by George Runyan | May 16, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Psalm 51:17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Brokenness is the true sacrifice which God desires. It is not a sacrifice in Old Testament terms of animals or grains. In New Testament terms, it is not about good deeds. Jesus offered Himself as “the sacrifice.” Jesus became broken for all of us. In His brokenness, I can recognize my own brokenness and need for His saving grace. On the cross, Jesus cried out to His Father and said, “Into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). Some believe that Jesus died more quickly than usually experienced on a cross as a result of a broken heart. He was broken for us, broken over our sins. Jesus is the only sacrifice that fully pleases the Father.
In Psalm 51, David came to understanding that the sacrifice God is waiting to receive is a broken and contrite spirit. Our hearts should be broken over our own sin, and then the sins of others. God is looking to find broken and contrite hearts to work through. Religion is full of self-serving attitudes and fleshly attempts trying to appease God. Many run after religion, trying to get their needs met by God and also hoping that God will accept them. True faith in the living God is rooted in this one thing, “brokenness”! Brokenness will produce humility and a heart desiring to serve.
David concludes this verse with the confident cry, “O God, You will not despise.” God will never turn away from the broken spirit or a contrite heart. Even as David, the king, had to come to this place in his life, so also God’s people must learn of brokenness, hopefully not in the same way David had to. Many in the Lord’s church are filled with self-approval and self-serving attitudes making them vulnerable to the enemy. Brokenness begins with the individual, develops in the congregation, and becomes the spirit of the church throughout a city, which in turn will cause sinners to be converted!
Pray with me for the Spirit of God to deal with our individual heart condition. Pray for your local church community and for the church of your locality. Pray that we will bring to God a “broken and contrite heart.” Claim the salvation of sinners and their conversion to God’s glorious kingdom.
by George Runyan | May 15, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Psalm 51:13 – I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will be converted to You.
A result of our salvation should be to “teach transgressors God’s ways.” Once we deal with our own issue of iniquity (lawlessness) and our sin nature by receiving God’s work to save us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we should turn our attention to others. An evidence of true conversion is a concern for others that are as lost as we once were.
David had asked for a “willing spirit.” Peter tells us that “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). When David recognized his depravity and confessed his sin, he desired to be an instrument to help others that were in the same condition. A “willing spirit” is one that aligns itself with the will of God. The Holy Spirit has come to “reveal the Father’s will.” From that revelation, we are to align our self with God’s will and pray for the Holy Spirit to lead us to do the will of God. It is clear, God’s will was to heal David and re-establish Him in God’s Divine Purpose. David, in turn, began to focus on other broken lives around him.
Is our relationship with God all about our need being met or do we also have that component of “a willing spirit” to do God’s will? Another way of expressing this concept would be to ask God to “give us a willingness to do His bidding.” God has called us to be His representative to others. First by wholeness in our own life, and then to declare God’s desire to save and restore others to God’s salvation.
My testimony is of my own “depravity” and God’s “love” toward me. He has answered my prayer which is after that of David’s: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
Lord, please help me to be willing to do Your will by sharing with others how You forgave my sins and clothed me with Your great salvation so rich and so free. Give me grace to lead others to Your wonderful love and presence.
by George Runyan | May 14, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Psalm 51:12 – Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.
As we consider the life of David and his revelation concerning his depravity and his desperate need for God’s Holy Spirit, we also observe that he confesses he had lost his joy and a willing spirit. Very few people live in joy. There is a difference between being happy and being joyful. Happiness depends on things going well in life. Joy is an inward feeling that is there whether all is well or not. Our salvation in Christ is the fountain of our joy. I had a fellow employee ask me this question one day as I entered the shop, “What gives you the right to be happy all the time?” He did not know the difference between “joy” and “happiness.” It gave me opportunity to tell him of the source of my joy that he saw as happiness.
I love how David ties together his request for restoration of the “joy of God’s salvation” and “a willing spirit.” David recognized that true salvation comes from the willingness of his inner man. A willing spirit is the foundation of true submission to the will of God. Many times people say they are willing to serve God, no matter what, in the emotion of the moment. To serve God takes “a willing spirit”! It is the health of the spirit of a person that will sustain. A willing spirit comes from God Himself.
Over many years of ministry, I have found that the root of people’s struggles can be located in “a broken spirit,” The hurts of life and the hurts caused by others can break an individual’s spirit to cause them to give up trying. God’s Holy Spirit wants to heal the broken spirit, but it begins in taking personal responsibility. First, acknowledging one’s own sin against God. Second, one must release others who have hurt them. The Holy Spirit will then begin the process of healing the “broken spirit” and creating a “willing spirit,” which will become the key to sustaining the individual. The Holy Spirit will restore the joy of God’s salvation and sinners will be converted as a result (Psalm 51:13).
Thank You, Lord, for what You did for David. For the joy of Your salvation, which is my portion as well. Heal my brokenness and sustain me with a willing spirit. Let me see sinners converted as a result of Your mighty work in me.
by George Runyan | May 13, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Psalm 51:11 – Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 51 is one of the most hopeful and encouraging passages of Scripture. David, out of his own sin and brokenness, reveals what a truly repentant heart looks like. Beginning in verse 5, David identifies the root of our human problem. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; and in sin my mother conceived me.”
Many times, people are convicted over a sin, but do not identify the root of the issue as David has done. Our basic nature is one of lawlessness, which is the meaning of “iniquity.” The reason the Law of God, which is perfect, could not save us is in the “weakness of our flesh” (Romans 8:3).
David confessed to God that his conception was rooted in sin. His appeal to God was the full recognition of his absolute depraved condition. One cannot express more sincere humility than the position David took in this Psalm. David appealed to God in verse 11, asking “not to be cast away from God’s presence.” He knows the only real thing that matters is a life lived in the presence of God. David also understood that this life is a life lived in the Spirit: “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” David knows that he is in danger of losing that presence and favor of God because of his sin. This is why David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He recognized his absolute lost condition without God and his absolute dependence upon God.
When one comes to Christ, one needs to take the same posture as David in recognizing their true condition. A true confession of our need of Christ must contain these two components: recognition of my utter depravity and my desperate need for God’s Holy Spirit. A shallow confession of faith will lead to a life full of challenges and frustration, because it is not wholly dependent upon God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit led Christ to the cross. He is also leading us to our own personal cross of self-sacrifice and surrender to the Father’s will.
Today, ask the Lord to reveal your true depraved condition and to give you a desire for an absolute dependence upon His Holy Spirit. Ask for the grace to freely take up your cross and follow Him.
by George Runyan | May 12, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 16:1 – These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
It should be no surprise that the “world” hates true believers. The system of the world is against all that God has established. The three major systems of the world that resist God’s plan and purposes are Governments, which are driven by ego and pride to control people, Economics, which is driven by greed and separates classes of people, and Religion, which seeks to oppress the masses through fear and domination. God the Father has His plan, called “The Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God is ruled by a benevolent Father through His Son who is full of grace and truth and the Holy Spirit from whom flows righteousness, peace, and joy.
What a contrast between God’s kingdom and the world’s systems dominated by the kingdom of darkness under Satan’s control. Jesus defeated those systems through His overcoming life. He sent His Holy Spirit to overcome those systems through “Spirit-filled and Spirit-led believers.” The world will persecute us as they did the Lord and the early church. Jesus warned His disciples concerning the times in which they lived. His word of truth rings true in our day as well. Those disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, squared off against the powers of hell manifested through the systems of men and overcame even unto death.
Many of God’s people stumble when affliction and persecution comes, because they have not read or have not believed the words of Jesus. Our Lord wants to keep us from stumbling, but we must accept His word and be filled with His Holy Spirit in order to stand. Paul expressed it this way, “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13-14). We live in an evil day, but the enemy’s time is short. His complete defeat is near. Jesus judged him in His victory on the cross and overcame Satan in the power of His resurrection. His church is commissioned with the assignment of cleaning up the mess. As His servants, we are to declare to the world the freedom Christ has made possible from the kingdom of darkness. The Holy Spirit makes available to every believer overcoming power to live above the system of this world.
Believe the words of Jesus as given to His first disciples. Be prepared to be persecuted for His Name’s sake. Be filled with His Holy Spirit and stand firm, resisting in the evil day. Lord, grant me grace to stand and not stumble. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit every day. Use me to demonstrate Your overcoming life in the power of Your Holy Spirit and lead others to Your victory.
by George Runyan | May 11, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 15:26 – When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also.
We must always remind ourselves of Jesus’ words, “when the Helper comes.” As He was pointing His disciples to the soon future event of the coming of the Holy Spirit, He was establishing the thought that they would never be alone. Jesus is clear in this passage that both “the Helper” and His disciples would testify of Him. The Helper is here with us as He was with them. Nothing has changed in the purpose of God. The Spirit testifies of the Lord Jesus Christ by filling us with boldness to open our mouths and declare the Lord’s presence to save and deliver. He testifies with mighty acts of power, but He chooses to work through weak beings. It is in weakness that the grace of our Lord is revealed. Consider the Lord’s word to His servant Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
The Holy Spirit always bears witness to the truth, for He is the “Spirit of truth”! Jesus tells us the Spirit of truth “proceeds from the Father.” He is the “Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son.” The Holy Spirit in us is how the Father and the Son have taken up residence in our being. They are with us in the Holy Spirit. This too, is how we are with them and why Paul could say, “He raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). The Father already sees us seated with Christ. For Him, it is a done deal. For us it should embolden us to testify of what the Lord has accomplished.
Our testimony is not theoretical, but is a reality because of this presence of the Helper. Believers believe in the Holy Spirit as stated in the Apostles Creed, “I believe in the Holy Ghost.” It is more than believing He is the “Third Person of the Trinity.” We are called into a vital relationship with the Spirit Himself. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is revealed through a joint cooperation of His testimony and our testimony. He is not on the outside, but on the inside of every believer. He is there to bear witness to the Son through us. He desires, on a daily basis, a working relationship with each believer. Out of that relationship He reveals to an unbelieving world the power of Jesus’ victory at the cross and an overcoming life because of the resurrection.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself more and more to you as the Helper. Ask Him to reveal truth. Ask Him how He desires you to cooperate with Him in testifying of the risen Christ.
