David Wilkerson Devotions

I think the majority of Christians would like to escape to some safe, quiet hideaway in the mountains to keep from being tainted by all the iniquity surrounding them. Many despair, saying, “What can one Christian do about all this moral degradation? What can one church do in a wild and wicked city?” Others think, “Is there really anything I can do, an insignificant Christian like me? I have no money, no training, no influence. I only have a great love for Jesus.”

Paul often refers to himself as “the prisoner of Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians 4:1, he says being a prisoner of the Lord is actually his vocation, his calling! He considered this God's gift of grace to him (see Ephesians 4:7).

How many years did you waste before you repented and surrendered all to Jesus? How many years were eaten up by the cankerworm of sin and rebellion? Now you know you are forgiven, but wouldn't you love to get back those years and live them for the glory of the Lord?

In his final days, Paul looked back over his life and testified, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NKJV).

“Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there” (Genesis 43:30 NKJV).

This is the heart of our Savior, even toward the sinful. Joseph and his brothers were eating and drinking in the same room, but he sat alone. We dare not pass lightly over this statement. These men were taking a meal in Joseph's presence without being fully restored and without a revelation of love and grace.

Joseph’s brothers had no idea how much they were loved until God used a crisis to show them. “The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold them to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. …When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, ‘Why do you look at one another?’ And he said, ‘Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.’” (Genesis 41:56; 42:1-3 NKJV).

God's merciful love is always revealed in response to a cry from the heart. The Bible has a lot to say about that humble cry for deliverance. “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; he heard my voice from his temple, and my cry came before him, even to his ears” (Psalm 18:6 NKJV). “Many times he delivered them; but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry” (Psalm 106:43-44).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’” (John 5:8 NKJV). The crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda had likely heard some of the stories about a man named Jesus healing people throughout the region. What he didn’t know was that Jesus knew about him too. He came to this poor man, lying by the pool in his misery and sorrow, and was moved with compassion. All Jesus asked was that the man believe his words and act on them. “Rise! Take up your bed. Walk away from this scene.”

The men and women who were headed for the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 1 and 2) loved Jesus dearly. They had been taught in the school of Christ by the Lord himself. Some had performed miracles, healed the sick and cast out demons. They were compassionate and soul-loving, but they weren’t yet qualified to be his witnesses.

The only time God’s patience with us runs out is when we refuse again and again to accept how much he loves us.

Many Christians today have been turned back into a wilderness of their own making. They have no joy, no victory. Looking at them, you’d think God had forsaken them years ago. No. He has simply turned them over to their own complaining and murmuring.

The Bible gives us a vivid illustration of the key to Christian victory in Numbers 13 and 14. Israel had sent twelve spies to search out the Promised Land. When the spies returned after forty days, ten of them planted three lies in the hearts of God’s people: 1) “There are too many people in the land and they’re too strong for us;” 2) “the cities are walled too high and the strongholds are impregnable;” and 3) “there are giants in the land and we’re no match for them. We’re helpless! Finished!”