The Strait Gate » Devotionals

The Strange People Without Shoes

TheStraitGate — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:17:20 +0000

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News . . . . Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:15, 18, NLT).

Dear friends:

The story is told of a man who traveled to a certain city on one cold morning. As he arrived at his hotel, he noticed that everyone there was barefooted, including all the clerks and guests. In the coffee shop, he noticed a well-dressed fellow at a nearby table and asked, “Why aren’t you wearing shoes? Don’t you know about shoes?”

“Of course, I know about shoes,” the patron replied.

“Then why don’t you wear them?” the visitor asked.

“Ah, that is the question,” the patron returned. “Why don’t I wear shoes?”

After breakfast, the visitor walked out of the hotel and into the snow. Again, every person he saw was barefooted. Curious, he asked a passerby, “Why doesn’t anyone here wear shoes? Don’t you know that they protect the feet from the cold?”

The passerby said, “Believe me, we all know about shoes. See that building? It’s a shoe factory. We are so proud of the plant that we gather there every week to hear the man in charge tell us how wonderful shoes are.”

“Then why don’t you wear shoes?” the visitor persisted.

“Ah, that is the question,” the passerby replied. “Why don’t we wear shoes?”

When it comes to prayer, many Christians are like the strange people in that city. They know about prayer. They believe in prayer. They know how wonderful it is and what a blessing it can be. They frequently gather at the church to hear sermons about how wonderful prayer is. But if you ask them why they don’t pray more, they would say, “Ah, that is the question. Why don’t I pray more?”

Prayer is an indescribable privilege. As you know, it is very difficult to speak with the mayor of your city, the governor of your state, congressmen or President. What is amazing is that you can speak with the all-powerful, all-wise and all-loving Creator, God and Savior anytime, day or night, 24 hours a day – no appointment needed!

In my study of God’s Word and in my travels throughout the world, I have become absolutely convinced that wherever people really pray according to biblical principles, God works in their lives and through them in the lives of others in a special way.

Let us be praying Christians and not like those people without shoes!

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

About the Author
The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world’s population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, “JESUS,” which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Dr. Bright recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to “Touch, Teach and Train” a group of 5 million new house churches around the world 24/7/365 at http://www.globalpastorsnetwork.org.

How to Bring Revival to Your Church

TheStraitGate — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:22:33 +0000

He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault (Ephesians 5:27, NLT).

Dear friends:

Previously, I provided some suggestions for your personal spiritual revival.

After you experience revival inside the little circle that in your mind you symbolically drew around yourself, as I described, it is time to reach outside your circle and yourself, to your family, and then to your spiritual family — your church.

Below are some suggestions for helping to bring revival to your church. Whatever you do, do it with humility, with a servant’s heart, and not as though you are suddenly a spiritual giant and everyone else is spiritually inferior to you. God will bless your efforts.

Here are some ideas:

1. Encourage your pastor and church leaders to preach and teach on the attributes of God as a basis for first love, faith, and obedience.

2. Organize a 24-hour prayer chain divided into 96 fifteen-minute periods. Ask participants to pray around the clock for revival among church members and for a great spiritual harvest of new believers.

3. Choose seven different church members to meet with the pastor early each Sunday morning for prayer and to receive his prayer requests for each day of the week, each day assigned to one of the seven.

4. Invite several church members to gather for prayer during each church service, especially while the pastor is preaching.

5. Encourage all church members to fast and pray on behalf of the pastor and the church for one 24-hour period each week.

6. Ask your pastor or church leader to emphasize biblical truths on repentance, confession of sin, restitution, and reconciliation among church members.

7. Teach members how to be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit by faith as a way of life.

8. Train church members and other Christian groups on an ongoing basis to share their faith more effectively in the power of the Holy Spirit.

9. Designate one night each week for positive, aggressive evangelism as a part of church visitation.

10. Challenge members to help fulfill the Great Commission in their neighborhood and develop a vision for the world.

11. Encourage members to understand the law of sowing and reaping and honor the Lord through obedient and faithful stewardship. Teach them the joy of giving tithes and offerings.

12. Teach the history and conditions of revival. Encourage members to read biblical and historical accounts of revival.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

How to Have Personal Revival

TheStraitGate — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:06:35 +0000

Create in me a clean heart, O God (Psalm 51:10, NLT).

Dear friends:

World and national revival begins with each one of us, individually.

Someone once stood, drew a chalk circle around his feet, then prayed, “Lord, please send revival, and start inside this circle.”

Do you want revival in America? Then in your mind symbolically draw a circle around your feet. Let revival begin inside your circle.

Do you need a jump-start in your spiritual life? Do you sometimes feel spiritually dry? If so, you need personal revival. There is nothing more invigorating that experiencing personal, spiritual refreshing. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19, NIV).

Here are some suggestions to help bring that revival and refreshing to your heart:

1. Love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5).

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any unconfessed sin in your life.

3. Seek forgiveness from all whom you have offended, and forgive all who have hurt you. Make restitution where God leads.

4. Examine your motives in every word and deed. Ask the Lord to search and cleanse your heart daily.

5. Ask the Holy Spirit to guard your walk against complacency and mediocrity.

6. Praise and give thanks to God continually and in all ways on all days, regardless of your circumstances.

7. Refuse to obey your carnal (worldly) nature (Galatians 5:16,17).

8. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Develop utter dependence on Him with total submission and humility.

9. Study the attributes of God.

10. Hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6).

11. Appropriate the continual fullness and control of the Holy Spirit by faith on the basis of God’s command (Ephesians 5:18) and promise (1 John 5:14,15).

12. Read, study, meditate on, and memorize God’s holy, inspired, inerrant Word daily (Colossians 3:16).

13. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

14. Fast and pray one 24-hour period each week. Prayerfully consider becoming one of the millions of Christians who will fast for forty days for revival and spiritual awakening in America and the world.

15. Seek to share Christ daily as a way of life.

16. Determine to live a holy, godly life of obedience and faith.

17. Start or join a home or church Bible study group that emphasizes revival and a holy life.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

The Role of Fasting

TheStraitGate — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:14:36 +0000

Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting (Joel 1:14, NLT).

Dear friends:

Down through the centuries, godly people have been mightily used by God through the discipline of prayer with fasting.

John Wesley shook the world for God during the Great Awakening, which gave rise to the Methodist Church toward the end of the eighteenth century. He is representative of such great spiritual leaders.

John and his brother Charles Wesley, with their friend George Whitefield and other fellow believers, regularly fasted and prayed while students at Oxford University in 1732, and they later required that all of their pastors fast every Wednesday and Friday.

The roll call of other great Christian leaders who determined to make prayer with fasting a part of their lives reads like a hall of fame: Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Jonathan Edwards, Matthew Henry, Charles Finney, Andrew Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and many more.

Why were they so convinced of the need for fasting and prayer? And how does fasting cause the fire of God to fall upon the life of the individual and the Church?

The writings of Scripture, the Church Fathers and many Christian leaders of today offer several biblical insights into the spiritual need for fasting. For examples, it is a biblical way to truly humble oneself in the sight of God; it brings revelation by the Holy Spirit of a person’s true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance and change; it transforms prayer into a richer and more personal experience; it can result in dynamic personal revival, regaining a strong sense of spiritual determination; and it can restore the loss of one’s first love for our Lord.

Throughout the Old and New Testament eras and during the last 2,000 years, fasting has been a primary means of humbling ourselves before God.

Of course, fasting must be undertaken with the right attitude. Humility is an attitude of the heart. The Scripture says, “A broken and a contrite heart — these, O God, You wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17, NKJV).

God will hear us and respond to our cry when we come before Him in humility and brokenness — acknowledging and repenting of our sins, and asking Him to cleanse us by the blood of Jesus and to fill us with His Holy Spirit.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

Revival in Wales

TheStraitGate — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:56:59 +0000

Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? (Psalm 85:6, NLT).

Dear friends:

In 1904, the leader of a great spiritual awakening in Wales was a young Welsh miner with coal dust in his hair and grime beneath his fingernails. He possessed no skills as an orator, nor was he widely read. The only book he knew was the Bible, and his heart burned with a passion for God and His holy Word.

For years, Evan Roberts yearned to preach the gospel. One day in 1904 while Roberts was in prayer, God revealed to him that He was going to send a revival to Wales.

Burning with this vision, Roberts sought opportunity to preach, but found none. He begged his pastor to let him preach, and at first the bewildered minister said no to this overly enthusiastic coal miner. Finally, after much pleading, the pastor relented.

“All right, Evan, you can preach following the Wednesday night service,” he said, “if anyone chooses to stay and listen.”

Seventeen curious seekers stayed behind. The young evangelist boldly proclaimed that he had heard from God. His message was simple: (1) You must confess every known sin to God; (2) you must remove every doubtful habit from your life; (3) you must obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting; and (4) you must go public with your witness for Christ. Although Roberts was unskilled in preaching, the pastor and those 17 church members began to burn with a fiery touch from God.

The next night more came to hear the young preacher, and the fire quickly spread to other churches. In the next thirty days, 37,000 people came forward to repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Within five months, 100,000 were swept into Christ’s kingdom across the country, and Roberts’ vision was beginning to be fulfilled!

Just as God had shown him, Roberts saw the revival leap to England. There, an estimated 2 million people received Christ. Then the Holy Spirit coursed out into Western and Northern Europe. When the Spirit “fell” upon Norway, so many packed the churches that the clergy had to ordain laypersons in order to serve communion to the masses. Then the Spirit of revival swept across the world to Africa, India, China, Korea and to America. Historians estimate that 20 million people came to Christ while this revival burned in America.

I have personally fasted and prayed for 40 days for each of the last eight years, that God would visit America and the world in revival power again.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

Revival!

TheStraitGate — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:00:21 +0000

What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord (Psalm 33:12, NLT).

Dear friends:

America needs revival!

Revival originates with our sovereign Lord; however, that does not mean that we have to passively wait for a general outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church and the nation. God is waiting on us to obey what He has already commanded us!

Our task is to surrender to the lordship of Christ and the control of the Holy Spirit, fast, pray, and obey God’s Word. Meeting these conditions, we can expect the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and our nation.

I liken this to the story of two Christian farmers. They lived on adjoining farms. They were both poor when they started, and each had similar equipment. Today, one is wealthy, and the other is poor.

The wealthy farmer works hard. He chooses his seed carefully. He fertilizes the soil, waters it, and carefully works the field. And at the right time, he harvests the grain.

The other farmer is lazy and undisciplined. He does not choose good seed. He does not fertilize his soil properly, and he leaves too much to chance. He loves to sit on his front porch and watch the world pass by on the state highway.

God sends sun and rain on both farms. But he expects the farmers to add shoe leather and elbow grease to what He entrusts to them.

I believe the same is true spiritually. God wants to send revival to the individual who is willing to repent and seek Him. Jesus said: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6, NIV).

The Holy Spirit of God is sovereign. He works when and where He chooses. But personal revival begins with an inner call to the heart by the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:13). The conscience finds itself stirred by that call. The will makes the decision to obey or ignore it.

Today, our decision is crucial as individuals, as a church and as a nation. God is asking us to seek Him with all of our being. The revival which He promises begins when we humble ourselves, repent, fast, pray, and seek His face and turn from our evil ways. God has promised to respond with revival fire for any person who will hear, love, trust and obey Him.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

A Powerful Voice From The Past

TheStraitGate — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:09:19 +0000

Ask God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the Good News is for the Gentiles, too (Ephesians 6:19, NLT).

Dear friends:

Some of you may remember the late Dr. Charles Malik, Ambassador to the United Nations from Lebanon and President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1959.

Dr. Malik was a very dear friend for approximately 25 years, until his death. With an earned doctorate from Harvard University, and with over 50 honorary doctorates from many of the most prestigious universities of the world, Dr. Malik was truly one of the great intellectual and spiritual giants of our century.

It was my privilege to hear him speak to a group of world leaders in Washington, D.C. I was deeply touched by his strong witness for the Lord Jesus when he said, “The deeper need of the world,” he said, “belongs to the sphere of the mind, heart and spirit, a spirit to be penetrated with the light and grace of Jesus Christ.”

He went on to say, “I really do not know what will remain of civilization and history if the accumulated influence of Jesus Christ, both direct and indirect, is eradicated from literature, art, practical dealings, moral standards, and creativeness in the different activities of mind and spirit.” Then he concluded with this profound statement: “The heart of the whole matter,” he said, “is faith in Jesus Christ.”

Following his address, I approached him to say, “Many political leaders speak of God, the Bible, prayer in a general way, but I have never heard one in your position of worldwide leadership who has spoken so powerfully and so convincingly of your faith in and your love for Jesus Christ.”

His response moved me deeply. “I am sobered by the words of our Lord,” he said, “‘Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.’”

Today, America needs such leaders and influencers with the conviction and boldness of Dr. Malik to unashamedly speak of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did not claim to be “a way,” but “the way.” We must show love to those involved with false religions, but remember that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NIV).

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

As Long As I Have Breath

TheStraitGate — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:01:19 +0000

Even in old age they will still produce fruit (Psalm 92:14, NLT).

Dear friends:

As I write this, I am confined to my bed and am on supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day.

In October 2002, I celebrated my 81st birthday. Approximately three years ago, I was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease. The doctors told me there is no known cure for this condition. I was told that the average remaining life of someone with pulmonary fibrosis is three years and at the most five years.

That time has almost expired. Many people, aware of my physical condition, thought I would be gone from this world long before now. It reminds me of Mark Twain, who, after reading his obituary in a newspaper, laughed off the erroneous report stating, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

In fact, the past two years have been among the most productive of my life, as I have been able to keep a vigorous schedule of writing, editing, producing teaching videos, some traveling and speaking, and even the co-founding of the Global Pastors Network, a strategy to help start 5 million house churches worldwide.

Of course, if the Lord tarries, my day to enter glory will eventually come. What a wonderful day that will be! But it is a win-win situation for me. If I go, I will be with my wonderful Lord whom I have served for almost 60 years. If I stay, I will be able to joyously serve Him even more than I have in the past.

I am reminded of Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (NIV). As long as I am here, as long as I have breath, I will praise and serve the Lord.

That is also God’s will for your life. If you trust in Him, it can also be a win-win situation for you. As long as you have breath, God’s Word commands you to praise Him, and He also has something for you to do.

There are many possibilities. Perhaps you can be a prayer intercessor. There is not a more important job in the body of Christ than that of an intercessor.

You can be a prayer intercessor while confined to a bed or a wheelchair. You can pray literally anywhere. If you do not have the strength to pray aloud, you can whisper. If you cannot whisper, you can move your lips. If you cannot move your lips, then pray silently, in your mind. God knows and reads your heart.

Your humble prayers can actually help change your world!

Are you still breathing? Then be encouraged, and get busy!

(For my free booklet on prayer intercession, “As Long As I Have Breath,” write to “As Long As I Have Breath ? offer,” Mail Code 2100, 100 Lake Hart Drive, Orlando, Florida 32832. Include name and address.)

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

Why Jesus Came

TheStraitGate — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:55:35 +0000

My purpose is to give life in all its fullness (John 10:10, NLT).

Dear friends:

One winter during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Colonnade of the temple in Jerusalem. A crowd gathered around Him demanding:

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

“I did tell you,” He answered, “but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me…I and the Father are one” (John 10:22?25,30, NIV).

Our Lord’s claim is reinforced by the fact that He fulfilled prophecy. Hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth, various prophets of Israel foretold His miraculous birth, the place of His birth, His divine character, the purpose of His ministry, how He would die, and that He would be raised to life. These prophecies represent only a few of the many predictions made about Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. And He fulfilled every one down to the very last detail.

After His cruel crucifixion, Jesus demonstrated that He was God by rising from death and appearing over a period of forty days to hundreds of people, as many as five hundred in a single meeting. Then, as His followers watched in wonder, Jesus returned to heaven, having promised a continuing relationship with those who love Him.

God’s holy, inspired Word also affirms Jesus’ claim. The apostle Paul records, “He promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:2-4, NIV).

Jesus didn’t live on earth just to prove He is God. He came to give you eternal life, to offer you forgiveness and set you free from sin and guilt, to give you a full and meaningful life here on earth. And it’s because Jesus is God that He can provide forgiveness from sin and enable you to live abundantly.

In a conversation with a religious leader of His day, Jesus said, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17, NIV).

Paul wrote, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2, NIV).

A rich and satisfying life is the heritage of every Christian. Jesus intended the Christian life to be an exciting, abundant adventure.

He promised.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright
About the Author
The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world’s population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, “JESUS,” which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Dr. Bright recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to “Touch, Teach and Train” a group of 5 million new house churches around the world 24/7/365 at http://www.globalpastorsnetwork.org.

Sweet Forgiveness

TheStraitGate — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:50:54 +0000

His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:11-12, NLT).

Dear friends:

Do you sometimes find it difficult to believe that you have total forgiveness for your sins in Jesus Christ? Intellectually you believe it, but how about deep within your heart?

Imagine yourself in the crowd as this story takes place as recorded in the Book of Luke:

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him. So they went up to the roof, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his mat, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

“Who does this man think he is?” the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to each other. “This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you think this is blasphemy? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, take your mat, and go on home, because you are healed!” (Luke 5:18,20?24, NLT).

What a marvelous illustration of God’s willingness to forgive.

God’s holy Word tells us that Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, has set us free-free from sin, and free from the bondage of guilt that sin and the Law bring.

Maybe you are finding it difficult to believe in your heart that your sin has been paid for. Perhaps you are thinking, “I have lustful thoughts toward another person.” Or, “I’ve been taking the Lord’s name in vain. God won’t forgive that, will He?”

The fact is, He has forgiven you if you have placed your trust in Christ. You simply need to claim His forgiveness and believe His promise. And what a promise it is!

And think of it: It became yours the moment you believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior and as an act of your will received Him by faith into your life as your Lord and Master.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright