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Devotions

Learning through Afflictions

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

The psalmist wrote, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:71, NKJV). You may wonder, as I have, “What kind of theology is this? Is it actually good to be afflicted?”

The Hebrew word for affliction here means “abased, chastened, defiled, hurt, humbled, weakened, depressed.” When you put this meaning into the verse, it suddenly reads, “It is good for me to have been chastened, humbled, weakened, depressed; so that I could learn the Lord’s statutes.” The word statute means “engraved law.” The psalmist is saying, “It is good that I went through these troubles because in the process, God was engraving his laws and ways in my heart.”

The Lord allows trials to come our way to test us, but that is not his primary purpose. Rather, our afflictions are to teach us to walk rightly before him. The Bible says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous…” (Psalm 34:19). According to the psalmist, the point of all our afflictions is for us to learn from them.

One of our missionary couples wrote about the situation in the African nation where they are working. One of the poorest on earth, its situation has been worsened by the long, bloody civil war there. The missionaries recently drove to this desperate country in a truck with a group of Christians from a neighboring country. They were delivering a load of supplies and were scheduled to attend a meeting that night across the border. About five miles from the border, their truck started slowing down. The driver floored the pedal, but the truck’s speed kept dropping. The team was dejected as they watched the car in front of them pull away into the distance.

Finally, the team arrived at the border and instantly the truck’s engine died and simply would not move. Everyone on the team wondered, “Lord, what is going on?” Suddenly, the border guards started racing about, shouting excitedly, “There was an explosion across the border not far from here! One of the warring factions blew up a car that had just driven in.” The missions team realized the car that had been attacked was the one directly in front of them. If the missions truck had been running properly, they also would have been attacked.

The next morning, the driver from the missions team turned the key in the ignition, and the truck started right up. In fact, it ran fine all the rest of the trip. They recognized that God’s purposes had been accomplished through this seemingly troublesome circumstance.

The Spirit of Antichrist

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Our Savior exists as a man right now in glory. He is a living person with flesh, bone, hair, eyes even though he is God. Although we are here on earth, his Spirit dwells within us. “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6, NKJV).

There is another spirit at work in the world: the antichrist spirit. Just as surely as Christ has given us his Spirit, there is an antichrist spirit set on preparing hearts for the coming of the man of sin.

“And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1 John 4:3). John was saying, “You have heard about the coming of the antichrist. It has been preached and taught, and you expect his arrival. Beloved, wake up, because the spirit of antichrist is already at work!”

Understand that the antichrist will not suddenly appear on the scene and overwhelm humankind. Rather, his spirit is mysteriously at work now, setting up his kingdom in cold, compromising hearts. When he finally appears, he will be publicly revealed to a world already prepared for him, to hearts his spirit already possesses!

Right now we see a growing antichrist sentiment, but soon this will turn into a flowing stream and eventually a vast ocean. The antichrist spirit is invading the hearts of many apostate Christians even now. “But how?” you ask. “Why would certain Christians ever turn to the antichrist?” It is because they are like-minded with him.

John wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. …Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:15-18).

John is warning us that those who still love the things of this world have opened themselves to the spirit of antichrist. He is saying, “You know these are the last days because so many are full of the covetous, antichrist spirit!”

He Delights in Mercy

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11, NKJV).

God is talking about his own heart here as well as ours. His chastening is not joyous to him but grievous and painful. When God moves in to judge, he hovers over his children as he chastens them. He looks for even the slightest sign of sorrow or repentance, and he lets up at the first inkling of one. He longs to say, “Enough, no more. It pains me too much to punish you.”

Beloved, you must come to grips with this matter of God's pain. When others are trying to hurt you, you have to bring your thoughts into captivity, and say, “Oh, Lord, let me pray for my enemies, for those who are trying to wound me.”

God loves the most wicked, vile sinner on the street; and if he loves that person, how much more does he love the Christian who hurts you and has made himself your enemy?

Perhaps you have an idea by now of how far we are from the heart of God. We have so much yet to learn of his heart. No, he does not delight in judgment. He takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, nor in his chastening of his children. On the contrary, it pains him awfully.

Let me tell you what the Lord delights in. “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19).

Thank God for his great compassion that is available to all. He delights in mercy!

Ruler over the Whole Earth

Gary Wilkerson

We don’t often think of Revelation has an encouraging book, but please read with me this incredible opening. “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:4-6, ESV). 

Is the ruler of the kings of the earth America? Is it Israel, the European Union, the Arab nations? No! 

Who is the ruler of all the earth? It is Jesus. At whose name will every knee bow and every tongue confess as Lord? It is Jesus. Who is high and lifted up and exalted above every other? No one but Jesus. 

The name of Jesus is glorious and magnified. John is introducing a promise to the beleaguered believers of his time. “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him” (Revelation 1:7). What does Jesus do when the church is in decline and lacking fire, when we lose our first love and are persecuted or discouraged? He makes himself known again! “Here I am. Come and know me.” 

He sets us free again from the sins that so easily entangle us, and he raises us up into a kingdom of faithful priests once more. As much of Jesus as you already have, he has more for you. The greatest thing my father ever taught me was “You can have as much of Jesus as you want.” 

I’m excited about missions work and good preaching and solid theology, but nothing fills me with as much joy and interest as Jesus. Even if we’re not there yet, Jesus is always waiting for us to turn toward him. If we do, we will be overwhelmed with his magnificence. We will have a hope in the ruler over all things. To Jesus Christ be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen!  

Do Not Delay!

Mark Renfroe

Refusing to repent in areas God convicts us about is never good. Most of us would agree on that. However, I think many of us believe it’s okay to think about repentance before we actually submit to the Spirit’s conviction. What we’re really doing is delaying our repentance, and that can sometimes have a spiritual guise to it, but it’s just as poisonous to our relationship with God as outright refusing to turn away from sin. 

We probably all know the story of Jonah. He was given specific commands from God; instead of obeying, he started fleeing to the edge of the known, civilized world. God sent a storm, and instead of repenting, Jonah told the sailors suffering because of his delaying disobedience, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you” (Jonah 1:12, ESV). 

He almost sounds pious and self-sacrificing. In reality, he was still delaying his repentance. It’s not until he was in the belly of the great fish that we finally see Jonah relent and bow to God’s will. 

Jonah went to Nineveh and preached probably the shortest sermon in the Bible about God’s judgment. All of the people immediately repented and started fasting upon being told that they were objects of God’s wrath. The king then declared, “Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands” (Jonah 3:8), but we know that the people of Nineveh were already repenting because they believed Jonah, not because the king ordered it. 

Jesus told the religious leaders of his day, “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41). God always gives us a message of conviction in order to bring restoration, but we must choose to obey. Disobeying or even delaying isn’t a neutral choice; it immediately moves us away from God. He is looking for us to repent quickly so he can restore us to a right relationship with him. 

Mark Renfroe and his wife, Amy, have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. Mark served as the area director for Assemblies of God World Missions and currently serves as the chief missions officer for World Challenge.