March 9

The Power of the New Creation

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
—2 Corinthians 5:17

Scripture reading: Romans 8:1-39

People have been in meetings where the glory of God has fallen, where the fingerprints of God have touched everything, and where fortifications have been made in the body. The next morning the power of Satan has attacked them. Why does this happen? The spiritual life, the Son manifested, the glory of the new creation, is already in our mortal bodies, but the flesh, being a battleground for the Enemy, is tested. But what God is forming is greater than the mortal body, for the spirit that is awakening to the glorious liberty of a child of God is greater. How can we compare this with what is to come?

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63). Though “my skin is destroyed” (Job 19:26), I have a life greater than this life that will look upon God, that will see Him in His perfection, that will behold Him in His glory, that will be changed to be like Him. By the presence of God, a new creation will so clothe us that we will be like Him. Knowing this, should I give place to the Devil? Should I let my feelings change the experience of the Word of God? Should I trust in my fears? No! A million times, no! There has never been any good thing in the flesh (Rom. 7:18), but God has given life to the spirit until we live a divine new life and are eternally shaped for God.

“What then shall we say?” (Rom. 8:31). Are you going to let the past, in which God Himself has worked for you, bring you to a place of distress? Or are you standing during your testing, quoting God’s Word — “Now we are children of God” (1 John 3:2) — and remembering how God has answered your prayers, brought light into your home, delivered you from carnality, and touched you when no power in the world could help? “Who shall bring a charge against God‟s elect?” (Rom. 8:33). “I know whom I have believed” (2 Tim. 1:12), and I am persuaded that He who chose us for God will surely bring us to the place where we will receive the crown of life (James 1:12) through the faith that God has given us. God is in you and is mightily forming a new creation by the Spirit in order to make you ready for the glory that will be revealed in Him.

Someone said to me the other day, “I am in terrible trouble; a man is cursing me all the time.” “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). God has given us Jesus, the heart of His love, “the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3), perfect in brilliance, purity, righteousness, and glory. I have seen Him many times, and seeing Him always changes me. Victory over your struggle is one of the “all things” (Rom. 8:32) that God has promised to ive to you. Many needs have broken my heart, but I could say to the troubled one, “God is greater than your heart, greater than your circumstances, greater than the thing that holds you. God will deliver you if you dare to believe Him.” But I have to emphasize it again and again and again before I can get people to believe God.

A dear woman was marvelously delivered and saved, but she said, “I am addicted to smoking. What shall I do?” “Oh,” I said, “smoke night and day.” She said, “Sometimes, I take a glass of wine, and it has a hold on me.” “Oh,” I said, “drink all you can.” It brought some solace to her, but she was still in misery. She said,

“We play cards.” I said, “Play on!” But after being saved, she called her maid and said, “Wire to London and stop the shipment of those cigarettes.” The new life does not want these things. It has no desire for them. The old is dethroned.

A clergyman came to me. He said, “I have a terrible craving for tobacco.” I said, “Is it the old man or the new?” He broke down. “I know it’s the old,” he said. “Put off the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:9).

Someone told me, “I have an unlawful affection for another.” I said, “You need revelation. Since God has given you Jesus, He will give you all things. He will give you power over the thing, and it will be broken.” And God broke it.

Allow God to touch your flesh. He has given life to your spirit. Allow Him to reign, for He will reign until all is subdued. He is King in your life and is preeminent over your affections, your will, your desires, your plans. He rules as Lord of Hosts over you, in you, and through you, to chasten you and bring you to perfection.

Thought for today: God is never tightfisted with any of His blessings.

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.

Buy from ChristianBook

Buy from Amazon

Smith Wigglesworth Devotional