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Devotions

The Battle to Remember God’s Goodness

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Asaph, the psalmist who wrote Psalm 73, was a very close friend of King David. A pure-hearted man who believed in the goodness of God, he began his discourse in this psalm by saying, “Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart” (73:1). In other words, “God has been good to me by giving me a clean heart.” Yet in the very next verse, this dear man confesses, “I almost slipped! I almost fell into sin.” Why does Asaph declare this?

We know from this psalm that Asaph was facing great troubles (see 73:14), and he struggled with comparisons. He says in verse 3: “For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Looking around him, he saw wicked people enjoying great wealth, which may have made him feel the pain of his own poverty more acutely. For whatever reason, this dear man cried out, “Lord, it doesn’t make sense to me!”

Then he said to himself, “Look at all these sinners. They don’t pray. They neglect God’s Word and disobey him, yet they are not plagued as other men are” (see 73:5). What Asaph really meant was, “The wicked are not plagued as I am. They do only evil — yet they prosper. While I am weak with sorrow, their strength only increases” (see verse 4).

So what was the sin that Asaph almost fell into? It was believing that his sufferings were unfair punishment from God — that God was neglectful and unjust. This is a trap that any of us can fall into and we must be very careful! 

When a trial comes, when you are grieving, you need to guard your heart against slipping. Asaph did this by going into the sanctuary of God (see 73:17).  He meditated on the Lord and kept telling himself, “I’m not going to let the devil make me fall. I’m going to talk it out with the Lord.”

Asaph almost slipped — but he held on and ended the psalm on this note of victory: “I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works” (73:28). 

He Chose to be Your Father

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Some Christians are constantly overcome by fear. Some are always despondent while others wallow in guilt, afraid they will never have victory over sin. They fear losing their job, their health, their family. They have absolutely no peace, joy or rest. That is when I hear Jesus asking, “Have I been with you this long and yet you do not see? Do you still not know God as your Father?”

Out of your intimacy with Christ must come a revelation that you have a Father in heaven who has painstakingly shown you what he is like and what he longs to be to you!

He chose to be your Father. You did not choose him, he chose you. Is God ruler of heaven and earth? Is he almighty? Omnipotent? Does he sit king of the flood? The answer to all those questions is a resounding yes. But in these last days, God wants you to have another revelation of him — he wants you to understand that you are his son or daughter.

When Jesus walked the earth he lived every hour under the sunlight of his Father’s love, never in confusion, never in doubt. Therefore, he could face anything the enemy threw at him — any hardship, any trial — because he knew his Father was with him. He could say, “My Father sent me; he chose me and appointed me and he is always with me. I am never alone!”

Your Father tells you, “I want to hover over you, to be your protector, to supply every need, to see you through all your trials. I choose to be a Father to you, so accept my love.”

God chose to be your Father on the basis of love and mercy alone. There is no other condition. He did not wait until you were good enough or had all your doctrine figured out. No, he said, “Even when you were lost in sin, I loved you.”

What Moves Jesus to Action

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Most Christians living today would like to think that, like Jesus, they are “moved with compassion.” During his time on earth, Jesus was the embodiment of God’s compassion. Scripture frequently says that Christ was “moved with compassion” by the suffering of people. And if that was the case in the first century, what great grief there must be now in our Lord’s heart.

The Bible tells us, “His compassions fail not” (Lamentations 3:22). “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).

Compassion is more than just pity or sympathy; it is more than being moved to tears or stirred up emotionally. And it is more than speaking out about the evil behind horrible crimes. Compassion means pity and mercy accompanied by a desire to help change things. Truly compassionate feelings move us to do something.

This is illustrated by the compassion Jesus showed in the Gospels. At one point he departed into the wilderness to pray. When the multitudes discovered his whereabouts, they followed him and in desperation, they brought him their lame, blind, dying, and demon-possessed. And what did Jesus do? The Bible tells us, “When Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). That is an example of compassion!

Had Jesus been hampered by our modern thinking, he might have gathered his disciples for a committee meeting or tried to analyze the problems. Or he could have said, “I’m very tired and I need to talk to my Father. I feel your pain and the disciples and I will pray for you. Now, go in peace.”

But Jesus did more than talk. His feelings of pity and sympathy moved him into action. He said, “I’ll do all I can to make a difference.”

Let us be careful not to allow our hearts to become callous and inured to the needs of those around us.

The Father Has Been Revealed

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

In the Old Testament, the children of God had just a glimpse of God as their Father. David said, “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13). Isaiah called God “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6), and Jeremiah wrote of him, “You shall call me, ‘My Father’” (Jeremiah 3:19).

But these ancients did not have the full revelation of the heavenly Father. Jesus himself said, “The prophets longed to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they could not.” Those in Old Testament times knew Jehovah by all the names he had revealed to them, but he had not revealed himself to them as Father. That revelation could not come until the Son revealed him. Jesus said, “Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27).

Christ has come to reveal the Father to this last generation in a way no other generation has ever known him. Everything Jesus did — from turning the water into wine to raising the dead — was like an illustrated sermon. His every act was meant to say, “This is my Father’s work; this is what he is like.”

“I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me” (John 8:28-29). In other words, I have spoken freely all through this land and when I walked the streets of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Judea, I told you time after time that everything I do is of the Father. If only you had opened yours eyes and ears and accepted my word, I would have shown him to you. He has been revealed!”

When we have a revelation of our heavenly Father — his love, his mercy, his grace — we are able to say to the world, “Listen to what I say and do. Watch my life and see the Father in me!”

Because an Empty Man Encountered Jesus

Gary Wilkerson

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth …  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise … to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God … so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

Paul or Saul, as he was known before his conversion, certainly had a lot he could boast about in the natural. Highly intelligent, he was a natural leader and possessed many abilities. Born into a devout Jewish family, while he was still fairly young he was sent to Jerusalem to receive his education at the school of Gamaliel, one of the most renowned rabbis in history (see Acts 22:3). This school was noted for providing its students a balanced education, likely giving Paul broad exposure to classical literature, philosophy, and ethics.

But Paul was a violent, empty man until his encounter with Jesus. He had been trying to accomplish what he considered God’s purposes through human wisdom and effort, using his own power and understanding. When he met the living Christ and received the revelation of the truth, Jesus made it clear to him who he had been persecuting. After a few days of blindness and time to think of what he had been told, Paul was ready to learn the truth about this Jesus he had so hated in ignorance. He could say with great confidence, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Proud Saul became humble Paul. He spoke in the love of Jesus Christ with a wisdom not his own. He just wanted people to know Jesus. The same should be true of us today as we keep our eyes focused on Jesus and his great love for those around us.