Over the past 11 weeks we have been sharing Gary Wilkerson’s book God’s Favor . Today, the final chapter, "Ultimate Favor" — knowing the fullness of God’s awesome favor. Moses felt God’s ultimate favor as the Israelite's were about to enter the promised land. Over their long journey they saw God’s ability to breathe life into any desert wilderness. And he’s ready to do the same for you. Read by Jason Staples
As you might guess, God’s favor is very different from the world’s. For one, it isn’t only on us when things are going great. The opposite can be true, in fact. Sometimes when life is at its hardest, God shows us his greatest favor. How does that work, especially when our trials cause us incredible suffering and sometimes life-long pain? In this chapter, Gary explores how God's favor touches us even in our darkest hours. (Read by Jason Staples)
No matter how long we've walked with God, we've all face times when we desperately needed a miraculous breakthrough. Every overwhelming issue has the potential to carry us to a point where we have nothing more we can do. We need God to intervene. When that stage arrives, we have two specific ways that we can approach the Lord in our crisis, and they are both equally vital to our Christian walk. (Read by Jason Staples)
God has a plan behind all the blessings he gives us. God’s favor is never meant to end with us. We’re to share these blessings with the world to bring him glory. We're to have lives marked by looking for opportunities to demonstrate God's amazing favor in our marriage, with our children, with our brothers and sisters in Christ and to the world around us. So what exactly does it look like to show God’s favor to others? (Read by Jason Staples)
Paul points to a great, faith-sustaining truth in Romans 8:28. “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” This amazing verse has brought hope to tens of millions, but it has also troubled just as many. We can be tempted to think God blesses only a certain type of Christian, mainly those whose faith seems greater than ours. When God seems absent and we wrestle with lingering doubts, how do we renew our...
Too many of us see God as a judge who wields a threatening gavel of condemnation. Actually, the opposite is far more often true. Do you believe your Abba Father is always looking out for your best interests? No matter whether our issues are big or small, his loving favor toward us is the same all the time because his giving nature never changes. So how do we transform our image of God from that of a punitive master to a loving Father who honors our faith even when we fail him? (Read by Jason Sta...
If you’re from a broken family, you may fear the heritage passed down to you; but according to God’s Word, you can be the forerunner to a blessed generation. All it takes is one of us reaching out with Christ’s forgiveness, and everything can change. Your family’s greatest season begins when one person takes a stand and says, “No more. God, help me make things change, starting today.” (Read by Jason Staples)
Cynicism is a know-it-all, seen-it-all attitude that cuts off our belief in God’s abilities. In this chapter, Gary Wilkerson points out how this mentality is easy to slide into but can have serious implications for our life with Christ. Ominously, Matthew’s gospel points out at one point, “[Jesus] did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). How do we avoid limited God's access to our lives this way? (Read by Jason Staples)
Favor follows you. How do you respond to this idea, especially as you look around at this broken, fallen world where we will never be problem-free? When we are struggling to survive and one need after another is rushing at us, we must remember that the Bible tells us exactly what the Lord is doing in our crises. This week, Gary Wilkerson discusses two urgent truths that we must know and cling to in the midst of hardship. (Read by Jason Staples)
All of us have seasons in all our lives when we feel stuck, stranded on a spiritual plateau with nothing to show for our faith. Many Christians don’t think God is against them, but they can’t seem to find the blessing of His favor. However, God’s desire at all times is to bring healing to our lives, but he doesn’t do it by waving a magic wand over all our difficulties. No, His promise is to be with us and bring joy to us through our difficulties. (Read by Jason Staples)
Many godly people truly believe that their heavenly Father loves them, but they're equally convinced that some parts of their lives are unworthy of God’s favor. They try to partition off these failed parts of their lives so they can fix them and then reveal them to the Lord. After years of battling their failures, however, they’re still overwhelmed by these weaknesses. After a while, they begin to assume they have lost God’s favor forever. (Read by Jason Staples)
These mortal bodies of ours are mere shells, and the life is not in the shell. God ultimately has control over that spark of life, and his children always die right on his schedule, not a second too soon or too late. No matter how much pain and suffering wreak havoc on these bodies, it can't compared with the unspeakable glory that awaits those who endure the passage.
Even though the disciples had seen Christ at work and knew he was the Son of God, they failed to grasp who was on their side when they were out on the lake, caught in the storm. In this chapter, David Wilkerson discusses how this is the root of most modern believers' troubles. We pray to God for miracles and believe in him for our salvation, but when we're suddenly caught in a storm and everything is falling apart, we have difficulty trusting Jesus.
In this chapter, David Wilkerson addresses one question that burdens many believers: "Is there one special matter you have been praying about for a long time, with no apparent answer in sight?" In the silence, many Christians either begin to condemn themselves or grow angry at God, but neither response is the one we should have in those moments.
We know what our Lord has promised us: guidance, peace, a shelter from the storm, a way where there seems to be none, a supply for every need, healing for every hurt. In this chapter, David Wilkerson challenges readers with these questions: Do we actually trust these promises? Conversely, have we begun to doubt God's will or ability to fulfill his word? When our faith wavers, what should we do?
The Bible has a long list of men who loved God, who were used mightily for the kingdom of heaven and who also failed because of their weaknesses. God was always there in their lives, saying, "I called you. I will be with you. I will take away the evil of your heart." God delights in working through frail and broken people. Faith in God's goodness and strength is your victory.
God specializes in hopeless cases. When we give up trying to work out everything for ourselves, God can take over. We will all face crises that have us cornered and make us feel overwhelmed. In those moments, God wants us to turn to him and keep our eyes fixed on him and his promises rather than the circumstances that surround us.
Have you sinned against the Lord? Have you grieved the Holy Spirit with the choices you have made? Are you waging a losing battle with temptation? In chapter 9, David Wilkerson addresses those who feel impossibly burdened by the weight of their sin and the judgment of the church. He reminds them of the Bible's glorious promises to broken humanity and those who fail.
Believers seem to have a common issue: we find it very difficult to allow ourselves the same freedom and forgiveness that we preach to addicts, alcoholics, sexual sinners and the wayward. In chapter 8, David Wilkerson explains the causes and dangers of living with a burden of guilt, then he exhorts us to never limit God's graciousness and diminish the power of divine forgiveness.
In chapter 7, David Wilkerson discusses how the power to resist temptation does not come from stuffing ourselves with scripture, making vows to God, hours of prayer and fasting or surrounding ourselves with godly friends. These are all good things, but they are not where our victory lies. In these pages, David explores how believers can successfully resist the Devil's schemes against God's work in their lives.
Often sin strikes after we've experienced a victory, and we swiftly find ourselves buried in guilt and shame. We may find ourselves in a cycle of sin, shame and returning to the sin for pleasure that momentarily relieves us from the pain of shame. In chapter 6, David Wilkerson offers three steps to escaping the power of a besetting sin that has its teeth in us.
We've all felt far from God, as if our prayers were floating off into an endless sea. In chapter 5, David Wilkerson confronts this extremely common experience in the Christian walk. Those are the times in our lives when we feel like hypocrites, proclaiming promises that we aren't experiencing to an already skeptical world. Here, David discusses how we can overcome spiritual dryness and find a renewed sense of God's presence.
Failure, especially repeated failure, can feel like a kind of emotional and spiritual death sentence. In chapter 4, David Wilkerson acknowledges the many cases of terrible failure and deep depression that he witnessed in others over his many years as a pastor and evangelist. He examines the root cause behind this despair and then reminds believers that we have been promised a cure.
The people we love most in life will inevitably disappoint and hurt us. In chapter 3, David Wilkerson explores how we can develop deep, intimate relationships without being emotionally crushed when our loved ones wound us. The steps toward freedom and confidence in relationships are challenging but well worth the reward.
God knows that not one of us can truly carry our proverbial crosses through life. In chapter 2, David Wilkerson discusses how our 'cross' is meant to bring us down and make us turn to God. He discusses how we can identify the cross in our lives and how it can teach us to lean fully on Christ's strength.
We all hurt. No matter where we are in life, we all face struggles and battles that wound our hearts. In chapter 1 of Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately, David Wilkerson points us to the only balm for our hurts, God. He knows the depths of our loneliness, the ache of our hearts, and the deepest questions we ponder. Listen now to find hope in walking through your struggle as you set your trust in the Lord.
The Vision is a prayerfully compiled exploration of David Wilkerson's vision about the world and church’s future. Chapter 10 concludes this book with David Wilkerson exhorting people to seek God’s will for their lives rather than being anxious or disgusted by the details in this book. More than anything, he urges us to seek God and align ourselves with his will as we prepare for the future. This is not a call to fear but to boldness and trust in our Savior’s goodness. More resources like this on...
The Vision is a prayerfully compiled exploration of David Wilkerson's vision about the world and church’s future. Chapter 9 discusses how new and seasoned believers should prepare themselves for the end times along with a biblical response to seeing these disasters strike the world. · Trust in the Bible’s promise in Psalms 34:7 · Know that God is in perfect control over all of nature · See this as a wide-open door for evangelism Very few people would say that they’re “looking forward” to the tri...
The Vision is a prayerfully compiled exploration of David Wilkerson's vision about the world and church’s future. In the wake of 9/11 and the twin towers falling, David points to passages in Isaiah when Israel suffered a terrible attack from their enemies. - The Israelites questioned if God had abandoned them - Cultural sin patterns and idolatry went unchecked despite the disaster - Leaders called on God’s name without actually listening for him The hypocrisy of many American politicians who eag...
The Vision is a prayerfully compiled exploration of David Wilkerson's vision about the world and church’s future. Chapter 7 is a compilation of prophetic warnings from several of David’s sermons over the years, pointing out a coming time of great financial hardship and loss of natural resources. · New York City’s bankruptcy and explosion of street violence · Warning signs of a worldwide economic crisis · Rampant unemployment and rising energy and fuel costs This chapter concludes with a caution ...
