Author: Billy Conrad

August 31

Pursue love. — 1 Corinthians 14:1

Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 13

When love is in perfect operation, all other things will work in harmony, for prophetic utterances are of no value unless they are perfectly covered with divine love. Our Lord Jesus would never have accomplished His great plan in this world except that He was so full of love for His Father, and love for us, that His love never failed to accomplish its purpose.

I believe that His love will have to come into our lives. Christ must be the summit, the desire, the plan of all things. All our sayings, doings, and workings must be well pleasing in and to Him, and then our prophetic utterances will be a blessing through God; they will never be side issues. There is no imitation in a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Imitation is lost as the great plan of Christ becomes the ideal of his life.

God wants you to be balanced in spiritual anointing so that you will always do what pleases Him, and not what will please other people or yourself. The ideal must be that all you do will be edifying, and your primary purpose will be to please the Lord.

When someone came to Moses and said that there were two others in the camp prophesying, Moses said, “Oh, that all the Lord‟s people were prophets” (Numbers 11:29). This is a clear revelation along these lines that God wants us to be in such a spiritual, holy place that He could take our words and so fill them with divine power that we would speak only as the Spirit leads in prophetic utterances.

Beloved, there is spiritual language, and there is also human language, which always stays on the human plane. The divine comes into the same language so that it is changed by spiritual power and brings life to those who hear you speak. But this divine touch of prophecy will never come in any way except through the infilling of the Spirit.

Thought for today: If you wish to be anything for God, do not miss His plan.

August 30

Being rooted and grounded in love. — Ephesians 3:17

Scripture reading: Ephesians 2:11–22

It is quite easy to construct a building if the foundation is secure. On the other hand, a building will be unstable if it does not have a solid understructure. Likewise, it is not very easy to rise spiritually unless we have a real spiritual power working within us. It will never do for us to be top-heavy—the base must always be very firmly set. Many of us have not gone on in the Lord because we have not had a secure foundation in Him, and we will have to consider “the pit from which [we] were dug” (Isaiah 51:1). Unless we correctly understand the spiritual leadings, according to the mind of God, we will never be able to stand when the winds blow, when the trials come, and when Satan appears as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

There must be three things in our lives if we wish to go all the way with God in the fullness of Pentecost. First, we must be grounded and settled in love; we must have a real knowledge of what love is. Second, we must have a clear understanding of the Word, for love must manifest the Word. Third, we must clearly understand our own ground, because it is our own ground that needs to be looked after the most.

The Lord speaks at least twice of the good ground into which seed was sown, which also bore fruit and brought forth some hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty (Matthew 13:8; Mark 4:8). Even in the good ground, the seed yielded different portions of fruit. I maintain truly that there is no limitation to the abundance of a harvest when the ground is perfectly in the hands of the Lord. So we must clearly understand that the Word of God can never come forth with all its primary purposes unless our ground is right. But God will help us, I believe, to see that He can put the ground in perfect order as it is left in His hands.

Thought for today: We will never be able to stand unless we are firmly fixed in the Word of God.

August 29

God anointed Jesus…with the Holy Spirit and with power. — Acts 10:38

Scripture reading: Acts 10:24–48

Suppose that all around me are people with needs: a woman is dying; a man has lost all the powers of his faculties; another person is apparently dying. Here they are. I see the great need, and I drop down on my knees and cry. Yet in doing so, I miss it all.

God does not want me to cry. God does not want me to labor. God does not want me to anguish and to be filled with anxiety and a sorrowful spirit. What does He want me to do? Only believe. After you have received, only believe. Come to the authority of it; dare to believe. Say, “I will do it!”

So the baptism of the Holy Spirit says to me, “You have an anointing” (1 John 2:20). The anointing has come; the anointing remains; the anointing is with us. But what if you have not lived in the place in which the unction, the anointing, can be increased? Then the Spirit is grieved; then you are not moved. You are like one who is dead. You feel that all the joy is gone.

What is the matter? There is something between you and the Holy One; you are not clean, not pure, not desirous of Him alone. Something else has come in the way. Then the Spirit is grieved, and you have lost the unction.

Is the Unctioner still there? Yes. When He comes in, He comes to remain. He will either be grieved, full of groaning and travail, or He will be there to lift you above the powers of darkness, transform you by His power, and take you to a place where you may be fully equipped.

Many people lose all potential positions of attainment because they fail to understand this:

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. (1 John 2:27)

What “anointing” is referred to here? The same anointing from God that anointed Jesus is with you, “and you do not need that anyone teach you.” The same anointing will teach you all things.

O lovely Jesus! Blessed Incarnation of holy display! Thank God for the Trinity displayed in our hearts today. Thank God for this glorious open way. Thank God for life all along the way. Praise God for hope that we may all be changed today. Hallelujah!

Peace, peace, sweet peace,
Coming down from the Father above,
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Sweet peace, the gift of God‘s love.

This is the very position and presence that will bring everybody into a fullness.

Thought for today: Thank God for darkness that is turning into day.

August 28

But you have an anointing from the Holy One. — 1 John 2:20

Scripture reading: 1 John 2:15–29

Another of the roles of the Holy Spirit that is necessary for today we find in John 14:26:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy [Spirit], whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (KJV)

Jesus said something very similar in a later chapter: “He will take of what is Mine and declare [reveal] it to you” (John 16:14). Everything that has been revealed to you was first taken. So, first, the Holy Spirit takes of what is Christ‘s and reveals it to you. Then you come to the place where you need another touch. What is it? In the necessity of your ministry, He will bring to your remembrance everything that you need in your ministry. That is an important thing for preachers. God will give us His Word, and if there is anything special we need, He will bring that to our memories, too. The Holy Spirit comes to bring the Word to our remembrance.

I will throw this word out to you as a help for future reflection: “You shall receive power” (Acts 1:8). Oh, may God grant that we will not forget it!

What do I mean by that? Many people, instead of standing on the rock-solid word of faith and believing that they have received the baptism with its anointing and power, say, “Oh, if I could only feel that I have received it!”

Very often, your feelings are a place of discouragement. You have to get away from relying on human feelings or desires. Earthly desires are not God‘s desires. All thoughts of holiness, all thoughts of purity, all thoughts of power from the Holy Spirit are from above. Human thoughts are like clouds that belong to the earth. “[God‘s] thoughts are not [our] thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8).

Thought for today: Your feelings rob you of your greatest place of anointing.

August 27

No man can tame the tongue. — James 3:8

Scripture reading: Psalm 19

When the Holy Spirit begins, He tames the whole body until the tongue, moved by the power of the Spirit, says things exactly as the Lord would be delighted for them to be said.

The Holy Spirit is the Comforter; the Holy Spirit takes the necessary words at the right time and gives them to you. After the Holy Spirit takes charge of you, He is the Comforter who brings thoughts and language to your life, and it is amazing.

If we get to the place where we take no thought for ourselves, then God takes thought for us; but as long as we are taking thought for ourselves, we are somewhat hindered in this divine order with God. Taking no thought for yourself, no desire for your human self, not seeking anything for your human condition but that God will be glorified in your body and spirit and that He will be the chief Worker on every line—this is divine appointment. This is holy order.

There is a holy order. There are sects today that call themselves “holy orders,” but the only holy order is where God has so permeated your nature that the Trinity comes and blends perfectly with your human nature. Where the human nature could not help itself, God turned the captivity of the wheels of nature and poured in His divine power until the nature itself became divine property.

Thought for today: I must never, under any circumstances, as long as I live, take advantage of God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit. I have to be subservient to the power of God.

August 26

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues. — Acts 2:4

Scripture reading: Acts 2:1–41

Expect any manifestation of the Spirit when you are coming through into the baptism. As far as I am concerned, you can have the biggest time on earth; you can scream as much as you like. Yet some people are wary of how they will react.

A woman in Switzerland came to me after I had helped her and asked to speak to me further. “Now that I feel I am healed,” she said, “and that terrible carnal passion that has bound and hindered me is gone, I feel that I have a new mind. I believe I would like to receive the Holy Spirit, but when I hear these people screaming, I feel like running away.”

After that, we were at another meeting in Switzerland where a large hotel was joined to the building. At the close of one of the morning services, the power of God fell—that is the only way I can describe it, the power of God fell. This poor, timid creature who couldn‘t bear to hear anybody scream, screamed so loud that all the waiters in this big hotel came out with their aprons on and with their trays to see what was up. Nothing was especially up. Something had come down, and it had so altered the situation that this woman could stand anything after that.

When God begins dealing with you on the baptism, He begins on this line: He starts with the things that are the most difficult. He starts with your fear; He starts with your human nature. He puts the fear away; He gets the human nature out of the way. And just as you dissolve, just as the power of the Spirit brings a dissolving to your human nature, in the same act the Holy Spirit flows into the place where you are being dissolved, and you are quickened just where you come into death.

Thought for today: As you die—naturally, humanly, carnally, selfishly—to every evil thing, the new life, the Holy Spirit, floods the whole condition until you become transformed.

August 25

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek. — Psalm 27:4

Scripture reading: Psalm 27

The person who says “I am ready for anything” will never get it. “What are you seeking, my brother?” “Oh, I am ready for anything.” You will never get anything.

When the Lord reveals to you that you must be filled with the Holy Spirit, seek only that one thing, and God will give you that one thing. It is necessary for you to seek one thing first.

Never forget, the baptism will always be as it was in the beginning. It has not changed. And if you want a real baptism, expect it to be just the same as the early believers had it at the beginning.

“What did they have at the beginning?” you ask.

Well, they knew when others had the same experience they had had at the beginning, for they heard them speak in tongues. That is the only way they did know, because they heard the others saying the same things in the Spirit that they had said at the beginning. As it was in the beginning, so it will be forever.

I do not say anything against ordination; I think that is very good. However, there is an ordination that is better, and it is the ordination with the King. This is the only ordination that is going to equip you for the future.

The person who has passed through that ordination goes forth with fresh feet—the preparation of the Gospel (Ephesians 6:15); he goes forth with a fresh voice, speaking as the Spirit gives utterance (Acts 2:4); he goes forth with a fresh mind, his mind being illuminated by the power of God (see Hebrews 8:10); he goes forth with a fresh vision and sees all things new. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17.)

When the Holy Spirit comes, He will reveal things to you. Has He revealed them yet? He is going to do it. Just expect Him to do so. The best thing for you is to expect Him to do it now.

Thought for today: The King is already on His throne, but He needs crowning; when the Holy Spirit comes, He crowns the King inside of us.

August 24

He will take of Mine and declare it to you. — John 16:15

Scripture reading: John 16:5–15

What will the Holy Spirit do? The Holy Spirit is prophetic. He says, “Be of good cheer” (John 16:33); “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” (Matthew 11:29); “Have peace with one another” (Mark 9:50). You say, “But that is what Jesus said.” It is what the Holy Spirit is taking and revealing to us. The Holy Spirit is the spokesman in these days, and He speaks the Word. The Holy Spirit takes the words of Jesus, and He is so full of truth that He never adds anything to them. He gives you the unadulterated Word of Truth, the Word of Life.

What are His words? Truths like these: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17); and “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The Holy Spirit takes these words and gives them to you.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is bringing forth the Word of Life. “I will give you rest.” Rest? Oh, there is no rest like it! It can come in your moment of greatest trial.

When my dear wife was lying dead, the doctors could do nothing, and they said to me, “She is done; we cannot help you.” My heart was so moved, and I said, “O God, I can‘t spare her!”

I went up to her and I said, “Oh, come back, come back and speak to me. Come back, come back!”

And the Spirit of the Lord moved, and she came back and smiled again.

Then the Holy Spirit said to me, “She is mine. Her work is done; she is mine.”

Oh, the comforting word! No one else could have done it, but the Comforter came. At that moment, my dear wife passed away.

Thought for today: The Comforter has a word for us this day. There is only one Comforter, and He has been with the Father from the beginning. He comes only to give light.