Author: Billy Conrad

October 30

Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” — Acts 2:13

Scripture reading: Acts 2:13–41

This new wine has a freshness about it! It has a beauty about it! It has a quality about it! It creates in others the desire for the same taste. At Pentecost, some saw, but three thousand felt, tasted, and enjoyed. Some looked on; others drunk with a new faith never before seen—a new manifestation, a new realization all divine, a new thing. It came straight from heaven, from the throne of the glorified Lord. It is God‘s purpose to fill us with that wine, to make us ready to burst forth with new rivers, with fresh energy, with no tired feeling.

God manifested in the flesh—this is what we want, and it is what God wants. All the people said, “We have never seen anything like it.” (See Acts 2:7–12.) The disciples rejoiced in its being new; others were “cut to the heart, [crying out] to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (v. 37).

What shall we do? Believe! Stretch out! Press on! Let there be a new entering in, a new passion to have it. We must be beside ourselves; we must drink deeply of the new wine so that multitudes may be satisfied and find satisfaction too.

The new wine must have a new wineskin—that is the necessity of a new vessel. (See Matthew 9:17.) If anything of the old is left, not put to death, destroyed, there will be a tearing and a breaking. The new wine and the old vessel will not work in harmony. It must be new wine and a new wineskin. Then there will be nothing to discard when Jesus comes.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

The Spirit is continually working within us to change us until the day when we will be like Him:

[The Lord Jesus Christ] will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:21)

I desire that all of you be so filled with the Spirit, so hungry, so thirsty, that nothing will satisfy you but seeing Jesus. We are to get more thirsty every day, more dry every day, until the floods come and the Master passes by, ministering to us and through us the same life, the same inspiration, so that “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

When Jesus became the sacrifice for man, He was in great distress, but it was accomplished. It meant “vehement cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7); it meant the cross manward but the glory heavenward. Glory descending on a cross! Truly, “great is the mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16). He cried, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Let the cry never be stopped until the heart of Jesus is satisfied, until His plan for humanity is reached in the sons of God being manifested (Romans 8:19) and in the earth being “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Amen. Amen. Amen.

Thought for today: Our end is God‘s beginning.

October 29

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.And they realized that they had been with Jesus. — Acts 4:13

Scripture reading: Acts 4:1–22

On the Day of Pentecost, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). What a lovely thought that the Holy Spirit had such sway that the words were all His! Jesus stands forth in the midst with such divine glory, and men are impelled, filled, and led so perfectly. Only He will meet the needs of the world.

We see that there was something beautiful about Peter and John when we read that people “realized that they had been with Jesus.” There was something so real, so after the order of the Master, about them.

The one thing that was more marked than anything else in the life of Jesus was the fact that the people glorified God in Him. And when God is glorified and gets the right-of-way and the wholehearted attention of His people, everyone is as He is, filled with God. Whatever it costs, it must be. Let it be so. Filled with God! The only thing that will help people is to speak the latest thing God has given us from the glory.

There is nothing outside salvation. We are filled, immersed, clothed upon with the Spirit. There must be nothing felt, seen, or spoken about except the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), baptized into a new nature. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We are in the world to meet the need, but we are not of the world or of its spirit. (See John 17:15–16.) We are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) to manifest the life of Jesus to the world. This is God incarnate in humanity.

Thought for today: The very life of the risen Christ is to be in everything we are and do, moving us to do His will

October 28

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” — Isaiah 6:8

Scripture reading: Isaiah 6

Is it possible, after we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, to be satisfied with what we see? What made Jesus weep over Jerusalem? He had a heart of compassion. There are sin-sick souls everywhere. We need a baptism of love that goes to the bottom of the disease. We need to cry to God until He brings us up to the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

Jesus told a parable about “a certain man [who] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves” (Luke 10:30). Who among those who passed by and saw his predicament was his neighbor? The one who had mercy on him and helped him (vv. 36, 37). Are you awake to the great fact that God has given you eternal life? With the power God has put at your disposal, how can you rest as you look out upon your neighbors? How we have sinned against God! How we lack this spirit of compassion! Do we weep as we look out upon the unsaved? If not, we are not Pentecost-full. Jesus was moved with compassion. Are you?

We have not yet grasped the plight of the heathen. Since my only daughter went to Africa, I have a little less dim idea of what it meant that God so loved the world that He gave Jesus (John 3:16). God gave Jesus. What does that mean? Compassion. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). If you have no power, you have not repented. You say, “That‘s hard language.” It is truth.

Who is your brother‘s keeper? (See Genesis 4:9.) Who is the son and heir? (See Galatians 4:7.) Are you salted? (See Matthew 5:13.) Do you have a pure life? Don‘t be fooled; don‘t live in a false position. The world wants to know how to be saved, and power is at our disposal. Will we meet the conditions? God says, “If you will, I will.” God will do it.

Daniel knew the time in which he was living; he responded to God, and a nation was saved. Nehemiah met God‘s conditions for his time, and the city was rebuilt. God has made the conditions. He will pour out His Spirit.

If we do not go on, we will have it to face. It may be up to us to bring the Gospel to the nations. We can win the world for Jesus. We can turn the tap on. What is the condition? It is unconditional surrender.“ “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,‟ says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Depart from sin; holiness opens the windows of heaven. The Spirit of God will be poured out without measure, until the people say, “What must [we] do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

Thought for today: With the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes a demolishing of the whole man and a compassion for the world.

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.

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.

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.

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.