October 23

Be Perfect

Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
—James 1:4

Scripture reading: Matthew 27:27-54

Is it possible for patience to make us “perfect and complete”? Certainly, it is possible. Who was speaking in this verse? It was the breath of the Spirit; it was also the hidden man of the heart who had a heart like his Brother. This was James, the Lord’s brother, who was speaking. He spoke very much like his Brother. When we read these wonderful words, we might very likely be encountering a true kindred spirit with Christ.

James had to learn patience. It was not an easy thing for him to understand how his Brother could be the Son of God and be in the same family as he, Judas, and the other brothers. (See Matthew 13:55.) It was not an easy thing for him, and he had to learn to be patient to see how it worked out.

There are many things in your life that you cannot understand, but be patient. When the hand of God is upon something, it may grind very slowly, but it will form the finest thing possible if you dare to wait until it is completed. Do not kick until you have gone through the process—and when you are dead enough to yourself, you will never kick at all. It is a death we die so that we might be alive unto God. It is only by the deaths we die that we are able to be still before God.

Jesus said, “The cross? I can endure the cross. The shame? I can despise it.” (See Hebrews 12:2.) He withstood the bitter language spoken to Him at the cross: “If You are the Christ, come down, and we will believe.” (See Matthew 27:40, 42.) They struck Him, but He “did not revile in return” (1 Pet. 2:23). He is the picture for us.

You cannot tell what God has in mind for you. As you are still before God — pliable in His hands — He will be working out a greater vessel than you could ever imagine in all your life.

Thought for today: Jesus knew that when He came to the end of the Cross, He would forever save all those who would believe.

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