Author: Billy Conrad

July 29

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. — 2 Corinthians 6:1

Scripture reading: Psalm 51

People are getting blessed all the time and are receiving revelation. They go from one point to another, but they do not establish themselves in the thing that God has brought to them. If you do not let your heart be examined when the Lord comes with blessing or with correction, if you do not make the blessing or the correction a stepping-stone, or if you do not make it a rising place, then you are receiving the grace of God in vain.

People could be built up much more in the Lord and be more wonderfully established if they would step out sometimes and think over the graces of the Lord. Grace will be multiplied on certain conditions. How? In the first chapter of 2 Timothy, we have these words: “The genuine faith that is in you” (v. 5). Everyone in the entire church of God has the same precious faith within him. If you allow this same precious faith to be foremost, utmost in everything, you will find that grace and peace are multiplied. The Lord comes to us with His mercy, and if we do not see that the God of grace and mercy is opening to us the door of mercy and utterances, we are receiving His grace in vain.

When you are in prayer, remember how near you are to the Lord. Prayer is a time during which God wants you to be strengthened, and He wants you to remember that He is with you.

When you open the sacred pages of Scripture and the light comes right through and you say, “Oh, isn‘t that wonderful!” thank God, for it is the grace of God that has opened your understanding. When you go to a church meeting and the revelation comes forth and you feel that it is what you needed, receive it as the grace of the Lord. God has brought you to a place where He might make you a greater blessing.

Thought for today: If we want strength in building our spiritual character, we should never forget our blessings.

July 28

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. — Psalm 119:9

Scripture reading: Psalm 119:17–40

God can so change us by His Word day by day that we are altogether different. David knew this. He said, “Your word has given me life” (Psalm 119:50). “He sent His word and healed them” (Psalm 107:20). How beautiful that God can make His Word abound! “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!” (Psalm 119:11).

It is absolute disloyalty and unbelief to pray about anything in the Word of God. Believe and receive the Word of God, and you will always be on sure ground. If you pray about the Word of God, the Devil will be behind the whole thing. Never pray about anything concerning which it can be said, “Thus says the Lord.” You need to receive God‘s words so that they will build you on a new foundation of truth.

In Romans 12:1, we see that Paul had been operated on:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

He had undergone a mighty operation on more than just a surgical table. He had been cut to the very depths of his being, until he had absolutely reached a place on the altar of full surrender. When he came to this place, out of the depths of this experience, he gave his whole life, as it were, in a nutshell.

Thought for today: The Word of God does not need to be prayed about: the Word of God needs to be received.

July 27

Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established. — 2 Chronicles 20:20

Scripture reading: Mark 9:19–29

Are you ready? “Why?” you ask. Because God wants to give us higher ground, holier thoughts, and a more concentrated, clearer ministry. God wants us to be in a rising tide every day. This rising tide is a changing of faith; it is an attitude of the spirit where God rises higher and higher. He wants us to come to the place where we will never look back. God has no room for the person who looks back. (See Genesis 19:15–26.)

The Holy Spirit wants to get you ready to stretch yourself out to God and to believe that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). You do not need to use vain repetitions when you pray (Matthew 6:7). Simply ask and believe.

People come with their needs, they ask, and then they leave with their needs because they do not faithfully wait to receive what God has promised them. If they ask for it, they will get it.

Many people are missing the highest order. I went to a person who was full of the Spirit but was constantly saying, “Glory! Glory! Glory!” I said, “You are full of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit cannot speak because you continually speak.” He kept still then, and the Spirit began to speak through him. This story illustrates the fact that often we are altogether in God‘s way.

I want to so change your operation in God that you will know that God is operating through you for this time and forevermore. May the Spirit awaken us to deep things today.

Are you ready to move and be moved by the mighty power of God that cannot be moved, and to be so chastened and built up that you are in the place where it doesn‘t matter where the wind blows or what difficulty comes because you are fixed in God?

Are you ready to come into the plan of the Most High God, believing what the Scriptures say and holding fast to what is good, believing so that no one will take your crown (Revelation 3:11)?

Thought for today: Do more believing and less begging.

July 26

Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise? — Psalm 106:2

Scripture reading: Psalm 106

A letter came to our house saying that a young man was very ill. He had been to our mission a few years before with a very bad foot; he had worn no shoe but had fastened a piece of leather around his foot. God had healed him that day. Three years afterward, something else came upon him. What it was I don‘t know, but his heart failed, and he was helpless. He could not get up or dress or do anything for himself. In that condition, he called his sister and told her to write to me and see if I would pray. My wife said to go, and she believed that God would give me that life. I went, and when I arrived at this place, I found that the whole country was expecting me. They had said that when I came, this man would be healed.

I said to the woman when I arrived, “I have come.” “Yes,” she said, “but it is too late.” “Is he alive?” I asked. “Yes, barely alive,” she said. I went in and put my hands on him and said, “Martin.” He just breathed slightly and whispered, “The doctor said that if I move from this position, I will never move again.” I said, “Do you know that the Scripture says, “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26)”? He said, “Should I get up?” I said, “No.”

That day was spent in prayer and ministering the Word. I found a great state of unbelief in that house, but I saw that Martin had faith to be healed. His sister was home from an asylum. God kept me there to pray for that place. I said to the family, “Get Martin‘s clothes ready; I believe he is to be raised up.” I felt the unbelief.

I went to the chapel and had prayer with a number of people around there, and before noon they, too, believed that Martin would be healed. When I returned, I said, “Are his clothes ready?” They said, “No.” I said, “Oh, will you hinder God‘s work in this house?” I went into Martin‘s room all alone. I said, “I believe God will do a new thing today. I believe that when I lay hands on you, the glory of heaven will fill this place.” I laid my hands on him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and immediately the glory of the Lord filled the room, and I fell at once to the floor. I did not see what took place on the bed or in the room, but this young man began to shout, “Glory, glory!” and I heard him say, “For Your glory, Lord,” and he stood before me perfectly healed. He went to the door and opened it, and his father stood there. He said, “Father, the Lord has raised me up,” and the father fell to the floor and cried for salvation. The young woman brought out of the asylum was perfectly healed at that moment by the power of God in that house.

God wants us to see that the power of God coming upon people has something more in it than we have yet known. The power to heal and to baptize is available, but you must say, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). You say it is four months before the harvest. If you had the eyes of Jesus, you would see that the harvest is already here (John 4:35). The Holy Spirit wants you for the purpose of manifesting Jesus through you. Oh, may you never be the same again! The Holy Spirit moving upon us will make us to be like Him, and we will truly say, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Thought for today: The Devil will say you can‘t have faith. Tell him he is a liar.

July 25

Yield yourselves to the LORD. — 2 Chronicles 30:8

Scripture reading: John 15:1–14

A dear young Russian came to England. He did not know the language but learned it quickly and was mightily used and blessed by God. As the wonderful manifestations of the power of God were seen, people asked him the secret of his power, but he felt it was so sacred between him and God that he should not tell it. But they pressed him so much that he finally said to them, “First, God called me, and His presence was so precious that I said to God at every call that I would obey Him. I yielded and yielded and yielded until I realized that I was simply clothed with another power altogether, and I realized that God had taken me—tongue, thoughts, and everything—and I was not myself, but it was Christ working through me.”

Do you know that God has called you over and over and has
put His hand upon you, but you have not yielded? Have you had the breathing of His power within you, calling you to prayer, and you have to confess that you have failed?

I went to a house one afternoon where I had been called, and I met a man at the door. He said, “My wife has not been out of bed for eight months; she is paralyzed. She has been looking forward so much to your coming. She is hoping God will raise her up.” I went in and rebuked the Devil‘s power. She said, “I know I am healed; if you leave, I will get up.” I left the house and went away, not hearing anything more about her. I went to a meeting that night, and a man jumped up and said he had something he wanted to say; he had to go to catch a train but wanted to talk first. He said, “I come to this city once a week, and I visit the sick all over the city. There is a woman I have been visiting, and I was very much distressed about her. She was paralyzed and lay on her bed many months. However, when I went there today, she was up doing her work.” I tell this story because I want you to see Jesus. Yield to Him today.

Thought for today: If there are any buts in your attitude toward the Word of truth, there is something unyielded to the Spirit.

July 24

Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? — Acts 19:15

Scripture reading: Acts 19:13–20

I implore you in the name of Jesus, especially those of you who are baptized, to wake up to the fact that you have power if God is with you. But there must be a resemblance between you and Jesus. The evil spirit said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Paul had the resemblance. You are not going to get this resemblance without having His presence; His presence changes you. You are not going to be able to get the results without the marks of the Lord Jesus. You must have the divine power within yourself; devils will take no notice of any power if they do not see Christ. “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” The difference in these exorcists was that they did not have the marks of Christ, so the manifestation of the power of Christ was not seen.

If you want power, don‘t make any mistake about it. If you
speak in tongues, don‘t mistake that for the power. If God has given you revelations along certain lines, don‘t mistake that for the power. Or if you have even laid hands on the sick and they have been healed, don‘t mistake that for the power. “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me” (Luke 4:18)—that alone is the power. Don‘t be deceived. There is a place to be reached where you know the Spirit is upon you so that you will be able to do the works that are accomplished by this blessed Spirit of God in you. Then the manifestation of His power will be seen, and people will believe in the Lord.

God wants you to be ministering spirits, and this means being clothed with another power. You know when this divine power is there, and you know when it goes forth. Beloved, we can reach it; it is a high mark, but we can get to it. Do you ask how? Say to God, “What do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). That is the plan. It means a perfect surrender to the call of God, and perfect obedience.

Thought for today: The baptism of Jesus must bring us to the place of having our focus centered on the glory of God; everything else is wasted time and wasted energy.

July 23

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul. — Acts 19:11

Scripture reading: Matthew 16:24–27; Luke 14:27–35

Paul had been putting many believers in prison, but God
brought him to such a place of yieldedness and brokenness that he cried out, “What do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). Paul‘s choice was to be a bondservant for Jesus Christ.

Beloved, are you willing for God to have His way today? God
said about Paul, “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name‟s sake” (Acts 9:16). But Paul saw that these things were working out “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Do you need a touch from God? Are you willing to follow Him? Will you obey Him?

When the Prodigal Son had returned and the father had killed the fatted calf and made a feast for him, the elder brother was angry and said, “You never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends” (Luke 15:29). But the father said to him, “All that I have is yours” (v. 31). He could kill a fatted calf at any time. When God can trust us, we will not come short in anything.

“God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul.” Let us
notice the handkerchiefs that went from his body. This passage indicates that when Paul touched handkerchiefs and sent them forth, God worked special miracles through them: diseases departed from the sick, and evil spirits went out of them. Isn‘t this lovely? I believe that after we lay hands on these handkerchiefs and pray over them, they should be handled very sacredly. Even as we carry them, they will bring life, if we carry them in faith to the suffering ones. The very effect, if you would only believe, would be to change your own body as you carry the handkerchief.

God wants to change our faith today. He wants us to see that it is not obtained by struggling and working and longing. “The Father Himself loves you” (John 16:27). “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17). “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Who is the man who will take the place of Paul and yield and yield and yield until God possesses him in such a way that power will flow from his body to the sick and suffering? It will have to be the power of Christ that flows. Don‘t think there is some magic power in the handkerchief, or you will miss the power. It is the living faith within the man who lays the handkerchief on his body, and the power of God through that faith. Praise God, we may lay hold of this living faith today. The blood has never lost its power. As we get in touch with Jesus, wonderful things will take place. And what else? We will get nearer and nearer to Him.

Thought for today: Ministry always begins as soon as a person yields.

July 22

Lord, what do You want me to do? — Acts 9:6

Scripture reading: Acts 9:1–22

In the midst of persecuting the Lord‘s disciples, Saul was
confronted with a bright light from heaven (Acts 9:3). A
voice spoke to him saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (v. 4). Saul asked who was speaking, and when Jesus identified Himself, Saul‘s response was, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” As soon as Saul was willing to yield, he was in a condition where God could meet his need, where God could display His power, where God could have the man.

Friend, are you saying today, “What do You want me to do?”
The place of yieldedness is just where God wants us. People are saying, “I want the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I want to be healed. I would like to know for certain that I am a child of God,” and I see nothing, absolutely nothing, in the way, except that they have not yielded to the plan of God.

In Acts 19:6, the condition was met that Paul demanded, and when he laid his hands on the Ephesian disciples, they were instantly filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues and prophesied. The only thing they needed was just to be in the condition where God could come in.

The main thing today that God wants is obedience. When you begin yielding and yielding to God, He has a plan for your life, and you come in to that wonderful place where all you have to do is eat the fruits of Canaan.

It is the call of God that counts. Paul answered the call of God. I believe God wants to stir our heart today to obedience. Our response should be, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Thought for today: God is looking for obedience.

July 21

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. — Isaiah 26:3

Scripture reading: Isaiah 54:5–55:9

We must keep in the spiritual tide—God supreme, the altar
within the body. Faith is the evidence, the power, the principle, keeping us in rest. We must have the Spirit in anointing, intercession, revelation, and great power of ministry. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to be in God‘s plan—the Spirit preeminent, revealing the Christ of God, making the Word of God alive—something divine. “Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the…Spirit; for the…Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:5–6).

I knew a believer whose job was to carry bags of coal. He had been in bed three weeks away from his work. I showed him Romans 7:25: “I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” I said, “Keep your mind on God and go to work, shouting victory.” He did, and the first day he was able to carry a hundred bags, his mind stayed on God and kept in peace. “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm. 119:165).

If your peace is disturbed, there is something wrong. Apply the blood of Jesus, and keep your mind stayed upon Jehovah, where “hearts are fully blessed, finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.” Keep your mind on God, gaining strength in Him day by day.

“The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). This is a new dispensation, this divine place: Christ in you, the hope and evidence of glory (Colossians 1:27).

May God gird you with truth (Ephesians 6:14). I commend you to Him in the name of Jesus.

Thought for today: If you are not free in the Spirit, your mind is in the wrong place.

July 20

Nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus. — Acts 20:24

Scripture reading: Romans 13:14–14:19

The ministry of the Spirit has been entrusted to us. We must be in the place of edifying the church. Law is not liberty, but if there is a move of God within you, God has written His laws in your heart so that you may delight in Him. God desires to set forth in us a perfect blending of His life and our lives so that we may have abounding inward joy—a place of reigning over all things, not a place of endeavor. There is a great difference between an endeavor and a delight.

God says to us, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). Trying will never cause us to reach a place of holiness, but there is a place, or an attitude, where God gives us faith to rest on His Word, and we delight inwardly over everything. “I delight to do Your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8). There is a place of great joy. Do we want condemnation?

We know there is something within that has been accomplished by the power of God, something greater than there could be in the natural order of the flesh. We are the representatives of Jesus. He was eaten up with zeal. (See John 2:17.) This intense zeal changes us by the operation of the Word; we do not rest in the letter, but we allow the blessed Holy Spirit to lift us by His power.

The disciples were with Jesus three years. He spoke out of the abundance of His heart toward them. John said, “We have touched Him; our eyes have gazed into His eyes.” (See 1 John 1:1). Did Jesus know about Judas? Yes. Did He ever tell? No. When Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray Him, they said, “Lord, is it I?” (Matthew 26:22). The essence of divine order is to bring the church together, so that there is no schism in the body, but a perfect blending of heart to heart.

“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). The sword cut off Malchus‘s ear, but the Spirit healed it again. (See Luke 22:50–51.) Our ministry has to be in the Spirit, “free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). When we live in the ministry of the Spirit, we are free; in the letter we are bound. If it is “an eye for an eye” (Matthew 5:38), we have lost the principle. If we are to come to a place of great liberty, the law must be at an end. Yet we love the law of God; we love to do it and not put one thing aside.
“Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered…by the Spirit of the living God…on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3). It‘s heart worship when God has made the incision; the Spirit has come to blend with humanity.

Thought for today: Ours is not an endeavor society, but a delight to live in the will of God.