:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God . . . if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
From those words of the apostle I gained comfort for myself in my personal trouble, just as many others have also done. But there is more to it than that. This passage from Paul suggests a new insight into suffering. Briefly put, it is this: not only are we comforted in our trials, but our trials can equip us to comfort others.
It is an undeniable fact that usually it is those who have suffered most who are best able to comfort others who are passing through suffering. I know of pastors whose ministries have been enriched by suffering. Through their trials they have learned to “live through” the difficulties of the people in their parish. They are able to empathize as well as sympathize with the afflictions of others because of what they have experienced in their own lives.
Our sufferings may be rough and hard to bear, but they teach us lessons which in turn equip and enable us to help others. Our attitude toward suffering should not be “Grit your teeth and bear it,” hoping it will pass as quickly as possible. Rather, our goal should be to learn all we can from what we are called upon to endure, so that we can fulfill a ministry of comfort—as Jesus did. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18 NIV). The sufferer becomes the comforter or helper in the service of the Lord.
By the way, by “enduring” suffering, God led me to my wonderful wife, Ruth, who was His intended one for me.
Our Father and our God, I turn to You in my pain and anguish. Give me strength to bear my affliction, and from my problems let me learn joy to share with others. Teach me to comfort hurting people with the comfort You so often show to me. Thank You for sending the Comforter. In Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.
Aware Of Angels
Are [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?
Hebrews 1:14 RSV
Angels are messengers of God who serve men as ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14). So far as I know, no Scripture says that the Holy Spirit ever manifested Himself in human form to men, as Jesus did in His incarnation. The glorious Holy Spirit can be everywhere at the same time, but no angel can be in more than one place at any given moment. We know the Holy Spirit as spirit, not flesh, but we can know angels not as spirits alone but sometimes also in visible form.
At the same time, both angels and the Holy Spirit are at work in our world to accomplish God’s perfect will. Frankly, we may not always know the agent or means God is using—the Holy Spirit or the angels—when we discern God’s hand at work. We can be sure, however, that there is no contradiction or competition between the Holy Spirit and God’s command of the angelic hosts. God Himself is in control to accomplish His will—and in that we can rejoice!
God uses angels to work out the destinies of men and nations. He has altered the courses of the busy political and social arenas of our society and directed the destinies of men by angelic visitation many times over. We must be aware that angels keep in close and vital contact with all that is happening on the earth. Their knowledge of earthly matters exceeds that of men. We must attest to their invisible presence and unceasing labors. Let us believe that they are here among us. They may not laugh or cry with us, but we do know they delight with us over every victory in our lives.
Our Father and our God, Your magnificent angels attend to my every need. They protect me from the demons of Satan. They keep my feet on the right path to You. Thank You for their comfort and their care, Lord. Help me learn that angels are Your messengers—Your hands at work. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Grace Of God
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:7
His glorious appearing is more than an incident of the past; it is the hope of the Christian future. There beats in the heart of every child of God the glorious hope of Christ’s return.
This hope is a stimulant toward righteous living and conduct and makes Christ more than a figure of history. This hope gives Him the living breath of reality. The expectancy of His coming again makes Christ a vibrant living being who even now prepares Himself as the bridegroom to meet His bride, the church.
The motive of grace is the infinite, compassionate love of a merciful God, but the work of grace was the death of Christ on the cross.
Unless we view the grace of God through the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, we cannot comprehend its true meaning and significance. When I see Christ hanging there, the spikes in His hands, the crown of thorns on His brow, the blood being shed for our sins, I see the picture of God’s grace toward men. I know then that man cannot work his own way to heaven, and that nothing can equal God’s infinite love for sinful men.
Only as we bow in contrition, confession, and repentance at the foot of the cross, can we find forgiveness. There is the grace of God! We don’t deserve it! A man said some time ago, “When I get to the judgment of God, all that I will ask for is justice.”
My beloved friend, if you get justice, then you will go to hell. You don’t want justice. What you want is mercy—the mercy of God, the grace of God as it was in Christ Jesus who died for us and rose again.
Our Father and our God, thank You for the blessed work of grace in the cross of Christ. I deeply regret my sins, and I confess my failures to You. I beg for Your forgiveness and grace every day of my life. Redeem me, O Lord, for I know that my redemption can only come through the blood of Jesus, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Defeating Disocuragement
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:13
One of the best ways to get rid of discouragement is to remember that Christ is coming again. The most thrilling, glorious truth in all the world is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. When we look about today and see pessimism on every side, we should remember the Bible is the only book in the world that predicts the future with complete accuracy. The Bible is more modern than tomorrow morning’s newspaper. The Bible accurately foretells the future, and it says that the consummation of all things shall be the coming again of Jesus Christ to this earth.
In John 14 Christ says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
In Colossians 3:4 we read, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
And in 1 John 3:2 we have a great promise to all believers: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
And finally, we trust in the promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The sunlight of His love can still shine into the darkest part of your life. Jesus 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).
Are you watching and waiting for Christ’s return with eager anticipation? Or do you take Him for granted?
Our Father and our God, this world needs Your glorious Light to rescue and save it from the darkness and evil of the prince of this world. I pray that You will find me watching and waiting at Your return, Lord. Keep me ever attuned to Your coming. Help me to hold up the light of Your Son, Jesus Christ, to the lost, and through Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Angels Are Watching Us
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1 NIV
The charge to live righteously in this present world sobers us when we realize that the walk and warfare of Christians is the primary concern of heaven and its angelic hosts. Paul said, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the chosen angels, that you guard and keep [these rules] . . .” (1 Timothy 5:21 AB). Paul was stirring up Timothy to remember that the elect angels were constantly watching how he served the Savior and lived the Christian life. What fact could provide a greater motivation to righteous living than that? I must say to myself, “Careful, angels are watching!”
It must give the angels great satisfaction to watch the church of Jesus Christ minister the unsearchable riches of Christ to lost men everywhere. If the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10), then the angelic hosts are numbered among the spectators in the heavenly grandstands. They are included among those who are referred to as “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1); and they never miss any of the details of our earthly pilgrimage. Yet they do not jeer as did the Greek crowds of Paul’s day. Rather, as we declare the Gospel and see our friends saved, they rejoice with us.
In his book Though I Walk Through the Valley, Dr. Vance Havner tells of an old preacher who worked into the night on a sermon for his small congregation. His wife inquired why he spent so much time on a message that he would give to so few. To this the minister replied, “You forget, my dear, how large my audience will be!” Dr. Havner adds that “Nothing is trivial here if heaven looks on. We shall play a better game if, ‘seeing we are encompassed,’ we remember who is in the grandstand!”
Our valleys may be filled with foes and tears, but we can lift our eyes to the hills to see God and the angels, heaven’s spectators, who support us according to God’s infinite wisdom as they prepare our welcome home.
Our Father and our God, it thrills me to know that You and Your angels are cheering me along my pathway of life. I can run harder and longer with You by my side. Help me to hear Your encouragement daily, Lord. Help me to see Jesus, my brother and friend, running beside me. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Effectual Prayer
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
From one end of the Bible to the other, there is the record of those whose prayers have been answered—men who turned the tide of history by prayer; men who fervently prayed, and God answered.
Hezekiah prayed when his city was threatened by the invading army of the Assyrians under the leadership of Sennacherib, and the entire army of Sennacherib was destroyed, and the nation was spared for another generation—because the king prayed (2 Chronicles 32).
The problems of the world will never be settled unless our national leaders go to God in prayer. If only they would discover the power and wisdom that there is in reliance upon God, we could soon see the solution to the grave problems that face the world.
How wonderful it would be if the vice president of the United States would ask the Senate, at the beginning of each session, to get on its knees before God! What a tremendous change there would be in all the affairs of government!
Elijah prayed, and God sent fire from heaven to consume the offering on the altar he had built in the presence of God’s enemies. Elisha prayed, and the son of the Shunammite woman was raised from the dead.
Daniel prayed, and the secret of God was made known to him for the saving of his and his companions’ lives, and the changing of the course of history.
Paul prayed, and hundreds of churches were born in Asia Minor and Europe. Peter prayed, and Dorcas was raised to life, to have added years of service for Jesus Christ.
As seventeenth-century theologian John Owen said, “He who prays as he ought, will endeavor to live as he prays.”
Our Father and our God, hear me now as I pray for our national leaders. Turn their hearts to You, Lord, and help them to bow their knees in submission to Your holy will. Give them the courage to stand strong for Your truth among the nations of the world. Help them to look to Jesus for lordship and leadership. In Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Right-Side Up In An Upside-Down World
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3:12
This is a spiritual law which is as unchangeable as the law of gravity. We must get this fact firmly fixed in our minds: we live in an upside-down world. People hate when they should love; they quarrel when they should be friendly; they fight when they should be peaceful; they wound when they should heal; they steal when they should share; they do wrong when they should do right.
I once saw a toy clown with a weight in its head. No matter how it was placed, it invariably assumed an upside-down position. It could be placed on its feet or on its side, and when let go it flipped back on its head.
In our unregenerate state we are just like that! Regardless of the circumstances, we always revert to an upside-down position. From childhood to maturity we are always prone to do what we should not do and to refrain from doing what we ought to do. That is our nature. We have too much weight in the head and not enough ballast in our hearts, so we flip upside down when left alone.
That is why the disciples seemed to be misfits to the world. To an upside-down man, a right-side up man seems upside down. To the nonbeliever the true Christian is an oddity and an abnormality. A Christian’s goodness is a rebuke to another’s wickedness; his being right-side up is a reflection upon the worldling’s inverted position. So the conflict is a natural one. And mockery, scorn, rejection, and even outright persecution are inevitable.
Our Father and our God, why do I end up standing on my head so often? I am repeatedly distracted by the temptations of this upside-down world. Keep me right-side up, Lord, and in right relationship with You. Balance my life with Your Spirit. Through Christ Jesus my Lord I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Seal, The Pledge, And The Witness
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:
“The Lord knows those who are his.”
2 Timothy 2:19 NIV
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, once observed, “It is hard to find words in the language of men, to explain the deep things of God. Indeed, there are none that will adequately express what the Spirit of God works in His children. But . . . by the testimony of the Spirit, I mean, an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given Himself for me; that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God.”
We can see then that God places a seal on us when we receive Christ. And that seal is a person—the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit’s presence God gives us security and established His ownership over us.
The Spirit is also God’s pledge. He not only seals the arrangement, but He represents God’s voluntary obligation to see us through. And fellowship with the Spirit is a sample of what we can expect when we come into our inheritance in heaven.
Finally, the Spirit witnesses to us by His Word and within our hearts that Christ died for us, and by faith in Him we have become God’s children. What a wonderful thing to know the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a seal—a pledge—and a witness! May each of these give us new assurance of God’s love for us, and give us confidence as we seek to live for Christ. And with the apostle Paul may we say, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV).
Our Father and our God, You are my Father, and I am Your humble child. I bear Your seal and wear Your name so the world will know to whom I belong. I pledge my love and my loyalty to You and Your Son. Let my witness be bold and strong, yet let it glow with the warmth and gentleness of Jesus, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Hope Hangs A Halo
I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.
2 Timothy 2:9, 10, 12
In a sense, Christ is a King in exile, and we who are His followers are often looked upon with derision. To be identified with Him here and now quite naturally entails some “loss of face,” some persecution: but someday, we are told, we shall be “kings and priests” and shall be active participators in His Kingdom.
Paul must have had this fact in mind when he 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. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18–19).
If we should be called upon to suffer all our lives, it would not be long compared to eternity. We are in the position of heirs to a large estate, who gladly endure a few days of suffering and privation with the hope that we shall soon come into our fabulous inheritance. Such a glorious hope hangs a halo over the drab existence of the here and now.
Life cannot lose its zest when down underneath our present discomfort is the knowledge that we are children of a King. Complaining becomes foolish; behaving in the manner of the world is unworthy; and love, gentleness, and meekness become the hallmark of God’s nobility. “All things” are taken in stride; burdens become blessings in disguise; every wound, like good surgery, is for our good; and etched in every cross is the symbol of a crown.
Our Father and our God, my hope is stayed on You for all eternity. I will follow You wherever You may lead me, knowing Your ultimate destination for me is heaven. Give me courage in the face of inevitable persecution and pain. Keep me safely in Jesus, the only Way. In Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Life’s New Dimension
I know whom I have believed.
2 Timothy 1:12
Does it work when a man comes, repenting of his sins, to receive Christ by faith? I can only tell you that it worked in my own life. Something did happen to me. I didn’t become perfect, but the direction of my life was changed.
I was reared on a farm in North Carolina, and did not have the best of education. During the Depression period my parents were unable to give me the advantages that young people have today. I grew up in a Christian home, but by the time I was fifteen, I was in full revolt against all religions—against God, the Bible, the church. To make a long story short, one day I decided to commit my life to Jesus Christ. Not to be a clergyman but, in whatever I was to be, to seek the Kingdom of God first.
As a result, I found a new dimension to life. I found a new capacity to love that I had never known before. Just in the matter of race, my attitude toward people of other backgrounds changed remarkably. All of our difficulties are not solved the moment we are converted to Christ, but conversion does mean that we can approach our problems with a new attitude and in a new strength.
I was a poor student until that time, but immediately my grades picked up. I am not suggesting that you should come to Christ in order to get better grades, but I am telling you that the life in Christ works. I have seen it work all over the world. I have seen those converted whom I might classify as intellectuals; but they have to come as children. We say to our children, “Act like grown-ups,” but Jesus said to the grown-ups, “Be like children.” You are not to come to the cross as a doctor of philosophy, nor as a doctor of law, but simply as a human being; and your life can be changed.
Our Father and our God, change my heart and make it fully Yours. Take away my pride, my deceit, my longing for worldliness, my sin. Fill my heart with Your Holy Spirit, Your love, Your gentleness, and Your compassion. Touch me with Your grace and help me to grow in my spiritual life. All in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Money Can Be Dangerous
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10 NIV
The Bible does not condemn money or material possessions. Some of the great people of the Bible were very rich. Abraham, Isaac, and Solomon were perhaps the richest men of their day. God’s quarrel is not with material goods but with material gods. Materialism has become the god of too many of us. It is that state in which material possessions are elevated to the central place in life and receive the attention due to God alone.
The Bible teaches that preoccupation with material possessions is a form of idolatry. And God hates idolatry. It poisons every other phase of our life, including our family life.
The Bible declares that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV), not money but the love of money. This Scripture is being verified in our national life today, and we are reaping what we have sown for several generations. We are, at least in part, suffering the consequences of our selfish preoccupation with material things to the neglect of moral and spiritual values.
We thought that man had come of age and that God, if there was one, could be relegated to the sidelines. But Jesus told the story of the man who had his barn full, and he had all of his possessions, and he said, “Soul, take your ease, eat and drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). He left God out, and that night he died—possibly from a heart attack. And there was a voice heard from heaven that said, “You fool” (Luke 12:20).
“What shall it profit a man, if he . . . gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). There is a day of reckoning ahead. The handwriting is on the wall. What does it say?
Our Father and our God, keep me from being mesmerized by the god of materialism. Help me remember that money is a great servant but a terrible master. You and You alone are my Master, Lord. I will love only You. I will pursue only You. I will worship and adore only You and Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Positive Thoughts On Persecution
We . . . suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God . . . but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:10, 12
The reproach we experience is the natural resentment in the hearts of men toward all that is godly and righteous. This is the cross we are to bear. This is why Christians are often persecuted. Paul made this clear in these comments to Timothy.
Let us not forget that there is happiness and blessing in persecution. As George MacDonald puts it, we become “hearty through hardship.” Our Lord instructs the persecuted to be happy. “Rejoice,” He said, “and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:12).
The word joy has all but disappeared from our current Christian vocabulary. One of the reasons is that we have thought that joy and happiness were found in comfort, ease, and luxury. James did not say, “Count it all joy when you fall into an easy chair,” but he said, “Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2).
The persecuted are happy because they are being processed for heaven. Persecution is one of the natural consequences of living the Christian life. It is to the Christian what “growing pains” are to the growing child. No pain, no development. No suffering, no glory. No struggle, no victory. No persecution, no reward! Jesus predicted that if they persecuted Him, they would persecute you who follow Him too.
The Bible says, “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10). It is so easy to forget that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).
Our Father and our God, I bow in humble submission to Your will for me. Help me to remember that the hard times of life make me spiritually strong. Remind me that only with sunshine and rain can there be a rainbow of blessings and spiritual growth. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
No Prayer, No Peace
I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
1 Timothy 2:8
Down through our history our nation’s leaders have carried their plans and hopes to God in prayer. Yet today we have come to a place where we regard prayer in our national life simply as a venerated tradition—or even something to be scorned. We have no sense of coming earnestly to God; we simply use prayer as a formality.
If this nation was born in a meeting based on prayer, some of its most important decisions being made only after careful prayer to God, how can we go on unless there is a renewed emphasis on prayer today?
One of the reasons the United Nations has become so ineffective in handling world situations is that there is no prayer, no recognition of God. At the first meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, no prayer was lifted to God for guidance and blessing. We were afraid that the atheistic Communists would not like it, so we yielded in deference to them.
I predict that unless the leaders of the nations turn to God in prayer, their best plans will fail, just as did the plans of those who built the tower of Babel.
Christ instructed His followers to pray, both by teaching and by example. So fervent and so direct were His prayers that one time when he had finished praying, His followers turned to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). They knew that Jesus had been in touch with God, and they wanted to have such an experience.
Never before in history have we stood in greater need of prayer. Will we be people of prayer for such a time as this?
Our Father and our God, I don’t really know how to pray to You. Teach me to pray. I lift up my heart and mind for Your examination. Purify my thoughts, my actions, and my desires. Accept my petition for understanding, mercy, and blessing through Christ my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Fact Of Faith
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
2 Timothy 1:12
If you are saved from sin, you are saved through a personal faith in the Gospel of Christ as defined in the Scriptures. Though it may at first seem dogmatic and narrow to you, the fact remains that there is no other way. The Bible says, “I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you . . . for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3, 4). The Bible says that we are saved when our faith is in this objective fact. The work of Christ is a fact, His cross is a fact, His tomb is a fact, His resurrection is a fact.
It is impossible to believe anything into existence. The Gospel did not come into being because men believed it. The tomb was not emptied of Christ’s body that first Easter because some faithful persons believed it. The fact preceded the faith. We are psychologically incapable of believing without an object of our faith.
You are not called upon to believe something that is not credible, but to believe in the fact of history that in reality transcends all history. We call upon you to believe that this work of Christ for sinners is effective in all who will risk their souls with Him. Trusting in Him for your eternal salvation is trusting, not in a figment of someone’s imagination, but in a fact.
Our Father and our God, I trust in the facts of the Gospel of Christ. I put my faith in those facts and in Your marvelous grace. I know my salvation is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and raised. Help me to walk in His steps so the world will see Him through me. In Christ I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Defended From Satan
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 NIV
The Bible teaches that the demons are dedicated to controlling this planet for their master, Satan. Even Jesus called him “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). He is the master organizer and strategist. Many times throughout biblical history, and possibly even today, angels and demons engage in warfare. Many of the events of our own times may very well be involved in this unseen struggle.
We are not left in doubt about who will ultimately triumph. Time after time Jesus has assured us that He and the angels would be victorious: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31). The apostle Paul wrote, “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire” (2 Thessalonians 1:7–8).
Jesus also taught, “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8). It is impossible to comprehend one’s suffering of eternal loss when he learns that angels do not acknowledge him because he has been false in his claims to know Christ. But what a moment it is going to be for believers throughout all the ages, from every tribe, nation, and tongue, when they are presented in the Court of Heaven. Scripture calls it “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). This is the great event when Jesus Christ is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. Both believers of all ages and all the angelic hosts will join in bowing their knees and confessing that He is Lord.
Our Father and our God, You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. You are Captain of the heavenly hosts. Please open my spiritual eyes so I can see Your holy angels fighting for me. I know the war is already won. Hallelujah! Help me to live victoriously through Jesus Christ my Lord, in whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Our Father
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 NIV
When we become Christians we can say “Our Father,” for those who receive Christ have the right to become children of God (John 1:12). So then we can look to God as our Father. We are to put our trust in Him and come to know Him in the close, intimate companionship of father and child. We can have a personal sense of His love for us and His interest in us, for He is concerned about us as a father is concerned for his children.
As Peter Marshall once put it, “God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless he has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.”
It is through the suffering, the tests and trials of life, that we can draw near to God. A. B. Simpson once heard a man say something he never forgot: “When God tests you, it is a good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming from Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary.”
There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had.
Our Father and our God, it is my greatest honor to be called Your child and to know You as my Father. I need Your parental blessing, Father. I need Your constant encouragement and hope. Strengthen me daily and keep me ever in Your love, as a father would his child. Through Jesus my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Persecution Or Popularity?
We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.
2 Thessalonians 1:4
Popularity and adulation can be far more dangerous for the Christian than persecution. It is, unfortunately, easy when all goes well to lose our sense of balance and our perspective. We must learn like Paul “how to abound” and “how to be abased.” We must learn in “whatsoever state” we are “therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11).
As we have said elsewhere in this book, the important thing is to walk with Christ, to live for Christ, and to have one consuming passion: to please Him. Then, whatever happens, we know that He has permitted it to teach us some priceless lesson and to perfect us for His service. He will enrich our circumstances, be they pleasant or disagreeable, by the fact of His presence with us. The tomorrows fill us with dread. John 10:4 says, “He putteth forth his own sheep.” Whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him—like the Oriental shepherd, who always went ahead of his sheep—therefore any attack on sheep has to deal first with the shepherd—all the tomorrows of our lives have to pass Him before they get to us!
Three Hebrew children were cast into the burning fiery furnace, but the king said, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). Our God is with us in the midst of persecution.
An apocryphal story tells of the first convert of a certain missionary who was tortured to death for his faith. Years later, the missionary died. In heaven he met that first convert and asked him how it felt to be tortured to death for his faith. “You know,” the man replied with a shrug and looking a bit bewildered, “I can’t even remember.”
Our Father and our God, You are the Good Shepherd and Guide for my life. Teach me how to find balance in my spiritual life. Increase my passion, Lord, to serve only You both night and day. Set Your Spirit on fire within me that I may lead others to You. In Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).