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Fear Not for You Will Not be Ashamed
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God’s Church will not go out under reproach - we will be afflicted and storm-tossed. Yet we are also promised a foundation made of sapphires. These sapphires represent spiritual knowledge and wisdom, insights into the very heart of God.
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Those who endure suffering come out armed with greater insights
into God’s mercy. You may be tempted, tossed, afflicted and alone, but through
it all He is forming underneath you a rock-solid foundation. It is all so that
you may comfort others in their trials.
Devotional
Thoughts
By
David Wilkerson
“Fear not,
for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood
you will remember no more.” - Isaiah
54:4
Christ’s Church will stretch
beyond all former limitations to spread the good news.
“Enlarge the
place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine
habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou
shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit
the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited” (Isaiah 54:2–3).
Simply put, the Church will
gain strength and raise up multitudes in Christ.
As we look more closely at
Isaiah’s prophecy, we see it is meant not only for the Church Body but also for
individuals.
I know godly servants,
friends of mine, who have laid hold of this prophecy as a personal word from
the Holy Spirit.
And they have built up their faith by its promises: “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed:
neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and
shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more” (Isaiah 54:4).
Isaiah makes it clear in this
verse: God’s Church will not go out under reproach.
Yet just a few verses down, we read this warning to
the last-days Church: “O thou afflicted,
tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair
colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires” (Isaiah 54:11).
We are told that we will be
afflicted and storm-tossed.
Yet we are also promised a
foundation made of sapphires.
What does this mean, exactly?
When God declares, “I will lay thy foundations with sapphires,”
His message is, “When everything in the world is being
shaken, you will not be moved. The foundation I’m laying underneath you is as
solid as these stones. What I’m doing in you cannot be shaken.”
These sapphires represent
spiritual knowledge and wisdom, insights into the very heart of God.
We know that those who endure
suffering come out armed with greater insights into God’s mercy.
You may be tempted, tossed,
afflicted and alone, but through it all He is forming underneath you a
rock-solid foundation.
It is all so that you may comfort others in their trials.
David Wilkerson
was called to New York City in 1958 to minister to gang members and drug
addicts, as told in the best-selling book The Cross and the Switchblade. He
went on to create Teen Challenge and World Challenge, Inc. to minister to
people’s spiritual and physical needs.
In
1987, he established Times Square Church. As its founding pastor, he faithfully
led this congregation, delivering powerful biblical messages that encourage
righteous living and complete reliance on God.
David
Wilkerson also had a strong burden to encourage his fellow pastors. He founded
the Summit International School of Ministry; and from 1999 to 2008, he held
international conferences to strengthen church leaders.
His
passion to support believers, build up leaders and care for the poor is still
at the heart of World Challenge’s ministries to this day.
https://worldchallenge.org/verse/isaiah-544
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