Daily Light - April 29, 2011

Daily Light from the Lighthouse

"So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days;

I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven."

Nehemiah 1:4

I usually do not try to inject myself personally into these daily devotionals, so please forgive me but today I must. Yesterday was a day of genuine grief for me because of the loss of someone who I considered to be very special in my life. It is strange to say that to some degree, because I never actually had the opportunity to personally meet this individual. His death, however, came as a sudden blow to my life, and I was greatly challenged throughout the day by the legacy that he left behind.

While surfing the web one day, I found a video on Youtube entitled "A Call to Anguish." As I sat and listened to the speaker proclaim this message from God, I felt as if the shockwave from a bomb had rattled my whole being. When it was over, I sat in my chair and this wave of the Holy Spirit of God swept over my heart and mind, and I knew that I would never be the same. The speaker was a man by the name of David Wilkerson. I have to admit that the name did not ring a bell at first until my wife told me that he was the one that wrote "The Cross and the Switchblade." It is the story of how God led Wilkerson to the streets of New York City to start a ministry that continues today in two forms: Times Square Church in New York City and World Challenge Ministries.

I began to study more about his life and listen to every message from him that I could find. I was able over these years to not simply hear his words, but I listened mostly to his heart. I found the entirety of the message "A Call to Anguish" and have listened to it several times. Because of the help that I have received from this man of God, I have called him my "pastor" for the past couple of years. God used David Wilkerson to challenge me in a way that I have never been challenged before. My hunger for the Word, my desire to fervently pray, and my serious passion for God and God alone were all greatly influenced by him.

On Wednesday, David Wilkerson and his wife were in a head-on collision with a semi-truck while traveling down a Texas Road outside of Dallas. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his wife is in serious condition in the hospital. A national news report was made about the accident with just one sentence. One believer commented that the world does not realize what they have lost and that is true. For over 50 years David Wilkerson told countless numbers of people about the love of Jesus Christ and now he personally knows that love in a very amazing way.

When Elijah was carried away into the presence of God, he handed off his mantle to a servant named Elisha to carry on the work of the Almighty. I personally plan to carry the mantle of a man of God who served faithfully and powerfully for many years. May we all lift up Christ unashamedly to a world that desperately needs Him!