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Devotions

Chasing Away the Vultures

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

In Genesis 15, God made a glorious agreement with Abraham. He instructed the patriarch to take a female heifer, a female goat and a ram and cut them all in two. Then Abraham was to take a turtledove and a pigeon and lay them on the ground, head-to-head. Abraham did as he was instructed, and as these creatures lay bleeding, vultures began to descend on the carcasses.

What did Abraham do when the vultures came? Scripture says he chased them away. This was a sacred sacrifice that Abraham would not allow to be defiled or rendered unfit for his Holy Lord. Likewise, the Lord has shown us a way to deal with ‘vultures’ or temptations and vain thoughts when they creep up on our spiritual sacrifices.

Whenever any voice of doubt or questioning God comes into my mind, I have to line it up against what I know about my loving Lord. I can’t accept any thoughts as true if they are simply based on what I am feeling in the moment. They must be measured against Jesus’ promises to me about himself and about the victory he has won for me.

If thoughts come to me that are accusing, if they cause doubt and fear or are condemning or bring a sense of rejection, I know they are not from God. We all have to be prepared for such dark and tormenting thoughts to come. Even the Lord Jesus was subject to these kinds of ideas from the enemy during his wilderness temptation. We don’t have to be afraid of the devil’s attacks, though, because Christ has given us mighty spiritual weapons of warfare.

When vultures come at you, bringing contemplation of your own unworthiness and insecurity, chase them away with God’s Word. The sacrifice that the Lord has led you to make is pleasing to him, and he will honor it.

Neither Hot nor Cold

Gary Wilkerson

You may notice in your own life when the Holy Spirit wants to bring you a greater measure of himself, a greater baptism of his power, that you often find these times accompanied by tears.  Dont ever be ashamed of tears. Dont ever be ashamed to cry. Dont ever try to remove yourself from the emotions that come when God begins to move in your life. He wants to move not only your mind but also your heart and bring you to a place of tears as well.

This is confirmed by the Apostle Paul, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:17-18, ESV). The Holy Spirit was in Paul and his prayers for the church, but what was he talking about here? Why does he emphasize, “Im going to tell you now, weeping, that some are enemies of the cross”?

The reason he’s telling them so emphatically is not because somebody out there in the wide world is an enemy of the cross, but rather the devil is trying to work inside the body of Christ, in the church itself, to get us to be enemies of the cross. 

Does this mean you could suddenly become an atheist? No.

Being lukewarm, however, becomes a lifestyle all too easily. Remember what John writes in Revelation? “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-17). This is what I believe that Paul alluding to in Philippians.

Could you continue to live in apathy and not be concerned about it? Could you continue to be in the compromise of sinful living and your heart isn’t broken over it?

Oh, church, it's time we get on our faces before the Lord and cry out for his mercy on us and this generation. “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” (Hebrews 5:7). We need to pray for passion, holy grief and fervency in these final days.

Choose to Be in or Out

Carter Conlon

“Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord” (Lamentations 3:40, KJV).

Crisis moments require us to be courageous enough to deal with the issues of our day and, more importantly, those that lie within our own hearts. It is time for an appraisal. Not of our assets, not of our property. We need to probe deeper. It is time for us to stop and seriously consider where we are headed. Are you and I prepared for what is coming? Do we have resident within us what we need to face the coming days?

I fear that many Christians are largely unaware of the depth of the great trials that will one day face the church and, sadly, possess little inner resource to meet them.

We profess our devotion to Christ without much difficulty when the sun is out, the paycheck is in the mailbox, and there is still food on the table. Yet it is when we strike the iceberg that, in the same manner as the RMS Titanic, suddenly the flaws in our hearts and motives will be unveiled.

That is when it will become evident if our security is truly rooted in Christ alone. We will discover whether or not our hearts will prove to be steadfast, with the express purpose of living for the glory of God and the souls of men.

If we expect to be found unshakable in the days to come, I can only arrive at this one conclusion: an immediate and deliberate decision must be made in our hearts to go the full journey with Christ. Following Christ in this way was never promised to be an easy path; in fact, I daresay that the half-hearted simply will not make it.

This is precisely why it is imperative that we take the time to search our hearts now. We must face that most critical of choices: are we all in, or are we out?

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.

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The Faith God Loves

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

As we read Hebrews 11, we find a single common denominator to the lives of the people mentioned. Each had a particular characteristic that denotes the kind of faith God loves. What was this element? Their faith was born of deep intimacy with the Lord.

The fact is that it’s impossible to have a faith that pleases God without sharing intimacy with him. What do I mean by intimacy? I’m speaking of a closeness to the Lord that comes from yearning for him. This kind of intimacy is a close personal bond, a communion. It comes when we desire the Lord more than anything else in this life.

“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4, NKJV). I want to note several significant things about this verse. First, God himself testifies about Abel’s offerings. Second, Abel had to build an altar to the Lord where he brought his sacrifices. He offered not only unspotted lambs for the sacrifice but the fat of those lambs as well. “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat” (Genesis 4:4).

What does the fat signify here? The book of Leviticus says of the fat, “The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the Lord’s” (Leviticus 3:16). The fat was the part of the sacrifice that caused a sweet aroma to rise. This part of the animal caught flame quickly and was consumed; the fat here serves as a type of prayer or fellowship that’s acceptable to God. It represents our ministry to the Lord in the secret closet of prayer. The Lord himself states that such intimate worship rises to him like a sweet-smelling savor.

The Bible’s first mention of this kind of worship is by Abel. That is why Abel is listed in Hebrews 11’s ‘Hall of Faith.’ He’s a type of servant who was in fellowship with the Lord, offering him the best of all he had. As Hebrews declares, Abel’s example lives on today as a testimony of true, living faith: “He being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

Increase Our Faith

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Mark 4:35-41 relates a story of Jesus and his disciples in a boat, being tossed about on a stormy sea. As we pick up the scene, Christ has just calmed the waves with a single command. Now he turns to his disciples and asks, “How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40, NKJV).

You may think this sounds harsh. It was only human to be afraid in such a terrible storm, yet Jesus wasn’t chiding them for that reason. Look at what the disciples said to him as they awoke him. “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). They questioned his goodness and attentiveness to their situation.

Can you imagine it? Jesus’ own disciples didn’t know him. He had personally called each of these men to follow him, and they had ministered alongside him to multitudes of people. They’d witnessed his mercy to lepers and outcasts; they’d seen him gather little children and bless them. They’d seen all this and more, but they were still strangers to who their master really was.

He was telling them, “After all this time, you still don’t understand my nature. How could you possibly walk with me for this long, and not know me intimately?”

Tragically, the same is true today. Many Christians have ridden in the boat with Jesus, ministered alongside him and reached multitudes in his name. Despite all this, they really don’t know their master. They haven’t spent intimate time shut in with him. They’ve never sat quietly in his presence, opening their hearts to him, waiting and listening to comprehend what he wants to say to them.

We see another scene regarding the disciples’ faith in the Gospel of Luke. The disciples came to Jesus, requesting, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). Many Christians today ask the same question: “How can I obtain greater faith?” Unlike the disciples, though, they don’t seek the Lord himself for their answer.

So how did Jesus answer their request for faith? “Gird yourself and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken” (see Luke 17:6-8). Jesus was saying, in essence, “Put on your garment of patience. Then come to my table. I want you to feed me there. You happily labor for me all day long. Now I want you to commune with me. Sit down with me, open your heart, and learn of me.”

If you want increased faith, you must observe the Lord’s nature and patiently seek his presence.