Author: Billy Conrad

November 26

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. —1 John 4:2–3

Scripture reading: 1 John 4:1-6

A lot of people are troubled by voices. Some are so troubled that they become very distressed. Some people take it as a great thing; they think it is very remarkable, and they go astray. Lots of people go astray by foolish prophecy, and many are foolish enough to believe that they have tongues and interpretation and that they can be told what they should do. This is altogether outside the plan of God and bordering on blasphemy.

I do not preach my own ideas. That is, I never tell you what I think, because everybody can think. I tell you what I know. Therefore, what you need to do is to listen to what I know so that you may learn it. Then you can tell others what you have learned so that they will learn also.

How can I dislodge the power of Satan? How can I deal with satanic power? How may I know whether a voice is of God or not? Are there not voices that come from God? Yes. I am here believing that I am in the right place to build you on the authority of the Word of God.

You know that a business executive is one who has a right to declare everything for the board of directors. And the Chief Executive of the world is the Holy Spirit. He is here today as a communication to our hearts, to our minds, to our thoughts, of what God wants us to know. So this Holy Executive who is in us can speak wonderful words.

I am dealing now with what you may know when you are fully in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will teach you; He will “bring to your remembrance all things” (John 14:26). Now you do not need any man to teach you. But the anointing remains (1 John 2:27). This is the office of the Holy Spirit. This is the power of His communication. This is what John meant when he said, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Jesus, who is grace, is with you. But the Holy Spirit is the speaker, and He speaks everything concerning Jesus.

There may be people who have been hearing voices, and it has put them in situations that have caused tremendous issues in their lives, brought a great amount of distress and brokenheartedness, and led them into confusion and trouble. Why? They did not know how to judge the voices.

If a voice comes and tells you what to do, if a person comes and says he has a special prophecy that God has given him for you, you have as much right to ask God for that prophecy as they had to give it to you, and you have as much right to judge that prophecy according to the Word of God. You need to do this, for there are people going about pretending to be tremendous people, and they are sending people nearly off their wits‘ end because they believe their damnable prophecies, which never are of God but are of the Devil. I am very severe on this thing. God won‘t let me rest; I have to deal with these things because I find people everywhere in a terrible state because of these voices. How will we get to know the difference between the voice of God and the voice of Satan? The Scripture tells us. (See 1 John 4:2-3.)

Thought for today: You do not need teachers, but you need the Teacher, who is the Holy Spirit, to bring all things to your remembrance.

November 25

Follow Me. — Matthew 9:9

Scripture reading: Psalm 63

People by the hundreds are continually pressing me with their difficulties, with their strange yet holy and noble desires, where two ways meet and they do not know which one to take. Some have received impressions in their minds and hearts, but I want to show you what comes of impressions.

A lady came to me and said, “Don‘t you know, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me; I have to preach the Gospel.”

I said, “There is nothing wrong in that.”

“I want to know where I have to go to preach, so I have come to you to see if the Lord has told you where I am to go.”

“Yes, you have to begin at home. Begin at Jerusalem, and if you are successful, go to Judea; then if you are successful, God will send you to the uttermost parts of the world.” (See Acts 1:8.)

God is not going to send you to the uttermost parts of the world until you have been successful around Jerusalem. We have a tremendously big job; it is well worth doing, and I want to do it well. I want to tell you the difference between the right and the wrong way to discern voices and thoughts that may come into your minds.

You have the Scriptures, and you have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has wisdom, and He does not expect you to be foolish. The Holy Spirit has perfect insight into knowledge and wisdom, and truth always gives you balance.

You always need to have one thing removed from you: being terribly afraid. When fear leaves, power and confidence come in its place. You also need to have another thing that must remain, and that is love: love in order to obey God rather than your inclinations to be something; but if God wants to make you someone, that is different.

My wife tried her best to make me someone, but she could not do it. Her heart was right; her love was right; she did her best to make me a preacher. She used to say, “Now, Father, you could do it if you wanted to, and I want you to preach next Sunday.”

I did everything to get ready; I tried everything. I don‘t know what I did not try”it would be best not to tell you what I did try. I had as many notes as would suit a clergyman for a week.

My wife‘s heart, her love, her desires were all right, but when I got up to preach, I would give out my text and then say, “If anybody can preach, now is your chance, for I have finished.” That did not take place once, but many times. She was determined, and I was willing. When I ministered to those who had come forward to repent and receive Jesus, I could bring them right into the kingdom. I could nurse the children while my wife preached, and I was pleased to do it. But, don‘t you know, when the Holy Spirit came, then I was ready. Then the preaching abilities were not mine but the Lord‘s. It must all be for Jesus.

Oh, I tell you, whatever you may think about it, the whole thing is that there is nothing good without Jesus. Anyone could jump on this platform and say, “I am right.” But when you have no confidence, then Jesus is all the confidence you require. God must have men and women on fire for Him. God will mightily send you forth in the anointing of the Spirit, and sinners will feel convicted, but it will never be accomplished if you have it in your mind that you are going to be something. The baptism is a baptism of death, and you live only unto God.

Thought for today: To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with divine equipping.

November 24

Test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. — 1 John 4:1

Scripture reading: John 8:31–59

Believers should try the spirits. You can see whether they are of God in this way: you will be able to tell the true revelation, and the true revelation that will come to you will always sanctify the heart; it will never have an “if” in it. When the Devil came to Jesus, he had an “if.” He said, “If You are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3), and “If You will fall down and worship me” (v. 9). The Holy Spirit never comes with an “if.”

I have often dealt with people under evil powers, people in fits and other things, people so controlled by evil powers that every time they want to speak, the evil powers speak. It is a very dangerous condition, but it is true: people get possessed by the Devil.

Do you remember the biblical account of the man in the tombs who was terribly afflicted with evil powers (Mark 5:2–15)? Strong cords and chains could not hold him. Night and day, he was in the tombs, “crying out and cutting himself with stones” (v. 5). Jesus came on the scene, and these evil powers caused the man to run. As soon as the man got in front of Jesus, the evil spirit said, “Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29). This man had no power to get free, but these evil spirits were so troubled in the presence of Jesus that they cried out, “Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Oh, thank God for Jesus. Jesus wants you to be so under His power, so controlled by and filled with the Holy Spirit, that the power of authority in you will resist all evil.

So many believers are not on their guard. Every believer should reach a place in the Holy Spirit where he has no desire except the desire of God. The Holy Spirit has to possess us until we are filled and divinely led by the Holy Spirit. It is a mighty thing to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Thought for today: Do not desire to lead Jesus; if He leads you, He will lead you into truth.

November 23

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. — Hebrews 2:1

Scripture reading: Hebrews 2

You will never be able to discern or deal with evil powers as long as there is anything in you that the Devil can touch. Before Satan can bring his evil spirits, there has to be an open door. Hear what the Scriptures say: “The wicked one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18), and “The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul” (Psalm 121:7). How does Satan get an opening? When the believer ceases to seek holiness, purity, righteousness, truth; when he ceases to pray, stops reading the Word, and gives way to carnal appetites. Then it is that Satan comes. So often sickness comes as a result of disobedience. David said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray” (Psalms 119:67).

You will never be able to reach out your hand to destroy the power of Satan as long as there is the vestige of human desire or attainment in you. It is in the death of the death that you are in the life of the life. Don‘t fool yourself; don‘t mislead yourself. Never think that God overlooks sins. Sins have to be dealt with, and the only way God ever deals with sin is to absolutely destroy its power. You can be made so clean that the Devil comes and finds nothing in you. (See John 14:30.) And then you have power by the power of God over the powers of Satan.

Discernment is not mind or eye. Discernment is an intuition. Your heart knows exactly what you are dealing with, and you are dealing with it because of your heart purity against evil and uncleanness.

God continues to purify me. I can safely say that unless the power of the Spirit purges me through and through, I cannot help you. First of all, before I can give any life to you, the life must be in me. And remember that the Scriptures are very clear: death works in us so that life may work in you. (See 2 Corinthians 4:12.)

Now, the death that is working is all carnal, evil, sensual. Don‘t forget the remarkable thing in the Scriptures that leads us to this; there are sixty-six evil things listed in the Bible, such as murder, covetousness, evil propensities. But I am here to say by the power of God that one fruit will destroy every evil thing. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Thought for today: You are only able to do what God desires for you to do as you have come into the depths of death to self, so that the supernatural life of Christ is abounding in you to destroy the powers of evil.

November 22

Come out of the man, unclean spirit! — Mark 5:8

Scripture reading: Philippians 4:1–13

The Devil will endeavor to fascinate people through the eyes and the mind. One time a beautiful young woman was brought to me who had been infatuated with some preacher; just because he had not been interested in marrying her, the Devil had taken advantage of the situation and had made her delirious. She had been brought by friends 250 miles in that condition. She had previously received the baptism in the Spirit. You ask, “Is there any place for the Enemy in one who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit?” Our only safety is in going on with God and in constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit. You must not forget Demas. He must have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, for he appears to have been one of Paul‘s right-hand workers, but the Enemy got him to the place where he loved this present world, and he fell away (2 Timothy 4:10).

When they brought this young woman to me, I discerned the evil power right away and immediately cast the thing out in the name of Jesus. It was a great joy to present her before all the people in her right mind again.

There is a life of perfect deliverance, and this is where God wants you to be. If I find that my peace is disturbed in any way, I know it is the Enemy who is trying to work. How do I know this? Because the Lord has promised to keep your mind in perfect peace when it is focused on Him (Isaiah 26:3). Paul told us to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is [our] reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). The Holy Spirit also spoke this word through Paul: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (v. 2).

Thought for today: As we think about what is pure, we become pure. As we think about what is holy, we become holy. And as we think about our Lord Jesus Christ, we become like Him. We are changed into the likeness of the object on which our gaze is fixed.

November 21

Come out of the man, unclean spirit! — Mark 5:8

Scripture reading: Isaiah 58:1–12

With the gift of discernment, you are in pursuit of divine thought, divine character, and the holy, inward intuition that guides you in knowing what to do. The Lord of Hosts is in you and with you.

One time I was preaching in Doncaster, England, and a number of people were delivered. A man named Jack was greatly interested and moved by what he saw. He himself was suffering with a stiff knee. After he got home, he said to his wife, “I have taken in Wigglesworth‘s message, and now I am going to act on it and get deliverance. Wife, I want you to be the audience.” He took hold of his knee and said, “Come out, you devil, in the name of Jesus.” Then he said, “It is all right, wife.” He took the yards and yards of flannel off and found he was all right without the bandage.

The next night he went to the little Primitive Methodist church where he worshipped. There were a lot of young people there who were in bad situations, and Jack had a tremendous ministry delivering his friends through the name of Jesus. He had been given to see that a great many ills to which flesh is heir are nothing else but the operation of the Enemy; but his faith had risen also, and he saw that in the name of Jesus there was a power that was more than a match for the Enemy.

Later, in a meeting in Gottenberg, Sweden, a man fell full length in the doorway. The evil spirit threw him down, manifesting itself and disturbing the whole meeting. I laid hold of this man and cried out to the evil spirit within him, “Come out, you devil! In the name of Jesus, we cast you out as an evil spirit.” I lifted him up and said, “Stand on your feet and walk in the name of Jesus.” I don‘t know whether anybody in the meeting understood me except the interpreter, but the devils knew what I said. I spoke in English, but these demons in Sweden cleared out.

Thought for today: Do not seek the gifts unless you have purposed to abide in the Holy Spirit.

November 20

Come out of the man, unclean spirit! — Mark 5:8

Scripture reading: Mark 5:1–20

Let me tell you what may seem to be a horrible story for you to hear; nevertheless, it is a situation in which discernment is necessary. This is happening all the time, and I do thank God for it because it is teaching me how to minister to people in the Lord.

Messages came to me again and again by telegraph, letters, and other things, asking that I come to London. I wired back and wrote, but so many calls came and no hint was given in any way as to the reason I was to go there. The only thing they said was that they were in great distress.

When I got there, the dear father and mother of the needy one both took me by the hand and broke down and wept.

“Surely this is deep sorrow of heart,” I said.

They led me up onto the balcony. Then they pointed to a door that was open a little, and both of them left me. I went in that door and I have never seen a sight like it in all my life. I saw a young woman who was beautiful to look at, but she had four big men holding her down to the floor, and her clothing was torn from the struggle.

When I got into the room and looked into her eyes, her eyes rolled but she could not speak. She was exactly like the man in the Bible who came out of the tombs and ran to Jesus when he saw Him. As soon as he got to Jesus, he couldn‘t speak, but the demon powers spoke. (See Mark 5:1–13.) And the demon powers in this young girl spoke and said, “I know you. You can‘t cast us out; we are many.”

“Yes,” I said, “I know you are many, but my Lord Jesus will cast you all out.”

It was a wonderful moment; it was a moment when it was only He alone who could do it.

The power of Satan was so great upon this beautiful girl that she whirled and broke away from these four strong men.

The Spirit of the Lord was wonderful in me, and I went right up to her and looked into her face. I saw the evil powers there; her very eyes flashed with demon power.

“In the name of Jesus,” I said, “I command you to leave. Though you are many, I command you to leave this moment, in the name of Jesus.”

She instantly became sick and began vomiting. She vomited out thirty-seven evil spirits and gave their names as they came out. That day she was made as perfect as anybody. Praise the Lord!

Thought for today: The gift of discernment is not criticism.

November 19

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God. — 1 John 4:1

Scripture reading: 1 John 4:1–11

From time to time, as I have seen a person under a power of evil or having a fit, I have said to the satanic force that is within the possessed person, “Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh?” and right away they have answered no. They either say no or hold their tongues, refusing altogether to acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It is at a time like this when, remembering that further statement of John‘s, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4), you can, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, deal with the evil powers and command them to come out. We must know the tactics of the Evil One, and we must be able to displace and dislodge him from his position.

In Australia, I went to one place where there were disrupted and broken homes. The people were so deluded by the evil power of Satan that men had left their wives and wives had left their husbands. That is the Devil! May God deliver us from such evils in these days. There is no one better than the companion God has given you. I have seen so many broken hearts and so many homes that have been wrecked. We need a real revelation of these evil seducing spirits who come in and fascinate through the eyes, and who destroy lives, bringing the work of God into disrepute. But there is always flesh behind it. It is never clean; it is unholy, impure, satanic, devilish; and hell is behind it. If the Enemy comes in to tempt you in any way like this, I implore you to look instantly to the Lord Jesus. He can deliver you from any such satanic power. You must be separated in every way if you are going to have faith.

The Holy Spirit will give us this gift of the discerning of spirits if we desire it. Then we will be able to perceive by revelation evil powers that come in to destroy. We can reach out and get this unction of the Spirit that will reveal these things to us.

Seek the Lord, and He will sanctify every thought, every action, until your whole being is ablaze with holy purity and your one desire is for Him who has created you in holiness. Oh, this holiness!

Can we be made pure? We can. Every inbred sin must go. God can cleanse away every evil thought. Can we have a hatred for sin and a love for righteousness? Yes, God will create within you a pure heart. He will take away your stony heart and give you a heart of flesh. He will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be cleansed from all your filthiness (Ezekiel 36:25–26). When will He do it? When you seek Him for such inward purity.

Thought for today: To discern spirits, we must dwell with Him who is holy, and He will give the revelation and unveil the mask of satanic power, whatever it is.