Author: Billy Conrad

January 29

If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. — Matthew 5:23–24

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:13–26

When I was in Switzerland, the Lord was graciously working and healing many of the people. I was staying with Brother Reuss of Goldiwil, and two policemen were sent to arrest me. The charge was that I was healing the people without a license. Mr. Reuss said to them, “I am sorry that he is not here just now; he is holding a meeting about two miles away, but before you arrest him I would like to show you something.”

Brother Reuss took these two policemen down to one of the lower parts of that district, to a house with which they were familiar, for they had often gone to that place to arrest a certain woman who was constantly an inmate of the prison because of continually being engaged in drunken brawls. He took them to this woman and said to them, “This is one of the many cases of blessing that have come through the ministry of the man you have come to arrest. This woman came to our meeting in a drunken condition. Her body was broken, for she was ruptured in two places. While she was drunk, the evangelist laid his hands on her and asked God to heal her and deliver her.”

The woman joined in, “Yes, and God saved me, and I have not tasted a drop of liquor since.”

The policemen had a warrant for my arrest, but they said with disgust, “Let the doctors do this kind of thing.” They turned and went away, and that was the last we heard from them.

We have a Jesus who heals the brokenhearted, who lets the captives go free (Isaiah 61:1), who saves the very worst. Do you dare spurn this glorious Gospel of God for spirit, soul, and body? Do you dare spurn this grace? I realize that this full Gospel has in great measure been hidden, this Gospel that brings liberty, this Gospel that brings souls out of bondage, this Gospel that brings perfect health to the body, this Gospel of entire salvation. Listen again to the words of Him who left heaven to bring us this great salvation: “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed’…he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23). Whatever he says!

I realize that God can never bless us when we are being hardhearted, critical, or unforgiving. These things will hinder faith quicker than anything. I remember being at a meeting where there were some people waiting for the baptism and seeking to be cleansed, for the moment a person is cleansed the Spirit will fall. There was one man with red eyes who was weeping bitterly. He said to me, “I will have to leave. It is no good my staying unless I change things. I have written a letter to my brother-in-law and filled it with hard words, and this thing must first be straightened out.” He went home and told his wife, “I‘m going to write a letter to your brother and ask him to forgive me for writing to him the way I did.”

“You fool!” she said.

“Never mind,” he replied, “this thing is between God and me, and it has got to be cleared away.” He wrote the letter, came again to the meeting, and immediately God filled him with the Spirit.

I believe a great many people want to be healed, but they are harboring things in their hearts that are like a blight. Let these things go. Forgive, and the Lord will forgive you. There are many good people, people who mean well, but they have no power to do anything for God. Some little thing came in their hearts years ago, and their faith has been paralyzed ever since. Bring everything to the light. God will sweep it all away if you will let Him. Let the precious blood of Christ cleanse you from all sin. If you will only believe, God will meet you and bring into your lives the sunshine of His love.

Thought for today: Always be in tune with God, and then the music will come out as sweetly as possible.

1月29日

你献上礼物到坛前的时候，若在那里想起你的弟兄对你有怨，就把礼物留在坛前，先去与弟兄和好，然后来献礼物。——马太福音 5:23-24

经文阅读：马太福音 5:13–26

当我在瑞士时，主恩典地工作并医治了许多人。我住在戈尔迪维尔的鲁斯弟兄家里，有两名警察被派来逮捕我。指控是我在没有执照的情况下医治人们。鲁斯先生对他们说：“很抱歉，他现在不在这里；他在大约两英里外开会，但在你们逮捕他之前，我想先给你们看点东西。”

鲁斯兄弟带着这两名警察下到该区的一个下层地段，去了一所他们熟悉的房子，因为他们经常到那儿去抓一个女人，这个女人因不断参与醉酒争斗而经常入狱。他们找到了这个女人，鲁斯兄弟对他们说：“这是你们来逮捕的人通过事工所带来的许多祝福案例之一。这个女人曾在醉酒状态下来到我们的聚会。她的身体受伤严重，因为她有两处破裂。在她醉酒的时候，这位传道士按手在她身上，并祈求上帝医治她、拯救她。”

那女人也加入了说：“是的，上帝救了我，从那时起我一滴酒都没喝过。”

警察有逮捕我的令状，但他们满脸厌恶地说：“让医生来做这种事情吧。”他们转身离开了，这是我们最后一次听到他们的消息。

我们有一位耶稣，医治伤心的人，使被囚的人得自由（以赛亚书 61:1），拯救最糟糕的人。你敢轻视这荣耀的神的福音，为了灵、魂和身体吗？你敢轻视这恩典吗？我明白，这完整的福音在很大程度上一直被隐藏，这福音带来自由，这福音将灵魂从捆锁中释放，这福音带来身体的完全健康，这全然的救赎福音。请再次聆听那位离开天堂为我们带来这一伟大救恩的主说的话：“我实在告诉你们，无论谁对这座山说：‘你挪开……’，他所说的，必定成就”（马可福音 11:23）。他所说的一定成就！

我意识到，当我们心硬、爱批评或不宽恕时，上帝是永远不会祝福我们的。这些事情比任何事都更快阻碍信心。我记得有一次在一个聚会中，有些人正在等待洗礼并渴望被洁净，当一个人被洁净的那一刻，圣灵就会降临。有一个男人红着眼睛在痛哭。他对我说：“我得离开。如果我不改变一些事情，我留下来也没有用。我给我的小舅子写了一封信，信里满是苛刻的话，这件事必须先解决。” 他回到家对妻子说：“我要给你哥哥写封信，请他原谅我之前写信给他时的态度。”

“你这个傻瓜！”她说道。

“没关系，”他回答道，“这件事是我和上帝之间的事，必须得解决掉。”他写了信，又来参加聚会，立刻上帝就用圣灵充满了他。

我相信很多人都希望得到医治，但他们心中怀有一些像枯萎的东西。放下这些东西吧。原谅，他就会原谅你。有许多好人，他们意图良好，但却没有力量为上帝做任何事。多年前有些小事情进入了他们的心中，从那时起，他们的信心就已瘫痪。把一切带到光明中。如果你允许，上帝会一扫而空。让基督宝血洗净你的一切罪。如果你肯相信，上帝会与你相会，把他爱的阳光带入你的生命中。

今日感悟：永远与上帝保持和谐，那么音乐就会尽可能甜美地流露出来。

January 28

Whoever…does not doubt in his heart,but believes…, he will have whatever he says. — Mark 11:23

Scripture reading: James 1:2–15

Imagine a young man and woman who have fallen in love. In a short while, there is a strong love for each other. What is a heart of love? It is a heart of faith. Faith and love are kin. In the measure that the young man and young woman love one another, they are true. One may go North and the other South, but because of their love, they will be faithful to one another.

It is the same when there is a deep love toward the Lord Jesus Christ. In this new life into which God has brought us, Paul told us that we “have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that [we] may be married to another; to Him who was raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4). God brings us into a place of perfect love and perfect faith. A person who is born of God is brought into a loyalty to the Lord Jesus that shrinks from anything impure. You see the purity of a man and woman when there is a deep natural affection between them; they disdain the very thought of either of them being untrue. In the same way, in the measure that a person has faith in Jesus, he is pure.

We cannot doubt in our hearts. As we read His Word and believe the promises that He has so graciously given to us, we are made partakers of His very essence and life. The Lord is made a Bridegroom to us, and we are His bride. His words to us are spirit and life (John 6:63), transforming us and changing us, expelling what is natural and bringing in what is divine.

It is impossible to comprehend the love of God as we think in human terms. We must have a revelation from the Spirit of God. It was the love of God that brought Jesus, and it is this same love that helps you and me to believe. God will be your strength in every weakness. You who need His touch, remember that He loves you. If you are helpless or sick, look to the God of all grace, whose very essence is love, who delights to give liberally all life and strength and power that you need.

Thought for today: As we have heart fellowship with our Lord, our faith cannot be daunted.

January 27

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” — Mark 9:23

Scripture reading: Mark 9:1–29

We have a wonderful God, a God whose ways are “past finding out” (Romans 11:33) and whose grace and power are limitless.

I was in Belfast one day and saw one of the brothers of the assembly. He said to me, “Wigglesworth, I am troubled. I have had a good deal of sorrow during the past five months. I had a woman in my church who could always pray the blessing of heaven down on our meetings. She is an old woman, but her presence is always an inspiration. Five months ago she fell and broke her leg. The doctors put it into a cast, but when they removed the cast, the bones were not properly set, and she fell and broke the leg again.”

He took me to her house, and there was a woman lying in a bed on the right-hand side of the room. I said to her, “Well, what about it now?”

She said, “They have sent me home incurable. The doctors say that I am so old that my bones won‘t knit. There is no strength in my bones. They could not do anything for me, and they say I will have to lie in bed for the rest of my life.”

I said to her, “Can you believe God?”

She replied, “Yes, ever since I heard that you had come to Belfast, my faith has been quickened. If you will pray, I will believe. I know there is no power on earth that can make the bones of my leg knit, but I know that nothing impossible with God.”

I said, “Do you believe He will meet you now?”

She answered, “I do.”

It is grand to see people believe God. God knew all about this leg and that it was broken in two places. I said to the woman, “When I pray, something will happen.”

Her husband was sitting there; he had been in his chair for four years and could not walk a step. He called out, “I don‘t believe. I won‘t believe. You will never get me to believe.”

I said, “All right,” and laid my hands on his wife in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The moment hands were laid upon her, she cried out, “I‘m healed.”

I said, “I‘m not going to assist you to rise. God will do it all.” She arose and walked up and down the room, praising God.

The old man was amazed at what had happened to his wife, and he cried out, “Make me walk, make me walk.”

I said to him, “You old sinner, repent.”

He cried out, “Lord, You know I believe.”

I don‘t think he meant what he said; anyhow the Lord was full of compassion. If He marked our sins, where would any of us be? If we will meet the conditions, God will always meet us if we believe all things are possible.

I laid my hands on him, and the power went right through the old man‘s body. For the first time in four years, those legs received power to carry his body. He walked up and down and in and out of the room. He said, “Oh, what great things God has done for us tonight!”

Did you believe before you were saved? So many people want to be saved, but they want to feel saved first. There never was a man who felt saved before he believed. God‘s plan is always the following: if you will believe, you will see the glory of God (John 11:40). I believe God wants to bring us all to a definite place of unswerving faith and confidence in Himself.

In our text from Mark, Jesus uses the illustration of a mountain. Why does He say a mountain? If faith can remove a mountain, it can remove anything. The plan of God is so marvelous that if you will only believe, all things are possible (Mark 9:23).

Thought for today: Desire God, and you will have desires from God.

January 26

Whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. — Mark 11:23–24

Scripture reading: Mark 10:13–31

These are days when we need to have our faith strengthened, when we need to know God. God has designed that the just will live by faith (Romans 1:17), no matter how they may be fettered. I know that God‘s Word is sufficient. One word from Him can change a nation. His Word is ―from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2). It is through the entrance of this everlasting Word, this incorruptible seed, that we are born again and come into this wonderful salvation. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This is the food of faith. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Everywhere people are trying to discredit the Bible and remove its miracles. One preacher says, “Well, you know, Jesus arranged beforehand to have that colt tied where it was and for the men to say just what they did.” (See Matthew 21:2–3.) I tell you, God can arrange everything. He can plan for you, and when He plans for you, all is peace. All things are possible if you will believe.

Another preacher says, “It was an easy thing for Jesus to feed the people with five loaves. The loaves were so big in those days that it was a simple matter to cut them into a thousand pieces each.”(See John 6:5–13.) But he forgets that one little boy brought those five loaves all the way in his lunch basket. There is nothing impossible with God.

Thought for today: All the impossibility is with us when we measure God by the limitations of our unbelief.