Peace of Mind in Troubled Times… preparing for the battle ahead!

Every day of training in BUD/s is called an “Evolution;” and there is a saying in BUD/s training that the only easy evolution was yesterday!

What follows is a letter that David Wilkerson sent out in 1991; and below also is another devotion by David Wilkerson that I know will be of help to many of us in these days and times that so many are living in.

As we read and understand Scriptures, it would seem that God has predestined each one of our lives to the point that there is truly a time and a season for everything under the sun (as the Scripture says); and also I believe with that time and season, as we are awaiting fulfillment of our individual destiny, there are many crosscurrents and other lives as well, that are being prepared concurrently with our own, and so whatever is going on in our life, at this particular moment, God is also coordinating and managing the training and preparations of others that we are to be teamed with for future service; and so it is never just about us!!!

Dearly Beloved:

I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT PRAYERS THAT GO UNANSWERED.

Consider the words of a very godly man from history. This man said of the Lord, “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light…. He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy…. When I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer” (Lamentations 3:1-8).

Jeremiah’s words here speak for many believers as we face our own trying crisis. At such times it seems God has shut the heavens and our prayers are lost. Yet if we do not believe in Holy Ghost timing, we will never understand why our prayers seem delayed. The truth is that each of God’s promises will rise up to test us unless we rest in his timing.

Scripture says of Joseph, “Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him” (Psalm 105:19, my italics). Joseph sat helpless in prison at the time, and his trial of waiting broke his heart. Consider his pathetic plea to the cupbearer who was about to be released from the same cell: “Think on me when it shall be well with thee…and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house” (Genesis 40:14).

He was crying, in essence, “Please, sir, when you go free, talk to Pharaoh about me. Help me get out of this awful place!”

Some readers would ask where Joseph’s faith was. This man was so close to God he could interpret dreams and mysteries. Why didn’t he just rest now, praying in trust that God would deliver him? The answer is Joseph was being tried by God’s Word.

God knew all the time he was going to deliver Joseph. Yet his servant had to be tried by the Word for his faith to mature unto life. You see, we can read God’s Word, pray it and preach it, but until it is tested in us it will not produce life.

Right now you may be severely tested by God’s Word. You’ve seen him answer many prayers in your lifetime, but now you face a longstanding unanswered prayer. Your sorrow, tears and travail have seemed to go unheard. After all this time you see no evidence of an answer.

We must stand on every promise, praying fervently in faith. Then we must wait on God, trusting him to do what is right in his time and his way. This patient waiting is the most difficult matter of all. You can be sure the Lord means it when he declares, “I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Do not think Jeremiah gave up in despair. In the midst of his trial, he remembered that God was full of compassion and tender mercies: “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord…. For the Lord will not cast off for ever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies” (Lamentations 3:21-26, 31-32).

Your heavenly Father has bottled every tear, received every cry, listened attentively to every request. If you are going through a hot furnace of affliction, you can know he stands there with you. God has a purpose for everything he allows. And for every difficult trial he gives special grace.

In Christ,
DAVID WILKERSON

Wow is that a good word or what?

How apropos it is for me and I wager it is for so many of you today as well!!!

But it doesn’t end there, because there is something more that God is after from each of us, and He is using our circumstances to squeeze it out of us; and that something is absolute obedience and submission to both His Word and also to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life, moment by moment, 24/7, 365 days a year… for only then can we be truly fit for His service!

However I maintain that it is exactly here that most fail the test, in that they quit too soon. Just as it is with Navy SEAL training, which has a 70 to 80 percent dropout rate, where men will get up and quit before the test is over.

The test is, at least from God’s perspective, is to test the mettle of our faith and to see when under pressure do we advance in faith, or are we looking for a door of escape, with a “oh why me attitude?”

This is not the sort of person who prevails in the heat of battle, who won’t give up, but who will dig in deeper and are always open to other options and strategy while still in the midst of the fire.

So as we are preparing for today’s battles, let these lessons sink in; and let us not lose hope regardless of how bad or bleak things may appear; for faith does not look at circumstances and sight/sense evidence to give substance to Hope; but ONLY to the promises of God’s Word… and unless we learn to operate in this fashion 24/7, then the Bible says we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Shalom,

Skip Barland

—–Original Message—–
From: DAVID WILKERSON TODAY [mailto:no-reply@lists.worldchallenge.org]
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 12:01 AM
To: devotions-en@lists.worldchallenge.org
Subject: GOVERNED BY THE WORD OF GOD

GOVERNED BY THE WORD OF GOD

by David Wilkerson | July 23, 2010

If Christ reigns as the supreme authority over his kingdom, and we are his subjects, then our lives must be governed by him. What does it mean, exactly, to be governed by Jesus?

According to the dictionary, to govern means “to guide, to direct, to control all actions and behavior of those under authority.” In short, Jesus must be allowed to control all of our actions and behavior, including our every thought, word and deed.

Jesus also rules the nations of the world. The Bible tells us, “He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves” (Psalm 66:7). “The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all” (Psalm 103:19).

Don’t be fooled—our country is not ruled by Republicans, Democrats or any human authority. It is not controlled by Wall Street or big business entities. No power, earthly or supernatural, rules America or any other nation. God alone is in control. He sits as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, ruling and reigning over all creation from his heavenly throne.

All across America we’re seeing awful moral decay, the rise of the occult, rampant sexual deviations, raging “in your face” atheism. Some Christians fear that the hordes of hell are slowly taking over our nation, establishing Satan’s kingdom of darkness.

We need not worry. Isaiah assures us, “The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers…. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! …Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms” (Isaiah 14:5, 12, 15–16).

Beloved, our God is not one bit anxious about Satan. He isn’t fretting over what we see as an evil takeover of our nation. With just one word from our Lord’s mouth, Satan will be gone forever, tormented for eternity. Therefore, we are to fear no evil.

In no other kingdom does God rule as supremely and as powerfully as in his own kingdom—the one he has established in the hearts of his people.

Jesus said, “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). And it is within this kingdom—the realm of our hearts—that Christ rules supreme over his people, guiding us, healing us, governing our actions and behavior.

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). This verse speaks of Jesus’ endless rule throughout eternity. Yet it also has another significant meaning: We must always increase our submission to our King’s rule.

Can you honestly say that day after day, Jesus’ government over you is increasing? Are you bringing your behavior more and more under his authority?

You may wonder—If Jesus is in heaven, ruling in all authority at the right hand of the Father, how does he go about governing his kingdom here on earth? We find the answer in the book of Hebrews. The author tells us that in the Old Testament, God spoke to his people through the prophets. But today the Lord has chosen to speak through his Son (see Hebrews 1:1–2).

Jesus is God’s explicit message to us—the divine Word made flesh. In turn, the Father has sent the Holy Ghost to us today to remind us of the words Jesus spoke while on earth. Thus, Jesus governs us by the written, revealed Word of God. The Bible is our ruler’s scepter, by which he makes his Word known to us.

If you want to hear the testimony of a man who was governed by God’s written Word, you can find it in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (also see verses 105, 123, 133, 162).

http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/devotions/2010/governed-by-the-word-of-god

Author: SPARKS FROM THE ANVIL OF LIFE

This is an open forum where we look into and investigate the Rhema Mysteries of God's Word; and also other issues of importance for our day and time. View all posts by SPARKS FROM THE ANVIL OF LIFE