The Landmine Of Fear

English: Isaiah; illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Read | Isaiah 41:10-13

Humans have legitimate reasons to live in fear—our world has many dangers. But although our environment is frightening, Christians are not to accept fear as a way of life. God’s awesome promises allow us to live peacefully in our surroundings.

For our protection, God has instilled some natural apprehensions in us, like a fear of snakes or deep water. Our instinctive concern teaches us to respect these things until we know how to survive an encounter with them. The Creator also gave us a warning system so we’d react quickly to danger. For instance, if a car speeds toward us, an instant reaction of alarm could save our life.

In other words, some fears protect us. But constant, all-consuming dread is unhealthy. While we may feel afraid if we spot a snake, most of us don’t worry much about having such encounters. Some people anguish over dangers that might occur—instead of entrusting loved ones to God, they anxiously imagine all the ways injury might occur.

As anxiety grows, uncertainty builds up until it hinders our relationship with God. Fears about the welfare of loved ones, financial well-being, or eternal security all result from doubt regarding the Lord’s provision. Then our attention is centered on our concerns rather than on the One who promises to hold us in His hand.

The Lord offers us strength because He understands how fear can torment us. Don’t allow worry to blind you to His promises and thereby deprive you of the help that He always has available. The Bible reminds us: “My God shall supply all your needs” (Phil. 4:19).

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They Never Obeyed

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

The children of Israel loved to hear the powerful preaching of Ezekiel but they
never obeyed it. “They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before
thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with
their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant
voice . . . for they hear thy words, but they do them not” (Ezekiel 33:31-32).

Many people have approached me after a service, hugged me, and said, “Pastor,
that was a powerful word you preached.” But as they have walked away, the Holy
Spirit has whispered to me, “They didn’t hear a word you said!”

The book of Hebrews gives us a powerful warning: “As the Holy Ghost saith,
Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,
in the day of temptation in the wilderness” (Hebrews 3:7-8). “For some, when
they had heard, did provoke [rebel]” (verse 16). These passages clearly show
that hardness is not connected to atheism, communism or any other “ism” but,
rather, to hearing and then not doing God‘s Word.

Israel gladly listened to the powerful preaching of the prophet Isaiah yet they
continually justified their sins, calling evil good and good evil. So God
instructed Isaiah: “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat,
and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be
healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

God knew the Israelites were not willing to lay down their besetting sins. They
loved their fleshly pleasures and ungodly companions too much. So the Lord told
Isaiah, “These people are never going to change their hearts and from now on, I
will not speak a word to them. Instead, I want you to hurry them into their
hardness, Isaiah. That way, perhaps some will listen before it’s too late!”

Simply put, God was calling for a full surrender from His people. I thank God
for the multitudes of Christians who started their walk with Jesus the right
way, loving truth and obeying His Word. When they forsook the ways of their
flesh, they fell in love with the Lord, and His Word became to them a guiding
lamp.

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/20423?src=devo-email

God’s Protective Power

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

Isaiah uses the image of birds to illustrate God‘s protective power over His
people: “As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending
also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it” (Isaiah 31:5).
The Hebrew meaning of this verse is, “As the hen birds flutter over their
young, so shall Jehovah, God of hosts, spread out His wings over Jerusalem.”

God was telling Israel, “If you want to be protected from the onslaught of the
enemy, then hide under My wings. I will secure you, covering you the way a
mother hen covers her chicks. You do not have to live in fear of your enemies
any longer!”

http://powerofyou320.com/2012/11/28/battered-shield/

Let me ask you: Are you in great warfare right now? Are you facing an enemy
that is too powerful for you? If so, how do you expect to remain pure,
faithful, Christlike, while others around you are falling left and right? How
will you gain victory over your lusts and temptations when Satan comes against
you like a roaring lion?

God asks simply that you lay down your sword and trust Him to take up His sword
on your behalf. He wants you to come to the point where you say, “Lord, I know
the battle is not mine anymore. I have failed so many times. Now I come to You
in simple faith. Help me, God.”

The Lord is urging you: “Cling to Me in the midst of your battle. Your
victory is all a matter of faith in My power and willingness to deliver you.
When the enemy has overwhelmed you, come to Me and pour out your soul. Seek Me
with all your heart and I will do battle for you.”

The battle is never ours. It is always the Lord’s.

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:
his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the
terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day” (Psalm 91:4-5).

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A Contrite Spirit

By David Wilkerson

An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac, Rembrandt, 1634 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

Why did God look so favorably upon Jacob, a deceiver? We read in Isaiah: “I
dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of
the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

This passage describes a man who, like Jacob, is dejected, on the run, and God
is reviving him, blessing him, honoring him. Isaiah adds: “But to this man will
I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my
word” (Isaiah 66:2).

We know that humans consider the outward appearance, but God always looks at
the heart. We can see only Jacob’s covetousness, greed and manipulation. But
God saw beyond his flesh and into something within his heart — a contrite,
broken spirit. God knew that something in Jacob’s heart was willing to be
changed.

That is exactly what God is looking for in us. He looks for a broken, repentant
heart He can work on. He cannot do anything with an Esau type, who takes the
things of God for granted and weeps phony tears of repentance. Esau was sensual
and his heart was hard. He was like many Christians today, floating through life
with no purpose, wanting only to enjoy sensual pleasures along the way.

Jacob revered God’s Word. How do I know this? Think about it: Jacob must have
heard his father, Isaac, repeatedly tell the story of how God had made a
covenant with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham. He heard of the time Isaac was laid
upon the altar to be slain, but when Abraham lifted the knife, God stopped him
and showed him a lamb to be used for the sacrifice. Finally, Jacob also heard
of the holy seed that was to come from the patriarchal lineage.

In addition to all this, Jacob’s mother probably reminded him of the dream God
had given her — that Jacob would be the holy seed. Jacob must have thrilled
at the thought that one day he would be the head of the clan, carrying the
torch of the lineage through which the Messiah would come!

Accept His Love

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

It does not matter what you do to try to clean yourself up. If you don’t trust
Jesus to save you through His grace, all your righteousness is as filthy rags
in God‘s sight. Your flesh isn’t accepted before God; it can’t even be
reformed. All flesh was done away with at the cross and now a new Man has come
forth—the Christ-man—and true faith is having confidence in what He did for
you.

You may say, “I find it hard to believe that a troubled, failing Christian like
me could be precious to God. He has to be disgusted with me, because my life is
so up-and-down. I have problems I can’t seem to get through. Oh, I believe He
still loves me but surely He is disappointed in me because I have failed Him so
often!”

Please understand: Isaiah‘s wonderful prophecy of grace (see Isaiah 43:1-5) was
spoken to a people who had been robbed, snared in holes and cast into
prison—all because of their own foolishness and unbelief. It was at such a
point that God said to them, “Now, after all your failures, I come to you with
this message of hope—and it is all because you are Mine.”

I will never forget the pain I endured when one of my teenage children came to
me and confessed, “Dad, I’ve never once felt as if I have pleased you. I’ve
never felt worthy of your love. I feel like I’ve let you down my whole life.
You must be really disappointed in me.”

Those words hurt. I embraced that tearful child, hurting deeply inside myself.
I cried as I told this child, “But you have always been special to me. You have
been the apple of my eye. When I’m on the road conducting crusades, I think of
you and my whole being lights up. Sure, you’ve done foolish, wrong things at
times but you were forgiven. You were truly sorry and I never once thought less
of you. You are nothing but a joy to me.”

So it is with many Christians in their relationship with the heavenly Father.
The devil has convinced them they have disappointed God and will never be able
to please Him. Consequently, they don’t accept His love and they live as if His
wrath is always breathing down on them. What a horrible way to go through
life—and how pained God must be when He sees His children living that way.

You Belong To Him!

B

English: Isaiah; illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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

In Song of Solomon, the Lord says of his bride: “How fair and how pleasant art
thou, O love, for delights!” (Song of Solomon 7:6). Three of the Hebrew words
in this verse are synonymous: fair (meaning “precious”), pleasant (indicating
“pleasure”), and delights.

These words describe Jesus’ thoughts toward His bride as He beholds her. He
looks at her and says, “How beautiful, sweet and delightful you are. You are
precious to me, O love!” And in turn, the bride boasts, “I am my beloved’s, and
his desire is toward me” (verse 10). The meaning here is, “He runs after me with
delight. He chases me because I am so precious to him!”

These same thoughts are found throughout the Psalms. “The Lord taketh pleasure
in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy” (Psalm 147:11). “For
the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with
salvation” (149:4).
Now, I can try to convince you of God‘s delight in you by telling you, “You are
precious to the Lord!” Yet you may think, “Well, that’s a lovely thought. How
sweet.”

This truth is much more than a lovely thought, however. It is the very key to
your deliverance from every battle that rages in your soul. It is the secret to
entering into the rest God has promised you. And until you lay hold of
it—until it becomes a foundation of truth in your heart—you will not be
able to withstand what is ahead in this wicked time.

Isaiah had a revelation of God’s great delight in us. He prophesied to Israel
this word from the Lord:

“O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name;
thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee”
(Isaiah 43:1-2).

Isaiah was not talking about a literal flood or fire. He was talking about what
the people were going through spiritually and mentally. They were in captivity
at the time and their floods were trials, their fires were temptations, their
rivers were testings. It was all the devil’s attempt to destroy and overwhelm
God’s people.

Isaiah’s words were a message of pure mercy to Israel. They were in captivity
because of their own stupidity and foolishness and they deserved nothing. But
God sent them a weeping, brokenhearted prophet who said, “God wants me to
tell you that you belong to Him!”

He Want Let You Drown

Joel Osteen   A few years ago, I saw a report on the news about a teenage girl who had driven her car into some high water on a flooded street. She ended up stranded in her car. The water was rising unusually fast. In just two or three minutes, it was already up over her car hood. She couldn’t open the car doors because the water pressure was too strong. She couldn’t roll down her windows because they were electric. They were showing this Live on the news. As I watched, my heart was beating so fast. She was in there just praying and praying. A man jumped into the water and swam over to the car. He started beating on the window, trying to break it open with no success. The whole time, the car was floating down the road. I’ll never forget seeing this. At one point, the car tilted forward and then went totally underwater. My heart sunk. I thought, “Man, this is just the end.” About that time, another man jumped into the water and swam toward the car like he was Superman! Somehow he found the car, dove underwater and disappeared for about 30 seconds. It seemed like an eternity. But in a few seconds, you saw the young girl’s arm come up out of the water. I thought, “My goodness! How did he get a window open or a door open under there?” A few seconds later, he pulled her whole body out and was able to help her get to the shore. She was perfectly fine and walked off on her own two feet! If that wasn’t amazing enough, when the wrecker pulled the car out of the water, they noticed that no windows had been broken, no windows were down, and there was no evidence that any doors had been open. The newscaster sat there dumbfounded. He said, “I don’t know. You figure that one out.” Friend, this story is a powerful reminder that God can make a way where there seems to be no way! You may not be stuck in a flooded car, but no matter how overwhelmed by life you may feel, no matter what the enemy is “flooding” you with, God promises that He will deliver you. He won’t let you drown. He promises to watch over you. He promises to open doors before you and lead you in the path of life. Your job is to live a life of surrender to Him. Live a life of praise and thanksgiving. Declare His favor and protection over you. Keep praying, keep believing and keep praising because He hears you. He is your Deliverer, and He promises to rescue you and lead you to safety and blessing all the days of your life! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (Isaiah 43:2, NIV)

 

God is Willing To Save Wicked,Hardened Sinners!

Image by The_Gut via Flickr

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

God’s people in Judah had a problem. They doubted His willingness and power
to redeem a people entrenched in apostasy and idolatry. “They said, ‘That
is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one
do the imagination of his evil heart’” (Jeremiah 18:12).

Judah had given up hope, thinking, “We’ve gone too far—and now there is
no going back. We have left the Lord, mocked Him, cast Him aside, abused Him.
We are so deep into our sins, it’s hopeless. Not even God can bring us
back!”

After all my years in ministry, I still have to fight this kind of thinking.
You may feel the same. Your husband may be an atheist, mean and godless. And
you have convinced yourself, “All around me, people are getting saved but my
husband is different. He is so hard!”

The Lord said to Judah, “Is my hand shortened at all that it cannot
redeem?” (Isaiah 50:2).

To shorten means to “chop off.” God was saying, “Tell me, has the enemy
chopped off My mighty arm? Have I lost My power to save? No! My mighty arm
dried up the Red Sea. It clothed the heavens with blackness. It opened blind
eyes! You have seen that I will save to the uttermost. Why do you think I have
lost My power to redeem you?”

Beloved, when did God lose His power to save the vilest sinner on earth? When
did He lose His willingness to deliver drug addicts, drunkards and prostitutes
even when nobody was praying for them?

Would God somehow decide not to save your family members, for whom you have
fasted and prayed faithfully? Absolutely not! We must cry out to Him in faith,
“Oh, Lord, You can save Wall Street. You can deliver the sinner in New York.
You can redeem any Muslim in any foreign land and you can save any member of my
family. Your arm is not too short. You can save anybody!”

Don’t believe that His hand has been chopped off; instead, believe Him for
the impossible! Get a vision of His love and mercy—of His mighty outstretched
arm, all powerful to save!

We are to pray and be patient and He will gather in our loved ones, one at a
time!

“‘Return, O backsliding children,’ says the Lord; ‘for I am married to
you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring
you to Zion’” (Jeremiah 3:14).

God Hasn’t Even Fainted

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

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? 
The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.
There is no searching of His understanding”
(Isaiah 40:28).

There is an ignorance of God
That supposes He no longer reveals Himself
To mankind in his crises and needs—
That He is either dead or asleep,
Unable to monitor or guide the steps of man.
But who is man to measure God?
To whom will we liken Him
Or compare Him?
Hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard?
The everlasting Creator,
The God of the ends of the world,
Neither slumbers nor sleeps.
He fainteth not,
Neither is weary,
But they that trust in Him
Shall renew their faith and strength
They shall fly as eagles:
They shall run and not be weary,
Nor shall they faint.

The Benefits of Obedience

Image by technicolor76 via Flickr

 Today God Is First By Os Hillman

“This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.’” Isaiah 48:17

My career has been in marketing and advertising. Early on, I learned to distinguish the difference between features and benefits. Features represent characteristics of a product or service. Benefits are those things that directly profit or benefit me by using the product or service. For instance, my new computer has incredible speed and lots of memory (feature). This allows me to do things more quickly and easily (benefit). People are more concerned about the benefits than the features.

God tells us in the above verse that there are some direct benefits to the features of His nature. He is a God who is committed to teaching His children in the way they should go. What is the real benefit of His teaching? He answers this in the next verse. “If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea” (Is. 48:18). The Lord tells us that the benefit of allowing God to teach us and lead us in the way is peace and righteousness. Here is a guaranteed promise from God. I often use guarantees in my advertising claims. Here is God’s immutable guarantee: You will have peace like a river and righteousness like the waves of the sea! What a great promise!

Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go? Are you allowing Him to teach you? Seek the Lord today for what He wants to teach you and allow Him to lead you, and you will ensure peace and righteousness in your life.