The Watchman On The Walls

Saint Elijah prophet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

The Old Testament closes with this amazing prophecy of Malachi: “Behold, I will
send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).

This prophecy was fulfilled in great measure in the ministry of John the
Baptist. An angel appeared to John’s father and prophesied that his son would
turn many in Israel to the Lord and that “he shall go before him in the spirit
and power of Elias (Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared
for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).

Jesus, speaking to His disciples about John the Baptist, said: “And if ye will
receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come” (Matthew 11:14). He added,
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (verse 15). I believe Jesus was
asking them to see the spiritual significance of John’s coming, as prophesied,
in the spirit and power of Elijah.

John was anointed with the same fearless Spirit and power which was upon
Elijah. He spoke openly about the sins of disobedient, pleasure-seeking people
of his day. Christ was soon to appear and this mighty man of truth suddenly
came on the scene to prepare a people for the Lord. This wilderness prophet was
sent to turn the hearts of the people (which is the truest definition of
repentance) to the Lord. John preached repentance, restitution, purity of
heart, justice, and a practical walk of holiness to correspond with an open
confession of sins.

I believe the prophet Malachi, as well as other Old Testament prophets, speaks
of a company of holy people who will be raised up just prior to Christ’s second
coming. They will minister under the very same Spirit and power that rested upon
Elijah and John the Baptist.

This last-day Elijah company of believers will heed the prophecy of Isaiah,
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people
their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1). These
are the watchmen upon the walls, “which shall never hold their peace day nor
night . . . and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem
a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7).

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22108?src=devo-email

He Will Act For You!

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

English: ELIYAH VISITS KING AHAB AND THE BA’AL PROPHETS 1 MELAKIM 21 KINGS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you think the Lord is going to sit by passively and let the devil do to you
what he pleases? If God didn’t act on your behalf when you needed Him, He would
be nothing more than the false god Baal!

Elijah had a showdown with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, where an altar
was built. The test was: “The god who answers prayer today will be God!” Elijah
prayed that fire would fall down supernaturally on the sacrifice he laid on the
altar — and that is exactly what happened.

But before that happened, the prophets of Baal danced from morning till noon,
crying, begging, pleading with their god to answer. “But there was no voice,
nor any that answered” (1 Kings 18:26).

Elijah mocked those false prophets: “Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is
talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth,
and must be awaked” (verse 27). Elijah was saying, “Where is your god? Is he on
vacation? Is he sleeping? He must be out walking somewhere.”

We could make the same mockery of God if He did not answer when we cry. You
see, His honor is at stake when we pray, and He will not be mocked for not
answering. The Bible says of Him: “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved . .
. he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:3-4). Our
God is awake at all times and He is attentive to our every need.

“They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law. Thou
art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth” (Psalm 119:150-151).

The glorious truth in this passage can change your life, bringing you peace and
giving you rest beyond anything you have yet experienced. You see, once you
understand the truth of God’s constant nearness to you, that He loves you and
is continually near you, all fear and anxiety must go.

Our Iheritance

By David Wilkerson

English: Jezabel and Ahab Meeting Elijah in Naboth’s Vineyard Giclee. Print by Sir Frank Dicksee. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

When Elijah went up to heaven, he left Elisha his cloak (2 Kings 2:13).
Likewise, when Jesus went up to the Father, He left us His own garment — His
perfect righteousness. He cast it upon us, as surely as Elijah cast his garment
upon Elisha. The prophet’s action was a type and shadow of what was going to
happen when Jesus was translated to the Father. Indeed, we are heirs to a
wonderful garment of righteousness that covers us completely, making us
acceptable in God‘s holy presence!

This garment is our inheritance and God expects us to value it. He expects us
to seek after it, to be willing heirs to His legacy. You may remember what
happened when King Ahab came against Naboth, coveting his vineyard. Naboth
valued his vineyard so much, he rejected Ahab’s offer to buy it, saying, “The
Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee”
(1 Kings 21:3). He was saying, “God forbid that anyone should take my
inheritance from me. It’s mine!”

I believe the most important thing you can seek from God is the understanding
that this inheritance is yours and it is waiting to be claimed. The knowledge
of the perfect righteousness of Jesus will put you on a rock that is
unshakable. It will end all your useless struggles and put you in God’s
presence justified and accepted.

If God has provided you with an inheritance whereby you can stand before Him
with perfect righteousness in Jesus Christ, then you should want it. It should
be an inheritance nobody can take from you. No lie of the devil should be able
to remove it from your spirit, no man should be able to steal it from you, and
no emotion should drain you of it.

Because God said it, you must lay hold of it! You need to seek it, go after it,
allow your soul no rest until you get your hands on it. “Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you” (Matthew 6:33).

Pressed Beyond Measure

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

Perhaps like Paul, you are being pressed beyond measure, tested beyond your
endurance. Your strength is nearly gone, and you are on the brink of giving up.
You want to run, but there is no place to go. Now you say with Paul, “This is
above my strength!”

So, what is the way to victory? All I can tell you is how God continues to
bring me out. Here are two important truths He has given me:

1. Don’t think you are experiencing some strange, unique battle. On the
contrary, you are in good company. Recall Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, David, Paul
— even me. What you are going through is common to believers throughout the
centuries.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ‘s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may
be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

2. When you think you can’t go on another hour — when everything looks
absolutely hopeless — cry out to God with all that is in you, “Lord, help!”

The Uniqueness of Christ

Matthew 16:1-28 

When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” they replied, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” But Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-16).

What set Jesus apart as the Messiah?

• His birth: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born, as prophesied, in Bethlehem to a virgin. Though angels announced His arrival and He reigns over all creation, Jesus entered our world in a lowly manner so He could be identified with the meek and the poor.
• His wisdom: At age 12, He spent three days with rabbis, asking questions that showed his uncommon understanding.
• His baptism: Though He didn’t need cleansing, Jesus asked John to baptize Him so He could identify with sinners and demonstrate His love to them.
• His temptation: Satan tempted Him relentlessly for 40 days, yet He did not sin.
• His ministry: He challenged man-made religious traditions. And by healing people—regardless of nationality—raising the dead, and forgiving sins, He revealed that God wants to be involved personally in our lives. Leading Pharisees wanted Him dead, but the Father protected His life until the crucifixion.

Many people deny Christ’s deity, calling Him simply a “prophet” or “good teacher.” But Jesus was never merely human. As complex as it is for us to comprehend, He was fully God and fully man. This is the unique way in which our heavenly Father chose to demonstrate His eternal love for us.

Dr. Charles stanley

Mount Horeb

Today God Is First By Os Hillman

“So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.” 1 Kings 19:8

Elijah and Moses were men of great zeal. They were passionate about their causes. Moses sought to free the Hebrews from the tyranny of slavery by killing an Egyptian with his own hand. Elijah, after calling down fire on the evil prophets of Baal, found himself spent physically and emotionally to the point he asked God to take his life.

Immediately after these two events, 500 years apart from one another, both men were led to the same Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. In Hebrew, Horeb means “desolation.” This barren environment mirrored the condition of Moses and Elijah. For Moses, it was 40 years of barrenness. For Elijah, it was 40 days without food. Elijah became tired of standing alone for God.

As workplace believers we often become so focused on the goal we forget to meet God at our own Mount Horeb. This was the place God met both Moses and Elijah. It was a place of renewal, a place of new beginnings, a place of personal encounter with the living God.

Perhaps Elijah’s greatest virtue was his zeal. Indeed, we shall see that twice in his communication with God, Elijah speaks of having been “very zealous” for the Lord. But zeal, unattended eventually becomes its own God; it compels us toward expectations, which are unrealistic, and outside the timing and anointing of God. To remain balanced, zeal must be reined in and harnessed by strategic encounters with the living God. We otherwise become frustrated with people and discouraged with delays. We step outside our place of strength and spiritual protection. Many of us become so consumed with our battles that we are no longer aware of the presence of Jesus. We have been traveling in our own strength. [Francis Frangipane, Place of Immunity (Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Arrow Publications, 1994), 5.]

Pray that Jesus will teach us that intimacy with Him is the greatest measure of success. Lord, guide us to the mountain of Your presence.

Fresh Anointing Power

Image via Wikipedia

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

God allows your trial because He wants to make you “devil-proof”! That does
not mean you will not be attacked again but you will be trained to stand! It is
all part of His preparing you for greater service, greater anointing and
expanded usefulness in His kingdom.

Furthermore, the Lord is trying to strengthen you against the devil’s wiles.
He is raising up a body of believers who have faced the devil, who have been
strengthened against him, and who know his devices and are not afraid of him!
God is saying, “Once you understand why you are going through this, you will
have taken back all the ground you lost. You will be in control again—by the
power of the Holy Spirit!”

Once Elijah’s trial was over (see 1 Kings 19) he would never run again. He
now had a sense of direction and he was reassured in his spirit. You see, God
was about to send him to nations to raise up kings, leaders and prophets!

God told Elijah: “Go, return on your way…anoint Hazael as king over
Syria…anoint Jehu…as king over Israel. And Elisha…you shall anoint as
prophet in your place” (1 Kings 19:15-16). Elijah had been given fresh
anointing power. He was in control again!

“So he departed from there” (verse 19). Elijah came out of the cave to do
God’s will! He did not have to shed a river of tears. No, he simply had heard
the Word of the Lord!

Beloved, the only hold the devil can have on you is fear. And you must shake it
off in faith! You have to say, “I am not going down. God is going to give me a
fresh anointing from heaven—He is going to use me!”

Do you believe that God is not finished with you—that He is teaching and
training you for better things? He wants to speak to you in your cave of
despondency. He wants to tell you what to do and where to go—and He wants to
bring you out!

So get up out of your despair and shake off the bondage of fear and depression!
Depart from your cave. You will discover that the moment you get up and walk
out, the anointing will flow!

Just Before The Victory

by David Wilkerson

If you are experiencing confusion, pain, and suffering, it may be that God is
working things out for you in his own way. It is most often the sovereign work
of our God unfolding a master plan known only to him. Through all the suffering
of God’s people, he is at work. The miracle soon follows the confusion.

Study your Bible and you will discover these same patterns in the lives of all
of God’s people. In case after case, when God began to fulfill his promise, the
roof seemed to cave in first!

Think of Daniel and the three Hebrew children. They gave themselves to a life
of holiness and separation from the world and all its pleasures. Daniel pledged
himself to a life of prayer, tears, and intercession, but what did that get him
and his three Hebrew friends? Testing just before victory!

You don’t go from the prayer closet to some mountaintop victory—you go to the
lions’ den. You don’t go from consecration to a life of ease and blessing
only—you go to the fiery furnace. These men were not afraid to face pain and
suffering, because they knew it always ended in God having his way. Through
lions and red-hot furnaces to God’s perfect will!

Think of Elijah. God gave him a glorious promise of a spiritual awakening in
the land; of an outpouring of abundant rain; of a new day of victory for God’s
people; and the overthrow of Ahab and Jezebel. But look at all the confusion
that broke out after the promise was given. Jezebel threatened his life,
chasing him into hiding in the mountains. Wicked forces killed the prophets of
God and the land continued in wickedness and drought. In fact, the Word of God
seemed like a hoax.

Can you imagine how confused Elijah must have been? “What kind of answered
prayer is this? I’m left all on my own. Where is the Lord? Has his promise
failed?” And all the while God was doing exactly what he said he would do. The
confusion would soon pass and the answer would be forthcoming.

Christ left his disciples a promise that could have seen them through all the
confusion and pain, but they were too broken up in sorrow to remember. He had
told them: “After I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee” (Matthew
26:32).

In other words, “Don’t try to figure it all out. Don’t question the time of
confusion. It’s not your battle. God is at work! When this is all over, I will
still be going before you. Your shepherd will still be there.” What an
encouraging word!

Friendship in the Pit

Today God Is First By Os Hillman

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” – Proverbs 17:17

“I am in there again,” I told my friend. “The pit.” A time when no one can cheer you up and you wonder if there ever was or is a God. Have you ever had such times? Discouragement can be devastating even to the best of saints. It can bring us so low. The writer of Proverbs phrased it well when he said, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12). When we get so low that we despair of our belief, we can identify with the prophet Elijah who wanted to die after being so discouraged with life.

“I’m coming over,” my friend said.

“Aw, you don’t have to do that,” I said.

“I’m coming over. We’re going to pray.”

About 30 minutes later my friend walked in the door. We sat in living room and my friend began to pray. I didn’t feel like praying. I was too deep in the pit. All I could do was listen. After awhile my friend was quiet. We both sat quietly for ten to fifteen minutes, praying quietly to ourselves. Suddenly my friend said, “First Thessalonians 5:24!”

“What verse is that?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “That is the verse He spoke to me.”

I grabbed my Bible and looked up the verse. “The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”

We laughed. Can He be so personal? Can He care that much? That night I grew more in my love of my two friends, not to mention being brought out of the pit.

Do you have a friend who is there when you need somebody at any hour of the day? Are you there for your friend? Ask the Lord how you can be a better friend to someone today.

Who Dreamed Up This Plan For Survival?

 

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David Wilkerson Today

“And the word of the Lord came unto him [Elijah], saying, Get thee hence, and
turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before
Jordan” (I Kings 17: 2–3).

As Elijah looked ahead to the coming crisis, things must have looked absolutely
hopeless to him. But God had a specific survival plan in mind for his faithful
servant. He instructed the prophet, “Go east to the Jordan River, and there
you will find Cherith, a little tributary that runs off. You can get all the
drinking water you need from that brook. In addition, I’ve arranged for food
to be delivered to you daily, by my courier ravens!”

How could any person, in a million years, ever dream up this kind of plan for
survival? How could Elijah ever have imagined he’d be sent to a hidden brook
to find water to drink, when there was nothing but drought everywhere else in
the land? How could he ever have thought a daily supply of bread would be
brought to him by ravenous birds that ate everything they sank their beaks
into?

Later, times got hard for Elijah, because the brook finally dried up. But God
stepped in again, giving the prophet another fresh word of direction. He said,
“Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there:
behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee” (v. 9). Again, I have
to ask—how could anyone ever think a poor widow woman, in the midst of a
depression, could feed a man for days, weeks, months on end? But the fact is,
God uses the most despised, insignificant things of the world for his glory.
And he told Elijah, “If you’ll go to her and do what I tell you, you’ll
survive. Listen to me—heed my direction—and you’ll make it through!”

The evidence is overwhelming: God—our adviser, counselor and survival
expert—has a detailed plan for every one of his children, to help us face the
worst of times!