Imprisoned By Your Words

You said that you could not, and the moment that you said it you were whipped.




You said you did not have faith, and doubt arose like a giant and bound you.



You are imprisoned with your own words.



You talked failure, and failure held you in bondage.



Prov. 6:2: "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth. Thou art taken (captive) with the words of thy mouth."



Few of us realize that our words dominate us.



A young man said, "I was never whipped until I confessed I was whipped."



Another said, "The moment I began to make a bold, confident confession, a new courage that I had never known took possession of me."



-- E. W. Kenyon

Prayer and Miracles

You can't have prayers answered without having Miracles performed.

If you deny that Miracles are for this age, you deny the need and the privileges and the benefits of prayer.
The two-fold value of prayer lies first in sitting in His presence, or in direct Fellowship with the Father.
The second benefit is the answer that comes to us. . . .
For God the Father to hear my prayer is equivalent to His answering it. . . .
For God to answer my prayer, regardless of its natures, is a Miracle.

--E.W. Kenyon

Dare to Climb

So, let us dare to climb the heights of God.


Let us say without fear, "I am what He says I am."

"He is in me what He says He is."

"I can do, with His ability in me, what He says I can."



--E. W. Kenyon

What Prayer Can Mean

Now we see what prayer can mean.


It isn't the old idea of getting on our knees and crying and begging.

It is a son coming into the Father's Presence for one of our brethren who has been injured, or for one who for some reason cannot come and make his appeal personally. We come on his behalf and ask for a blessing.

Or it may be that we are taking up the need of the great unsaved world.

We stand there in fulness of Fellowship and fulness of Joy to get a portion for another.

This is entering by the New and Living Way.

This is coming boldly to the Throne of Grace.

This is fellowshipping the Father.

This is visiting with Him.

It is not coming into His Presence as the Jews came into the presence of Jehovah, or as a sinner would approach, but we are coming as sons and daughters.

We are taking our place.



-- E. W. Kenyon

WHY?

Why did He redeem us? Why make us New Creations? Why make us righteous? Why dwell in us? Why give us the Name? Why say that in Jesus' Name we could cast out demons?


What did He expect us to do after making us all this? Just to be good, neutral sons who never face the enemy; who simply read the Word but never act on it; who do not take our Redemption and New Creation seriously? . . .

Must we say that tanks, planes and bombs are to rule the world?

Or is God still living, and are we tied up with Him?

-- E.W. Kenyon

The Call to Prayer

The call to prayer is the Father's invitation to visit with Him. . . .


It is sons visiting their Father. It is children coming joyously into the presence of a Loving Parent.

-- E.W. Kenyon

Start the Day with Him

If you start the day with Him, you will fellowship with Him. When you awaken in the morning you whisper softly, "Good morning, Father. Here is another day to live and walk with Thee."


Whatever problem confronts you, you consult Him in your heart.

If it is wisdom that you need, you thank Him for it. If it is love to meet a disagreeable situation, He is there in you to take you over and live His own life through you.



-- E. W. Kenyon, In His Presence

The Eternal Healer

To my heart Jesus Christ is the Eternal Healer. He was the Healer in the beginning. He was the Healer before there was any flood. He was the Healer after the flood. He was the Healer during His earth life. He is the Healer in this dispensation. He is the Healer forever! Bless God. So long as need of healing exists, Jesus is the Healer. Blessed be His name.


-- John G. Lake

Not "don't" but "be"

Men are afraid to say yes to God. When a young man, I sat in a little meeting one night when the Spirit was talking to my heart. I said, "If I am going to be a Christian, I cannot do this, and I cannot do that." Oh, mighty God, it almost makes my soul vomit in these days to think of the average conception man has of Christianity.


About ninety percent of so-called Christianity is all spelled with four letters, d-o-n'-t. Don't do this and don't do that. The individual restraining himself, putting himself in a harness, walking according to laws and ordinances, etc. Why bless God, religion is all contained in two letters, b-e. Not performing acts, but being the thing that God purposed.

--John G. Lake

The Secret of Abundant Life

This is the secret of the abundant life of which Jesus spoke. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). The reason we have the more abundant life is because that, receiving God into our being, all the springs of our being are quickened by His living presence. Consequently, if we are living today and we receive God, we live life in a fuller measure. We live life with a greater energy, because we become the recipients of the energy of the living God in addition to our normal energy, through the reception of His being, His nature, His life into ours.


-- John G. Lake

Hunger

"Blessed are they that hunger." Bless God! What are we hungering for, a LITTLE BIT of God? Enough to take us through this old world where we will have the dry rot and be stunted and then squeeze into heaven? "Blessed are they that HUNGER," for the NATURE and POWER and LOVE and UNDERSTANDING of God. Why? "They shall be FILLED."


-- John G. Lake (emphasis mine)

A Good Foundation

For the Church of God and Christian faith to become strong and to be built up in God, it is necessary to get a good foundation. It is a greater problem with most builders to get the old rubbish out of the way than to do the building. If we will look at our own lives, we will observe this: that the things that have been rooted and grounded in our hearts -- some tradition of the Fathers, some of it misconception of the meaning of the Word of God; much of our teaching is fragmented -- these form the greatest obstacles to the engrafting of the living Word of God. Every one of us who have progressed in God have found that the difficulty was not in believing the Word of God, but the difficulty was to get away from things that were settled in our own being as facts, though untrue. How hardly have we struggled over the matter of, "If it be Thy will," concerning sickness. From our babyhood and all down through the generations, we have been taught that if you are sick, the proper thing to do is to pray, "If it be Thy will," forgetting all the time that the Lord has forever demonstrated and declared His eternal will concerning the subject of sickness by healing all that come to Him.


-- John G. Lake

A Good Foundation

For the Church of God and Christian faith to become strong and to be built up in God, it is necessary to get a good foundation. It is a greater problem with most builders to get the old rubbish out of the way than to do the building. If we will look at our own lives, we will observe this: that the things that have been rooted and grounded in our hearts -- some tradition of the Fathers, some of it misconception of the meaning of the Word of God; much of our teaching is fragmented -- these form the greatest obstacles to the engrafting of the living Word of God. Every one of us who have progressed in God have found that the difficulty was not in believing the Word of God, but the difficulty was to get away from things that were settled in our own being as facts, though untrue. How hardly have we struggled over the matter of, "If it be Thy will," concerning sickness. From our babyhood and all down through the generations, we have been taught that if you are sick, the proper thing to do is to pray, "If it be Thy will," forgetting all the time that the Lord has forever demonstrated and declared His eternal will concerning the subject of sickness by healing all that come to Him.




-- John G. Lake

Exalted Place

Indeed, I have this in my heart, that the low state of Christian experience that is common among men is mostly accounted for by this one fact: that Christians have failed to grasp the exalted place into which Jesus Christ puts us when we have been made sons of God.


-- John G. Lake

Unspeakable Hunger

As I went on with the Lord I felt an unspeakable hunger springing up within me for more of God. I hardly knew how to pray, but would sometimes turn to my Heavenly Father and say to Him, ‘What dost Thou want?” ; because it seemed to me it was more His desire to obtain full possession of me than my desire for Himself.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery, legendary early missionary of The Christian and Missionary Alliance and The Assemblies of God

Notes for Community Prayer Meeting 10/1/2012

If you know me, you know that I'm better at finding quotes than at being original, so I'd like to share a number of quotes from Flames of Freedom, by Edwin Lutzer, a book about the Canadian Revival in 1972.




* * * * * * * *



Revival is God purifying His church. Revival is God bringing His church back to the dynamism of the book of Acts. Revival is nothing more than having our experience catch up with our theology.



Revival only seems extraordinary because we have drifted so far from what God has intended for us.







Revival is God's finger pointed at me!





People everywhere in the Canadian revival were discovering that their commitment of God was shallow and in some cases meaningless. Before the revival came, believers did not know how worldly they actually were.



Those who had prayed for revival did not know what they had been praying for. No one expected God to deal so personally and thoroughly with them.



Christians are calling sin 'sin' in their lives.



What was the chief sin that surfaced most often in the Canadian revival? Pride. There was much repentance of pride, jealosy, and lack of love. They confessed that they loved themselves more than they loved God.



Scores of pastors confessed the sin of pride, self-effort and frustration in their ministries



Are you ever conscious of any of the following?



a secret spirit of pride in your success or position, your gifts and abilities

love of human praise, desire to be noticed, love of supremacy

stirrings of anger or impatience, a dislike of being contradicted

self-will; a stubborn, unteachable spirit; an arguing spirit; a disposition to criticize

carnal fear: a man-fearing spirit;

a jealous disposition, envy of the success of another

evading and covering of the truth

unbelief, discouragement, lack of faith and trust in God; disposition to worry and complain



The key to local church revival is the pastor. If he is cool, the church will adjust to his temperature.



If everyone in your church was in your spiritual condition, would you have a revived church?



Revival is a personal and also a corporate experience. It is "God at work, restoring His church to health." It is God visiting a segment of His people with cleansing from sin and the filling of the Spirit.





Like Elijah, we have seen a cloud the size of a man's hand. We ought to pray that the shower we have seen will become a downpour to give life to our parched religious soil.





If one believer can be restored to spiritual health, two can be; and if two, then five; and if five, then ten. In other words, any church can be revived if the believers meet the conditions individually.







We need not wait for the "fire to fall". What we need to do is ask Am I revived? Fire usually spreads.



We ought to pray for revival, work for revival, and be revived ourselves.

Visitation of the Lord

We are only weak and helpless when we forget the visitation of the Lord. From the uttermost to the uttermost. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

Filled With His Spirit

I see that Stephen, full of faith and of power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. This same Holy Ghost filling is for us, and right things will be accomplished if we are filled with His Spirit. God will grant it. He declares that the desires of the righteous shall be granted. Stephen was an ordinary man made extraordinary in God. We may be very ordinary, but God wants to make us extraordinary in the Holy Ghost. God is ready to touch and to transform you right now.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

Full of Faith

Stephen was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. God declares it. God so manifested Himself in Stephen's body that he became an epistle of truth, known and read of all. Full of faith! Such men never talk doubt. You never hear them say, "I wish it could be so; or if it is God's will." No if's. They know. You never hear them say, "Well, it does not always act." They say, "It is sure to be." The laugh at impossibilities and cry, "It shall be done!" A man full of faith hopes against hope. He shouts while the walls are up and they come down while he shouts! God has this faith for us in Christ. We must be careful that no unbelief is found in us, no wavering.


--Smith Wigglesworth

Seven Questions and Elders' Prayer 8/26/12

 SEVEN QUESTIONS THE LORD WOULD ASK YOU:

What would you do if you knew you had only 72 hours to live?

If you were arrested for witnessing to people, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Is there anyone you know who has the desire to imitate your Christian walk?

Can you recall a time in which you were closer to God than you are today?

What are you attached to that you should give up but are not attempting to give up?

Do you enjoy God's presence as much today as you did when you were first saved?

If you believe it is really the last days, then what are you doing to get the gospel to the nations?

Perry Stone, Voice of Evangelism magazine, June 2012

PRAYER

Psalm 57:5

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 92 It is good to give thanks you, O Lord,

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness every night,

Psalm 86:8-10

8 Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;

Nor are there any works like Your works.

9 All nations whom You have made

Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,

And shall glorify Your name.

10 For You are great, and do wondrous things;

You alone are God.

Psalm 36:5-6

5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains;

Psalm 119:89-90

89 Forever, O Lord,

Your word is settled in heaven.

90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;

Psalm 9:9-10

You, Lord, will be a refuge for the oppressed,

A refuge in times of trouble.

10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;

For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalm 4: 7 You have put gladness in my heart,

More than in the season that others' grain and wine increased.

Psalm 9:1 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Psalm 13: 6 I will sing to you, Lord,

Because You have dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 30:2-3 O Lord my God, I cried out to You,

And You healed me.

O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;

You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Psalm 32:6-7 Surely in a flood of great waters

They shall not come near me.

You are my hiding place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 55:18 You have redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,

For there were many against me.

Psalm 46 You are our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Psalm 40 I waited patiently for you, Lord;

You heard my cry.

You brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

You put a new song in my mouth—

Psalm 103:2-5 I bless you, O Lord. I will not forget all your benefits:

You forgive all my sins, You heal all my diseases,

You redeem my life from destruction,

You crown me with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

You satisfy my mouth with good things,

So that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 73:23-26 I am continually with You;

You hold me by my right hand.

You will guide me with Your counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

My flesh and my heart fail;

But You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.


ADDITIONAL EXCERPTS THAT I DID NOT USE

2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

So You surround Your people

From this time forth and forever.

Psalm 37:25-26

25 I have been young, and now am old;

Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

Nor his descendants begging bread.

26 He is ever merciful, and lends;

And his descendants are blessed.

Psalm 18:2-3

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

Psalm 27 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?

4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,

That will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the Lord,

And to inquire in His temple.

5 For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

Psalm 51:10

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 103:11-13

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

12 As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

Ephesians 1: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[c] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Phillipians 1: 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ[b]—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.



Phillipians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.



Colossians 1:9 We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Christ Forgave

I can imagine, when Christ said to the little band around Him, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel," Peter said, "Lord, do You really mean that we are to go back to Jerusalem and preach the Gospel to those men who murdered You?"


"Yes," said Christ to Peter, "go hunt up that man who spit in My face and tell him he shall have a seat in My kingdom if he will accept salvation as a gift.

"Yes, Peter, go hunt up that man who made that cruel crown of thorns and placed it on My brow and tell him I will have a crown ready for him when he comes into My kingdom and no thorns in it. I will give him a crown of life.

"Peter, go hunt up the man who took a reed and brought it down over the cruel thorns, driving them into My brow, and tell him I will put a scepter in his hand, and he shall rule over the nations of the earth if he will accept salvation.

"Peter, go hunt up the man who drove the spear into My side and tell him there is a nearer way to My heart than that. Tell him I forgive him freely and that he can be saved if he will accept salvation as a gift.

"Peter, go hunt up the men who drove the nails into My hands and feet and tell them I forgive them freely. Tell them they shall have a seat in My kingdom if they will accept it. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature."

-- D. L. Moody

An Abundant God

Do you not know that ours is an abundant God, who is able to do for us far exceeding and abundantly above all that we can ask or think? We are illuminated and quickened by the Spirit, looking forward to a day of rapture when we will be caught up and lifted into the presence of God. God's lines are magnitude -- wonderful and glorious!


-- Smith Wigglesworth

The Word of God

It is one thing to read the Word of God, another thing to believe it. It is possible to be real and earnest and have zeal and fastings and yet not to have faith. And do you not know that one little bit of faith which can only come through the Word of God is worth more than all your cryings -- all your rolling on the floor -- all your screaming and everything; but beloved, God is better than anything.


May the Holy Ghost give us today an inward knowledge of what it is to believe. It is God's purpose to make every believer to subdue everything and to make you perfect and entire and overcoming.

-- Smith Wigglesworth

Make the Water Boil

If you have to be the oracles [spokesmen] of God -- the apostles of Christ; and as those quickened from the dead, enlarged by the Spirit; intensified with the zeal of the Almighty and made a river, you will have to be on fire, for nothing but fire will make the water boil.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

In or Not?

Paul goes so far as to say that some people have very strange ideas of who will be ready for the coming of the Kingdom. All in Christ will be ready, and you have got to decide whether you are in that or not. The Scripture says in the first verse of Romans eighth chapter:


There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.


If you are there -- Praise the Lord! That is a good position. I pray the Lord that He will bring us all into that place -- what a wonder it will be.

-- Smith Wigglesworth

A God of Immensity

I tell you when we get to see that God Almighty would always bring in [rein in] the weaknesses with His power; when we see that when He has a plan for us, and when I know that God can take my weakness and make it power; when He can take our weakness and depravity and make us holy, then I know I have a God of immensity.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

Covered by His Strength

We never know how weak we are until we are covered by His mighty strength -- not to fail -- but to stand for God and having done all to stand, Jesus will carry us through.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

Never Mind the Past

I say never mind the past. You may have a thousand things that spoil you -- forget them. Count that God has overcome for you in order that you shall overcome and present you faultless . . . "I have failed a thousand times," you say. Never mind, brother. Is your heart warmed? Do you love to be beaten, or do you love to come into line with Him? . . . You may be sorry for the past, but let God have you for the future. . . You say, "Lord, forgive everything of the past but help me, Lord, today to offer an offering in righteousness before Thee, today I give myself afresh.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

He Who Is In You Is Greater Than He That Is In The World

No man, whoever he is, will ever make progress without [unless] he learns that he is greater than the adversary. If you don't learn, if you don't understand, if you don't come into line today with the thought that you are greater than the adversary, you will find out that you have a struggle in your life. . . I want to be so simple that everyone . . . shall so know that . . . they have the power of God with them to overcome him through the blood of the Lamb.


--Smith Wigglesworth

Negative Attitudes Affect Divine Health

If you want to keep the health of Christ, keep from all spiritual sores, from all heart-wounds and irritations. One hour of fretting will wear out more vitality than a week of work, and one minute of malignity, or rangling jealousy or envy will hurt more than a drink of poison. Sweetness of spirit and joyousness of heart are essential to full health. . . We do not wonder that some people have poor health when we hear them talk for half an hour. They have enough dislikes, prejudices, doubts and fears to exhaust the strongest constitution. Beloved, if you would keep God's life and strength, keep out of the things that kill it.

-- A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance

It's better to maintain divine health than to need divine healing! Affirm Psalm 103:1-5 daily. --Lep

Remedy for Sin and Sickness

If sickness has come into the world through sin, which is conceded, it must be got out of the world through God's great remedy for sin, the cross of Jesus Christ. . . . If healing is provided for by Jesus Christ, then it is a redemption right which we may humbly yet boldly claim while walking obediently with the Lord.

-- A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance

Healing is Normal

Divine healing . . . is His normal provision for the believer. It is something that is included in our redemption rights, something that is part of the gospel of His grace, something that is already recognized as within His will and not requiring a special revelation to justify us claiming it.


-- A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance

Look and Be Healed

God told Moses to lift up the brazen serpent, which was a type of Christ. Those who were dying were carried to where they could look at the type of Christ, and all who looked received the double cure and were healed (Numbers 21). . . . If the children of Israel could look at the type of Christ and receive healing, why can not we look at the antitype, Christ Himself, and be healed? . . . Everyone who looked at the brazen serpent was healed. They didn't get healed looking at their swollen bodies that had been bitten by serpents, but by looking at the type of Christ. You can never get faith by looking at symptoms or at yourselves, but you can look to Jesus, and meditate on God's faithfulness, until faith will come into existence with out any effort, and then your diseases will evaporate like a mist before the sun.


-- F.F. Bosworth, early Christian and Missionary Alliance healing evangelist, pastor, author

Put Out Your Tongue

It matters little what gifts and manifestations we possess if we have not the spirit of gentleness and love that will at least let your brother alone and if you cannot agree with him will love him and pray for him in silence. We believe that in almost every instance the test of spiritual health will be found by applying the simple rule which the physician usually first applies to his patient, "Put out your tongue."


-- A. B. Simpson

Purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

[The Baptism of the Holy Spirit's] purpose is to fit us for Christian service as witnesses for Christ. It gives personal courage, boldness and faith in witnessing for God and testifying to men. It gives love for souls and holy tact and wisdom to win them. It gives effectiveness to our message and convicts the world through us of sin, righteousness and judgment. It not only works in the preacher, giving unction and power to his message, but works distinctly in the heart of the hearer, producing divine impression, conviction, persuasion, faith, and salvation. It equips us for our special ministries as evangelists, teachers, rulers, comforters, pastors, helpers. It gives wisdom for the emergencies which we are called to meet. It gives special faith for particular needs and exigencies and accompanies the workers with such special gifts of the Spirit, whether in healing the sick, or even sometimes miraculous answers to prayer as God sees best fit to bear witness to His Word and His worker. It is especially manifest in the ministry of intercession and becomes the spirit of intense prevailing prayer. Sometimes it is manifest in ecstatic tongues of praise and special messages of prophetic appropriateness in testimony, warning, comfort or encouragement. It is the spirit of revival coming down, not only upon individuals, but upon multitudes in mighty floods of Pentecostal blessing and leading men and women to cry, 'What must we do to be saved?; this blessed power is the heritage of the New Testament church. It is ours for the asking and receiving. It is the only power that can give energy, fervor, efficiency and glory to our work.


-- A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance

All the Gifts

Why may we not have all the gifts and all the graces of the Apostolic Church blended in one harmonious whole. . . . Why may we not have all the supernatural ministries of the early Church? . . . Why may we not have the ministry of teaching, the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, the faith of primitive Christianity, and even the tongues of Pentecost, without making them subjects of controversy, without judging one another harshly, because each may have all the gifts, and all in such beautiful and blended harmony?


-- A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

There is no truth that needs to be more emphasized in this age of smartness and human self-sufficiency than the imperative necessity of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the condition of all effective Christian work.


No man is fitted for the humblest service in the church of God until he receives the divine baptism of the Holy Spirit. The mother needs it in the nursery, the Sunday school teacher in his class, the preacher in his pulpit, the soul winner in his dealings with the inquirer and the saint in his ministry of prayer in the secret closet.

-- A. B. Simpson

I will be on vacation and will not be posting again until the middle of next week.

Supernatural Gifts Are For Today

Were these [supernatural gifts] meant merely to be transitory and special and temporary signs in connection with the introduction of Christianity into the world? Or were they part of the permanent enduement of the church? Does not the apostle tell us that these gifts and ministries were bestowed 'till we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ'? Certainly the church has not yet reached that maturity and if these gifts were needed then they are needed still.


-- A.B. Simpson

PENTECOST May 27, 2012

This Sunday is PENTECOST, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit to be among us and within us.

When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, why did the believers break out into ecstatic language? Simply, it was because they were rightly worshiping God for the first time. Intensive worship unexpectedly leaped out of their hearts. It was nothing planned or perpetuated by some 'worship leader.' God was in their midst. Whenever there is a move of the Holy Spirit, it is always a call for God's people to be worshipers of the Most High God above everything else.

-- A. W. Tozer

The Word of God

All our hope is in the Word of the living God. The Word of God abideth forever. Oh, the glorious truths found therein. Never compare this Book with other books. This is from heaven; it does not contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God. Supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, value, infinite in scope, divine in authorship. Read it through, pray it in, write it down. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.


-- Smith Wigglesworth

All Is Well

It does not matter where you are if God is with you. He that is for you is a million times more than all who can be against you. Oh, if we could by the grace of God see that the beatitudes of God's divine power come to us with such sweetness, whispering to us, "Be still, My child. All is well."

-- Smith Wigglesworth

Ask and Believe

Only be still and see the salvation of the Lord. Oh, what would happen if we learned the secret to only ask once and believe? What an advantage it would be if we could only come to a place where we know that everything is within reach of us. God wants us to see that every obstacle can be moved away. God brings us into a place where the difficulties are, where the pressure is, where the hard corner is, where everything is so difficult that you know there are no possibilities on the human side -- God must do it. All these places are of God's ordering. God allows trials, difficulties, temptations and perplexities to come right along our path, but there is not a temptation or trial which can come to man but God has a way out. You have not the way out; it is God who can bring you through.

-- Smith Wigglesworth

"More So"

Oh, this blessed Son of God wants to fill us with such glory till our whole body is aflame with the power of the Holy Ghost. I see there is "much more." Glory to God! My daughter asked some African boys to tell us the difference between being saved and being filled with the Holy Ghost. "Ah," they said, "when we were saved it was very good, but when we received the Holy Ghost is was "more so.'" Many of you have never received the "more so."


--Smith Wigglesworth

Repentance

If you will turn to God with true repentance, He is plenteous in mercy and He will forgive you. Repentance means getting back to God. When Samson took hold of the pillars upon which the house stood, he pulled the walls down. God can give you strength and you can get hold of the posts and He will work through you. No matter what kind of a backslider you have been, there is power in the blood. "... the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Oh, if I could only tell you how God so wonderfully restored me! And I had my "first love" again and He has filled me with the Holy Ghost.

-- Smith Wigglesworth

Christ is Risen

Our Christ is risen. His salvation was not a thing done in a corner. Truly He was a man of glory who went to Calvary for us, in order that He might free us from all that would mar and hinder, that He might transform us by His grace, and bring us out from under the power of Satan into the glorious power of God. One touch of our risen Christ will raise the dead. Hallelujah!


-- Smith Wigglesworth

Unbelief

The Spirit of God would have us understand there is nothing that can interfere with our coming into perfect blessing except unbelief. Unbelief is a terrible hindrance. As soon as we are willing to allow the Holy Ghost to have His way, we will find great things will happen all the time. But oh, how much of our own human reason we have to get rid of, how much human planning we have to become divorced from. What would happen right now if everybody believed God?


-- Smith Wigglesworth

Faith is the Substance

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Someone said to me one day, "I would not believe in anything I could not handle and see." Everything you can handle and see is temporary and will perish with the using. But the things not seen are eternal and will not fade away. Are you dealing with tangible things or with the things which are eternal, the things that are facts, that are made real to faith? Thank God that through the knowledge of the truth of the Son of God I have within me a greater power, a mightier working, an inward impact of life, of power, of vision and of truth more real than anyone can know who lives in the realm of the tangible. God manifests Himself to the person who dares to believe.


-- Smith Wigglesworth, 1924

One Hundred Preachers

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.        -- John Wesley

Inward Darkness

His invariable will is our sanctification, attended with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He never desires to withdraw His gifts from us (see Romans 11:29); He never deserts us, as some speak. It is we who desert Him.


The most usual cause of inward darkness is sin of some kind, either of commission or omission. This may be observed to darken the soul in a moment, especially if it is a known, a willful, or presumptuous sin. But light is more frequently lost by giving way to sins of omission. This does not immediately quench the Spirit, but gradually and slowly.

The neglect of private prayer, or the hurrying over it, is perhaps the most frequent sin of omission. This lack cannot be supplied by any other means whatever; the life of God in the soul will surely decay and gradually die away.

-- John Wesley

Worship God in Truth

To worship GOD in truth is to acknowledge Him to be what He is, and ourselves as what in very fact we are. To worship Him in truth is to acknowledge with heart-felt sincerity what GOD in truth is, -- that is to say, infinitely perfect, worthy of infinite adoration, infinitely removed from sin, and so of all the Divine attributes. That man is little guided by reason, who does not employ all his powers to render to this great GOD the worship that is His due.


-- Brother Lawrence

The Practice of the Presence of God

This quote is from a 17th Century French monk, Brother Lawrence. His tiny book, The Practice of the Presence of God, with Spiritual Maxims, is considered a devotional classic. Brother Lawrence's greatest contribution to Christianity was an idea that was somewhat radical for his time . . . the thought that we can live moment by moment in the presence of God, as much while at work as while at prayer. In fact, he considered appointed times of prayer to be interruptions to the communion he had with God while working in the kitchen of the monastery.




Pray remember what I have recommended to you, which is, to think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you; why, then, must God be neglected? Do not, then forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian. In a word, this is our profession; if we do not know it, we must learn it. I will endeavor to help you with my prayers.

-- Nicholas Herman, aka Brother Lawrence

Be a Prayer Warrior

You have seen what you are in Christ, now take your place as a prayer warrior. Make hell fear you. Make heaven glad. Fill hearts of men with joy witnessing your winning prayer life.


Healing the sick is His will. Saving the lost is His will. Breaking Satan's dominion over men is His will.

Praying for ministers and missionaries is His will.

Pray for this literature we are sending out that men will take their places as they know the Word. (Pray the same thing for those who read this. --Lep)

Now swing free in your prayer life. Be big! Honor the Word.

Dare to do exploits for Him.

-- E.W. Kenyon

Money in the Bank

If someone wrote you a letter and told you that he had deposited five thousand dollars to your account in the bank to take care of your bills, and if you knew that he was financially able to do it, you would not hesitate a moment. You could hardly wait to get to the bank. You would hand the letter to the cashier with confidence. You know the man who wrote the letter; you know the promise he made; you know the money is there waiting for you.


Is the Word of your Father, the Word of the Master, to be depended upon as the word of a friend?

What a background is this for faith! What a prayer life can grow out of truth like this!

You can see what He is to us and what we are to Him.

Nothing is impossible to Him, and all His ability is ours.

-- E.W. Kenyon

All Is Yours

Now just take this thing home to your heart and read Eph. 1:3, "Who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ."


You are blessed with everything that you need.

His very fullness is yours.

His ability is yours.

His love is yours.

Yes, He himself is yours!



-- E. W. Kenyon

Hope and Faith

Hope is always future. Faith is always now.


Someone comes to me and asks me to pray for them, and I say, "Was the prayer answered?" And they answer, "I hope it was."

Then I know it will not be answered, and I frankly tell them. "No, the Hoper's prayers are seldom answered." . . .

The Hoper is always a failure. It is the Believer that is a success -- and believing, you remember, is acting on the Word.

-- E.W. Kenyon

I Stand Complete

The Word is mine. The Holy Spirit is mine. Jesus is mine. God is my own Father. Their Righteousness is my Righteousness. I stand complete in their completeness.


I am a New Creation, created in Christ Jesus. All the rights and privileges of a child are mine. I did not have to ask for them. They were conferred upon me. When I became His child, these things were a part of the New Creation so I enter into my rights.

One of the greatest blessings, one of the most wonderful facts is that Satan was defeated for me.

Jesus' victory over him is my victory.

-- E.W. Kenyon