Author: Billy Conrad

October 27

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! — Matthew 3:2

Scripture reading: 2 Peter 3:1–9

Pentecost has made me rejoice in Jesus. God has been confirming His power by His Holy Spirit. I have an intense yearning to see Pentecost, and I am not seeing it. I may feel a little of the glow, but what we need is a deeper work of the Holy Spirit in order for God‘s message to come full of life and power and sharper than a “two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). At Pentecost, Peter stood up in the power of the Holy Spirit, and three thousand people were saved. Not long after this, he preached again, and five thousand people were saved.

I am positive that we are on the wrong side of the Cross. We talk about love, love, love, but it ought to be repent, repent, repent. John the Baptist came, and his message was “Repent.” Jesus came with the same message: “Repent” (Matthew 4:17). The Holy Spirit came, and the message was the same: repent, repent, repent and believe. (See Acts 2:38.) What has all this to do with Pentecost? Everything! It is the secret of our failure.

Daniel carried on his heart the burden of the people. He mourned for the captivity of Zion, he confessed his sin and the people‘s sin, and he identified himself with Israel until God made him a flame of fire. (See Daniel 9.) The result: a remnant returned to Zion to walk in the despised way of obedience to God.

Nehemiah was brokenhearted when he learned of the desolation of Jerusalem. He pleaded for months before God, confessing his sin and the sin of his people (see Nehemiah 1), and God opened the way, and the walls and gates of the city were built up. It is the spirit of deep repentance that is needed.

Weeping is not repentance; sorrow is not repentance. Repentance is turning away from sin and doing the work of righteousness and holiness. What can we do to receive the baptism? Repent!

Thought for today: The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings a deep repentance and a demolished and impoverished spirit.

10月27日

悔改吧，因为天国近了！——马太福音3:2

经文阅读：彼得后书 3:1–9

靠着圣灵的大能。我非常渴望看到五旬节的降临，但我还没有真正看到。我可能感觉到一点点光辉，但我们需要的是圣灵更深的工作，才能让神的信息充满生命力和能力，比“两刃的剑”（希伯来书 4:12）还锐利。在五旬节，彼得靠着圣灵的能力站起来，三千人得救。不久之后，他又讲道，又有五千人得救。

我很肯定我们站在十字架的错误一边。我们总是在谈论爱、爱、爱，但其实应该是悔改、悔改、悔改。施洗约翰来了，他的信息是“悔改”。耶稣来了，带来的信息也是一样：“悔改”（马太福音4:17）。圣灵来了，信息依然是：悔改、悔改、悔改并且相信。（见使徒行传2:38）这和五旬节有什么关系呢？一切都有关！这正是我们失败的原因。

丹尼尔心怀百姓的重担。他为锡安的被掳哀悼，承认自己的罪和人民的罪，并与以色列认同，直到上帝使他成为火焰。（参见但以理书第九章。）结果：一小部分人回到了锡安，走上了那条被轻视的顺服上帝的道路。

尼希米听说耶路撒冷荒凉时心碎不已。他向神祈求了好几个月，承认自己的罪以及本族的罪（见尼希米记1章），神为他开了道路，城市的城墙和城门得以重建。这正是人们需要的深切悔改的心态。

哭泣不是悔改；悲伤也不是悔改。悔改是远离罪恶，行公义和圣洁的事。我们该做什么才能接受洗礼呢？悔改吧！

今日思考：圣灵的洗礼带来深刻的悔改，以及被拆毁和贫瘠的心灵。

October 26

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. — James 1:12

Scripture reading: Psalm 139

People do not know what they are getting when they are in a great place of temptation. Temptation endured brings the “crown of life.”

There is nothing outside of purity except what is sin. All unbelief is sin. God wants you to have a pure, active faith so that you will be living in an advanced place of believing God all the time, and so that you will be on the mountaintop and singing when other people are crying.

I want to speak now about lust. I am not speaking about the base things, the carnal desires. I am not speaking so much about adultery, fornication, and such things, but I am speaking about what has turned you aside to some other thing instead of God. God has been offering you better things all the time, and you have missed them.

There are three things in life, and I notice that many people are satisfied with just one of them. There is blessing in justification, there is blessing in sanctification, and there is blessing in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a wonderful thing, and we know it. Sanctification is a process that takes us on to a higher level with God. Salvation, sanctification, and the fullness of the Spirit are processes.

Many people are satisfied with “good” – that is, with salvation. Other people are satisfied with “better”—a sanctified life, purified by God. Still other people are satisfied with the “best” the fullness of God with revelation from on high. I am not satisfied with any of the three. I am only satisfied with the “best with improvement.”

So I come to you not with good, but better; not with better, but best; not with best, but best with improvement—going on with God. Why? Because “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15). When anything has taken me from God, it means death in some way.

When Jesus said to the disciples, “The Son of Man will be put into the hands of sinners and crucified,” Peter rebuked Him (see Matthew 16:21–22), but Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (v. 23).

Anything that hinders me from denying myself and taking up my cross (v. 24) is of the Devil; anything that hinders me from being separated unto God is of the Devil; and anything that hinders me from being purified every day is carnal, and it is death. So I implore you today to make certain that there is no lustful thing in you that would rob you of the glory. Then God will take you to the very summit of the blessing where you can be increased day by day into all His fullness.

Thought for today: Do not neglect the Word of God. Take time to think about the Word of God; it is the only place of safety.

10月26日

忍受诱惑的人是有福的，因为他经过考验后，将会得到主应许给爱他之人的生命冠冕。 — 雅各书 1:12

读经：诗篇139篇

当人们处在极大的诱惑中时，他们不知道自己将得到什么。忍受诱惑会带来“生命的冠冕”。

除了罪之外，没有什么是纯洁的。所有的不信都是罪。上帝希望你拥有纯洁而活跃的信心，这样你就能一直处在相信上帝的高级境界，也能在别人哭泣的时候站在山顶上唱歌。

我现在想谈谈欲望。我不是在说低级的事情，也不是肉体的欲望。我说的不是通奸、奸淫之类的事情，而是指那些让你偏离神、转向其他东西的东西。神一直在给你更好的东西，但你却错过了。

人生中有三件事，我注意到很多人只满足于其中的一件。称义有福，成圣有福，圣灵的洗也有福。得救是件美好的事，我们都知道。成圣是一个让我们与上帝更进一步的过程。得救、成圣和圣灵的充满都是一个过程。

很多人满足于“好”——也就是得救。还有一些人满足于“更好”——一个被上帝净化的圣洁生活。还有人满足于“最好”——神的满盈和从高处来的启示。我对这三者都不满意。我只对“可以更好的最好”感到满意。

所以我来到你面前，不是带来好，而是更好；不是带来更好，而是最好的；不是最好的，而是带着改进的最好——与神同行。为什么？因为“私欲怀了胎，就生出罪来；罪既长成，就生出死来”（雅各书 1:15）。当有任何东西把我从神那里带走时，这在某种程度上意味着死亡。

当耶稣对门徒说：“人子将被交在罪人手里，被钉十字架”时，彼得责备了他（参见马太福音16:21-22），但耶稣说：“撒但，退到我后边去吧！你是我的绊脚石，因为你不体贴神的意思，只体贴人的意思”（第23节）。

任何阻碍我否认自己、背起十字架（第24节）的东西都是来自魔鬼的；任何阻碍我分别归向神的东西都是来自魔鬼的；任何阻碍我每天被洁净的东西都是属肉体的，而且是死亡的。所以我今天恳求你，确保你里面没有任何贪欲之物，会夺去你的荣耀。然后神会带你到祝福的最高峰，让你每天都能增长，充满祂的一切丰盛。

今日思考：不要忽视上帝的话语。花时间思考上帝的话语；它是唯一的安全之处。

October 25

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. — James 1:5

Scripture reading: James 1

Many people come to me and ask if I will pray for them to have faith. I want to encourage them, but I cannot depart from God‘s Word. I cannot grant people faith. But by the power of the Spirit, I can stimulate you until you dare to believe and rest on the authority of God‘s Word. The Spirit of the living God quickens you, and I see that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

This is a living word of faith: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally.” You will never find that God ever judges you for the wisdom He gives you or for the blessing He gives you. He makes it so that when you come to Him again, He gives again, never asking what you did with what He gave you before. That is the way God gives. God “gives to all liberally and without reproach.” So you have a chance today to come for much more. Do you want wisdom? Ask of God.

You have to be in the right condition for asking. This is the condition: “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting” (James 1:6).

I am satisfied that God, who is the builder of divine order, never brings confusion into His order. It is only when things are out of order that God brings confusion. God brought confusion upon the men who were building the Tower of Babel because they were out of order. (See Genesis 11:1–9.) What were they doing? They were trying to get into heaven by a way that was not God‘s way, and they were thieves and robbers. (See John 10:1.) So He turned their language to confusion. There is a way into the kingdom of heaven, and it is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you want this divine order in your life, if you want wisdom, you have to come to God believing. I want to impress upon you the fact—and I am learning it more every day—that if you ask six times for anything, just for the sake of asking, it shows you are an unbelieving person. If you really believe, you will ask God and know that He has abundance for your every need. But if you go right in the face of belief and ask six times, He knows very well that you do not mean what you ask, so you do not get it.

If you would really get down to business about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and ask God once and definitely to fill you, believing it, what would you do? You would begin to praise Him for it because you would know He had given it.

If you ask God once for healing, you will get it. But if you ask a thousand times a day until you do not even know you are asking, you will get nothing. If you would ask God for your healing now and begin praising Him because He never breaks His word, you would go out of here perfect. “Only believe” (Mark 5:36).

God wants to promote us. He wants us to get away from our own thoughts and our own foolishness, and get to a definite place, believing that He exists and that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Have you reached the place where you dare to do this? Have you come to the place where you are no longer going to murmur when you are undergoing a trial? Are you going to go around weeping, telling people about it, or are you going to say, “Thank you, Lord, for putting me on the top”?

A great number of ministers and evangelists do not get checks sent to them any longer because they didn‘t thank the donor for the last one. A thankful heart is a receiving heart. God wants to keep you in the place of constant believing.

Keep on believing, Jesus is near,
Keep on believing, there‘s nothing to fear;
Keep on believing, this is the way,
Faith in the night, the same as the day.

Thought for today: God does not honor unbelief; He honors faith.

10月25日

如果你们中间有人缺乏智慧，就应当向神求，神乐意赐给所有人，而且不会责备人，这样他就会得到智慧。——雅各书 1:5

读经：雅各书 1

很多人来找我，问我是否会为他们祈祷让他们有信心。我想鼓励他们，但我不能背离神的话语。我不能赋予别人信心。但凭着圣灵的力量，我可以激励你，直到你敢于相信并依靠神话语的权柄。永生神的灵使你复活，我看到“信就是从听道来，听道是从基督的话来的”（罗马书 10:17）。

这是一个充满信心的活词：“你们中间若有缺少智慧的，应当求那厚赐众人也不斥责人的神。”你永远不会发现上帝会因为他赐给你的智慧或祝福而审判你。他会让你再次来找他时，再次赐给你，而从不问你之前所赐的用得怎样。这就是上帝的赐予方式。上帝“厚赐众人，也不斥责人。”所以今天你有机会来领受更多。你想要智慧吗？向上帝求吧。

你提问的时候必须处于正确的状态。这个状态是：“但他要凭着信心求，一点也不怀疑”（雅各书 1:6）。

我相信，上帝是神圣秩序的建造者，他从不会在自己的秩序中带来混乱。只有当事情失序时，上帝才会带来混乱。上帝让参与建造巴别塔的人陷入混乱，因为他们违背了秩序。（参见创世记11:1–9）他们在做什么呢？他们试图用一种不符合上帝的方式进入天堂，而且他们是小偷和强盗。（参见约翰福音10:1）所以上帝让他们的语言混乱。有一条进入天国的道路，那就是通过主耶稣基督的宝血。

如果你想在生活中拥有这种神圣的秩序，如果你想要智慧，你就必须带着信心来找上帝。我想让你们明白一个事实——而我每天都在学到更多——那就是如果你只是为了请求而请求，重复六次任何事情，这说明你是一个不信的人。如果你真的相信，你会向上帝祈求，并知道祂有充足的资源来满足你的每一个需求。但如果你违背信心去重复六次祈求，上帝很清楚你并不真心，所以你就得不到它。

如果你真的认真对待圣灵的洗礼，并且一次性、坚定地向上帝求，让祂充满你，并且相信祂会这么做，你会怎么做呢？你会开始为此赞美祂，因为你会知道这是祂赐给你的。

如果你只向上帝请求一次医治，你就会得到。但如果你一天请求一千次，直到你都不知道自己在请求，你就什么也得不到。如果你现在向上帝请求医治，并开始赞美他，因为他从不违背自己的诺言，你就会从这里完全康复。“只要相信”（马可福音 5:36）。

上帝想要提升我们。他希望我们远离自己的想法和愚蠢，来到一个明确的地方，相信祂存在，并且“那寻求他的人，必然得奖赏”（希伯来书 11:6）。

你已经到达敢于做这件事的地方了吗？你已经到了在受试炼时不再抱怨的境地了吗？你会到处哭诉，把事情告诉别人，还是会说：“谢谢你，主，让我站在顶峰”?

很多牧师和传教士不再收到支票，因为他们没有感谢上一次的捐赠者。感恩的心就是一个能接受的心。上帝希望你保持在持续信心的状态。

继续相信，耶稣就在身边，
继续相信，没什么可怕的；
继续相信，这就是道路，
无论黑夜还是白天都要有信心。

今天的感悟：上帝不看重不信；祂看重信心。

October 24

Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. — James 1:4

Scripture reading: Psalm 91

To be “complete” means that you are not moved by anything, that you are living only in the divine position of God. It means that you are not moved, that you are not changed by what people say. There is something about divine acquaintance that is instilled; it is worked within a person by the mighty God. It becomes like intuition.

Accepting Christ as Savior builds the character of a person in purity until his inward heart is filled with divine love and has nothing but thoughts of God alone. “That you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

When I was in New Zealand, some people came to me and said, “We would like to give you a Christmas present, if you can tell us what you would like.” “I haven‘t a desire in the world,” I said. “I cannot tell you anything I would like. I have no desire for anything except God.”

One day, I was walking down the street with a millionaire. I was feeling wonderfully happy over the way the Lord was blessing in our meetings. As we walked together, I said, “Brother, I haven‘t a care in the world. I am as happy as a bird!”

“Oh!” he said. “Stop! Say it again! Say it again!” And he stood still, waiting for me to repeat it. “Brother, I haven‘t a care in the world. I am as happy as a bird!” He exclaimed, “I would give all my money, I would give everything I have, to have that!”

To be lacking nothing—hallelujah!

The Spirit of the Lord is moving us mightily to see that this is resurrection power. We were planted with Him, and we have been raised with Him (Romans 6:5 KJV). We are from above (see Colossians 3:1–3); we do not belong to what is below. We “reign in life” (Romans 5:17) by Another. It is the life of God‘s Son manifested in this human body.

Thought for today: The new life of God is not just on the surface.

10月24日

让忍耐发挥它完全的作用，这样你们就能完全完整，什么都不缺。——雅各书 1:4

读经：诗篇91篇

“完整”意味着你不会被任何事物左右，你只是活在上帝的神圣位置上。这意味着你不会被动摇，你不会被别人说的话改变。神圣相识有一种特质被植入，它由全能的上帝在一个人里面工作。这会变得像直觉一样。

接受基督为救主会塑造一个人的品格，使其纯洁，直到内心充满神圣的爱，只想着上帝。“使你们全然成熟，缺少一无所缺。”

当我在新西兰的时候，有些人走过来对我说：“我们想送你一份圣诞礼物，如果你能告诉我们你想要什么的话。” 我说：“我一点愿望都没有。我无法告诉你我想要什么。我除了上帝，对别的什么都没有欲望。”

有一天，我和一位百万富翁一起走在街上。我因为主在我们的聚会中所赐的祝福而感到非常开心。当我们一起走时，我说：“兄弟，我一点也不担心。我开心得像一只鸟一样！”

“哦！”他说。“停！再说一遍！再说一遍！”然后他站在那里，等着我重复一遍。“兄弟，我一点也不担心。我像小鸟一样快乐！”他喊道，“我愿意拿出我所有的钱，我愿意拿出我拥有的一切，只为了拥有那个！”

一点也不缺——哈利路亚！

主的灵正大大地推动我们去看到这是复活的大能。我们与他一同被栽种，也与他一同复活（罗马书 6:5 KJV）。我们是从上头来的（参见歌罗西书 3:1–3）；我们不属于属地的事物。我们通过另一位“在生命中掌权”（罗马书 5:17）。这是神儿子的生命在这具人身上显现出来。

今日思考：上帝的新生命不只是表面上的。