Body

Devotions

Seek Out God’s Direction

Nicky Cruz

I was just twenty-two when God imparted into my heart his will for me to become an evangelist. He instructed me to use my past and my testimony to draw sinners to salvation, and since that time I’ve remained faithful to that calling. At times I’ve grown tired of telling my story, and I’ve wished God would use me for another purpose. It’s hard to relive the memories over and over again.

Often I’ve thought to myself, “What harm would it be if I simply went into another line of ministry? Maybe I could pastor a church or put together a seminar on marriage and family issues — something that would allow me to use more of my gifts and talents. Or maybe I could go into business!”

But then I remember my calling, and those thoughts quickly subside. There is nothing wrong with any of these professions; they are simply not what God intended for my life. I am an evangelist, an ambassador of God’s grace and forgiveness. I tell people about Jesus and lead them to salvation before his throne. That is my purpose before God as well as my spiritual gift. When God gave me this calling, he not only gave me the ability to carry it out, but he placed in my heart a compassion for the lost. He gave me eyes to see clearly the people who need forgiveness, then he set me on a path to find them. And because I have tried to stay true to that vision, he has been able to use me for his glory. Gloria, my wife, has always felt this same call on her life.

You may have another calling and profession. God has created each of us with different talents and gifts —but all of us are called to reach the lost! We must seek out his direction and vision for our lives and then stay focused and committed to that cause.

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.

Heal this Troubled Soul

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

A young pastor called me, ready to quit the ministry. The Lord had been using him in a wonderful way, but now he was discouraged, feeling worthless, useless, no good to God at all. When he called me, he was devastated over some decisions he had made and indicated that he was ready to give up. He was angry at God and when he talked with me, I sensed that he expected me to be angry with him. But he was so broken and beaten down that I felt only God’s love and compassion for him.

I didn’t lecture this young pastor or rebuke him. Instead, I silently prayed, “Dear Lord, what can I say to this man that will heal his troubled soul? What do you have for him? What comfort from your Spirit, your Word?”

The Lord impressed me, “Send him to Psalm 107.” I later discovered that this psalm has been called “the Old Testament love feast.” It is one of the most encouraging passages in all of God’s Word and it is meant especially for those needing forgiveness, deliverance, restoration. The final verse promises the reader an understanding of who God truly is:

 “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord” (107:43).

God is saying, “Observe, read, study this psalm and you will be given a comprehensive understanding of my longsuffering and lovingkindness.” I believe that as you study this entire psalm, you will receive a revelation of God’s great love, even toward the rebellious and disobedient. You see, it is a promise — proof that God will never walk out on any of his children, regardless of how low they may have sunk.

Consider how much you love your own child. Is there anything that precious one could do that would make you reject him? How much more the heavenly Father loves his own and extends love and forgiveness! His ear is always open to our cry.

The Secret of Unity

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

In John 13, Jesus took a towel and a basin and washed the feet of his disciples.

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). After he had washed their feet, he asked them, “Do you know what I’ve just done for you?” In other words, “Do you understand the spiritual significance of foot washing?”

I believe when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, he was teaching a profound lesson on how to obtain unity of fellowship within the Body of Christ.

When Jesus approached Peter to wash his feet, the disciple drew back in astonishment. “Lord, you aren’t going to wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). Jesus was saying, in essence, “Peter, if I wash your feet, we have precious grounds for fellowship, a basis for true unity.” He wants his children to serve and submit to one another in the house of God.

What did Jesus do to you when he cleansed you? He wiped away all your guilt and you were made clean, whole. He put gratitude and joy in your soul. He filled you with such love for him that you would follow him anywhere and do anything for him. All you wanted was communion with him because of what he did for you.

Beloved, that is the secret of unity. When you take up the towel of mercy for a hurting, fallen brother, you encourage him by embracing him in his hurt — by submitting in godly fear, washing away his feelings of worthlessness, anguish and despair, and by loving and caring for him.

What have you done to that person by washing his feet, whether in a spiritual or physical sense? You have constructed a firm foundation for true unity and glorious fellowship. You are one by your common experience — that is, by being washed by the water of the Word.

Something Precious to God

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:11-13, KJV).

This is an amazing prophecy! The “pleasant stones” mentioned in verse 12 are jewels. Most everyone knows that a diamond was once just a piece of coal that has been worked on by the elements for years. God’s Word is telling us, “Your afflictions are meant to change you into something beautiful — something precious to me.” 

The “windows of agates” are a type of quartz, made transparent by fire. The “windows” aspect has to do with eyes or vision. God is saying that trusting him through your afflictions will give you clear vision, discernment. It will allow you to see into the unseen — with crystal clarity!

Most scholars believe the phrase “gates of carbuncles” more accurately reads “gates of pearl.” Pearls form from a grain of sand in the belly of an oyster. The grain is injected with fluid and then grated and irritated until it becomes a pearl.

When you think of all the grating, irritation and friction in your life, can you visualize a pearl being formed? Most of us can only feel the pain and agitation of being rubbed the wrong way; it takes real trust to envision a pearl being fashioned by God. Nonetheless, every pearl is a memento of suffering, pain, friction and time.

I believe Isaiah is talking about the beauty of Jesus Christ in this passage. In other words, affliction, when allowed to accomplish its work, brings about a people who shine forth the beauty of Christ’s character. We are made into precious jewels that will adorn His holy city coming down from heaven.

Comfort in Affliction

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

The secret to understanding how God delivers us from afflictions can be found in comprehending how he delivered Israel from their bondage.

“Now these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 10:11)

Everything that happened to Israel — their bondage, their trials, their deliverance out of Egypt — are testimonies, patterns and examples to us today. Indeed, Israel’s physical deliverance represents the spiritual deliverance we are to see.

Have you ever wondered why Israel didn’t rise up in rebellion while in bondage under Pharaoh? After all, he was forcing them to make bricks without straw and commanding his taskmasters to beat them. Why didn’t the Israelites take matters into their own hands?  They certainly had the needed manpower, especially after the ten plagues, when Egypt was devastated, weak and in mourning. Even Pharaoh admitted, “The people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we” (Exodus 1:9).

The reason Israel never rebelled is because they could not have succeeded! It was God’s work to do for them. The Lord told Moses, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:7-8).

God clearly states, “I know their sorrows.” Beloved, if that doesn’t give you comfort in your affliction, nothing will. The Lord is saying, “I know what you’re going through, what you’re feeling. But this is not your battle. Your taskmaster, the devil, is too much for you so I have come down to deliver you.”

“I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:6-7).