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Devotions

What Happens When Unbelief Sets In?

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

“Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (Hebrews 3:8-11).

What reason is given for why God’s people were not able to enter his rest? Was it because of adultery, covetousness, drunkenness? No, it was because of unbelief alone. Here was a nation exposed to forty years of miracles, supernatural wonders that God worked on their behalf. In fact, no other people on earth had been so loved, so tenderly cared for.

They received revelation after revelation about the goodness of the Lord. They heard a fresh word preached regularly from Moses, their prophet leader, and yet, they never mixed that word with faith. Therefore, hearing it did them no good. In the midst of all those blessings, they still did not trust God to be faithful, and over time, unbelief set in.

Beloved, unbelief is the root cause behind all hardness of heart. The Scripture goes on, “Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?” (Hebrews 3:17). The people’s unbelief kindled God’s anger against them; moreover, it hardened them into a continual spiral of unbelief: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God … lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (3:12-13). 

Unbelief is also the root of all bitterness, rebellion and coldness. That is why Hebrews 3 is addressed to believers. You can be saved, Spirit-filled, and walking holy before God and still be guilty of unbelief. It is so important that we accept his supernatural power by faith and say with confidence, “Do it again, Lord. And let your strength be made perfect in my weakness.” 

When Will You Believe What God Promised?

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Do you know Christians who always complain about how inadequate they feel? They constantly belittle themselves and compare themselves to those they admire, thinking, “I’m nothing like him. It’s hopeless for me.”

You may remember the Old Testament story of the Israelite spies sent to scout out the Promised Land. They came back saying, “Yes, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey, but it’s also full of giants and walled-up cities. We’re not able to go up against these people. Compared to them, we are mere grasshoppers” (see Numbers 13).

Now, these men didn’t accuse God. They never said, “God isn’t able. He isn’t strong enough.” They dared not voice such unbelief but, instead, they focused on themselves, saying, “We’re like little bugs in the sight of our enemies.”

That is not humility and it isn’t innocent, harmless talk. Rather, it is an affront to the One who is the light of the world. This light commands us to believe, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

You see, when you complain of your inabilities and weaknesses, you’re not putting yourself down, you’re putting down your Lord. How? Because you’re refusing to believe or walk in his Word. The Israelite spies were so focused on their inabilities they were ready to quit but what was God’s response to their fears and unbelief? “The Lord said to Moses: ‘How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?’” (Numbers 14:11). God charged them with one sin: unbelief. 

Today the Lord is asking his people the same question he asked Israel: “When will you believe what I promised you? I said my strength would come to you in your times of weakness. You are not to rely on the strength of your flesh. I am Jehovah, everlasting strength, and I will make you strong through my might.”

Prayer that Combats Satan’s Aims

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The Bible tells us very clearly that in these last days, the Church of Jesus Christ faces the wrath of an enraged devil. Satan knows his time is short and he is bent on devouring God’s people (see Revelation 12:12). Where does the devil direct his wrath? He is taking aim at families all over the world and his goal is simple: bring ruin and destruction to every home he possibly can.

Jesus referred to this demonic work when he described Satan, saying, “He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Indeed, we see the enemy’s destructive plan against the very first family — it was the devil who entered Cain and convinced him to kill his brother Abel.

There comes a time when certain life situations are beyond human hope and someone has to get to Jesus! In the gospel of John, we find such a family in crisis: “There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum” (John 4:46). This was a family of distinction, perhaps even royalty, yet a spirit of death hung over the home. But someone in that troubled family knew who Jesus was and had heard of his miraculous power. In desperation, the father took it upon himself to get to the Lord and Scripture tells us, “When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him” (4:47).

This nobleman was determined and when he got through to Jesus, he “implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death” (4:47). What a marvelous picture of intercession; this man set aside everything to seek the Lord. And then Christ spoke a word to him, which the man believed (see John 4:50), and he received his miracle!

Fervent, aggressive prayer combats Satan’s destructive aims to ruin your family. Pray in faith, believing that you will receive a miracle.

What Is Limiting You?

Gary Wilkerson

“We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open” (2 Corinthians 6:11). Paul is speaking to a church that is coming into a new season. They have a good and glorious history, but they have also endured some trials and difficulties.

Everyone reading this has something in common with everyone else: it’s called the flesh — that thing that causes you to fall short of God’s best. The church at Corinth was full of what Paul called carnality — sexual immorality, divisions among them — but Paul assures them that his heart is wide open to them.

I love that. Paul challenges them and wants to correct them, but he also longs to see growth and maturity take place in them. In verse 12 he says, “You are not restricted by us.” In other words, he is telling them that no limitations are on them and they are free to go all out for Jesus.

In the same way, we are not to be people of small faith, restricting the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul goes on to say in verse 12, “But you are restricted by your own affections.” What is keeping you limited? What is keeping you moderate, even ho-hum in your faith? Why are you not seeing an explosion of faith and zeal in your life?

Perhaps you have been wounded — who hasn’t? — and this keeps you from moving deeper into the things of the Lord. But the Word says, “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters” (6:18). A father gives direction and speaks blessing over your life. He calls forth great things in you and gives you an inheritance.

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (7:1). As you take hold of the promises of God, you can have renewed fellowship with Christ that causes you to walk in reverence and holiness in a way you have never experienced before!

Obtaining the Blessing of God

Jim Cymbala

One of the important secrets to obtaining the blessing of God is giving! When Moses was giving his final instructions and farewell address to the Israelites, he gave specific instructions about something called “the third-year tithe.” Unlike the regular tithe, or ten percent annual offering, the third-year tithe was reserved for a different purpose.

“At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).

It is important to see what God was doing here. Every third year, the towns of Israel became huge storage centers for the tithes of this agricultural nation. Because the priests from the tribe of Levi were not allowed to own land, God insisted that the people provide for them in a special way. But that was not all. This tithe was also earmarked for the vulnerable and underprivileged among them.

What a marvelous, compassionate God we serve. He always has a special place in his heart for the weak, brokenhearted and rejected among his people. Compassion and concern for the downtrodden is rooted in the very heart of our Creator.

However, there was even more to the third-year tithe than supplying for the priests and the needy. Israel was to give generously “so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” It seems that the act of joyfully giving to others actually opened up the windows of heaven so that the people themselves could be blessed.

God still wants to do extraordinary things for his followers who imitate him in compassionate giving. This is a profound truth that we would do well to apply to our daily living.

Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.