David Wilkerson Devotions

My dear friend, God’s forgiveness has no limit. Jesus told His disciples, “If [thy brother] trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him” (Luke 17:4)

Can you believe such a thing? Seven times a day this person willfully sins before my very eyes, then says “I’m sorry.” And I am to forgive him—over and over? Yes— and how much more will our heavenly Father forgive His children who come in repentance to Him. Don’t try to reason it out! Don’t ask how or why He forgives so freely. Simply accept it!

One of the most encouraging scriptures in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Then Paul goes on to describe those earthen vessels—dying men, troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down. And even though never forsaken or in despair, those men being used by God were constantly under the burden of their bodies, waiting anxiously to be clothed with new ones.

Jesus ordered His disciples into a boat that was headed for a collision. The Bible says He “constrained [them] to get into a ship” (Matthew 14:22). It was headed for troubled waters; it would be tossed about like a bobbing cork; the disciples would be thrust into a mini-Titanic experience—and Jesus knew it the whole time.

After Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, His listeners sat in awe. Scripture says, "The people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:28-29). The Greek word for authority in this verse means "with mastery, power, liberty; as one in control." Jesus' listeners were saying, in essence, "This man speaks as if He knows what He is talking about."

After Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, His listeners sat in awe. Scripture says, "The people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:28-29). The Greek word for authority in this verse means "with mastery, power, liberty; as one in control." Jesus' listeners were saying, in essence, "This man speaks as if He knows what He is talking about."

"For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). I picture God looking over that banquet hall, declaring, "For many years I called out to Israel, through My apostles. But they refused to hear. Now these guests here in My house have responded to My call. I tell you, they have been chosen. And I won't allow Satan to cut off any one of them from My Body."

"Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests" (Matthew 22:8-10).

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).

This bread is what distinguishes us as members of His Body. We are set apart from the rest of humanity because we dine from a single loaf: Jesus Christ. "We are all partakers of that one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17).

Some Christians, however, don't want to be connected to other members of the Body. They commune with Jesus, but they deliberately isolate themselves from other believers. They want nothing to do with the Body, other than the Head.

The apostle Paul instructs us, "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Corinthians 12:27). He says more specifically, "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members . . . being many, are one body: so also is Christ" (12:12).

Paul is telling us, in essence, "Take a look at your own body. You have hands, feet, eyes, ears. You're not just an isolated brain, unattached to the other members. Well, it is the same way with Christ. He is not just a head. He has a body, and we comprise its members."

"Out of the belly of hell cried I" (Jonah 2:2). Why did the Lord take Jonah so low? He was in the belly of a living hell, suspended in darkness, hanging between life and death. Why would a merciful God put a servant through this? I believe Jonah's story shows us how God deals with disobedient servants.