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Devotions

Truly Letting Jesus Be Lord

Gary Wilkerson

God wants you to grow in your faith and come into a place of dynamic, passionate, spiritual maturity. However, he knows that maturity does not come through your own efforts; only God can transform your heart in every area and give you the growth you need.

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:1-6).

Paul is telling the truth when he says that God gives the growth — but if you are not growing in a certain area, is it God’s fault? No, God is not to blame! Perhaps you are resisting the work God is doing in your life. In this letter to the Corinthian church, Paul is saying that jealousy and strife are the culprits causing the church to remain babies instead of maturing. In other words, he is talking to carnal Christians. They have invited Jesus to come into their lives but they have not let him be Lord of their lives.

When you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, your life will be affected — you will become a different kind of person. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even what does not look new has become new because he is in the process of cleansing, changing and transforming you!  

If I Don’t Help Them, Who Will?

Nicky Cruz

As my co-workers and I ministered to those who had come forward for prayer at the end of a service, I noticed an elderly grandmother cradling two small children in her arms. She was weeping and begging us to pray for her grandchildren.

“Pray that God will protect them,” she cried as she set them down. “Please pray that they will grow up safe and happy, that they won’t get into gangs and drugs. Please?”

My heart broke for this woman and her grandchildren, so innocent and beautiful. Her eyes cried out for help, for guidance, for any kind of relief from the pain and helplessness of life in the ghetto. I hugged her and then bent down to pray for the children. She continued to heave and sob the entire time. 

There are so many people in this world who are lost and lonely and hurting, people who have nowhere to turn and no idea how to escape Satan’s evil grip. Jesus is the only one who can help them. All they need is someone to point them toward the Cross, someone to care enough to take them by the hand and lead them into the arms of their Creator, someone to hold them and love them into the kingdom.

When I finished praying, I put my arms around the elderly woman and kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t worry,” I told her. “Everything will be all right. Jesus understands.”

There is something about staring into the eyes of hopelessness, despair, and absolute grief that brings the gospel message home to you in a way that nothing else can. Your life takes on a renewed sense of purpose and urgency and you want to spend every waking moment of your life sharing your faith and setting captive souls free.

Reaching people for Jesus is what my life is about. “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled’” (Luke 14:23). I challenge you to join me and ask yourself this question: If I don’t help them, who will?

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.

“I Have No Plea but Christ”

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Every believer in the Church of Jesus Christ is called to be holy — pure and blameless in God’s sight. So, if you have been born again, holiness must be the cry of your heart. “God, I want to be like Jesus. I want to walk holy before you all the days of my life.”

The New Testament tells us we are called to be holy “even as God is holy. How on earth are we made holy in the sight of God?

“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

As you read the New Testament on this subject, you may be alarmed. “You mean that I am to be as holy as Jesus was? Impossible! He was spotless, perfect. How on earth could anyone live up to that standard?”

That was the very purpose of the law — to show us that it is impossible for anyone to measure up to God’s standard of holiness. Therefore, if there is none holy but the Lord, there can only be one way for us to become holy. We must be in Christ and his holiness must become our holiness.

Paul says that because Jesus, the root, is holy, then we, the branches, are also holy (see Romans 11:16). And John writes, “I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5). In other words, because we are in Christ, we are made holy by virtue of his holiness.

Jesus stands alone in perfect holiness and if any person is ever to stand before the heavenly father and be received by him, that person must be in Christ. Our daily prayer should be: “Lord, I have no plea but Christ. I come to you only because I am in Christ and I claim his holiness. I know I stand before you uncondemned because I am in him!”

Is It Right for You to Be Angry?

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Carrying around resentment against God is one of the most dangerous things a Christian can do. Yet I am shocked by the number of believers who are peeved at the Lord. They may not admit it, but deep inside, they hold some kind of grudge against him. Why? Because they believe he is not interested in their lives or problems. Because he has not answered a particular prayer or acted in a certain way on their behalf, they are convinced he does not care.

Jonah received a call from God to go to Ninevah and preach the message of judgment: the city would be destroyed in forty days. After faithfully delivering the message, Jonah waited for God to begin the destruction. But forty days passed and nothing happened. Why? Because Ninevah repented and God changed his mind about destroying them.

This angered Jonah and he cried out against God, “You’ve betrayed me! You’ve changed everything without telling me and I look like a false prophet!” Jonah was disappointed because things hadn’t gone as planned. God had changed course and Jonah’s pride was hurt.

God understands our cries of pain and confusion. But a peeved spirit can grow into rage and God will ask us, as he asked Jonah, “Is it right for you be angry?” (Jonah 4:9). 

Jonah actually defended his right to be annoyed with God. “I have every right to be angry, even to the day I die” (same verse).

Many Christians are like Jonah — they feel they have a right to be mad at God. “I pray and read my Bible; I obey God’s Word and live right. So why do I still have so many problems?” 

Beloved, I encourage you to allow God’s Spirit to heal you of all bitterness, rage, resentment — before it destroys you. You may see only ruin in your life but God sees restoration! He has good things in mind for you because “He is a rewarder of those who diligently see Him” (Hebrews 11:6). 

Christ is Still King

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

God the Father enthroned Christ as king over all nations and all nature, and as Lord over the Church. The apostle Paul writes that when Jesus comes again, “He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15).

Paul is saying that it doesn’t matter what things look like on the outside, the truth is, God has put all things under Jesus’ feet and he is still king over everything. Everything may seem out of control and it may look like the devil has taken power, but it isn’t true. Yet all around us today, we see our society and government dethroning Christ — refusing to acknowledge his authority and kingship. We have been removing God from our schools and courts and ignoring him in the making of our laws. And now we are reaping a terrible harvest.

Sadly, my concern goes beyond America’s rejection of Jesus’ authority. I see the problem within the Church to be much more tragic. It’s understandable that ungodly people want to dethrone Christ; they have mocked and ridiculed his name since the day he was born. But how it must grieve God to see Christ dethroned by those who call themselves by his name.

Slowly but surely many Christians, churches and ministries are rejecting the Lord’s counsel. They no longer lean wholly on his lordship. Instead, they are turning to the wisdom of the world, to manmade practices. I have watched with alarm as the Church has gradually enthroned the wisdom of the world. Jesus is no longer the source and power behind God’s people.

Let me ask you personally: Have you removed Christ as king of your heart? I urge you to put Christ on the throne of your heart today — and live!

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills — From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).