Devotionals

Genesis 16:2

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

As a pastor, I often get asked questions regarding God’s will. Let’s consider four of the more common ones. 

Philippians 2:12-13

Want to know God’s will for your life? Let me ask you to stop, look, and listen. God makes His desires known to those who stop at His Word, look in with a sensitive spirit, and listen to others. When we go to His Word, we stop long enough to hear from above. When we look, we examine our surrounding circumstances in light of what He is saying to our inner spirit (perhaps you prefer to call this your conscience). And when we listen to others, we seek the counsel of wise, qualified people. 

1. Stop at the Scriptures 

Hebrews 6:17-18

I confess to you, at times I’ve doubted God’s purpose and promise. I say that to my own embarrassment. When things hadn’t worked as I thought they would, when I received a no instead of a yes or a yes instead of a no as an answer to prayer, when I couldn’t unravel a situation and fit it with the character of God...those have been times when I’ve said, “I know down inside this isn’t right.” 

Hebrews 6:18

Doubts often steal into our lives like termites into a house. These termite-like thoughts eat away at our faith. Usually, we can hold up pretty well under this attack. But occasionally, when a strong gale comes along—a sudden, intense blast—we discover we cannot cope. Our house begins to lean. For some people it completely collapses. It is during these stormy times, during the dark days and nights of tragedy and calamity, that we begin to feel the destructive effects of our doubts—running like stress fractures through the structure of our lives. 

Hebrews 6:20

Human logic breaks down in crisis. The mystery is enormous, and it is the enormity of it all that calls for faith. I’m sorry if that sounds like an overused bromide. But if we could unravel it, why would we need faith? If that were true, all we’d really need is the answer in the back of the book and someone to point it out to us; we’d read it, and that’s all there would be to it. But God’s plan is that we walk by faith, not by sight. It is faith and patience that stretch us to the breaking point. Such things send doubt running. 

Hebrews 6:19

The word picture of an anchor is used often in ancient literature, but it’s used only once in the New Testament in picturing hope as an anchor for our soul. Lots of hymns and gospel songs make use of this anchor metaphor. Every one of them comes back to Hebrews 6:19: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul...” 

There’s something beautiful in this word picture that I would have missed without the insight of one very capable scholar: 

Hebrews 6:19

Somewhere along the many miles of southern California shoreline walked a young, 20-year-old woman with a terminal disease in her body and a revolver in her hand. 

She had called me late one evening. We talked for a long time. A troubled young woman, her mind was filled with doubts. She had advanced leukemia. The doctors told her she would not live much longer. She checked herself out of a hospital because, as she put it, she “couldn’t take another day of that terrible isolation.” 

Revelation 21:1-6

The same Bible that develops the subject of hell also reveals the truth about heaven. What is heaven like? Playing harps all day? Lounging around on Cloud Nine? Living in enormous mansions along solid gold streets? Does it mean we’ll all have long white robes with matching sandals, glowing halos, and big flapping wings? Hardly! 

Heaven is an actual place. A prepared place, designed for God’s redeemed people, those who have accepted God’s free gift of His Son. 

Luke 16:19-31

A particular story Jesus once told comes to my mind every time I think of life after death. Because it is descriptive and brief, we are able to get a fairly uncomplicated picture in our minds of this subject of hell.