To Pay the Full Price 9/29 Friday Faith

The human soul is ever lazy toward God, and no one generation has seemed to be able to travel very far on its way back to God and His standard from which the early church fell. It is true that human error or understanding continually satisfies itself with a part instead of the whole, but the real fact is that men are not willing to pay the full price to come back fully to God's standard, to be all the Lord's. -- Frank Bartleman.

God's Church Is One 9/28 Thursday Thoughts

We belong to the whole body of Christ, both in heaven and on earth. God's church is one. It is a terrible thing to go about dismembering the body of Christ. How foolish and wicked the petty differences between Christians will appear in the light of eternity. Christ is the "issue", not some doctrine about Him. The Gospel leads to Him. It exalts Christ, not some particular doctrine. To know Christ is the alpha and the omega of the Christian faith and practice. -- Frank Bartleman

How These Christians Love 9/27 Wednesday Wisdom

As we look upon the church divided, upon the sect-ridden multitude, none of whom can see alike, how our tried souls cry out for that original love. And we will never win the world on any other plane. It was said of the early Christians, by the heathen themselves, "Behold how these Christians love one another!" -- Frank Bartleman

The People Whom God Will Use 9/26 Tuesday Truth

Let God's people everywhere begin to seek in deep, true humility. Then He will reveal Himself and His plan to them. One man with the real power of God upon him can do more than a thousand who go on their own account. Only those who are true and loyal to God and His present-day message will share in this great victory. The people who really humble themselves and stand the test, God will use to do His work. -- Frank Bartleman.

The Call of God 9/25 Monday Meditation

The call of God to His people now is to humble themselves, to recognize their weakness and lack of power, to get down before Him and wait till His power is restored. The great question is, Will men see the plan of God and yield to it? Will men get down in humility at Jesus' feet and pray and wait till He restores His full Pentecostal power? Or will they continue to run ahead of Him and fail in the end? -- Frank Bartleman

Small Enough 9/22 Friday Faith

Shortly after God filled me, His Spirit rested mightily upon me one morning, and He said to me, "If you were only small enough, I could do anything with you." A great desire to be little, yea, to be nothing, came into my heart. But it has been oh so hard to keep low enough for Him to really work through me. And He only really uses me when I am little in my own eyes and really humble at His feet. When I feel that I must do something, He always lets me fail. But when I stay at His feet and feel that I am nothing, and He is all, and so just trust Him, He does His work in such a beautiful way that it is wonderful to me. -- Frank Bartleman

Be Eager to Pray 9/21 Thursday Thoughts

In the early Azusa [Revival] days, you could hardly keep the saints off their knees. Whenever two believers met, they invariably went to prayer. Today we can harldy be dragged to prayer. Some make as much fuss about it as the old camel does in the East in kneeling to receive his load. He fusses and bites and groans before the driver can bring him down. -- Frank Bartleman.

Nothing Above Jesus 9/20 Wednesday Wisdom

Everything centers around Jesus. We may not put the power, gifts, the Holy Spirit, or in fact anything ahead of Jesus. Any mission that exalts even the Holy Spirit above the Lord Jesus Christ is bound for the rocks of error and fanaticism. -- Frank Bartleman.

We Wanted God 9/19 Tuesday Truth

(Regarding the Azusa Revival): The Lord worked very deeply. Several were under the power [of the Spirit] all night on one occasion. There was no closing at 9 o'clock sharp, as the preachers must do in order to keep the people. We wanted God in those days. We did not have a thousand other things we wanted before Him. And He did not disappoint us. -- Frank Bartleman

Hindrance to the Work of God 9/18 Monday Meditation

Welcome to the new readers! I notice that the counter of actual readers has jumped in the last week. I focus on quotes from "Pentecostal Pioneers" who are seldom read today. I post Monday through Friday except vacations and holidays. I have been doing this since 2005 on Blogger, several sites on Facebook and on gab.com, and in an email group. The natural strength and ability of man are always the greatest hindrance to the work of God, and to God's working. -- Frank Bartleman

God Requires of Everyone 9/15 Friday Faith

Is the church working, with all her resources, for this one purpose and to this one end? That certainly does not mean the selfish heaping up of property and riches, more than we really need. It does not mean getting all we want for ourselves and then tossing the Lord a dollar we do not need. . . . God requires of everyone exactly the same consecration. -- Frank Bartleman.

100% Consecration 9/14 Thursday Thoughts

All believers are called to a 100 percent consecration. God doesn't have two standards of consecration -- one for the foreign missionary, and another for the Christian at home. We cannot find it in the Bible. One is called to consecrate his all as well as the other, as God's stewards in their own places and callings. -- Frank Bartleman.

The Making of a Missionary 9/13 Wednesday Wisdom

It takes three to make a missionary. One goes, one prays, and one gives. -- Frank Bartleman

What Pentecost Meant 9/12 Tuesday Truth

Pentecost meant the dying out to the self-life, carnal ambition, pride, and so on. It meant for them to enter into the "fellowship of his sufferings" (Philippians 3:10), not simply to have a popular, good time. -- Frank Bartleman

The Greatest Religious Need 9/11 Monday Meditation

The greatest religious need of our day would seem to be that of true followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. Religious enthusiasm easily goes to seed. The human spirit so predominates the show-off, religious spirit. But we must stick to our text -- Christ. He alone can save. The attention of the people must be first of all, and always, held to Him. A true Pentecost will produce a mighty conviction for sin, a turning to God. -- Frank Bartleman

Jesus Is the Center 9/8 Friday Faith

Jesus will always be the center of our preaching. All comes through and in Him. The Holy Spirit is given to show the things of Christ. (See John 16:14.) The work of Calvary, the Atonement, must be the center of our consideration. The Holy Spirit never draws our attention from Christ to Himself, but rather reveals Christ in a fuller way. -- Frank Bartleman

Self-Satisfaction 9/7 Thursday Thoughts

Without a doubt, even the least self-satisfaction in one's religious service is a great hindrance to the blessing and favor of God. It must be shunned as we would a serpent. -- Frank Bartleman

Intellectual Knowledge 9/6 Wednesday Wisdom

The greater part of most Christians' knowledge of God is and has always been, since the loss of the Spirit by the early church, an intellectual knowledge. Their knowledge of the Word and principles of God is an intellectual one, through natural reasoning and understanding largely. They have little revelation, illumination, or inspiration directly from the Spirit of God. -- Frank Bartleman

Fully Yielded 9/5 Tuesday Truth

Oh, the thrill of being fully yielded to Him! . . . Nothing hinders faith and the operation of the Spirit so much as the self-assertiveness of the human soul, the wisdom, strength, and self-sufficiency of the human mind. This must all be crucified, and here is where the fight comes in. We must become utterly undone, insufficient, and helpless in our own consciousness, thoroughly humbled, before we can receive full posssession of the Holy Spirit. We want the Holy Spirit, but the fact is that He is wanting possession of us. -- Frank Bartleman

The Power of God at the Azusa Revival 9/4 Monday Meditation

Such a divine "weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17) was upon us that we could only lie on our faces. For a long time we could hardly even remain seated. All would be on their faces on the floor, sometimes during the whole service. I was seldom able to keep from lying full-length on the floor on my face... They were His meetings. Every night the power of God was mightily with us. It was glorious! The Lord seemed almost visible, He was so real. -- Frank Bartleman