Daily Devotional For Friday, June 27, 2025
We have been looking at what it means to follow Jesus. We want Jesus as Savior for our souls, but do we want Him as the Satisfier for our soul? When we read Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (NASB), we doubt God in this promise. When people do not meet our expectations we get mad at God and take it out on them. Instead of going to Christ first, we ask ourselves, “Why are they doing this to me?” or “Why aren’t they doing this for me?”
I really believe the reason so many Christians struggle with sin is because we make the victory over sin still about works. For example, take a young man addicted to porn. He confesses that to you and if you are like most Christians, you might ask, “What are you doing not to give-in to this addiction?” “Are you reading your Bible daily?” – Yes. “Are you praying daily?” – Yes. “Are you in a community Bible study group?” – yes. “Are you memorizing Scripture?” – Yes. “Do you have filters on your digital devices?” – Yes. “Do you have an accountability partner?” – Yes. Each of these well intentional questions implies he is not doing or doing enough to overcome his addiction.
How is this young man to believe the promise of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (NASB). Or 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (NASB).
If Christ gives him the strength to not be taken captive by his temptation, then how can he live a victorious life? We could tell him to work harder, which may seem like something impossible to do. OR, we could help him learn how to let Christ overwhelm him with His power of satisfaction. This is true with any sin – lust, materialism, lying, greed, anger, substance abuse. When we believe that Jesus is better and the best option, it motivates us to choose Him. Let me illustrate:
Let’s say you have migraine headaches. I offer you two options which are good. The first option is to take a high powered aspirin such as Excedrin for migraines that will reduce your migraine or I offer you a prescription that will not only ease your migraine, but prevent them. Both work, right? So, which one would you choose? If it’s me I’m going with the prescription. I don’t want to just ease my migraines; I want to prevent them. When it comes to personal desires that can consume us, former atheist converted Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis writes this:
“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased” (Source: C.S. Lewis, The Weight Of Glory, p, 26).
What C.S. Lewis is saying this: when it comes to our sin, it is not that we crave pleasures too much, but that we do not crave the ultimate pleasure enough. Wanting the bigger house, the newest car, the bigger position and everyone and everything going the way we want is just proof we are not content in Christ and Christ alone. Advertisers have convinced us that if we do not have all these things and stuff, we will miss out on the ple;asures of this world. And the more we get, the more we want and the reason this is true is that we do not crave and desire Christ more. When we look at those first disciples of Jesus, they could say what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13:
“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. (12) I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. (13) I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (NASB).
The Apostle Paul learned a valuable lesson – the more we let Christ fulfill the hungers and thirsts of our soul, the more He changes our tastes in our heart to our outward actions. How do I know this? Let’s go back to the book of Philippians 3 and verses 9-10: “Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law (doing), but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith (being), (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (NASB). The more we nurture our relationship to Christ, the more He nurtures our heart so the more we want Him and Him only. When this happens, we begin to experience less conforming (scheming) with the world and more transforming of our mind to have the same mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5).
Assignment: Reflect a moment: Are you blaming anyone for your unhappiness? Do you find yourself being controlled by your own desires, cravings and sins? Whatever you crave in life, is it more than your craving for Christ? How do you think you could know Christ and the power of His Resurrection?
Scripture To Meditate On: Hebrews 13:5-6, “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’ (6)So we can say with confidence,‘The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please help me to crave You more than anything or anyone else. I realize that I will never have true joy and happiness until I pursue You, crave You more for You to give me contentment. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly