Answers to Life's Questions

The Scriptures tell us that hidden in Christ are "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3)", "every spiritual blessing" (Ephesians 1:3), and "all the fullness of God" (Colossians 1:19). Since this is the truth, we maintain before God that His Gift to us is Christ, and to the extent that we appreciate the value and preciousness of the Lord Jesus, to that same extent will we be satisfied spiritually. We will find fullness in the Son, and will not find it necessary to be continually pumped up or propped up as we go about our daily walk as Christians.

Imagine the foolishness of asking God for a "few coins" to get you through until Sunday while wealth is buried just below your feet. Or, imagine the vanity of thinking we have to go "here" or "there" to get something from God (such as a "blessing", a "word", an "anointing", etc) when we already have everything He has. I will go so far as to say that when we know the preciousness and costliness of the Lord Jesus we will not ask God for anything else. The one who must ask God for "things" has not yet fully appreciated the treasure he has in Christ already.

selected from Infinite Supply 

Source: Streams in the Desert
Scripture Reference: Revelation 4:1 

A Door Opened in Heaven

"A door opened in heaven" (Rev. 4:1).

You must remember that John was in the Isle of Patmos, a lone, rocky, inhospitable prison, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And yet to him, under such circumstances, separated from all the loved ones of Ephesus; debarred from the worship of the Church; condemned to the companionship of uncongenial fellow-captives, were vouchsafed these visions. For him, also a door was opened.

We are reminded of Jacob, exiled from his father's house, who laid himself down in a desert place to sleep, and in his dreams beheld a ladder which united Heaven with earth, and at the top stood God.

Not to these only, but to many more, doors have been opened into Heaven, when, so far as the world was concerned, it seemed as though their circumstances were altogether unlikely for such revelations.

To prisoners and captives; to constant sufferers, bound by iron chains of pain to sick couches; to lonely pilgrims and wanderers; to women detained from the Lord's house by the demands of home, how often has the door been opened to Heaven.

But there are conditions. You must know what it is to be in the Spirit; you must be pure in heart and obedient in faith; you must be willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; then when God is all in all to us, when we live, move and have our being in His favor, to us also will the door be opened. --Daily Devotional Commentary

"God hath His mountains bleak and bare,
Where He doth bid us rest awhile;
Crags where we breathe a purer air,
Lone peaks that catch the day's first smile.

"God hath His deserts broad and brown--
A solitude--a sea of sand,
Where He doth let heaven's curtain down,
Unknit by His Almighty hand."

 

This classic devotional is the unabridged edition of Streams in the Desert. This first edition was published in 1925 and the wording is preserved as originally written. Connotations of words may have changed over the years and are not meant to be offensive.

By Faith

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."

— 2 Corinthians 5:7

It is no coincidence that the phrase, "walk by faith," is used in Scripture. Notice that Scripture doesn't tell us to sprint by faith; it tells us to walk by faith. To walk speaks of continual, regulated motion. The Bible says Enoch walked with God.

Many believers have their bursts of energy. For a few months, they run. Then they collapse for a while. They need to learn what it is to walk with God.

Of course, we like things fast. We have microwave dinners, e-mail, cell phones, and instant messaging. We have so much technology to make our lives a little easier and, most importantly, faster.

Then, when we come to the Christian life, we say, "All right, what's the angle? What's the shortcut?" Here it is: "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). It's a day-by-day process.

We are always looking for the angle, for the inside track. But it's very simple. The Bible declares that the just shall live by faith. Not by feeling. Not by emotion. Not by fear. Not by worries. By faith.

I know that sometimes it seems like nothing is happening in terms of our spiritual growth. There are times when we don't really feel like we are changing, because as we look at ourselves every day, we don't necessarily see any changes. But as we are walking by faith day by day, month by month, and year by year, we are being transformed.

Colossians 2:6 tells us, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

That's it. The just shall live by faith.

selected from Greg Laurie