Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”

DAILY READING; Acts 28:1-16; 1 Samuel 4-5; Psalm 52

The great evangelist, Smith Wigglesworth began early as a youth to preach the Gospel. However he did not make much impact until he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1907, when he was 48 years old.. Until then he had been preaching without being baptized in the Spirit and was hardly known outside of his hometown of Bradford. But when he heard of the great Azuza revival which began in 1906, he hungered to see the same manifestations. And so he travelled down to Sunderland to pray with a group of people who believed in the baptism. There, the Holy Spirit gloriously came upon him, and he began speaking in tongues. From that moment, his life became totally revolutionized. When he came back, to his hometown in Bradford, he mounted the pulpit and preached from Isaiah 61:1 which begins with “The Spirit of The Lord is upon me.”.

As he was still preaching, people began to fall under the power. From then on, a great outpouring of the Spirit began and his healing ministry exploded. God moved Wigglesworth from a small relatively unknown ministry to conducting powerful meetings throughout the world, stirring the faith of thousands to receive healing and salvation.

Everywhere he preached miracles took place; cancerous growths disappeared, blind eyes received sight, the deaf regained their hearing, new limbs were created, and many dead were raised. As a result of these signs and wonders multitude of souls were won and brought into the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 61:1 says ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

The Holy Spirit is the power base of God’s Kingdom, and it is through His manifestations that people are drawn to God. The great commission cannot be achieved by human efforts or exertion of one’s might, it is by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was only after Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit, that His ministry exploded and multitudes began to hear Him. Also it was after the Holy Ghost came, that Peter and the other disciples took the city by storm. Indeed we need the power of The Holy Spirit, to be effective witnesses of the Gospel. We are not called to preach with enticing words of men’s wisdom but in demonstration of The Spirit and power. We have to understand that preaching the Gospel is not fanfare, but warfare. The pharaoh holding men in spiritual slavery will not let them go except through the manifestation of the power of God. And in this battle we are God’s frontline storm troops, who will invade enemy territories to rescue the lost. This is a serious assignment because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. We therefore cannot afford to be powerless, we must be prepared and ready to do battle. And the decisive weapon in this battle is the power and anointing of The Spirit upon us.

The power of the Holy Spirit is what will break the hold of darkness and set men free to serve Jesus. We must therefore stay connected to the Holy Spirit through a lifestyle of fasting, praying and diligent study of The Word.

The world is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, but only those empowered by the Spirit can do exploits in this end-times. A new move of God is already sweeping through the earth. Revival is here again. God is doing a new thing and releasing a new sound. Let us therefore continually maintain an intimate fellowship with the Spirit of God, so that by His power multitudes will be brought into God’s kingdom.

PRAYER: Lord, please grant me a fresh encounter with Your Spirit. Set me apart in this generation, to be a shining light, to my world. May many souls be brought into Your kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit manifesting through me in Jesus Name.

QUOTE

The study of The Word will keep shame and disgrace far from you. WORDBITE 222