'God, What's The Hurry?'

Luke 15:22

22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.’”

If you are a believer, you are probably familiar with the story of the prodigal son that Jesus shared. Who do you think represents the father in the story? Jesus’ Father in heaven, of course. Jesus was giving us a picture of His Father, who is also our Father.
In the story, the father was seen running towards his son, who was returning home. (Luke 15:20) Do you realise that God is never described as being in a hurry in the Bible? God is always cool and composed. The only time He is portrayed as being in a hurry is in this story. The father held up his robe and ran. Where was he running to? And why was he in such a hurry?
The father was in a hurry because he had seen his son, who was still a long way from home. He was running towards His child. He could not wait to hold His child tight in His arms and to kiss him. (Luke 15:20)
The father was in a hurry to clothe him with the best robe. Once, a prince named Jonathan gave his princely robe to David, bestowing on him his princely position. (1 Samuel 18:4) God has put the best robe on us, and in doing so, He was not bestowing but reinstating our positions, which we had lost when Adam fell, as kings of the Most High God. (Revelation 1:6) The father was in a hurry to put a ring on his hand. Like the authority held by the signet ring of a rich man’s son, God is eager to put back into our hands the authority to invoke His name so that we can walk in dominion every day.
The father was in a hurry to put sandals on his feet to assure him that he was still his son — only servants went about barefoot. God never wants us to feel like outcasts. We are always His sons and daughters.
Beloved, if God appears to be in a hurry, it is because He is in a hurry to assure you of your position as His child!

Called From Your Mother's Womb

Galatians 1:15

15But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace.

God has specially called you from your mother’s womb. You have a calling and a destiny in Christ!

There are Christians who are called by God to be doctors. But I believe that among them are those separated from their mothers’ wombs for the healing ministry. They are passionate about seeking cures to alleviate the sufferings of humanity.

Likewise, I think that there are Christians who are called by God to be teachers in secular schools. But among them are those separated from their mothers’ wombs to be Bible teachers. What gives them tremendous fulfilment is seeing lives saved and transformed under their teaching.

What about those famous magicians you see performing tricks on television? They have a love for the mystical and supernatural. If they were to become Christians, they might just become prophets with ministries marked by the miraculous!

The apostle Paul knew that he was called from his mother’s womb. He had a misguided passion for God though, as he was persecuting the church, until he had his encounter with Jesus. (Acts 8:3, 9:1–6) If Paul, a terrorist to the early church, could be touched by Christ to become an apostle of grace, what about today’s terrorists who kill in the name of God? For all you know, if they receive Christ, they might just become trailblazers in the kingdom of God!

Now, don’t think that your calling has to do with your qualifications, abilities, achievements or even your walk with God. You were called from your mother’s womb. As a foetus in your mother’s womb, there was not much you could do — good or bad. That is why your calling is all by His grace. And since He has given you a calling, ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern the desires that He has placed in your heart, the passions that drive you in life, and fulfil your calling and destiny in Christ!

Pray In The Spirit

Jude 1:20

20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

When my daughter Jessica was little, she woke up one night crying. She was not sick but would not stop crying even though her mother and I tried to pacify her. I did not know what to do. I went to the restroom, sat on the floor and cried out, “Holy Spirit, You know what is wrong with my child. You know what she needs better than I do, so I yield her to You now.” I started praying in tongues and she stopped crying immediately!

Now, I wish that such instantaneous results are the norm, but they are not. On another occasion, I experienced severe pain down the back of my neck to my shoulders. I had prayed for healing, but the pain persisted for quite some time. I was quite concerned. One night, in my room, I knelt down and prayed, “Holy Spirit, You know this condition. I don’t know what it is, but I am asking You to make perfect prayer against this condition.” I started praying in tongues. I don’t know how long I prayed, maybe an hour or so, until I felt the burden lift. I finally fell asleep, still in pain. But when I woke up, all the pain was gone!

When you are faced with a crisis, you can tell the Holy Spirit, “I don’t know how to pray about this problem. I have done everything I know, but I don’t seem to be getting my breakthrough. Help me pray, Holy Spirit.”

And as you pray in the Spirit, you will feel like there is a prayer going on within you. Flow with it until you feel a release. You will feel the burden lift, and peace and a note of victory inside you. The Holy Spirit will assure you that everything is going to be all right or He will prompt you to do something. Then, you will find that what has been hindering you from receiving your breakthrough is removed, and in its place is the answer that you need!

Angels Walk With You

Psalm 91:11–12

11For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You are about to step onto the road when something pulls you back just in time to avoid being smashed by a car that swooshes by. You are shocked. When you come to your senses, you ask yourself, “Was that an angel that just saved me from a fatal accident?”

I believe that angels walk with us. The verse tells us that God has given His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways. And in their hands they will bear us up, so that not even a stone will trip us up.

But we may not know it when we encounter an angel. (Hebrews 13:2) This was probably the case with a couple in our church who was holidaying at a beach resort on Penang Island when a tsunami struck it at about 12.30pm on 26 December 2004.

It was slightly past 11am when the wife suddenly had a craving for food from the mainland. So the couple decided to check out earlier so that they could reach the mainland in time for lunch. While loading their luggage into their car at the hotel driveway, a man impatiently motioned to them to hurry up and get moving.

Annoyed by his impatience, they quickly loaded in their stuff and drove off. The minute they reached the mainland, they heard that a tsunami had struck Penang Island at the same beach where they were at just a while ago. While thanking God for their narrow escape, it suddenly dawned on them that the impatient man could have been an angel charged by God to hurry them off!

God tells us that we have an innumerable company of angels. (Hebrews 12:22) And He has given them charge over us to protect us from accidents, natural disasters, terrorist bombings and other dangers. So don’t fear these things and lock yourself at home. Go for that holiday. Go for that appointment. Believe that God who loves you has His angels walking with you and watching over you!

Rest, Don't Sweat It

Ruth 3:18

18Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

God does not want you to “sweat”. Sweat here does not refer to your body sweat, but to your self-reliance or self-effort.

God does not want you to believe that if you don’t do anything, nothing will happen. That may be true for someone without God in his life, but it is not true for you because you have God. And when He is in the picture, the God-factor changes everything! When you are resting in Him, He works for you. In fact, when He works, you end up with more. He is the one who is giving to you. It is not about you trying to give to yourself.

This is what happened to Ruth in the Bible. After labouring in the barley fields from morning to evening, she was able to glean only one ephah of barley (Ruth 2:17), which was equivalent to a 10-day supply of barley. Certainly, this amount was a blessing to her.

But when she rested at the feet of Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer, and did not labour, she received six ephahs of barley (Ruth 3:15), which was equivalent to a 60-day supply! When Ruth sought her own blessing, she obtained only one ephah. But when she sought the blesser, she received much more.

Ruth’s blessings did not stop there. While Ruth rested and sat still as her mother-in-law Naomi had instructed, Boaz, who was the owner of the barley field, went to work, initiating actions, executing them and speaking on Ruth’s behalf. Right through it all, Ruth continued to sit still and rest. Eventually, Boaz, the barley man himself, married Ruth. (Ruth 4) That meant no more measured wealth of six ephahs, but the yield of all of the barley fields in total!

Beloved, Boaz is a picture of Jesus, our heavenly kinsman-redeemer. When we rest in the Lord, He will not rest. He will work on our behalf. What do we do? We just enjoy being loved by Him. Be at rest. If salvation, the greatest work, comes into our lives just by us resting in His finished work, how much more all the other blessings!

Guard Your Heart

John 14:27

27Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The night before He died, Jesus gave His peace to His disciples — “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you…” This peace is not just for His disciples, but also for us. Today, we have His peace.

The moment you believe in Jesus Christ, He who is the Prince of Peace comes to live inside you. And when the Prince of Peace resides in you, every blessing that you will ever need pertaining to your soundness and wholeness is already inside you.

“Pastor Prince, if this is true, then why do I still see problems in my health, finances, family and relationships?”

The answer is a troubled heart. That is why after Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you…” He said, “… Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

A troubled and fearful heart works like fingers that clamp down hard on a water hose. The supply of water is flowing from the tap, but little or nothing is coming out at the other end of the hose. God’s ever-present supply of blessings towards you is like the water flowing freely from the tap. But you don’t see the blessings when you allow your heart to be gripped by worry or fear.

So when fearful, anxious thoughts come, remind yourself of Jesus’ words: “… Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Even when things appear to get worse, say, “Lord, I refuse to worry about this. In the midst of all this I see the finished work of Christ. He said, ‘It is finished!’ So, my debts are finished. My child is healed. My house is sold. I will let not my heart be troubled by these things.”

Beloved, I cannot “let not” for you. Your family and friends cannot “let not” for you. Only you can “let not your heart be troubled”. So guard your heart from being troubled. You don’t have to guard your career, reputation, children or even health. When you guard your heart, God will guard everything else for you!

God's Tenderness Towards You

Ephesians 2:7

… 7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

Have you ever blown things out of proportion and got angry with God when you were going through a trying time?
This happened to Jesus’ disciples when a storm hit them hard. In their fear of drowning, they cried out to Jesus, who was taking a much-needed sleep in the boat, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
For accusing Him of not caring, you would think that they received a rebuke from Jesus. But it was the wind which received His rebuke, and a great calm followed. (Mark 4:39) Because of His tenderness towards His own, Jesus did not waste time taking offence. Instead, He wasted no time taking care of the problem that had caused His disciples so much anxiety and fear.
This also happened to two sisters, Martha and Mary, who did not hesitate to let Jesus know how they felt when He finally showed up days after their brother Lazarus had died. Both sisters made the same remark to Him: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21, 32) They had seen His miracles of mercy and love. Now, in their grief, they focused on how He could have prevented their brother’s death, but did not. They did not know His heart — how tender it was towards their family and how His help would never fail them, but would even go all the way to raising their dead brother. (John 11:41–44)
Beloved, your heavenly Father sees you trying to stay afloat when you are in the middle of a storm. He sees you trying to provide for yourself and your family, and thinking, “If I don’t take care of these things, no one else will.” And He wants you to know how tender His heart is towards you, how He overlooks all the bad things you have ever said of or to Him. He wants you to know how much He wants to, and will, help and bless you, to “show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus”.

Call It The Way God Calls It!

Romans 4:17

17… God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

Very often, when we look at ourselves, we don’t see what we can become. But God, when He looks at us, sees what we can become by His grace.
When Jesus first saw Simon, whose name in Greek means “reed”, He changed his name to “Peter”, which means “rock”. But did Peter instantly become someone with the characteristics of a rock — solid, stable and unshakeable? No, for a long time, he continued to act like a reed that bends every which way the wind blows.
Once, when Peter saw Jesus walking on water, he took a bold step of faith and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Then, when he was walking on the water, he saw the boisterous wind, got scared and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:28–30) Another time, he said, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33) Then, a few hours later, he denied knowing Jesus not once, but three times. (Luke 22:54–62)
Yet, throughout his reed-like behaviour, Jesus kept calling him “rock”. And all the while, Peter kept seeing himself as a reed. But one day, how Jesus saw him began to take root in him. That day, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood up to preach and 3,000 people were saved! (Acts 2:41) Peter had indeed become a rock, a pillar in the early church.
That was how Jesus transformed Peter. And that is how God wants us to change the people and situations in our lives.
“Pastor Prince, are you telling me to call my wife ‘a fruitful vine’ as in Psalm 128:3? You should see my wife. She looks more like a dried-up sour prune!”
My friend, God did not tell us to call those things which exist as they exist. What is the point of stating the obvious? It is not going to change anything. No, God tells us to call those things which do not exist as though they did, and they will!

He Is The God Of Your Valleys Too

1 Kings 20:23

23Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.”

In 1 Kings 20, we find the Syrians being defeated by the Israelites. Then, some of the Syrian king’s advisers gave the king what they thought was the reason for their defeat. They said that they had fought on the hills and lost because Israel’s God is the God of the hills. So if they were to fight the Israelites on the plains or in the valleys, they would win.
What stupid advice! They thought that the God of Israel only helped His people up in the hills and mountains, and not down in the valleys.
Now, mountains refer to our good times, and valleys, our bad times. Some people have this idea that God is the God of our good times, but He is not there when we are going through bad times. They think that He leaves us helpless in the valleys, especially when the troubles are of our own making.
My friend, I want you to know that our God is the God of the mountains, but He is also the God of the valleys!
He laid aside His crown of glory, His royal majesty and came down for us, stepping into a human body as a baby. He came down to where we were for the sole purpose of dying on the cross for our sins, so that He could bring us up to what the Father has for us at His right hand. He came down to crown us with glory and honour, to clothe us with robes of righteousness and make us His bride, sharing everything that He has with us. That is the grace of God. He came down to our valley.
So whatever you are going through right now, know that God is right there in your valley with you. He is holding you in His arms and carrying you through the valley. Victory is already yours. Just as the Israelites were also victorious in the valley (1 Kings 20:28–29), so will you be because the God of the valleys is right there with you!

Sin Cannot Stop God's Grace

Romans 5:20

20Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

When a top executive is caught for embezzlement or a church minister is involved in an illicit affair, you will often hear the phrase “fallen from grace”. We have come to believe that when someone falls into sin, he falls from grace.
But God wants us to want know that when someone falls into sin, he does not fall from grace. He actually falls into grace! And God’s grace is there to put him back on his feet.
The Bible tells of prostitutes and tax-collectors — sinners — who fell into God’s grace and got back on their feet. If the sin in their lives could stop God’s grace, they would never have been able to receive His grace of healing, help and power.
Now, it is important you understand that God hates sin because it destroys our lives, relationships and bodies. Sin is evil! But it is not overcome by us talking about sin and relying on our willpower. It takes the grace of God to destroy sin. In fact, it is when you are under His grace that sin has no dominion over you. (Romans 6:14) It is when you see His grace in providing His Son to put away your sins and make you forever righteous that sin will not dominate you.
The devil will say to you, “You think that you can still expect God’s blessings after what you did this morning?” That is when you must say, “Yes, what I did was wrong. And it is because I am imperfect that Christ is my righteousness and perfection. It is because I am undeserving that I plead only the grace of God, which is His unearned, unmerited, undeserved favour towards me.”
Sin does not and cannot stop God’s grace. If the grace of God can be cut off by sin, Jesus would never have come to save us because we were all sinners. But praise God, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”!
See how God’s grace is bigger, stronger and more powerful than your sins. Receive His grace right now to walk in victory over that weakness or sin in your life, and in every area of your life!

Staying In The Undeserved Favour Of God

Galatians 5:4

4You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

What is the grace of God? Simply put, the grace of God is God blessing, healing, delivering and prospering you because of Jesus. The grace of God is the unearned, unmerited, undeserved favour of God towards you simply because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross.
Because the grace of God is based on Jesus’ work and not yours, the only way you fall from this grace — from this unearned, unmerited and undeserved favour — is by trying to earn, merit and deserve it through your works and obedience.
For example, you fall from God’s grace when you say, “I have prayed long enough, now God has to answer my prayer,” or when you think that because you are serving in church or you have broken a bad habit, God should be pleased with you and He should bless you.
When you think that it is by your efforts and obedience that you receive God’s blessings, you become like the Pharisees. They believed that their law-keeping justified them and ensured that God would bless them. But the truth is that when you believe like them, “you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace”. This means that you are cut off from Christ, who is your salvation, Redeemer, healer and provider. Christ becomes of no effect to you!
My friend, surely you would want Christ to be of effect to you. People to whom Christ is of effect receive from Him their healing, forgiveness, wholeness, restoration and miracle. For when He is of effect to you, He is your healer and you are healed. He is your wisdom and you are wise before man. He is your good success and you experience good success in all that you do.
Here is good news: For Christ to always be of effect to you and to never nullify the grace of God operating in your life, all you need to do is remember and believe that it is because of Christ and His finished work — His blood, His stripes, His death, His obedience — that you are justified, healed, prosperous and blessed!

He Remembers Your Sins No More

Hebrews 10:17

… 17then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

When I was a young Christian growing up in Singapore, there was a little tract entitled, This Was Your Life, circulating. In the tract, you read that when you get to heaven, God will play your entire life, including all your sins, on a huge video screen for all the angels and other Christians to watch!
The idea that God was making such a tape of my life with the intention of playing it for all to see used to make me feel awful and condemned before God. How could I ever stand boldly in God’s presence? And how was I going to face my loved ones and Christian friends in heaven one day?
I was a nervous wreck, thinking about all my sins God was recording down until I read, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” (Romans 4:8) — Hallelujah! I jumped for joy when I found out that God does not count my sins against me, that He gave me something called “non-imputation of sins”!
The reason God does not impute any of our sins to us is that He imputed all our sins 2,000 years ago to the body of His Son when He hung on the cross! Not only that, when God punished His Son for our sins, He caused the curse of the law to fall, stroke by stroke, upon Jesus’ entire body until every curse was satisfied. That is why we are redeemed from the curse of the law. That is why, instead of imputing sin to us, God imputes righteousness!
God wants us to know that our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more. In the Greek, “no more” carries a strong double-negative meaning — “No way, by no means, absolutely not, will I remember their sins ever again!”
Now, since God says that He will remember your sins no more, why do you still remember them? Or for that matter, your spouse’s sins or one another’s sins?
Today, my friend, God does not want you to be conscious of sins because He is not. So rejoice! Come to Him boldly and expect Him to bless you because He remembers your sins no more!

You Are God's Beloved

Ephesians 1:6

… 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

At the Jordan river, Jesus heard His Father say to Him, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22) Later, in the wilderness, Jesus heard the devil say to Him, “If You are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3)

Notice that the devil not only questioned Jesus’ sonship, but he also dropped the word “beloved” when he said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…” You see, the devil cannot remind you that you are God’s beloved because when you know that you are God’s beloved whatever he wants to bring against you cannot succeed!

For example, a girl gives her virtue away when she feels unwanted and unloved. And young people give their lives to sin and join gangs to feel accepted because they have been rejected and made to feel worthless.

When you know that you are God’s beloved, no temptation can succeed against you. Not even the “giants” who may taunt you in life. Consider David. His name in Hebrew means “beloved”. It takes a David to knock down a giant. It takes someone who knows that he is God’s beloved to win the fights in life.

You are God’s beloved not because of what you do. Christ did everything. He is God’s Beloved. But God put you in Him. That is why you are “accepted in the Beloved”. And what He said to Jesus, He says to you today: “You are My beloved son. In you, I am well pleased.”

So if the devil tells you, “Hey, you call yourself ‘God’s beloved’ after what you just did?” you tell him, “It is not what I have done, but what Christ has done. And I am still God’s beloved because I am in Christ!” When you say that, I believe that the devil screams in frustration because he has no power over you when you are conscious that you are God’s beloved. There is truly a place of safety when you know that you are His beloved.

And we are not being proud when we call ourselves God’s beloved. How can we boast when we know that it is God’s grace that has made us accepted in the Beloved!

'All That I Have Is Yours'

Luke 15:31

31And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”

After running a few errands for his parents, a little boy went to his father and said, “I know why you and mummy had me.”

“Why?” his father asked.

“So that you will have someone to run errands and work for you!” exclaimed the boy.

Like the little boy, do you see God as a Father who demands obedience and service from you? Have you ever felt that unless you obey God and keep all His commandments, you don’t have a right to be blessed by Him?

Jesus told the story of the prodigal son to show how some of us call God “Father” and yet don’t know the Father’s heart. There are two sons in this parable. We know what happened to the prodigal son, but we can also learn something about the older son. This is what he said to his father when he discovered that his father had thrown a party to celebrate the return of his irresponsible, spendthrift brother: “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.” (Luke 15:29)

Now, this son believed that his father had brought him into the world to serve him. He saw his father as someone issuing commandments to him all the time and he saw himself as someone who had to obey those commandments to enjoy his inheritance. But the truth is that the father had already given him his inheritance. (Luke 15:12) The father even reminded him lovingly: “Son… all that I have is yours.” And I am sure that that inheritance included more than one goat!

Have you, like the older son, failed to understand your Father’s heart? Your heavenly Father already gave you a rich inheritance in Christ when you became His son. He wants you to know that you have received the Spirit of sonship. (Romans 8:15) So cry out to Him, “Abba, Father!” and know how much He loves you. Because you are His heir, He wants you to enjoy all His blessings!

Covered With Jesus' Robe Of Righteousness

Leviticus 1:6

6And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.

Do you know who in the Bible first clothed man with coats of skin? It was God Almighty Himself, when He found Adam and Eve hiding behind the bushes after hearing His voice! They had become fearful and conscious that they had sinned against God. In his sin-consciousness, Adam realised that he was naked and that the glory of God which was his covering was gone.

So God killed an animal to clothe Adam and Eve with coats of skin. (Genesis 3:21) An animal had to die and its bloodied skin was their covering. This speaks of the blood of Jesus that covers you when He became your burnt offering. The Lamb of God did not just take away your sins. He also gave you His righteousness.

You are covered by Jesus’ blood. You are righteous by His blood. God has clothed you with the robe of righteousness which was paid for by Jesus’ blood. I am not talking about a physical robe made of cloth. I am talking about the robe of righteousness that was on Jesus when He said to the storm, “Peace, be still!” and there came a perfect calm (Matthew 8:23–27), when healing flowed from Him to the sick and when He raised Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:38–44)

When you believe that you are righteous because of Jesus’ blood, you will see the effects of wearing Jesus’ robe of righteousness. You will see miracles happening before your very eyes. You become a blessing magnet, a favour and grace magnet. And it is not your righteousness, but the robe of righteousness of Jesus you have put on, which is attracting all these blessings of God in your life.

My friend, have the consciousness of being clothed with Jesus’ own robe of righteousness. Every day, come to God and say, “Father, I thank You that Jesus is my burnt offering. He covers me from head to toe with His righteousness. What He is to You, I am. As He is now, so am I. I am in Him.” And you will see the manifestations of the blessings of health, wholeness, protection and prosperity that the robe attracts!

Jesus' Blood On The Mercy Seat Covers Your Sin

Leviticus 16:14
14He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

If you have watched the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, you would remember that when the lid of the ark was lifted, strange-looking creatures floated out and destroyed the people around it. This, however, is biblically inaccurate. What things were inside the ark then?

God’s Word tells us that there were three items in the ark — the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod and two tablets of stones on which God wrote the 10 commandments. (Hebrews 9:4)

These items are symbols of man’s rebellion. The golden pot of manna represents man’s rejection of God’s provision. The rod of Aaron represents man’s rejection of God’s leadership and the two tablets of God’s commandments represent man’s rejection of God’s standard of holiness.

But because God delights in mercy, He had all these items put inside the ark and covered with the mercy seat, which had two cherubim above it. (Hebrews 9:5) This means that God’s eyes, represented by the cherubim, did not see the symbols of man’s rebellion because He put the mercy seat over them. And once a year, the high priest would enter the holy of holies where the ark was and sprinkle the blood of the animal sacrifice on the mercy seat. God is saying that He does not see man’s rebellion. He sees only the blood and accepts the people.

Today, Jesus is our High Priest who sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat in heaven — the throne of grace. (Hebrews 9:23–26) Even the number of times that the Old Testament high priests sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat speaks of His perfect work. The seven times that the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat speaks of our perfect standing forever before God through Jesus’ blood.

So today, as you come to God, you don’t have to worry about falling short of His commandments or standard of holiness. God does not see your rebellion of His leadership or your breaking of His laws. God only sees the blood of His Son on the mercy seat, giving you perfect standing before Him!

The Excellent And The Plenty

Deuteronomy 28:4

4“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.”

Would you want to buy a chair that Jesus made? Yes, I would, even if it cost $1,000 because it would be of superb quality — whatever Jesus did, He did it perfectly.
And because Christ is in you, the things you produce will be of exceptional quality too. That includes your children who will be champions. Deuteronomy 28:4 says, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks”. God was using terms that the Israelites understood since they were farmers and shepherds. Today, “your ground” is the place of your work. This means that “the produce” of your work shall be excellent in quality.
But that is not all. God promises that quantity will always follow quality because Deuteronomy 28:11 says that the Lord will “grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body,” which means that you will have plenty of children, “in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground,” which means that your business will flourish and you will be a leading producer in the area of your speciality.
My friend, your excellence and plenty do not come by your efforts. They come by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who paid for your prosperity — “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Jesus was made destitute of all material things at the cross. In fact, I don’t believe that the Roman soldiers gave Him the courtesy of even a loincloth. He had nothing! As He hung on the cross, He watched the Roman soldiers gambling for His robe. His last possession on earth was gambled away. He became poor, so that you would be blessed with the excellent and the plenty!

The Promise Of The Father

Acts 1:8

8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.



Before Jesus went back to heaven, He told His disciples to “wait for the Promise of the Father”. (Acts 1:4) There are thousands of promises in the Bible, so which promise was He referring to?
The early church knew which one Jesus was referring to because He had told His disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father, which you have heard Me speak about. For John truly baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4–5) Jesus was referring to the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. (Acts 2:1–4)
Jesus wants you to know the value of the “Promise of the Father” because He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me...” He did not say, “You shall do witnessing,” but “You shall be witnesses”. In other words, your very person will be a witness to Him!
This is because the power that you receive when you are baptised in the Holy Spirit is the same power that so anointed Peter that the sick were laid on the streets so that his shadow might fall on them and heal them. (Acts 5:15) Even handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul’s body were so saturated with the anointing of the Spirit that when they touched the sick, people witnessed diseases and evil spirits leaving the sick! (Acts 19:12)
That same power caused a Holy Spirit-baptised church member, who prayed in tongues, to experience God’s healing power when he laid hands on his mother who was in an advanced stage of cancer. Not expected to live past Christmas 2003, she is still alive today! To her friends and unbelieving relatives, she is a living witness to the love and power of God.
Beloved, when you are baptised in the Holy Spirit, you will be a witness to others that no problem, trial, disease or sickness is a match for the power of the Spirit in you!

Use Your Double Portion Of Speaking Power

1 Peter 2:9

9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

God calls you and I “a royal priesthood”. This means that we are kings as well as priests under the king-priesthood of Jesus Christ. This has never happened before in the history of God’s people. In the Old Testament, kings and priests were two distinct groups of people. You were either a king or a priest, but not both at the same time.
Today, because Jesus has called us “out of darkness into His marvellous light”, we have been made king-priests — a royal priesthood. This means that we have a double portion of speaking power because as kings, “Where the word of a king is, there is power” (Ecclesiastes 8:4), and as priests, “by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled”. (Deuteronomy 21:5)
So if you are a Christian businessman, you will have an edge over worldly businessmen. What you say about your business deals will come to pass. And if you are falsely accused, know that by your very word, every controversy and every assault will be settled!
And as a king-priest parent, when you bless your children, your words have the power to set on course supernatural events which will bring your children right into God’s prosperous abundance and superabounding grace. And there will be such a courage and resilience about them that it will empower them to win in the fight of life!
When the devil comes to you and says that you are going to die young because your father and grandfather died young, or that you will never be successful because you are not well educated, you must remember that the devil is neither a king nor a priest. There is no power in his words. But there is power in yours because you are a king-priest in Christ!
So instead of agreeing with him, say, “I will not die young. With long life He will satisfy me and show me His salvation!” Say, “The Lord will make my way prosperous and give me good success!” Use your double portion of speaking power and send the devil fleeing!

Good Success Is In Your Mouth

Joshua 1:8

8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night… For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

I had always wondered why the Torah (the first five books of Moses) is read out loud by the Jews. Then, a Jewish Christian told me that for generations, they read God’s Word out loud because of Joshua 1:8 — “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night…”

The word “meditate” in English means to ponder. But in Hebrew, it is the word hagah, which means to utter or mutter under your breath. In other words, you speak forth or confess God’s Word instead of just giving it mental assent.

So hagah God’s Word by confessing verses in the areas that you are believing God for breakthroughs. When I was working in sales, I confessed verses like, “Honour the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty…” (Proverbs 3:9–10) In the first year, I became the top salesman in my company! My way was made prosperous and I enjoyed good success.

“Pastor Prince, I am waiting for God to make my way prosperous.”

No, the Bible says that you will make your way prosperous when you hagah God’s Word. So confess verses in the areas which you want to see breakthroughs and you will have good success.

Some people have success that destroys them — you don’t see them in church anymore and their family members don’t get to see them either. That is bad success. But when you hagar God’s Word, you will have good success that does not destroy you.

Now, you need to know that confessing God’s Word does not move God to do things for you. He had already moved when He gave up Jesus to die for us. So when you confess His Word, it actually moves you from a position of doubt to faith. It moves your heart from a position of “Is it true or not?” to “I believe it!” And when that happens, “you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success”!

Nothing But The Truth

Leviticus 2:11

11“No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire.”

When I was a young Christian, I heard an illustration for Psalm 23 about shepherds who sometimes break the legs of sheep which habitually stray, so as to teach them a lesson. That erroneous teaching — “The Lord is my Shepherd, He breaketh my legs” — stuck with me for years, causing me needless fear of God’s punishment when I felt that I had strayed from Him.
Such erroneous teachings are what God’s Word refers to as “leaven”. That is why Jesus cautioned His disciples, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6) The leaven of the Pharisees was their doctrine of legalism which judges and condemns people who fail to keep God’s laws. The leaven of the Sadducees was their doctrine of humanism which discounts the supernatural, believing that everything can be explained away in the natural.
When God told His people in Leviticus 2:11, “No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven,” we are reminded that how we appreciate Jesus, our grain offering, must not be mixed with wrong teachings. For example, when we talk about “suffering with Christ” (Romans 8:17), we must know that it is not suffering from sicknesses, diseases or lack which Jesus redeemed us from, but suffering persecution, scorn and rejection for His name’s sake, which we may face as Christians.
My friend, what you believe about Jesus is important because the Holy Spirit bears witness only to the truth. (John 16:13) Ask Him to unveil the beauty of Christ and the perfection of His finished work to you when you read God’s Word. Find out from the Word how Christ has redeemed you from every curse and paid for you to enjoy all of God’s blessings with His sacrifice at the cross.
So get rid of the leaven in your believing. Believe and declare that you are healed, not sick; that you are prosperous, not poor; that you have plenty, not lack. And when you start believing and confessing the truth, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will be released for your healing, prosperity, blessings and miracles!

Jesus, Your Restorer And Nourisher

Ruth 4:15

15And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age…

Famine impoverished the life of Naomi, an Israelite. But it was the deaths of her husband and two sons that left her completely destitute. (Ruth 1:1–5) Or so she thought, until Boaz, who was a wealthy and close relative, entered her life.
As her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz married Naomi’s widowed daughter-in-law. And through that union, Naomi had a grandson. The birth of her grandson gave her a new lease of life, causing the womenfolk in her village to declare that the restorer of life and the nourisher of her old age had come into her life. (Ruth 4:14–16)
Boaz is a picture of Jesus, our kinsman-redeemer. Jesus became our kinsman when He was born into this world as one like us. And He became our Redeemer when He paid with His life and blood at the cross to redeem us.
Jesus gave Himself to us as our restorer of life and nourisher of our old age. When the restorer of life is in our lives, what we have lost can be restored. (Joel 2:25−26) And with the nourisher of our old age in us, our bodies can be gloriously renewed even though we advance in our years.
That is why when Moses died at the age of 120, his eyes were not dim and his natural vigour was not diminished. (Deuteronomy 34:7) Caleb, at 85 years old, could still drive out the giants from their land. God had literally nourished his body and made it strong for war. (Joshua 14:11) Sarah was certainly rejuvenated in her old age by God for she was still desirable to a king at the age of 90. (Genesis 20:1–2) God even renewed her womb. She received strength to conceive seed (Hebrews 11:11), giving birth to Isaac in her old age.
Beloved, God is outside of time and your faith in Him brings you into this timeless zone. There, what the years have eaten away will be restored. And even as your years increase, you will not grow weak and weary because the restorer of life and nourisher of your old age is in you!

His Shalom He Has Bequeathed To You

John 14:27

27Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

In Israel, the Jews greet each other with the word “shalom”. Unlike the English word “peace”, “shalom” does not just mean peace of mind, but also wholeness for your entire being — spirit, soul and body. It means having a sense of total well-being and soundness. In other words, “shalom” encompasses your prosperity, health and completeness.
When Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 14:27, He did not use the English word “peace”. He would have used the Hebrew word “shalom”, saying, “Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I give to you…” Interestingly, the word “leave” here actually means “bequeath”, the way a rich man bequeaths his estate to his beneficiary.
The disciples must have been excited when they heard that Jesus was bequeathing to them His shalom. They must have known that to receive His shalom was to have His health because they had never seen Him sick. To have Jesus’ shalom also meant never being in lack because Jesus was never broke. Whenever He needed money, money was there. Once, money to pay the temple tax came in the mouth of a fish! (Matthew 17:24–27)
The disciples also understood that having His shalom meant having His abundance because they had seen Him meeting the needs of thousands with plenty of leftovers. They saw him feeding 5,000 men (not including the women and children) and having 12 baskets full of leftovers! (Mark 6:34–44)
Jesus wanted His disciples to know that His peace was different from the peace that the world offers. His peace would change whatever trying circumstances beset them. Even if it was a mega-storm, it would have to bow to His peace. The Prince of Peace merely spoke, “Peace, be still!” and the winds and the sea obeyed Him. (Mark 4:39) His peace changed the mega-storm into a perfect calm!
Beloved, that is the kind of peace that Jesus has bequeathed to you. Therefore, believe that His shalom which He has left with you will change all your difficult situations, bringing you from sickness, lack and mental anguish to health, prosperity and total wellness!

The Light Of The World Exposes Your Perfection

John 8:12

12Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

As a teenager, I heard preachers saying, “Jesus is the light of the world. So don’t think for one moment that you can do things behind His back. His light will expose all the bad things that you have done!” So I was afraid to come near God, fearing that His glorious light would show up my sins, weaknesses and shame.
But is this what “the light of the world” does? No, the truth is found in the context of the verse. Jesus declared that He was the light of the world right after He told the woman caught in the act of adultery, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
When she said, “No one, Lord”, He said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Then, the Bible tells us that “Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world…’” (John 8:10–12)
How wonderful it is to know that when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world…” His light was not to show up the woman’s sin because He had just told her, “Neither do I condemn you...”
This tells us that we don’t have to be fearful when we come into God’s presence. He is not there waiting to punish us for our mistakes and failures. His light is not for exposing our sins and shame, or for condemning us. No, His glorious light is for showing us how perfectly His blood has washed away our sins! That is why He could tell the woman that He did not condemn her — because He would be condemned for her sin as well as ours at the cross.
Beloved, Jesus’ light unveils the truth that our sins have been completely removed. It reveals how perfect and spotless we are because of Christ’s perfect work at the cross. When you know this, you can go boldly into His presence, knowing that you have the light of life that gives you grace and hope!

Creation Can't But Redemption Can!

John 9:7

7And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

When Adam sinned and fell, everything about creation fell. Yet, people today are still putting their trust in creation. For example, they try to become healthy by eating what is called the “Eden diet” — vegetables and no meat. They are acting as if creation did not fall, as if there is still hope in it. They also forget that there are people who eat well and exercise regularly, and still drop dead in the prime of their lives!
Thank God that what creation cannot do, redemption can and did. Jesus demonstrated this when He spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva and put it on the blind man’s eyes. (John 9:6–7) Now, it is certainly unusual to put clay on a blind man’s eyes because he would become doubly blind!
So why did Jesus do that? He was demonstrating to us that all our body parts come from the ground and that because creation is fallen, the work of creation cannot open a blind man’s eyes. But the work of redemption can! That is why He sent the blind man to the pool of Siloam. The word “Siloam” means “Sent”, referring to the sent one, Jesus. When the blind man washed his eyes in the pool of the sent one, he received supernatural healing for his eyes.
Beloved, when we go to Jesus, the sent one who came to redeem us with the price of His blood, and we rest in His finished work, we will receive our miracles. If we believe that by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), we will have greater health than those who trust in creation.
Jesus was sent to redeem us from every curse that came upon creation with the fall of Adam. (Galatians 3:13) He has redeemed us from sickness, pain, sorrow, depression, poverty and even death. The world may know Him as the Creator. But today, we know Him as our Redeemer. Where the work of creation cannot save us, His work of redemption can and has!

Heir Of The World Today

Romans 4:13

13For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

God promised Abraham that he would be the heir of the world. Now, don’t be too quick to say, “Well, that promise was made only to Abraham.” The verse says, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” So the promise was not just to Abraham, but to “his seed” as well, that is, you and I who belong to Christ — “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”. (Galatians 3:29)
Notice that God did not say that you would be the heir of Singapore, but heir of the world! According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the Greek word for “world” here is kosmos, which means the universe as well as the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages and pleasures.
All these are yours to inherit through the righteousness of faith in Jesus and His finished work at the cross. This righteousness is given to you as a gift from God. This means that you don’t have to earn it through good works.
For God to fulfil His promise to make you the heir of the world, He has to prosper you. You can’t be the heir of the world and be poor or in debt! Not only that, He must keep you healthy because you can’t inherit the world when you are always flat-on-your-back sick.
Don’t listen to people who tell you that you will only get to enjoy all these blessings when you get to heaven one day. Why would you need riches in heaven? There, even the streets are made of pure gold. (Revelation 21:21) Why would you need healing in heaven? There is no sickness there. So you need the prosperity and healing in the here and now!
Beloved heir of the world, God wants you to possess the world that you live in, today. Enjoy your inheritance today. Don’t push it all to the future!

Fix Your Eyes On God's Unshakeable Word

Philippians 4:19

19And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

“This war will affect the world’s economy.”
“Unemployment is at an all-time high.”
People of the world feel helpless as systems of the world go up and down. But God does not want you to feel helpless because you are not of the world. (John 17:16) You are of God and therefore need not be subject to the world’s systems. Whatever the world’s situation is, fear not because “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.
Notice that Philippians 4:19 says that “God shall supply all your need”. It does not say that God may supply some of your needs. It also says that God will do it “according to His riches”. It is not out of His riches. If a millionaire gives you a hundred dollars, it is out of his riches. The sum is only a small portion of his riches. However, if he gives to you according to his riches, it means that he is lining up his millions for your supply!
Lastly, the verse says that God does it “according to His riches in glory”. It is not according to the riches of your company or how well the economy is doing. No, it is according to God’s riches in glory!
So how do you stop yourself from feeling helpless in uncertain, shaky times? The same way I stopped myself from getting sea-sick when I was on board a navy ship for the first time during my National Service stint. A senior navy officer had advised me, “Don’t look at the waves around you. Look at the horizon far away. Look at that stable, stationary line and you will feel better.” When I fixed my eyes on that unshakeable, unwavering line, even though the ship bobbed in the rough sea, I did not feel sea-sick anymore.
My friend, don’t look at your circumstances or the bad things that are happening in the world because you will get “earth-sick”. Instead, look at the unshakeable, eternal Word of God. Your heart will become stable and you will see your God supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

Which Righteous Man Do You Want To Be?

Genesis 24:1

1Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

The Bible says that Abraham was righteous. But do you know that his nephew Lot was righteous too? (2 Peter 2:7–8) Yet, both men lived very different lives. Although they both lived under God’s grace some 400 years before the law was given, Abraham was very blessed, whereas Lot lost a lot!
Both men had large herds and flocks. When their herdsmen started quarrelling over space, Abraham took the initiative to make peace. He even let Lot pick the lands that he wanted. Both men were righteous, but one was more gracious than the other.
Lot picked the plain of Jordan, where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were. The plain was well watered everywhere. So he dwelt in the cities there and pitched his tent as far as Sodom. Eventually, he lived in Sodom.
Now, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible represent a sinful lifestyle. Some Christians think, “Since I am righteous by faith and under God’s grace, if I live a sinful lifestyle, so what?”
Well, let’s learn from Lot. Lot first saw Sodom, then his feet walked towards it and finally he went into it. I like what a great man of God said: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.”
What did Lot end up paying? He was captured when four kings plundered Sodom and Gomorrah. And even after Abraham rescued him with the help of God, he did not learn his lesson. He went back to Sodom. Some Christians live from one bail-out to another. God delivers them from, say, debt, and they go right back to borrowing money! Sodom and Gomorrah were eventually destroyed. Lot escaped with only the clothes on his back and lost his wife in the process.
Beloved, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. God is the source of all your blessings, not the sinful pleasures of the world. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you who you are in Christ and what you already have in Him. Choose to be like Abraham, who had a heart for God, and like Abraham, be blessed in all things!