December 21

Transformed by God

Behold, I will do a new thing.
—Isaiah 43:19

Scripture reading: Titus 3

Thank God for His Word. Live it. Be moved by it. We will become anemic and helpless without the Word. We are not any good for anything apart from the Word. It is everything. When the heavens and earth are melted away, then we will be as bright as the day because of the Word of God.

We know it is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and thoughts of the heart (Heb. 4:12). God’s Word is like a sword piercing through. The Word is divinely appointed for us. Take it in; think it out; work it out. It is the truth.

When I was going to New Zealand and Australia, there were many there to see me off. An Indian doctor rode in the same car with me to the docks and boarded the same ship. He was very quiet and took in all the things that were said on the ship. I began to preach, of course, and the Lord began to work among the people. In the second class of the ship, there was a young man and his wife who were attendants for a lady and gentleman in the first class. And as these two young people heard me talking to them privately and otherwise, they were very much impressed. Then the lady they were attending got very sick. In her sickness and her loneliness, she could find no relief. They called in the doctor, and the doctor gave her no hope.

And then, when in this strange dilemma — she was a great Christian Scientist, a preacher of it, and had gone many places preaching it — they thought of me. Knowing the conditions, and what she lived for, knowing that it was late in the day, that in the condition of her mind she could only receive the simplest word, I said to her, “Now you are very sick, and I won‘t talk to you about anything except this: I will pray for you in the name of Jesus, and the moment I pray you will be healed.”

And the moment I prayed she was healed. That was “like precious faith” (2 Pet. 1:1) in operation. Then she was disturbed. I showed her the terrible state she was in and pointed out to her all her folly and the fallacy of her position. I showed her that there was nothing in Christian Science, that it is a lie from the beginning and one of the last agencies of hell. At best it is a lie: preaching a lie and producing a lie.

Then she came to her senses. She became so penitent and brokenhearted. But the thing that stirred her first was that she had to go preach the simple gospel of Christ where she had preached Christian Science. She asked me if she had to give up certain things. I won’t mention the things; they are too vile. I said, “No, what you have to do is to see Jesus and take Jesus.” When she saw the Lord in His purity, the other things had to go. At the presence of Jesus, all else goes.

This opened the door. I had to preach to all on the boat. This gave me a great chance. As I preached, the power of God fell, conviction came, and sinners were saved. They followed me into my cabin one after another. God was working there.

Then this Indian doctor came. He said, “What will I do? Your preaching has changed me, but I must have a foundation. Will you spend some time with me?”

“Of course I will.”

Then we went alone, and God broke the fallow ground. This Indian doctor was going right back home but as a new man. He had left a practice there. He told me of the great practice he had. He was going back to his practice to preach Jesus.

Thought for today: It is one thing to handle the Word of God; it is another thing to believe what God says.

Smith Wigglesworth Devotional: 365 Day Devotional
By Whitaker House

Smith Wigglesworth was a man who took God at his word, and God used his faith as a model for others. Explore these daily truths from Scripture and the writings of the Apostle of Faith, and you’ll quench your spiritual thirst, conquer defeating fears, be an effective soul winner, and see impossibilities turn into realities. 558 pages.

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Smith Wigglesworth Devotional