The Bible and Life

Friday, October 24, 2025

Nothing Left But Jesus

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is something that I found that I wanted to share. It's short but I really loved the sentiment involved. People should see Jesus in all of us.

Google commons

One day God spoke to Smith Wigglesworth in Rev. George Stormont's house.

God said, " I'm going to burn you all up Wigglesworth until there's nothing left but only Jesus!"

With tears streaming down Wigglesworth's face he replied,

"Come and do it Lord! I don't want them ever to see me again, I only want them to see Jesus!"

May this always be our prayer as well!

Google commons

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Carrie Judd Montgomery

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Carrie Judd Montgomery

Google creative commons

I first met Carrie Judd Montgomery in 1934 at her Home of Peace in Oakland, California. I spoke at a couple of her Friday healing meetings in a downtown auditorium and prayed for the sick. Her husband had passed away some years before, and she ran her home for missionaries by herself.

She had people from all continents staying at her home at one time or another. A member of her family would make wooden crates in which the missionaries could pack their belongings for shipping overseas. He also would haul the crates down to the ships for the people and make sure they were shipped correctly to the right countries.

One morning when I stayed at her home as I passed through the San Francisco area headed out on the mission field, we were at prayer together. She turned to me and said, "All the money God gives me today, I will give to you, because you are a missionary." I thought, "Boy, I've got it made today."

However, all that was collected was $12, so I did not get much. But with the little money I did have, I bought some necessities for traveling and, when I started off on the boat, I still had $12.1 suppose you could call them "Carrie Judd Montgomery" dollars.

Google creative commons

She was more advanced in the knowledge and exercise of faith than many Christians in those days. Missionaries on furlough stayed with her to rest in a spiritual atmosphere, as well as missionaries enroute overseas. Somehow, through faith, she was able to support this work, even after her husband, a successful businessman, died.

Many people have asked me how she was accepted among male ministers. As far as I can tell, there was no sense of competition with her, mostly because of the home that she kept. In the earlier days, however, women on the average were not very well-accepted. However, Carrie Judd was like a mother to young ministers. She was a true "mama" to those around her.

When I was there once, she said, "Come into my room, young man." So I went into her private room, which was very large. It had its own fireplace and a sitting area, as well as her bed.

She said, "Now, you're going to take a journey of faith. I know Howard Carter. You had better be going in real faith, not hope. You get faith by studying the Word. You get in there and study that Word until something in you 'knows that you know' and that you do not just hope that you know."

Google creative commons

I think she was trying to find out what was in me, what kind of backbone I had, and if I would quit and run home under difficult circumstances or go forward as God led. Later, my wife and I and our children stayed with her on our way to The Philippines to build a new church in Manila. The children enjoyed the freedom and joy of her home. And we appreciated her so much.

She was everyone's friend in the ministry. Sometimes, she might have twenty different missionaries staying in her home at one time. And each one felt he, or she, had all of her attention. No one felt belittled or left out. Making everyone feel welcome is a special gift.

At that time, you could just give her whatever money you wanted to, or not give her anything, when you stayed at her home. It seldom made a difference to her anyway. She trusted God to meet her needs. I usually tried to pay my own way there so that we would not be a liability to her.

- Dr. Lester Sumrall ( The Pioneers Of Faith )

Google creative commons

Friday, October 17, 2025

The World Is Not A Playground

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a story from a book that I wanted to share.

Google Commons

THE WORLD IS NOT A PLAYGROUND

Men think of the world as a playground. But militant Christians know otherwise. This world isn't a playground, it's a battleground. We're not here to fight, the world says, we are here to frolic. Sadly, even many Christians have adopted that attitude. Oh, they wouldn't say that in so many words, but their lifestyles and their conduct gives them away. Careless, carnal "Christianity."

You don't have to delve too far back into history to see that things are far different today than they were for our founding fathers and the early development of our country. There is a wide gulf between our attitudes and that of those forefathers. There was a time when Christianity exercised a dominant influence over American thinking. What made the difference?

These people knew the world was a battleground. They believed in sin, the devil, and hell as constituting one force; with God, righteousness, heaven and God's people. They recognized that in this battle you can't be neutral. It's life or death, heaven or hell, and if a man is to come out on the winning side, he can expect to do war with God's enemies. The fight is real, long and deadly, and it lasts as long as life continues here below. Heaven is home where the soldier enjoys the peace God has prepared for those who love Him, who serve Him, and are faithful to the end. The end counts.

Google Commons

In heaven we won't need our armor. We can shed it as we enter its portals. There we will be given the victor's crown and robe of righteousness reserved for the stalwart (Rev. 6:11; 7:9-17).

But in the meantime, tremendous spiritual forces are present in the world, and we are caught in the middle. Evil powers are intent on destroying the godly; but arrayed against these demonic forces, are the heavenly hosts helping God's faithful people. This is war. It requires militancy on the part of Christians. This book is a call to those who name the Name of Christ to put on their armor and to advance against the devil. It is an urgent plea for Christians to recognize that this is war, to take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and to use it with Holy Spirit empowerment.

- Lester Sumrall ( The Militant Church )

Google Commons

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

How Demons Possess People

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

HOW DEMONS POSSESS PEOPLE.

Google creative commons

Jesus then told me he was going to show me how demons get hold of people, even believers, if they will let them. He showed me a man in a vision. I didn't recognize the man. I saw an evil spirit come and sit on his right shoulder. (There's no significance to the right shoulder at all. If there had been, the Lord would have told me.) The evil spirit began to whisper in this man's ear, and the man began to entertain its thoughts.

Then in the vision the man became as transparent as if he were made of glass. Something seemed to go into his head. It looked like a black dot and it was almost as large as a baseball. Jesus told me that this thing first came from the outside to attack the man, but because he had listened to it and had opened his mind to it, it had entered his thinking. He had become obsessed!

Then I saw this black dot go from the man's head down into his spirit. He told me that it now possessed him wholly. Then I saw a whole group of evil spirits come in. I saw the first spirit holding a door open, as it were, for all these other spirits who were swarming in. There were so many I couldn't count them all. They looked like big flies. The first one looked like a little monkey or elf.

Google creative commons

Jesus talked to me about that. He reminded me of the Bible account in Matthew 12:24 which tells how Jesus was accused of casting out devils by Beelzebub, the lord of flies. He said these spirits were lower classes of spirits. The higher class demon got in there first and got control and then let the others in.

Remember the man whose house was swept clean but the evil spirit came back with seven others and they all entered into him (Matt. 12:44,45)? The one spirit knew how to get in, and he took the others with him. Jesus told me this man was possessed of the first spirit which went into him, and then he let the others in. All of them were in there, but only one fully possessed him. He then told me the madman of Gadara had a legion of demons.

Jesus told me in the vision to walk up to the man I saw in the vision. I walked up to him, and the Lord told me that from that night on, when I was in the presence of one who was fully possessed, these spirits would recognize me. They would recognize that I had power over them.

He said when a person is fully demon possessed, the demon can use his voice and state that he knows who you are. The demons will know you as much as they knew who Jesus was.

Google creative commons

He said that through discerning of spirits, which is an inward revelation, I would know what kind of a spirit possesses a person. He told me that if the spirit did not come out when commanded to, I should ask what his name is and how many there are within. Some won't come out until you do this.

Then Jesus showed me some things I hadn't understood before. He talked to me about the man who came out of the tombs at Gadara. (Mark 5). Jesus said if I had been there that day I would have heard, with my physical ears, this man talking. But it was really the demon who possessed the man doing the talking. (A person present wouldn't have heard all the demons speaking unless he had discerning of spirits.) This was what Jesus told me. He said because I had this gift, at times I would see and hear into the realm of spirits. That scares some people; I'd be lying if I said it weren't so.

Google creative commons

Sometimes I've had spirits speak to me before I've ever said a word. I hear them. People can hear me telling them to leave, but no one else hears them talking. Sometimes they say to me very emphatically, "I don't intend to go." I say, "Yes you do, and out you go in the Name of Jesus." I've seen them go. People will be delivered. I've seen too much of it not to believe it, and I know it works.

I don't just run and jump into something. I stop and think it over for a long time before I start using it. The Lord told me one time when He appeared to me in a vision that He would rather I be too slow than too fast. He said some people receive a little revelation, and they grab it and run. They usually end up with everything messed up. It's better to be careful.

I do not believe that God is going to take novices and new Christians who know little or nothing, equip them with these things, and send them out to turn the world upside down. That's out of line with His program.

Google creative commons

So Jesus told me to walk up to this man. When I walked up to him, the man immediately spoke out loud and said, "I know you; I know who you are." Without thinking I told him to shut up in the Name of Jesus. He hushed. Then on the inside of me I knew what kind of spirit was talking to me. It was a deceiving spirit.

I said, "You foul deceiving spirit, I command you to come out of the man in the Name of Jesus!" Nothing happened! So then I asked the name and how many there were in there. (Deceiving isn't a name, it's just a kind.) He said there were 19 more in there besides him. That was all I needed to know. I then commanded him and all 19 to come out in the Name of Jesus. And they came out!

- Kenneth E Hagin ( MINISTERING TO THE OPPRESSED )

Google creative commons

Friday, October 10, 2025

Pray With All Your Might

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

If you want something from God then you have to pray with all of your might.

Google Commons

YOU MuST PRAY WITH YOUR MIGHT....

That does not mean saying your prayers, or sitting gazing about in church or chapel, with eyes wide open, while someone else says them for you. It means fervent, effectual, untiring wrestling with God.

It means that grappling with Omnipotence, that clinging to Him, following Him about, so to speak, day and night, as the widow did to the unjust judge, with agonizing pleadings and arguments and entreaties, until the answer comes and the end is gained.

Google Commons

This kind of prayer be sure the devil and the world and your own indolent, unbelieving nature will oppose. They will pour water on this flame. They will ply you with suggestions and difficulties. They will ask you how you can expect that the plans and purposes and feelings of God can be altered by your prayers. They will talk about impossibilities and predict failures; but, if you mean to succeed, you must shut your ears and eyes to all but what God has said, and hold Him to His own word: and you cannot do this in any sleepy mood; you cannot be a prevailing Israel unless you wrestle as Jacob wrestled, regardless of time aught else, save obtaining the blessing sought— that is, you must pray with your might.

Eight-hour prayer meetings—some taking place throughout the night—were not uncommon. Prayer was a cornerstone of everything that they did.

- William Booth ( General Of The Salvation Army )

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Lam Jeevaratnam

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Lam Jeevaratnam

Google creative commons

Lam Jeevaratnam gave up everything of earthly value and began preaching the Gospel with signs and wonders following. He had gone to England to make money as an artistic entertainer, but God's plans prevailed. He was saved in an open-air meeting in Leeds, then went to Howard Carter's Bible school where he was baptized in the Holy Spirit!

In Jeevaratnam's meetings, the dumb spoke, the ears of the deaf were opened, the lame walked, severe internal pains vanished, and the blind received their sight! In his meetings, it was obvious that Jesus has all power over the enemy, and He has invested that same power in believers.

Jeevaratnam had an unusual discernment of the presence of demon power and the knowledge of how to deal with it! In India, he was often called "Lam, the devil chaser," because he stayed with his calling, which was a mighty deliverance message that Christ is the answer to human needs.

He dominated demons in a very strong manner until anyone could tell there was no fear in him, because demons ran from him!

He lectured and spoke some in England during his life, but his greatest work was among the villages of India. There are more villages in India than anywhere in the world, except China. They grow their own food, live their simple lives, and die unknown to, and mostly unknowing of, the world in which Western Christians live.

Google creative commons

He had to stay on the move from one of these villages to another, and we are talking about perhaps a hundred thousand of them, in order to stay out of the way of the Hindu officials. They would like to have killed him!

I am sure we looked like two funny "ducks" walking down the street together or into some of the churches where we ministered together — him with a beard and in the long Indian robes and me dressed like a young Englishman.

Jeevartnam held a tremendous revival once in Poona City. The revival was held outdoors to accommodate the masses of people attending. People from numerous sects and denominations came — from Hindus to Mohammedans, Brahmans, outcasts, Parsees, Jews, Sikhs, Panthans, Roman Catholics, to name a few. Rich and poor and high and low caste sat together listening to the full Pentecostal Gospel preached by Brother Jeevaratnam.

The missionary sisters and young Indian men and women helped control the crowds of sick people who came for prayer. Similar to the days of Jesus' earthly ministry, people climbed surrounding walls and looked on from balconies of houses and tree branches.

Perhaps thousands of people heard the gospel preached through Brother Jeevaratnam

- 📕Pioneer’s of Faith by Dr Lester Sumrall

Google creative commons

The Incident Of The Cow Bread

Friday, October 3, 2025

Spiritual Hunger

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

SPIRITUAL HUNGER.

Google Creative Commons

Once I was out on a snowshoe trip at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, where they used to have four or five feet of snow. I tramped for 30 miles on my snowshoes, tired and weary. I arrived home and found my wife had gone away to visit, so I went over to my sister’s home. I found they were out, too. I went into the house and began to look for something to eat.

I was nearly starved. I found a big cake that looked like cornbread; it was still quite warm and it smelled good. I ate it all. I thought it was awful funny stuff, and it seemed to have lumps in it. I did not understand the combination, and I was not much of a cook. About the time I had finished it my sister and her husband came in.

She said, “My, you must be tired and hungry.”

I said, “I was, but I just found a corn cake and I ate the whole thing.”

She said, “My goodness, John, you did not eat that!”

I said, “What was it, Irene?"

“Why, that was a kind of cow bread; we grind up cobs and all.”

You see, it all depends on the degree of your hunger. Things taste mighty good to a hungry man. If you wanted to confer a peculiar blessing on men at large, it would not be to give them pie, but to make them hungry, and then everything that came their way would taste everlastingly good.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6).

Hunger can be a good thing. It is the greatest persuader I know of. It is a marvelous power. Nations have learned that you can do almost anything with a populace until they get hungry. But when they get hungry, watch out. There is a certain spirit of desperation that accompanies hunger.

I wish we all had it spiritually. I wish we were desperately hungry for God. Wouldn’t it be glorious? It would be a strange thing, if we were all desperately hungry for God, if only one or two got filled in a service.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

Righteousness is the rightness of God. The rightness of God in your spirit, the rightness of God in your soul, the rightness of God in your body, the rightness of God in your affairs, in your home, in your business, everywhere.

- John G Lake ( Spiritual Hunger )

Google Commons

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

The Gifts Are Not Perfect

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

The Gifts are not perfect.

Google creative commons

The gifts are not always perfect in manifestation, because they are manifested through an imperfect channel: men and women. The Spirit of God flows through us as water flows through a pipe. Sometimes as the Spirit of God flows through us something from our own personality gets mixed in with the divine flow. (After all, God uses personalities.).

God doesn't put a premium on ignorance or education, but He has to use the vessel as it is. I have seen the anointing of the Spirit of God upon one who is educated, cultured, and refined, and I was greatly blessed. On the other hand, I have heard interpretations of messages which included such words as "hain't," "ain't," "you'uns," and "we'uns." Those giving the interpretations could not go beyond their capacity. They used the best vocabulary they had. It was the Spirit of God in manifestation, but it was not a perfect manifestation.

A minister tells that in one of his services the interpretation of a message in tongues was: "My little children, don't be scared. But if you are scared, I don't blame you, because sometimes I get scared myself." Although this was not a manifestation of the Spirit of God, it does not mean that the dear one who gave it was not a Christian.

Google creative commons

It does not even mean that she wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit, She wanted God to use her, but she was just speaking out of her own mind. Many times we let such manifestations scare a lot of good people off instead of giving people the right teaching. We need the operation of the gifts in our congregations. We need everything God has provided, but we need to follow God's instructions for the proper use of these gifts so that "all things be done unto edifying" (1 Cor. 14:26).

Some excuse their spiritual excesses by saying, "I couldn't help that. The Holy Spirit made me do it." They blame the Holy Spirit for their being out of order. But the Holy Spirit, through Paul, has given us instructions so we know how to be in order.

Although we may be inspired to speak—we may have a message in tongues and interpretation, or even a word of prophecy—it is not always wise to jump up at any time. If our inspiration comes at an inopportune moment when it would not be edifying, then we should hold our peace. At the right time we can give what we have.

Many times when attending fellowship meetings and camp meetings where I was not the speaker, I could have spoken with tongues but didn't. The leaders of the meetings were men who knew God, who were filled with the Spirit, and they could give the message themselves. There was no need of my butting in from out in the congregation. In a large gathering if someone speaks in tongues or prophesies from the congregation, few hear it. If it comes from the platform, however, everyone hears it, and it is edifying.

Google creative commons

The inspirational and the revelation gifts are a product of both God and man. It isn't all God and it isn't all man. This is where many have missed the blessing of being filled with the Spirit. They could have spoken in tongues many years ago.

Some have said to me, "If I had known that I had a part to play in it, I could have talked in tongues 25 years ago. I had an urge to say something that wasn't English, but I thought if I spoke that out, it would just be me doing it. I have been waiting for the Holy Spirit to talk with tongues all these years."

However, He doesn't really talk with tongues. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Holy Spirit ever talked with tongues. Instead, we read that the Holy Spirit gives you utterance, and you do the talking. That is what happened on the Day of Pentecost: "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and [they] began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). He gave them the utterance; they did the talking.

After hearing this preached, some people have asked me, “Why didn't someone tell me? I have been afraid to talk in tongues—afraid it would just be the flesh.” But when you talk in tongues, it will be you in the flesh. God said He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. Everyone who ever talked with tongues was in the flesh, but he was inspired by the Spirit.

- Kenneth E Hagin ( The Gift Of Prophecy )

The same thing is true with the inspirational and revelation gifts of God. They are a product of both man and God.

Google creative commons

Friday, September 26, 2025

I Abandoned Myself To The Preaching Of Jesus

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is the testimony of one of the great evangelists

Google Commons

I ABANDONED MYSELF TO THE PREACHING OF JESUS.

The desire to proclaim the message of Christ and to demonstrate His power to save and bless grew in my soul, until my life was swayed by this overwhelming passion.

However, my heart was divided. I could not follow successfully the ordinary pursuits of life and business. When a man came into my office, though I knew that twenty or thirty minutes of concentration on the business at hand would possibly net me thousands of dollars, I could not discuss business with him.

By a new power of discernment I could see his soul and understand his inner life and motives. I recognized him as one of these wandering sheep and longed with an overwhelming desire to help him find God and find himself.

This division in my soul between business interests and the desire to help men find God became intense. In many instances what should have been a successful business interview and the closing of a great business transaction ended in a prayer meeting. I would invite the individual to kneel with me while I poured out my heart to God on his behalf.

Wikipedia Commons

I determined to discuss the matter with the president of my company and frankly told him the condition of soul I found myself in and its cause. He kindly replied: "You have worked hard, Lake. You need a change. Take a vacation for three months. If you want to preach, preach. But at the end of the three months, $50,000 a year will look like a lot of money to you, and you will have little desire to sacrifice it for dreams of religious possibilities."

I thanked him, accepted an invitation to join a brother in evangelistic work, and left the office, never to return. During those three months I preached every day to large congregations, saw a multitude of people saved from their sins and healed of their diseases, and hundreds of them baptized in the Holy Ghost.

At the end of the three months, I said to God: "I am through forever with everything in life but the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." I disposed of my estate, distributed my funds in it manner I believed to be for the best interests of the Kingdom of God, made myself wholly dependent upon God for the support of myself and family, and abandoned myself to the preaching of Jesus.

- John G Lake ( Adventures in God )

Wikipedia Commons

Friday, September 19, 2025

Refiner Of Silver

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is an article from an unknown source.

Google Commons

There was once a group of women studying the book of Malachi in the Old Testament. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

This verse puzzled the women, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot – then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

Google Commons

The man answered, “Yes” and explained that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy. When I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of this world’s fire, just remember that God is refining you. "You are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ!" Hallelujah.