Devotions

Brother Dave Wilkerson used to tell one of the most fantastic stories. It was about this 82-year-old woman who was living by herself in one of the New York boroughs. One night, she heard someone start hammering on the front door. 

Her bedroom was at the top of the stairs; she looked down and saw a man kick open her door. What do you do? You're 82 years old; this man's about to steal everything you have. She just started crying out, "Acts 2:38, Acts 2:38, Acts 2:38." The man froze then got down on the floor, spread his arms and stayed there until she called the police, and the police came and arrested him. 

Now get this, the verse just says to repent and believe in Jesus. This guy was laying on the ground because the 82-year-old woman kept saying, "Acts 2:38, Acts 2:38." Here's what's great: Brother Dave said the cops started laughing, and they asked the guy, "This is an 82-year-old woman. Why did you wait for us to come?"

He told them, "Listen, if you knew a lady had an ax and two 38s, you would have waited too."

Here's the promise that Jesus gave to his disciples, "When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” (Matthew 10:19, ESV). When people come into your life to antagonize you, and you're thinking, “I'm being written up at my job, written up at my campus because I said something about Jesus. What do I say?“ Jesus says, “Don't worry because there's going to be stuff that you say that you didn't even plan on saying, and it's going to be the exact words that you need in this situation.”

That's why I think the old song “Amazing Grace” from John Newton really does mean something when it says, “Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; 'tis Grace that brought me safe thus far, and Grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.”

God knows exactly what we’ll need and when we’ll need it. He is our shield and life-sustaining portion.

^{After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.}

In Exodus 33, Moses didn’t know it, but God was about to bring him into a greater revelation of his glory and nature. This revelation would go far beyond friendship, far beyond intimacy. It’s a revelation God wants all his hurting people to know.

The Lord told Moses he was going to show him his glory. “’I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you...’ But he said, ‘You cannot see my face; for no man shall see me, and live…. So it shall be, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass by.’” (Exodus 33:19-22, NKJV).

The Hebrew word for glory in this passage means “my own self.” God was telling Moses, “I myself will pass by near you.” One translation says it this way: “I will hide you in a cavity of the rock, and I will defend you with the protectiveness of my power until I have passed by.”

What was the great revelation that God gave to Moses about himself? What is the truth about him that we’re to sanctify in our hearts? It is this: “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty” (Exodus 34:6-7).

Here was the greater revelation, the full picture of who God is. The Lord told Moses, “Come up to this rock in the morning. I’ll give you a hope that will keep you. I’ll show you my heart as you’ve never seen it before.”

Christ is the full expression of that glory. Indeed, all that is in the Father is embodied in the Son, and Jesus was sent to earth to bring that glory to all of us.

The subject of thanksgiving came to me recently during a time of great personal heaviness. At the time, our church building needed major work. Parishioners’ problems were piling up. Everyone I knew seemed to be going through some kind of trial, and I was feeling the burden of it all.

I went into my office and sat down, feeling sorry for myself. I began to complain to God, “Lord, how long will you keep me in this fire? How long do I have to pray about all these things before you’ll do something? When are you going to answer me, God?”

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit fell upon me, and I felt ashamed. The Spirit whispered to my heart, “Just begin to thank me right now, David. Bring to me a sacrifice of thanksgiving for all the past things I’ve done for you and for what I’m going to do in the future. Give me an offering of thanksgiving, and suddenly everything will look different!”

• • Those words settled in my spirit, but I wondered, “What does the Lord mean, ‘a sacrifice of thanksgiving’?” I looked up the phrase in scripture and was amazed at all the references I found.

• • “Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing” (Psalm 107:22, NKJV).

• • “I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:17).

• • “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2).

• • “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).

We live in a day when our high priest, Jesus, has already presented the sacrifice of his own blood to the Father to make atonement for our sins. Christ has wiped out all our transgressions, never to be remembered against us. For us, the work of atonement is finished.

We must no longer bring God sacrifices of blood or offerings of silver and gold for atonement. Instead, we are to bring him a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. “Therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15). The “fruit of our lips” is gratitude and thanks!

When the children of Israel were going through testing, were they really supposed to express gratitude and thanksgiving in the midst of it? When they were surrounded and in a hopeless situation, did God really expect them to have a joyful reaction?

Absolutely! That was the secret to getting out of their difficulty. You see, God wants something from all of us in our times of overwhelming troubles and testings. He wants us to offer him a sacrifice of thanksgiving in the midst of it all!

I believe James had discovered this secret when he admonished, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3, NKJV). He was saying, “Don’t give up! Make an altar in your heart, and offer up joyous thanksgiving in the midst of your trials.”

Of course, the children of Israel did offer the Lord praise and thanksgiving, but they did it on the wrong side of the Red Sea. The people rejoiced all night, but God had no pleasure in it. Anybody can shout in gratitude after the victory comes. The question God was putting to Israel was “Will you praise me before I send help, while you’re still in the midst of the battle?”

I believe if Israel had rejoiced on the “trial side” of the Red Sea, they wouldn’t have had to be tested again at the waters of Marah. Had they passed the Red Sea test, the waters at Marah wouldn’t have tasted bitter but sweet. Israel would have seen water springing up everywhere in the desert, rather than having to go thirsty.

God help us to sing the right song on the testing side of trials. This brings the highest delight to our heavenly Father.

Are you going through a most difficult time right now? Then sing! Praise God! Say to the Lord, “You can do it. You delivered me before, you can deliver me now. I rest in joy.”

One of the most important verses in all of scripture is found in Peter’s first epistle where the apostle speaks of the necessity of having our faith tested. “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7, NKJV).

The Greek word used for trials here means “examining or testing with difficulties and adversities.” This passage suggests that God is saying, “Your faith is precious to me, more precious than all the wealth of this world that will one day perish. In these last days, when the enemy sends all manner of evil against you, I want you to be able to stand strong with an unshakable faith.”

Peter says, “Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9). The Greek word here that is used for temptation means “putting to proof adversities.” Clearly, God does not want to keep us in our trials. Why would he be interested in keeping us in the midst of temptation and affliction? He doesn’t get any glory from testing his children but from the results of our testings!

There is only one way to escape our trials, and that is by passing the test. Think about it. When you were in school, how did you finally escape? You passed the final exam. If you didn’t pass, you were sent back to class.

That was the case with ancient Israel. When God brought them to the Red Sea, he was testing his people, trying them, proving them. He brought them to the very brink of destruction, surrounding them by mountains on two sides, a sea on another and an approaching enemy on the other.

Yet the Lord put Israel in that circumstance expecting a certain reaction. He wanted his people to acknowledge their helplessness. He wanted to hear them say, “We remember how God delivered us from the plagues. We remember how he brought us out of the furnace of affliction where we made bricks without straw and had no rest. God delivered us then, and he will do it again! Let us rejoice in his faithfulness. He is God, and he has given us promises he will keep. He will protect us from every enemy who comes against us.” Such faith is a sweet incense to God.