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Devotions

The Painful Power of Forgiveness

Carter Conlon

George Müller once said, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.” 

Theresa and I went to Burundi not long after the great ethnic conflict there between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. We could feel the tension the moment we arrived in Burundi. I noticed that there were no dogs as we had seen running freely in other African nations. When I asked about it, I was told that they had all been shot because they had started eating human bodies in the streets. That starkly reminded me of how fresh the wounds were in this country.

The first public speaking I did was to a national pastors gathering of several thousand Hutu and Tutsi pastors. I spoke to the truth of scripture where it says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21, NKJV).

I went on. “You have the obligation to model the cross of Christ and teach forgiveness, even for those who have killed your loved ones and would kill you.” There was a stunned silence as I opened the altar for those who were willing to forgive. 

Suddenly, one of the pastors knelt and began to wail. His wail was like nothing I had ever heard before. All I could think was this must be the sound of a person coming home to find his family murdered. This haunting cry and the sobbing after it spread like fire throughout the crowd. 

Then from the depths of the grief, an incredible joy broke out. The sobbing gave way to dancing and shouting and hugging. It was astonishing to watch. God had broken down the barriers between them that would have been impossible to dismantle in the natural. 

If we do not love other people, the Bible says we are not yet perfected in God. Where do we get the power to do this, to forgive like this? It comes from God and faith in his power to turn our hearts from old things to his truth. 

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.

The Power of Belonging

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

“Then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power” (Luke 9:1, NKJV).

Jesus gave his disciples power not because they were ambitious but because they were his. Belonging to Christ is a nonnegotiable to receiving his power. Power is birthed out of belonging. Belonging brings real power.

So many Christians lead powerless lives with habitual sin practices, a poor testimony and a weak spiritual life. A lack of a fervent, radical prayer life will thwart answers to their prayers.

Do you feel powerless? The verse above, although short, is loaded with words of power. Let’s look at them. 

“Called” — meaning not our own agenda, direction, self-will or resources of power.

“Disciples” — those who abandon all to follow the life, teaching and direction of the teacher.

“Together” — that power is not to be contained in singular vessels but expressed in community and in work toward kingdom purposes.

“Gave” — showing we can do nothing unless Jesus gives us power to do it.

“Power” — it is not what we desire, work for or strive after. It comes only and exclusively through God who gives it. We never outgrow this part of our history as Christians. 

Every follower of Jesus is commanded to wait until we are given power from on high.

Think of it this way. Your car battery is dead, and you’re stranded alone on the side of the road. You stand there, staring at the battery, willing it to come alive. “Come on!” you cry. “This can’t be happening!” You pound on the battery, wiggle the connections, turn the key a dozen times. Nothing. The battery is dead, and only external power will bring the juice it needs to start your car. This is you and me without the power of God. We are utterly dependent upon him for our spiritual life.

Are you lacking power? There is no other way to obtain it than to have it given to you by the one you belong to. Jesus has power to give to those who are totally and fully his. Don’t strive for power. Desire to belong fully, passionately, humbly, ambitiously, to the one your heart yearns for. Then power will come to you beyond what you can imagine.

The Holy Spirit Church

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

You should never go to church without praying, “God, give me Holy Spirit ears to hear. Help me to hear, understand and apply your Word to my life.” Just as the Holy Spirit anoints a pastor’s tongue to speak, he also has to anoint our ears to hear. In a Holy Spirit church, you will always hear a gut-wrenching cry of repentance. In fact, you cannot be a Holy Spirit person until you “cry out from your guts” yourself. 

King David’s church wasn’t perfect; in fact, it was a type of Corinthians church. David committed adultery; he killed an innocent man; he walked for a season in horrible deception. After David sinned, though, he uttered this agonizing cry from his innermost being: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:2-4,11, NKJV).

A cry from the heart is the mark of a Holy Spirit church. Of course, there are people in this church who fail and live in deception. True believers, like David, have become so sensitive to the work and moving of the Holy Spirit, however, that they don’t always need a prophet to tell them they have sinned. They repent before a prophet even comes to them because they feel wounded by their sin.

David said, “The sorrows of Sheol [hell] surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God…. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me” (2 Samuel 22:6-7, 17-18).

God is going to bring the Solomon church to ruin and resurrect David’s church from out of the ruins. “After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up” (Acts 15:16). This church will have a godly sorrow for sin. It will cry out in anguish and repentance and be wholly dependent upon the Holy Spirit!

The Church of Zion

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

The driving force behind David's church was total dependence upon the Holy Spirit. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13, NKJV).

When David was on his deathbed, he said to his son Solomon, “I want to tell you why God has blessed me. I want you to know the secret of my ministry.” Listen to David's last words to his son. “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2). David was saying, “I didn't trust in my knowledge and wisdom. I didn't trust in any part of my flesh. I was a weak man, but I depended on the Holy Spirit! Every word I spoke was under his anointing. His words filled my mouth.”

When we opened the ministry doors at Teen Challenge here in New York City, our motto was “The Holy Ghost is in charge here.” It wasn't “how to cope” preaching that saved gang members. They didn't fall on their knees because we preached concise, pithy sermons. They weren't convicted by pointed illustrations and nature stories. No, these former drug addicts testified to their friends, “I once was on the street like you, but look at me now! The Spirit of God changed me.”

Solomon spoke of trees, hyssop, beasts, fish, creeping things; but David spoke of intimacy with the Lord, of brokenness and contriteness. David was convicted and changed by his own preaching. He so valued the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life that he asked the Lord never to take his Spirit from him. David knew he was nothing without the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul agreed when he said, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). “We also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches… But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:13-14).

The Solomon Church

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

“Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly” (2 Chronicles 1:1, NKJV).

God’s church today has been strengthened and blessed by him. Provision has been made for achievements of all kinds. Consider the big, beautiful churches being built around the country. Millions are spent on broadcasting, books, tapes, CDs, missions, institutions, colleges and parachurch ministries of all kinds. When all these works began, each one had something of God’s anointing. Indeed, most started out with the same blessings that God poured out upon Solomon. 

Solomon was well organized and much more educated than his father, David. He did everything bigger and better than any previous generation ever could have conceived. The driving force behind Solomon was wisdom and knowledge. He asked God, “Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10).

Isn’t this a wonderful prayer? It sounds so good, and God was pleased that Solomon did not ask for selfish gain. Nevertheless, there’s a problem. This prayer is largely man-centered. This talented, self-confident king was saying in essence, “Just give me the tools, God, and I’ll get the job done. Give me wisdom and knowledge, and I’ll set everything in order among this people. I’ll accomplish it all!”

Solomon’s prayer was not the prayer of his father, David, a man who was after God’s own heart. No, Solomon’s prayer was that of a new generation, an educated people with new ideas and skills. His cry was “I need wisdom and knowledge.” I believe Solomon represents the spirit and nature of the last-day Laodicean church. This church is headed for the same ruin Solomon faced.

Solomon had a head full of wisdom and a mouth full of songs. He could preach and teach with incredible skill. He had a well-organized operation and talented leaders. Everything about his church appeared to be decent and in order, but all that Solomon did ended up with the phrase, “All is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). The Solomon church believes it has the answers. It looks great on the outside, but it is absolutely lifeless inside, and it ends up in vanity, idolatry, sensuality, emptiness and despair. Beloved, let us not end up there!