Daily Devotions

Here’s the scenario, the temptation sits before you, crying out to you to come and take it. It looks so much like the desire of your heart that you cannot stop thinking about it. An alarm goes off within your spirit, something just isn’t right about what you want to do. Still, the opportunity is so enticing that you shake off the warning, thinking, “Why not? God doesn’t really care about this, does He?” You know deep down inside that He does, so the argument in your mind continues, “What if this is my only chance to be happy? God wouldn’t deny me that, would He? What if God never gives me what I really want?”
When thoughts like that enter your mind, consider this life principle: “Whatever you acquire outside of God’s will eventually turns to ashes.” You are about to enter dangerous territory that will disappoint you and may even destroy you, as well.
Here’s a little history lesson. For hundreds of years, the Ammonites conspired to run the people of God out of the Promise Land. So when God rebuked Judah for its sin, He simply took His hand of protection off His people and allowed the Ammonites to attack, Still, God is just. He faithfully judged Ammon for its sinfulness.
The Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, so they were both neighbors of Judah and Israel and related to them as well. The Ammonites could have learned to honor God and enjoy His blessings. Unfortunately, they were more interested in possessing the land of their relatives than in knowing their God, and because of it they came to a bitter end: no land, no God, no nation – nothing! Everything they had turned to ashes, even though God gave them plenty of time to repent and turn from their evil ways. Listen, don’t make their mistake.
Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, betrayed Ammon, attacking its capital city around 581 BC. Ammon never recovered, and eventually the nation died out completely. During the 3rd century BC, Ptolemy II Philadelphus renamed the city Philadelphia. It received it current name – Amman, Jordan in the 3rd century AD.
Here’s my question to you today: “What do you long for? Is it love, wealth, acceptance, stability, prominence, or something else?” Listen, if you chase after it apart from God’s will, what you’ll find once you achieve your goal will be extremely disappointing and empty. It will burn up and turn to ashes, and it will singe you in the process, as well. And so, don’t ignore the alarm signal within you because it is God’s Holy Spirit warning you that you’re about to do something that you will regret later.
Instead, trust God and be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Resist the temptation to go after the desire of your heart in your own strength and by your own means, remembering that God will provide the absolute best for you if you will only trust and obey Him. Those are the blessings that endure, and they will be to God’s glory in eternity. As David wrote on Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the LORD. And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
So, how will you live out today’s principle? Remember, when we pursue our desire in opposition to God’s will, we end up truly disappointed (Psalm 106:15), and as we pursue God, He fulfills the other desires that He has given us (Psalm 36:5).