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Devotions

Let God Orchestrate It

David Wilkerson

If we’re honest, we’ll admit we often put our confidence in others during our hour of great need. We look to pastors, counselors, friends, spouses for answers. We spend hours, days, even weeks trying to figure out how our problem can be solved. And if a solution isn’t quick in coming, we keep manipulating, working every angle, until all our human resources are exhausted.

Thank God for all the help we get from others, but we are not to look for an angel to appear or a ship to come in. Paul states, “[We] rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). It is for our soul’s sake that God waits until we look beyond human resources and seek him alone for help. He does use people in our lives, but we are to let him orchestrate it.

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). “Do not trust in a friend; do not put your confidence in a companion. . . . Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me” (Micah 7:5, 7).

Paul knew all about the powerlessness of the flesh. He admitted he was not clever. His critics called his preaching contemptible, his presence base — in short, they said he was boring. But Paul had no problem with such criticism because he didn’t trust his flesh. He knew that Jesus hadn’t fought his battles with cleverness, ability or charisma but with all confidence in the Father (see 1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

There is a glorious promise in Hebrews 3:14 for all who hold firmly to their confidence in Jesus: “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” This means that when we maintain an unwavering confidence in the Lord, he becomes our only true source of supply. We need look nowhere else.

One Word from Jesus

David Wilkerson

Deep despair and anguish can come at Jesus from those he cares for most.

Mary and Martha had cast away their confidence in him after their brother, Lazarus, fell sick and died (see John 11:20-21). Jairus’ household had cast away their confidence, as well. They all accused Jesus of being too late and uncaring (see Mark 5:35).

Still, all it took was one word from him, “Rise!” and everything changed in an instant. That’s all it ever takes with the Lord. He speaks one word and suddenly everything is transformed. Satan must loosen his grip, death flees, life springs up, and heaven’s promises break out on all sides.

Beloved, no matter what you’re going through, all the Lord has to do is speak a single word and devils are sent scattering. Creation trembles. Suddenly, the answer you’ve sought is upon you. So, you wonder why the Lord has not answered you yet. Why does your suffering go on? Why does it look so hopeless for some of God’s holiest people?

All I know is that in such crises, God’s people either grow in confidence or draw back and cast away their confidence. “If anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:38–39).

The Lord is determined to strip us of all confidence in the flesh, leaving us with total confidence in him.

Wait on the Holy Spirit!

Gary Wilkerson

If you need the power of God in your life, Jesus has a special word for you. Just before he ascended to heaven, Christ knew his disciples needed power to do the works of his kingdom on earth. So he instructed them, “Behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49-50).

The instruction was simple: “Stay in the city.” But note that he uses a qualifier: until. Jesus was saying, “Your lives will remain the same until the Holy Spirit comes upon you with power.”

This is true for a lot of Christians I know. They sense their life isn’t going quite according to God’s design. They are dissatisfied, wanting more in their marriage, their work, their walk with Christ, their witness for him. Jesus is promising them, “God desires those changes for you, but such things only happen through the power of the Spirit. Until he comes, things will remain the same.”

Luke wrote this scene in his gospel, and he repeats it in the book of Acts: “While staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-5).

Jesus’ message in both passages is clear: “Wait on the Holy Spirit! Don’t rush, clamor or panic. You can’t will your way to accomplishing the works of the kingdom. Wait in faith, and you’ll be endued with power from on high.” Indeed, it happened just as he promised. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were filled with a powerful anointing from God such as the world had never seen. And two thousand years later, the world has never been the same.

Leading a Soul to Christ

Nicky Cruz

In Genesis we read the story of Jacob’s wife, Rachel, and her desperate desire to have a child. She could no longer bear the thought of living without knowing the joy of childbirth, without experiencing all that was intended for her as a woman. In Jewish culture a woman without a child was looked on with disdain, as an incomplete person. Rachel’s pain was unbearable, and she cried out to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” (Genesis 30:1).

Bringing a soul to Christ is very much like giving birth. The Holy Spirit conceives the desire in our hearts, and we then begin to nurture the process, growing in our relationship, praying for them regularly. We feel the time coming near and long to see our new baby delivered. We want to hold and nurture our new child, to experience both the pain and joy of childbirth. When it finally happens, when our new baby is born, we don’t want to put it down. All we can think about is helping our child grow and flourish and take on the image of Christ.

If only every follower of Christ felt this same sense of passion and urgency to bring a new child into God’s kingdom! What if the desire burned within our hearts until we finally cried out to God, “Give me a spiritual child, or I will die!”? You and I both know what would happen: God would honor those prayers. 

But everywhere I go I meet Christians who have never felt the joy of leading a soul to Christ. They come to me asking for advice, sometimes embarrassed by the confession. I tell them not to be ashamed by this fact but instead excited that the Holy Spirit is convicting their hearts.

“The first step in sharing your faith is developing a burning desire to do so,” I tell them. And we can count on the Holy Spirit to ignite this desperate desire within us, if we ask and allow him to.

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run

We Need Only Jesus

David Wilkerson

We are familiar with the account of the grieving father who came to Jesus for the healing of his dying daughter. “One of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she shall live.’ So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him” (Mark 5:22–24).

Clearly, Jairus had a good measure of faith. He urged Jesus, “Come and lay hands on her and she’ll be healed.” What an affirmation of Jairus’ deep belief: “My daughter only needs Jesus’ touch. He has all power. He can keep her from death.”

Jairus’ attitude represents most Christians today. When we are in a deep crisis, we know Jesus is our only hope. And so we run to Him in our need, falling at His feet and seeking His mercy and help.

Jesus responded to Jairus’ faith by going with him. Can you imagine the great hope that must have filled that father’s heart? Yet, at the same time, I believe a terrible thought might have struck Jairus: “What if we’re too late? It’s wonderful to have Jesus by my side but we need time. With every step we take back to my house, life is seeping out of my daughter.”

In our own crises, most of us say the same thing Jairus did: “I need you, Jesus. But we are running out of time.” Had Jairus known who Jesus was — the resurrection and the life — he would have rested at heart. He could have reassured his troubled spirit, “Jesus exists outside of time. We don’t need more time. We only need Him!”