Devotional - June 29, 2004

There's a lot of religious stuff done in the world today that is not unlike what happened in Ephesus. That is, many people are doing seemingly good things in the name of Jesus who don't have a relationship with the Lord. Notice what the Jewish "would-be" miracle workers said to a demon possessed man: "In the Name of Jesus whom Paul preaches." They wanted Paul's power, but they didn't know Jesus, the source of Paul's power.

Those fakers might have thought the ministry of Jesus could be bought and sold like something at the market, but after the possessed man jumped on them and drove them off naked and bleeding, I imagine they had a change of heart. Scripture says that afterwards, everyone in the community had a greater respect for the Name of Jesus and those who used Jesus' Name to do God's work.

Amazingly, a revival broke out in Ephesus. Many of those who had professed belief in Jesus, openly confessed their evil deeds and if they were practicing sorcery, they burned their religious junk. It was said that people even changed occupations of out of fear their compromise would be made public and demons would expose their false faith to the world.

What if we had such respect for the Name of Jesus that we included public confession of sin as part of true worship? (James 5:16) What if we turned from "private" sin and placed elements of ungodly influence in the offering plate like the people of Ephesus? What if those who make an "honest" living from the fruit of sin came under of conviction for sending wrong signals to both the lost and the saved? What if they quit their jobs and sought new employment where prayer could be consistently made on their behalf without asking God to bless a business that prospers sin?

I'm afraid too many of us consider an occasional problem to be persecution by Satan when in fact it is God provoking the demons in order to get us to change our ways? What if the words of Isaiah and Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:15 were important enough that we paid attention to their warning and did what they said?

I'll tell you exactly what would happen. If these things started happening in our church congregations, We'd experience the power of God is such a way people would pay attention to our witness and turn from their sin to approach Him humbly, do whatever it takes to get right with Him. We see more adults than children saved in our altar calls. We'd have more prayer meetings. We'd see reunited couples and homosexuals and prostitutes turning from their sinful lifestyle to come under God's power. We'd never have enought time for preaching because of those who wanted to testify of God's mercy and grace.

You might be asking how I can make such a bold assertion. I do it because God said I can. You see, there's genuine power in Jesus' Name. He gives me authority to because the word of God said it first (Acts 19:20) And beside that, we are never wrong when we see things from God's point of view and draw the same conclusion as He does.

Do you really want to see God's moving in your life? Then, get in the word of God and pray with all your heart with conviction to be obedient to what He tells you to do. After all, you now know that the first step in revival is destruction, not instruction.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( 2 Ki. 15:1-16:20 Ac. 19:13-41 Ps. 147:1-20 Pr. 18:4-5 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society