Category: Daily Devotionals – Smith Wigglesworth

December 3

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? — Psalm 27:1

Scripture reading: Psalm 27

Be ready to challenge the Devil. Don‘t be afraid. You will be delivered from fear if you believe. You can have “ears to hear” (Matthew 11:15) or ears that do not hear. Ears that hear are the ears of faith, and your ears will be so open to what is spiritual that they will lay hold of it.

When the Word of God becomes the life and nature of you, you will find that the minute you open it, it becomes life to you; you will find that you have to be joined up with the Word. You are to be the epistles of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:3). This means that Christ is the Word, and He will be known in us by our fruits. (See Matthew 7:16–20.) He is the life and the nature of you. It is a new nature: a new life, a new breath, a new spiritual atmosphere. There is no limitation in this standard, but in everything else you are limited. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). When the Word of Life is lived out in you because it is your life, then it is enacted, and it brings forth what God has desired. When we quote something from the Scriptures, we must be careful that we are living according to it. The Word of God has to abide in you, for the Word is life and it brings forth life, and this is the life that makes you “free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

Thought for today: The Word not only gives you a foundation but also puts you in a place where you can stand and after the battle keep on standing.

December 2

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. — 1 John 4:4

Scripture reading: John 6:47–58

One day I met a friend of mine in the street, and I said, “Fred, where are you going?” “I am going -. Oh, I don‘t feel I ought to tell you,” he said. “It is a secret between me and the Lord.”

“Now, we have prayed together, we have had nights of communication, we have been living together in the Spirit,” I said. “Surely there is no secret that could be hidden between you and me.”

“I will tell you,” he said. “I am going to a spiritualism meeting.”

“Don‘t you think it is dangerous? I don‘t think it is wise for believers to go to these places,” I said.

“I am led to go to test it according to Scripture,” he replied. “They are having some special mediums from London.”

He meant that they were having some people from London who were more filled with the Devil than the Spiritualists we had in our city of Bradford. They were special devils.

“I am going,” he continued, “and I am going with the clear knowledge that I am under the blood of Jesus.”

“Tell me the results, will you?”

“Yes, I will.”

Now, beloved, I advise none of you to go to these places.

My friend went and sat down in the midst of the séance meeting, and the medium began to take control. The lights went low; everything was in a dismal state. My friend did not speak, but just kept himself under the blood, whispering the preciousness of the blood of Jesus. These more possessed devils were on the platform. They tried every possible thing they could to get under control for more than an hour, and then the lights went up. The leader said, “We can do nothing tonight; there is somebody here who believes in the blood of Christ.”

Hallelujah! Do you all believe in the blood, beloved?

Thought for today: Have biblical proof for everything you have, and then you will be in a place where no one can move you.

December 1

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. — Romans 12:21

Scripture reading: 2 Peter 2

You need the Word of God in your hearts so that you might be able to overcome the world. We can so live in this divine communion with Christ that we can sense evil in any part of the world. In this present world, powers of evil are rampant. The plan of God is that we might be so in Him that we will be equal to any occasion.

“Beloved” (1 John 4:1). That is a good word. It means that we are now in a place where God has set His love upon us. He wants us to listen to what He has to say to us because when His beloved are hearing His voice, then they understand what He has for them.

God is dealing with us as sons; He calls us “beloved.” We are in the truth, but we want to know the truth in a way that will keep us free. (See John 8:32.) I want to help the people who have been so troubled with voices and with things that have happened that they have felt they had no control over them. And I want to help those who are bound in many ways and have been trying in every way to
get free.

The fourth chapter of 1 John tells us specifically how to deal with evil powers, with evil voices. It tells us how we may be able to dethrone them and be in a place where we are over them. It shows us how we may live in the world not subject to fear, not subject to bondage, not subject to pain, but in a place where we are defeating evil powers, ruling over them, reigning in the world by this life of Christ. In this way, we will be from above, and we will know it. We will not be subject to the world, but we will reign over the world so that disease, sin, and death will not have dominion.

A keynote that runs through the entire Scriptures is that Jesus has vanquished and overcome all of the powers of the Devil and has destroyed his power, even the power of death. Whether we are going to believe it or not, this is for us. God sends out the challenge, and He says, “If you believe it, it will be so.”

What will hinder us? Our human nature will. God‘s work in us will be hindered when the human will is not wholly surrendered, when there is some mixture, part spirit and part flesh, when there is a division in your own heart.

In a house where there are two children, one may desire to obey his father and mother, and he is loved and is very well treated. The other is loved just the same, but the difficulty is this: the wayward boy who wants his own way does many things to grieve his parents, and he gets the whip. They are both children in the house; one is getting the whip, the other is getting the blessing without the whip.

Any number of God‘s children are getting the whip who know better than they are doing. So I want you to wake up to do what you know ought to be done. Sin is never covered by your appearance, your presence, your prayers, or your tears. Sin can only be removed by repentance. When you repent deeply enough, you will find that the thing goes away forever. Never cover up sin. Sins must be judged. Sins must be brought to the blood of Christ. When you have a perfect confidence between you and God, it is amazing how your prayers rise. You catch fire, you are filled with zeal, your inspiration is tremendous, you find out that the Spirit prays through you, and you live in a place of blessing.

Thought for today: The man who lives in God is afraid of nothing.

November 30

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

Scripture reading: Matthew 4:1–11

The voices continued. Ah, those evil voices. How will we know whether they are of God? When God speaks, He speaks with wisdom. When the Devil came to Jesus he said, “If You are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3). The Devil knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and Jesus knew and answered, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (v. 10).

Was there anything wrong with what was happening with these two young women? The wrong was that the first young woman ought to have judged the spirits. If she had asked, “Did Jesus come in the flesh?” the voice would have answered no. No satanic voice in the world and no Spiritualist medium will acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh.

The same power said to the young woman, “Now that I know you will obey me in everything, I will make you the greatest missionary in the world.”

How could the two women have known at that moment that this was a false voice? Why, they could have known according to the Word of God. What does it say? “Many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Who are these false prophets after? Perhaps those with sincerity, earnestness, zeal, and purity. Who knows? These evil powers know. These are the questions they should have kept in their minds: What am I living for? What is the hope of my life? Do I have to be the greatest missionary in the world, or does Jesus need to be glorified in my life to do as He wills with me? The ripe grape is never as pure and perfect as it is just before it decays. The child of God is never as near to God as he is when the Devil can come and say, “You are wonderful!”

It is satanic to feel that God has a special message for you and that you are someone more special than anyone else. Every place that God brings you to in a rising tide of perfection is a place of humility, brokenness of heart, and fullness of surrender, where only God can rule in authority. It is not where you are somebody, but where God is everything and where you will be living for His glory.

It took three difficult months before these two young women were delivered from their delusion. But God did deliver them, and later He opened the door for them to go as missionaries to China. Thank God, the Devil‘s plan was defeated, but it was at a tremendous cost, almost of their lives.

How could they have known that it was a false voice? How can you know? When a voice comes, no matter how it seems to you, you must test it. When it is persistently pressing you to do something and you can hardly conceive how this thing could be possible, you have a position in the power of the Word of God to say to this evil power, “Did Jesus come in the flesh?” (1 John 4:3). And the satanic power will say no. But the Spirit of the living God, the Holy Spirit, always says yes. And so you can get to know the difference. We have to live in the place of knowing the Scriptures and listening to His voice so that we are able to divinely discern whether these things are of God or not.

Did Jesus come in the flesh? Yes, and now the living Christ is within you. Christ came into you the moment you believed. There is a manifestation of it. You may live in such a way that your language, your expressions, your actions, and everything speak of Christ. “They realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). You can live in such a way that the personality of Christ is exactly what Paul said: “Not I—I don‘t live anymore. Christ lives in me.” (See Galatians 2:20.)

The Christ life, the Christ power, the personality of His presence may be in you in such a way that you cannot doubt the Word of God.

Thought for today: The workings of the Spirit are always contrary to the workings of the flesh.

November 29

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

Scripture reading: Psalm 115

My wife and I were visiting at the home of these two sisters when they came in from work that day. We saw the distress. We saw the wild condition. If you are wild, that is the Devil. If you go breathlessly to the Bible, looking for confirmation of the voice, that is the Devil. The Word of God brings light. I must use it as the Word of Light. I must see it as the Light of Light. I must have it as the Light.

I must be wise, because if I say I am baptized with the Holy Spirit, if I say I am a child of God, I must act so that people will know that I have been with God. (See Acts 4:13.) If there is anything I would resound through this meeting like a trumpet, it is this: “Do not let your good be spoken of as evil” (Romans 14:16)!

Well, what happened to the young woman? The voice came with such tremendous force that she could not let it go. Try the spirits. God will never do anything like that. He will never send you an unreasonable, unmanageable message.

The moment the girl became obsessed with what the voice said, what did the Devil say next? “You keep this a secret. Don‘t tell anybody. If you confide in anybody, let it be your sister, because she seems to understand you.” So they confided in each other.

Now that is surely as satanic as anything you ever heard in your life, because every true thing, every holy thing, does not need to be kept a secret under any circumstances. Anything that is holy can be told on the housetops; God wants you to be able to tell all.

My wife and I tried to help them. “Oh, God is speaking to me!” the young woman said. And we could not change her. That night she said that the evil power continued speaking, saying to her, “Tell no one but your sister. Go to the station tonight and wait for the train. The train will come in at thirty-two minutes past seven. Buy two tickets for Glasgow. After you have bought your tickets, you will have sixpence left.”

This could be confirmed, and no one had to know but her sister. They went to the station. The train came in exactly at the right time. And there was just sixpence left after they had bought the ticket. Marvelous! Wonderful! This was sure to be right. “See!” she said. “I have just the amount of money left after I have bought the tickets that the voice said I would.” The train came in. The voice had said that a gentleman would be sitting in one of the coaches with all the money she would ever need. Directly opposite this gentleman, a woman with a nurse‘s cap would be sitting. The man would give her all the money, and they were to take it to a certain bank at a certain street corner in Glasgow.

Here was lack of presentation of thought. There are no banks open at half past seven, and, after investigation, it was discovered that there was no such bank in that place. Then what caused the young woman to obey the voice? It got her ear, and I will tell you what the danger is. If I had only five minutes I would say this to you: if you cannot be reasoned with, you are wrong. If you are right and everybody else is wrong, I don‘t care who you are, if you cannot bear examination, if what you hold cannot bear the light of the truth, you are wrong. It will save a lot of you if you will just think.

You may say, “Oh, but I know, I know.” It is a very serious thing when nobody else knows but you. May God deliver us from such a condition. If you think you have some specialty, it is not unique; it can be repeated.

The train came in. They rushed from one end of the train to the other. There were no such people on the train. Then the voice came, “On the next platform, the next train.” And they rushed over. Would you believe, those two young women were kept moving from platform to platform by those voices until half past nine at night?

Thought for today: People get outside of the plan of God when they trust solely in their own judgment.

November 28

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

Scripture reading: Isaiah 26:1–15

Now, this young woman was so excited that her sister noticed it and went to her. “What is it?” she asked. “Oh! God is speaking to me,” she said, “saying wonderful things to me.”

She became so excited that her sister asked their supervisor if they could be excused for a while. So the overseer allowed them both to be excused for a time, and they went into a room. The first sister became so excited with these messages, so believing that it was of God, that her white blouse became spotted with blood as she pricked her flesh with the nails of her hand.

That is never of God. What do I read about the wisdom of God? I read that it is full of peace and gentleness; it is willing to submit; it is without partiality; it is full of goodness and truth. (See James 3:17.) And, remember, if you ever know anything about God, it will be peace. If you ever know anything about the world, it will be disorder. The peace of God, which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), comes to the heart after you are saved. We are “justified by faith,” and “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The peace continues until it makes us full of the “hope of the glory of God” (v. 2).

God showed me a long time ago, and it has not been taken out of my mind, that if I was disturbed in my spirit and was not at rest, I had missed the plan. How can you miss it? In three ways.

First of all, you can miss it because you have taken on someone else‘s burden. All the time you are told to cast your burden on the Lord (1 Peter 5:7). Any number of people are overflowing with sorrow because they are taking on someone else‘s burden. That is wrong. You must teach them and teach yourself that you have to cast your burdens on the Lord.

Second, if you do not have peace, you have gotten out of the will of God in some way. You may not have sinned. You can be out of the will of God without sinning. You can be out of the will of God if you are not making progress. If you have not made progress since yesterday morning, you are a backslider. Everybody is a backslider who is not going on with God. You are a backslider if you do not increase in the divine character and likeness of Christ. You have to move from state to state, “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18), by the Spirit of the Lord.

You can lose your peace by missing some divine plan of God, and you can lose your peace because you have gotten your mind on something natural. A natural thing is a carnal thing. The Word of God says that the carnal things have to be destroyed because they are not subject to the law of God and cannot be subject to them (Romans 8:7). Every carnal thing must be destroyed.

So you can miss the plan. Now, what is the plan? “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). Examine yourself to see where you are. If you are not in perfect peace, you are out of the will of God.

Therefore, if these voices take away your peace, you will know they are not the will of God. But if the Spirit speaks, He will bring harmony and joy. The Spirit always brings three things: comfort, exhortation, and edification. He will make you sing “songs in the night” (Job 35:10). You will rise in high places, and you will not be afraid of declaring the works of the Lord. When the Spirit of the Lord is upon you and greatly active, you may “go from strength to strength” (Psalm 84:7), praising the Lord.

Thought for today: Nothing makes you so foolish as to turn aside from the Word of God. If you ever want to be a fool, turn away from God‘s Word, and you will find yourself in a fool‘s paradise.

November 27

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

Scripture reading: Judges 6:36–7:22

Two sisters were saved in our meetings and were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were very lovely women, full of purity, truth, and righteousness. No one could look at them without admiring them.

Both of them worked in a telegraph office and both desired to be missionaries. They were so zealous to be missionaries that they were laying aside money and doing everything they could in order to be prepared to go to the mission field.

One of them was operating a telegraph machine when she heard a voice in her head, a voice that said something along these lines: “Will you obey me? If you will obey me, I will make you the most wonderful missionary that ever lived.” Oh, beloved, try the voices, try the spirits. Only the Devil promises such a thing, but she did not know this; she did not understand. This was exactly what she wanted; it was her heart‘s desire, do you see? And she was so moved by this. The voice added, “And I will find you all the money you need.” I have never known this kind of “leading” to come true, and you never will as long as you live.

For example, a man came to me and said, “I have in my hands a certain food for invalids that can raise millions of dollars for the missionaries.” I said to him, “I will not have anything to do with it.” These things are not a success. God does not work that way. If God wanted you to have gold, He could make it rain on your houses while you were away. He has all the gold, and the cattle on a thou
sand hills are His (Psalm 50:10).

When anybody preaches for the kingdom‘s sake, God will provide. Seek only God, and the rain will fall. The enduement of power will be made manifest in your mortal bodies if you are really in the Spirit.

Thought for today: Seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit not only for your sake but also for the sake of others.

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.