Category: Daily Devotionals – Smith Wigglesworth

August 10

You were called in one hope of your calling. — Ephesians 4:4

Scripture reading: John 3:1–21

Many people who are called miss the call because they are dull of hearing. There is something in the call, beloved. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). And how will the choice be made? The choice is always your choice first. You will find that gifts are your choice first. You will find that salvation is your choice. God has made it all, but you have to choose. God wants you to make an inward call, to be in a great intercessory condition of imploring the Holy One to prepare you for that wonderful spiritual body.

Called! Beloved, I know that some people have the idea (and it is a great mistake) that because they are not successful in everything they touch, because they have failed in so many things that they desire to go forward in, because they don‘t seem to aspire in prayer as some do and perhaps don‘t enter into the fullness of tongues, there is no hope for them in this calling. Satan comes and
says, “Look at that black list of your weaknesses and infirmities! You can never expect to be in that calling!”

Yes, you can, beloved! God says it in the Scriptures. Oh, beloved, it is weakness that is made strong (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is the last who can be made first (Matthew 19:30). What will make the whole situation different? Confessing our helplessness. God says that He feeds the hungry with good things, but the satisfied He sends away empty (Luke 1:53). If you want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the grace of God, get hungry enough to be fed; get thirsty enough to cry out; be broken enough that you do not want anything in the world unless He comes Himself.

Let God comfort your heart. Let Him strengthen your weakness. Let Him cause you to come into the place of profit. Let Him help you into the place He has chosen for you, for “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). But God has a big choice.

Thought for today: I am glad I cannot measure Jesus, but I am glad I can touch Him all the same.

August 9

There is one body and one Spirit. — Ephesians 4:4

Scripture reading: James 4:17; 5:1–12

We must recognize that there is only one body. The longsuffering of God reaches out to believers who have the idea that only those in their church are right. That way of thinking is foolishness. It is foolishness for people to come to their Communion table and think that their table is the only table. What about the hundreds of people who are sitting around their tables partaking of the bread and the wine? Friend, the body of Christ consists of all who are in Christ.

The Scriptures definitely say that all who are Christ‘s at His coming will be changed. It seems that we cannot be all Christ‘s unless something is done, and God will sweep away so many attitudes that are spoiling our unity. We must reach the place of perfect love.

Oh, the body appearing as one body! Oh, the entire body possessing the same joy, the same peace, the same hope! No division, all one in Christ! Who can make a body like that? This body is made deep in the Cross. The blood takes away all impurities and everything that will mar the vessel. God is making a vessel for honor, fit for the Master‘s use (2 Timothy 2:21), joined with that body— one body.

Let us be careful that we do not in any way defile the body, because God is chastening the body and fitting it together. There is something deeper down in the spirit of the regenerated person when the impurities of life and of the flesh fall off. Oh, there is a resemblance, a likeness, a perfection of holiness, of love! O God, take away the weaknesses and all the depravities.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually [“in particular,” KJV]” (1 Corinthians 12:27). I like the word “particular”; it tells us that there is just the right place for us. God is making us fit in that place so that for all time we will have a wonderful place in that body.

Thought for today: You will never advance in the kingdom unless you see that in every church there is a nucleus that has as real a God as you have.

August 8

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. — Ephesians 4:3

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:9, 17–24

Of all the things God intends for us to be, He intends for us to be peacemakers. I won‘t find a Scripture to help me make this point any better than Matthew 5:23–24:

“Therefore 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.”

Most Christians are satisfied with the first meaning of this passage, but the second meaning is deeper. Most people believe it is perfectly right, if you have offended another, to go to that person and say, “Please forgive me,” and you win your brother when you take that part. But this is the deeper sense: “If you…remember that your brother has something against you,” go and forgive him his transgressions. It is so much deeper than getting your own side right to go and get his side right by forgiving him of all that he has done.

That will be a stepping-stone to very rich grace in the area of keeping “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Someone may say, “I cannot forgive them because she did that and he said that. You know, he didn‘t recognize me at all. And he hasn‘t smiled at me for at least six months.” Poor thing! May God help you through evil report and good report (2 Corinthians 6:4, 8). God can take us right through if we get to the right side of grace.

Friends, when you get to the place of forgiving your brother who has something against you, you will find that that is the greatest ideal of going on to perfection, and the Lord will help us “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The “bond of peace” is an inward bond between you and another child of God. Oh, glory to God!

Thought for today: God wants us to have a pure love, a love that always helps someone else at its own expense.

August 7

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. — Matthew 28:19

Scripture reading: Acts 22:1–16

As it was only out of the brokenness of Paul‘s life that blessing came forth, so it is out of the emptiness, brokenness, and yieldedness of our lives that God can bring forth all His glories through us to others. As someone once said, “Unless we pass on what we receive, we will lose it.” If we didn‘t lose it, it would become stagnant.

Virtue is always manifested through blessings that you have passed on. Nothing will be of any importance to you except what you pass on to others. God wants us to be so in the order of the Spirit that when He breaks upon us the alabaster box of ointments, which represents the precious anointing that He has for every child of His, we will be filled with perfumes of holy incense for the sake of others. Then we may be poured out for others, others may receive the graces of the Spirit, and the entire church may be edified. The church will never know one dry day, but there will always be freshness and life that make all of our hearts burn together as we know that the Lord has talked with us once more.

We must have this inward burning desire for more of God. We must not be at any stationary point. We must always have the most powerful telescopes, looking at and hurrying toward what God has called us to, so that He may perfect that forever.

In these days, God has for us a blessed inheritance, so that we should no longer be barren or unfruitful, but rather be filled with all fullness, increasing with all increasings, having a measureless measure of the might of the Spirit in the inner man, so that we are always like a great river that presses on and heals everything that it touches. Oh, let it be so today!

Thought for today: We must be hungry, always ready for every touch of God.

August 6

Bearing with one another in love. — Ephesians 4:2

Scripture reading: Galatians 6:1–10

We need to bear “with one another in love.” How contrary this is to the hardness of men‘s hearts, contrary to the evil powers, contrary to the natural mind. It is God‘s love toward you that gives you tender, compassionate love toward one another.

Only the broken, contrite heart has received the mark of God. It is in that secluded place where He speaks to you alone and encourages you when you are down and out. When no hand is stretched out to you, He stretches out His hand with mercy and brings you into a place of compassion. Then you cannot think evil; then you cannot in any way act harshly. God has brought you into
longsuffering, with tenderness and with love.

In the church of God, where a soul is on fire, kindled with the love of God, there is a deeper love between me and that brother than there is between me and my earthly brother. Oh, this love that I am speaking about is divine love; it is not human love. It is higher than human love; it is more devoted to God. It will not betray. It is true in everything. You can depend on it. It won‘t change its character. In divine love, you will act exactly as Jesus would act, for you will act with the same spirit. “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

As your intimacy with Christ in the Spirit deepens, as you walk with Him “in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), then the fellowship becomes unique in all its plan. I pray that God will help us to understand it so that we will be able to be clothed upon (2 Corinthians 5:2) as we have never been, with another majestic touch, with another ideal of heaven.

No one can love like God. And when He takes us into this divine love, we will precisely understand this word, this verse, for it is full of entreaty; it is full of passion and compassion; it has every touch of Jesus right in it. It is so lovely: “With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

Isn‘t it glorious? You cannot find it anywhere else. You cannot get these pictures in any place you go. I challenge you to go into any library in the world and find words coined or brought forth like these words, unless they are copied from this Word. They aren‘t in nature‘s garden; they are in God‘s. It is the Spirit explaining, for He alone can explain this ideal of beatitudes. These words are marvelous; they are beautiful; they are full of grandeur; they are God‘s. Hallelujah!

Thought for today: You cannot bear with others until you know how God has borne with you.

August 5

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. — 1 Timothy 4:12

Scripture reading: Psalm 148

The Holy Spirit fell upon a young man outside a church. He went into the church, where they were all very sedate. If anything were to move in that church out of the ordinary, it would have been extraordinary! This young man, with his fullness of life and zeal for the Master, started shouting and praising the Lord, manifesting the joy of the Lord; he disturbed the old saints.

In this church, an old man was reading the Psalms quietly one day. It touched the young Spirit-filled man who was sitting behind him. And the young man shouted, “Glory!” Said the old man, “Do you call that religion?”

The father of the young man was one of the deacons of the church. The other deacons gathered around him and said, “You must talk to your boy and make him understand that he has to wait until he is established before he manifests those things.” So the father had a long talk with the boy and told him what the deacons had said. “You know,” he said, “I must respect the deacons, and they have told me they won‘t put up with your enthusiasm. You have to wait until you are established.”

As they neared their home, their horse made a sudden and complete stop. The father tried to make it go forward or backward, but the horse would not move for anything. “What is up with the horse?” asked the father of the boy. “Father,” replied the boy, “this horse has gotten established.”

I pray that we will not get established in that way. God, loose us from these critical, long-faced, poisoned countenances, which haven‘t seen daylight for many days. Deliver us from acting in such a terrible way. We must have the reality of supernatural quickening until we are sane and active and not in any way dormant, but filled with life, God working in us mightily by His Spirit.

Thought for today: May the Lord save Pentecost from going to dry rot.

August 4

I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. — Acts 24:16

Scripture reading: Matthew 18:3–18

If ten people could have saved Sodom and Gomorrah, ten holy people in a church can hold the power of the Spirit until light reigns. We do not want to seek to save ourselves; on the contrary, we want to lose ourselves so that we may save the church (Matthew 16:25). You cannot stop distresses from coming; they will come, and offenses will come. But woe to those who cause offenses (Matthew 18:7). See that you do not cause offense. Live on a higher plane. See that your tongue does not speak evil of others.

Have you ever fully seen the picture presented in the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew? Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me” (v. 21). The disciples asked, “Lord, is it I?” (v. 22). Every one of them was so conscious of his human weaknesses that not a single one of them could say that it would not be he.

How long do you think Jesus had known who would betray Him? Jesus had been with them, feeding them, walking up and down with them, and He had never told any of them that Judas would be His betrayer. Those who follow Jesus should be so sober and sensitive that they would not speak against someone else, whether the words are true or not.

If Jesus had told the disciples that Judas would one day betray Him, what would have been the result? Everyone would have been bitter against Judas. So He saved all His disciples from being bitter against Judas for three years.

What love! Can‘t you see that holy, divine Savior? If we saw Him clearly, every one of us would throw ourselves at His feet. If we had a crown worth millions of dollars, we would cast it at His feet and say, “You alone are worthy.” O God, give us such a holy, intense, divine acquaintance with You that we would rather die than grieve You! O Jesus, we worship You! You are worthy!

Thought for today: Oh, for inward character that will make us say, “A thousand deaths rather than sinning once.”

August 3

May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. — 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Scripture reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:3–12

I know I am writing to people who have many responsibilities in their churches. If the people see that you have lost your groundwork of peace, they know that you have gotten outside of the position of victory. You have to possess your soul in peace.

Strange things will happen in the church. All circumstances will appear to be against the church, and you will feel that the Enemy is busy. At that time, possess your soul in peace. Let the people know that you are acquainted with One “who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return” (1 Peter 2:23).

Possess patience to such an extent that you can suffer anything for the church, for your friends, for your neighbors, or for anyone. Remember this: we build character in others as our character is built. As we are pure in our thoughts, are tender and gracious to other people, and possess our souls in patience (Luke
21:19), then people have a great desire for our fellowship in the Holy Spirit.

Now, Jesus is an example to us along these lines. The people saw Him undisturbed. I love to think about Him. He helps me so much because He is the very essence of help. I pray to God that we may learn the lesson of how to keep ourselves so that the Spirit will blend us, making the harmony beautiful.

Get ready for that. Claim your rights to God‘s promises. Believe the Scriptures are for you. Believe that love covers you, that His life flows through you, that His life-giving Spirit lifts you. Let the peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7) be yours today.

Thought for today: Remember this: you never lose as much as when you lose your peace.

August 2

In all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. — 2 Corinthians 6:4

Scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 6:3–7:1

The tribulations of which Paul spoke are not the tribulations of various diseases. Paul was very definite about this fact. He suffered tribulations with the people as Jesus did. There can be many tribulations within our human frame as we feel that our spiritual influence is not bearing fruit in the lives of others. You are very sorry and deeply distressed because the church is not capturing the vision, and there is tribulation in your sorrow.

God wants us to be so spiritual that we have perfect discernment of the spirit of the people. However, if I can in a moment discern the spirit in a meeting, whether it is life-giving, whether the whole church is receiving it, whether my heart is moved by this power, then I can also see faith waning, and that will bring tribulation and trouble to my life.

May God give us the realization that we are so joined to the church that we may labor to bring the church up. Paul said that he labored in birth in order that Christ might be formed in the people again (Galatians 4:19). He was not laboring so that they could be saved again. No, but they had lacked perception; they had missed divine fellowship; so he labored again so that they might be brought into this deep fellowship in the Spirit.

May God help us to see that we can labor for the church. Blessed is the person who can weep between the church door and the altar. Blessed are the people of God who can take someone else‘s church on their hearts and weep and cry through until the church is formed again, until she rises in glory, until the power of heaven is over her, until the spiritual acquaintance rises higher and higher, until a song lifts her to the heights.

Thought for today: You have to so live in the Spirit that when you see the church not rising into its glory, you suffer tribulation for the church.

August 1

Do not let your good be spoken of as evil. — Romans 14:16

Scripture reading: Romans 14

We recognize the Holy Spirit, but we recognize first the Spirit giving us life, saving us from every form of evil power, transforming our human nature until it is in divine order. Then, in that divine order, we see that the Lord of Hosts can very beautifully arrange the life until we live in the Spirit and are not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). When the Holy Spirit is perfectly in charge, He lifts and lightens and unveils the truth in a new way until we grasp it.

Oh, how wonderful it would be if every one of us would possess this word in our hearts: “Do not let your good be spoken of as evil.” I know we all want to be good. It is not a wrong thing to desire that our goodness be appreciated. But we must watch ourselves because it is an evil day (although it is the day of salvation), and we must understand these days that the Lord wants to chasten and bring a people right into a full-tide position.

I believe that it is just as possible for God to sweep a group of believers right into glory before the Rapture as during the Rapture. It is possible for you to be taken even if others are left. May God give us a very keen inward discerning of our hearts‘ purity. We want to go to heaven—it is far better for us to go—but it is far better for the church that we stay (Philippians 1:23–24).

Paul realized the following truth: “To depart [to] be with Christ…is far better” (v. 23). Then there is another side to it. Believing that God made us for the proclamation of the Gospel, for the building of the church, we would say, “Lord, for the purpose of being a further blessing for Your sake and for the sake of the church, just keep us full of life to stay.” We do not want to be full of disease, but
we want to be full of life.

May the Lord grant to us right now a living faith to believe.

Thought for today: We will have to be utterly slain if we want to know the resurrection power of Jesus.