Superabundant Supply In Your Area Of Lack

Philippians 4:19
19And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Are you facing a lack in any area of your life be it finances, health or relationships? Know that in that very same area, God has already prepared His superabundant supply which will abound towards you, and on top of that, His grace and more of His grace.
In John 6:1–13, Jesus was with a large crowd of people who were hungry. The problem then was a lack of food. But Jesus knew that where there is a lack, there is superabundant supply in His Father’s kingdom in that same area.
His disciples did not. They did not think the same way as Jesus did. They told Jesus that there was a boy with five loaves and two small fish, but they did not think that that would amount to anything. They said, “What are the five loaves and two fish among so many?” (John 6:9)
They saw only the problem and the lack. But Jesus took their little, lifted it up as He looked up to heaven and gave thanks to His Father, whose supply is so much more than we can ever ask for.
When Jesus started distributing the little that was in His hands, a miracle happened. Five thousand men, not counting women and children, ate as much as they wanted and for as long as they were hungry!
The supply kept flowing as long as the need was there. And after they were so filled, there were 12 basketfuls of leftovers! That is God’s superabundant supply. In the Father’s kingdom, there is no such thing as a child of God suffering lack and getting no supply from God.
God wants us to always be conscious of His grace abounding towards us and enveloping us. So let us, like Jesus, acknowledge God’s superabundant supply by thanking Him for it and whatever is in our hands. Let us believe that His superabundant supply will flow and multiply the little that we have, and fill us up to overflowing!

God's Superabounding Grace For You

2 Corinthians 9:8

8And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

If you were in the same synagogue as the man with the withered hand (Luke 6:6–11), how would you see him and what would you say to him?
Jesus was preaching in that synagogue when He saw the man with the withered hand. But He also saw superabounding grace around that hand for healing and wholeness. He sees differently from us. He sees the invisible. He sees that the kingdom of God is here, ever present in any situation, with superabundant supplies. We see only the visible, which is tangible, which is temporal and which seems so real to us.
But Jesus saw superabounding grace on that withered hand for healing because you do not tell a man with a withered hand, “Stretch out your hand,” unless you see the supply, the superabundance for wholeness for that hand. Jesus called forth the superabounding grace to envelop that man’s withered hand, and the hand was made whole.
It is possible for someone who is sick to have superabounding grace on him and yet that superabundance of grace does not heal his body. That is because he keeps on acknowledging what the devil is doing. He keeps being more concerned about that which is visible and temporal.
Instead of calling forth, and acknowledging and confessing the superabundance of grace, he confesses what the devil is doing to him all the time. So even though the superabounding grace is there, it is there in vain. Isn’t that sad?
Jesus called forth life. And life came into visibility. We must call it forth. Say, “Father, I thank you right now, though my health is under attack, I know that there is superabounding grace for healing and health. I receive it now. I call it forth now in Jesus’ name, Amen!”
My friend, don’t be conscious of what you see missing or lacking. Be conscious of God’s superabounding grace for you and avail yourself to it!

Jesus - King And Lord Over The Storm

Matthew 14:27
27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Are you going through a dark, difficult moment in your life? Perhaps the storm just rages on with no let-up and you are trembling in fear. You feel that any time now, you may just cave in and go under because you cannot beat this storm.
Be comforted that Jesus sees what you are going through and He always comes to where you are in your darkest hour. He did that for His disciples one stormy night on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus came, walking on the stormy sea, walking on top of the problem that was threatening to overwhelm them. He is indeed the King and Lord over the storm!
When you know that you are in Christ, you will know that though the storms are raging and the winds are blowing, you are above your troubles and above the circumstances. When people ask you how you are doing under the circumstances, tell them, “I am not under the circumstances, I am on top of them because my God is above all!”
He will come walking to you, but sometimes you may not recognise Him because the storm has made you fearful. Hear His comforting voice telling you, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid!”
And as you behold Jesus, you become like Him. You will find yourself doing things you did not know you could do. You will, like Peter, walk on water. This happens when you are occupied with the person of Jesus, with His resources, His love, His wisdom, His ability, His power and His majesty.
However, know that even during the times when you take your eyes off Jesus, He never takes His eyes off you. And when you cry out to Him, He will immediately stretch out His hand to catch hold of you. You will not go under.
There will be times you will not be able to find your way back. Jesus will then hold your hand and walk you back to the boat. And like Peter, you will realise that with your hand in His, the storm will come to a standstill!

The Antidote To Fear

1 John 4:18
18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…

Experts tell us that babies have two natural fears: The fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. A study on fear was conducted on 500 adults of varying ages, backgrounds and lifestyles. The results showed that there were 7,000 different fears shared among them. This means that they have learnt 6,998 fears since they were born. That is a lot of fears learnt!

Actually, our bodies are designed for faith. Fear was foreign to man until Adam sinned against God. For the first time, Adam knew fear, and he hid from God and said, “I heard Your voice… I was afraid… I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)

Since then, man has been living in the realm of fear — fear of the future, fear of what others might say, fear of diseases, fear of flying… Actually, every fear is born out of the feeling of being cut off from God. If you think that God is still mad at you, that He is out to punish you, how can you have faith that everything will be all right? How can you have faith for your miracle?

But I have good news for you. There is a sure antidote to fear. The apostle John says that “perfect love casts out fear”. When you know that God so loves you, that He gave His Son to take your beating so that you can take His blessings, you will stop fearing.

God so loves you that at the cross, Jesus was rejected so that you could become His beloved. It was not the nails that kept Him on the cross, it was His love for you. And if God did not withhold Jesus, why are you afraid that He will withhold healing, finances or a blessed marriage from you? (Romans 8:32)

Today, when you hear His voice, you will hear Him say, “You are my beloved child, in you I am well pleased.” And you don’t have to hide but you can run to Him with no fear because He is not out to punish you. He is out to protect, prosper and provide for you, so fear not!

The Battle Is The Lord's

2 Chronicles 20:15
15… ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’

When faced with a problem or a challenge, we ask ourselves, “What am I going to do?” And well-meaning family members and friends will come along and ask, “What are you going to do?”
Jehoshaphat faced a multitude of enemies. But instead of focusing on what he could do, he prayed, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)
When we turn our eyes on God, we will hear Him say, “Do not be afraid nor be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s... You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 20:15,17)
But standing still is the last thing we want to do when the enemy is coming against us. It is also the most difficult thing to do because we feel that we cannot just stand around and do nothing — we must try to save the situation. But God wants us to stand still and see Jesus our salvation, fight for us.
So what do you do the next time you are faced with a battle and you don’t know what to do? Jehoshaphat sent his singers to the front of the battle line to proclaim, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 20:21) Some people will wonder, “Does that mean that I just sing and don’t do anything else when I have a problem?” No, that is not what I am saying.
Do what the situation requires, but don’t worry and don’t trust in what you do. Like Jehoshaphat, rest and trust in His mercy that endures forever. When you do that, God will turn your battlefield into the Valley of Berachah. Berachah means “blessings” and they gave the battlefield that name because it took three days for them to gather all the spoils of war! God turned their situation into a great blessing!
Do you have a battle to fight? Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!

Don't Give Up At Thirtyfold!

Mark 4:8
8“But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Perhaps you have marvelled at God’s instantaneous healing miracles. Perhaps you believed that He could do the same for you. But now, when you see your own healing taking so long to manifest, you are tempted to give up.

My friend, when the manifestation does not come instantaneously, we are not to be discouraged because Jesus let us in on a secret when He told the parable of the sower. (Mark 4:3–20)

The parable of the sower teaches us that once we receive God’s Word into our hearts regarding our situation, God’s blessings will manifest in progression. When we receive our thirtyfold manifestation, it means that 70 per cent of that condition is still there. But some of us give up at thirtyfold because we still feel more pain than relief.

We need to realise that we are thirtyfold better than before! And our sixtyfold is coming! Once we receive our sixtyfold manifestation, there is still 40 per cent that is not well. But we are more healed than sick now, and we only need to get ready for the hundredfold manifestation!

For years, I had a skin condition. Medication did not help and, finally, after I had done everything I knew to do, I decided to take the Holy Communion and pray about it. I said, “Father, I have an infirmity. I don’t know what is hindering the physical manifestation of this healing. Holy Spirit, I am trusting You to make perfect intercession regarding the manifestation of my healing.”

That was how I prayed for my skin condition. Did I look into the mirror to see if it had left? Of course, I did! I am like anyone else. But did I stop praying? No, I kept on praying until one day, I heard a voice within me say, “Look at your body.” When I looked into the mirror, the skin condition was completely gone! I was totally healed, but the manifestation of the healing was gradual.

Today, if you have seen only a thirtyfold increase in your situation, don’t give up — the sixtyfold, then hundredfold increases are on their way to you!

Discerning The Lord's Body

1 Corinthians 11:24
24and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Have you ever taken a close look at the Matzah bread that the Jews eat during their Passover meal? The bread, which is unleavened, is pierced with rows of little holes forming stripes. It is also slightly burnt. Many churches today use this bread for the Holy Communion.
Do you know why the bread is pierced, striped and burnt? If you ask a non-believing Jew why it has to be prepared this way, he may not know why.
My friend, the bread that you hold in your hands when you partake of the Lord’s Supper speaks of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ when He bore our sins and sicknesses on the cross.
Like the bread, He was pierced in His brow by the crown of thorns as well as in His hands and feet by the nails. He was also pierced in His side by a soldier’s spear. The prophet Isaiah says, “He was pierced for our transgressions…” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)
Like the bread, He was scourged on His back until His flesh was all torn and bloody, and His bones were exposed, so that today, you can say, “By His stripes, I am healed!” (Isaiah 53:5)
What about the burnt marks? The full fire of God’s wrath fell on Jesus, burning up our sins into ashes, and at the same time, bringing out the fragrance of the offering of Jesus. Today, your sins and lawless deeds are but ashes, and your Father in heaven remembers them no more! (Hebrews 8:12)
So the next time you partake of the bread during the Holy Communion, know that Jesus was pierced for your sins and scourged for your healing. He bore God’s fiery judgment so that you will never be judged for your sins! He also bore your diseases and carried your pains so that you can walk in divine health all the days of your life!
When you discern these precious truths about our Lord’s body, you are partaking of the Holy Communion in a worthy manner. And you will not be weak and sickly, or die before your time (1 Corinthians 11:27–30), but you will be strong, healthy and live long!

Jesus Bore Your Diseases

Isaiah 53:4
4Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…

Imagine the dreadful disease leprosy eating a man alive. The poor leper in Matthew 8:2 could stand his suffering no longer, so he came out into the open to look for Jesus. He needed to know if Jesus was willing to heal him. So when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2) The Son of God looked at the outcast with love in His eyes, reached out His hand, touched him and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (Matthew 8:3)
Perhaps you suffering from some disease and wondering if God is willing to heal you? And you are not sure if He is willing because just as you have seen people get healed, you have also seen people not get healed. My friend, don’t look to people’s experiences, look to the cross! As surely as Jesus bore away your sins, He also bore away your diseases!
I want to give you a solid foundation today for believing this truth. In Isaiah 53, the chapter on our Lord’s crucifixion, it says in verse four: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows”. Now, let’s learn a little Hebrew. The words “griefs” and “sorrows” here mean “sicknesses” and “pains” in the original Hebrew text. So Isaiah is referring to physical healing.
Once, I asked a Jewish friend to read this verse in his Hebrew Bible and tell me what it means. He told me that his Bible says clearly that Jesus has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.
If that is not enough, look at Matthew 8:16–17: “… they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’” Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4, saying that Jesus took our “infirmities” and bore our “sicknesses”. And the context is physical healing.
My friend, if you will just believe this report, your days of sickness will be over. You will walk in greater health because the One who has surely borne your sicknesses and carried your pains says to you, “I am willing, be cleansed!”

A Sleeping Partner Who Benefits

Genesis 15:12
12Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram…

Some business partners don’t work at all but still take home huge profits. They are like the wife of the heavyweight boxing champion. He fights and bleeds to win the $1 million prize money. But when he goes home, he gives it to his wife and she says, “Thank you very much, darling.”
Do you know that in your covenant with God, you are like the boxer’s wife or sleeping business partner?
When Abraham asked God how he will know for sure that he will inherit the land that God had promised him, God made a covenant with him. (Genesis 15:8–21) But instead of cutting the covenant with Abraham by walking through the animal pieces with him, God put Abraham into a deep sleep and cut the covenant with Jesus instead.
Jesus appeared as the pillar of fire and cut the covenant with God the Father who appeared as the pillar of cloud. In other words, Jesus took Abraham’s place. He was perfect Man representing Abraham when He crossed the animal pieces with His Father.
By substituting Abraham with Jesus, God was being very gracious because if Abraham had done it, he would have been partly responsible for keeping the covenant. And Abraham, being man will fail, but God the Son can never fail! Abraham’s blessings are therefore guaranteed because it does not depend on his performance but Jesus’ performance. Abraham was literally a sleeping partner, a beneficiary of the covenant.
Today, God has also made a covenant with you, called the new covenant. And like Abraham, you are a sleeping partner because the new covenant was also cut between God the Father and God the Son at Calvary.
This means that though you are in covenant with God, you are simply a beneficiary of the new covenant. You enjoy all its benefits without having to work at keeping it. Jesus, your representative, has already fulfilled all the conditions on your behalf. And because His obedience is perfect and His work is perfectly finished, the covenant blessings for you are guaranteed!
My friend, there is nothing left for you to do, but everything for you to believe. Don’t try to work for your covenant blessings — just rest in the Son’s finished work and receive them by faith!

Guaranteed By Covenant

Genesis 15:8–9
8And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” 9So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Are you discouraged because a blessing that you have been praying for has yet to manifest? Maybe it has been days or even weeks and you are asking, “How will I know that I will get it?”
Abraham faced the same situation and asked God the same question. And God answered, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” What a strange answer!
But if you read on (Genesis 15:10–21), you will realise that God took Abraham’s question very seriously, and went on to show him just how serious He was about being his provider, protector and prosperity-giver. God was so serious that He was willing to bind Himself to a covenant.
What is a covenant? It is like a contract. Yet, it is more than a contract. A contract is binding only for a period of time, like five years or seven years, or until certain terms are fulfilled. But a covenant is perpetual, it is permanent. The only way out is through death. That is why marriage is a covenant, not a contract. It is supposed to be permanent — “Till death do us part”.
In Bible times, when you cut a covenant with someone, you bring an animal, usually a ram or goat, and kill it by cutting it in two. Next, you will face your covenant partner and walk towards each other between the animal pieces, crossing each other at the centre.
What all this means is this: Both parties are obliged to protect and provide for each other. Whatever belongs to you is your partner’s and whatever belongs to your partner is yours. Of course, the one who benefits is the lesser or poorer party.
Today, God has cut a covenant with you and me. We are the lesser and poorer party. We have nothing to offer God. But God, the richest and most powerful being in the universe, has everything to offer us!
My friend, God has bound Himself to a covenant, an iron-clad guarantee of His blessings and provision in your life, and it is all for your benefit!

Be Established In His Righteousness

Isaiah 54:14

14In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Have you ever asked yourself why some Christians are constantly beset with overwhelming challenges, sicknesses and defeat if the promises in the Bible, such as “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), are true?
Well, such promises come with a condition — “In righteousness you shall be established”. You need to be established in righteousness so that you will be far from oppression and terror, and not a single weapon formed against you will prosper.
This condition is not hard to meet. For a start, you already have righteousness! When you received Jesus as your Saviour, you received the gift of righteousness that allows you to reign in life. (Romans 5:17) This righteousness does not come from you but the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17) And when you are established in His righteousness, no weapon formed against you will prosper!
But what does being established in righteousness mean? To be established in something is to have that something as your very foundation for security. So God wants you to know, be sure of and grow in the revelation that you are righteous by the blood of Jesus, by His perfect sacrifice at the cross.
When you feel as if you are in a storm, tossed here and there, and begin to experience worry and fear, remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You are the righteousness of God in Christ and you have His righteousness!
As you do this, you will begin to notice the worry and fear slide off you, for when you are established in righteousness, “you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”! That is why God wants you to be established in righteousness. He wants you to be free from fear, and far from oppression and terror.
So when the pressure is on, hold fast to the belief that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. That is where no weapon formed against you can prosper. As you keep confessing your righteousness in Christ, revelation will break forth and you will experience the release of God’s miraculous provision, divine protection and blessings into your life!

You Already Are, You Already Have

Mark 11:24
24Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

God’s Word tells us that we can have what we ask for in prayer — by simply believing that we already have it!

As you are praying, know that you already have your answer, miracle or breakthrough. The Bible tells us that we already have whatever we are praying for because we are already blessed with all blessings in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

And you are in Christ the moment you received Him as your Saviour. So when you pray, you are actually releasing your faith to lay hold of what you already have in Christ. And as you keep saying that you have it already (Mark 11:23), you will see the manifestation of it in the natural realm.

In one of our church camps, a church member shared about her back problem of 15 years as a result of a fall from her rooftop. She needed an operation for the shooting pains in her tailbone. She had also been taking anti-stress pills for five years.

After coming to church, she realised that she had already received her healing through the finished work of Christ. Refusing the operation and even the pills, she would rebuke the pain which kept coming back, saying, “In Jesus, I believe I am healed. I am not trying or going to be healed. I am already healed. I have a brand new backbone for I am in Christ. For as Christ is, so am I in this world.” It was not very long before this sister saw the manifestation of her healing.

Sometimes, the devil will try to bring back symptoms of the sickness or lack to make you feel and think that you still have not received your blessing. That is the time to release your faith and believe that you have it already. You are not confessing to get it, you are confessing because you already have it in Christ!

My friend, the Bible tells us that Christ is in us. (Colossians 1:27) This means that right now, in you, is your healing, prosperity, wellness, family’s well-being and everything your heart desires. So say, “I have everything I need in Christ right now!”

Call It Forth!

Romans 4:17
17… God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

“Pastor Prince, I feel the pain in my body. How can I go around saying that Christ has redeemed me from this sickness? How can I say that by His stripes I am healed?”

Well, God’s way is to call those things that are not as though they are. And because you are made in God’s image, you can also call those things that are not as though they are!

When God wanted to make Abraham a father of many nations, what did He do? He changed the way Abraham talked. At that time, Abraham did not even have a single child from Sarah because she was barren. So how could he become a father of many?

God changed the way he talked. How? By changing his name from Abram to Abraham, which means “father of many”. (Genesis 17:5) Just imagine: From then on, every time he met someone, he would say, “Hi, my name is Father Of Many.” Every time dinner was ready, Sarah would call out to Abraham who was out in the field, “Darling… Father Of Many… dinner is ready! Father Of Many…” You can just hear their neighbours saying, “They want a child so much they have gone mad!” But God changed the way Abraham talked so that he called forth what God saw him blessed with.

You know, when Jesus saw the man with a withered hand, He did not say, “My goodness! It is so withered!” He said, “Stretch forth your hand!” (Matthew 12:13) He called forth what He wanted. He looked at the paralytic and said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk!” (Matthew 9:6) He did not see the way it was in the natural. He saw the way God meant it to be and He called it forth.

Genesis 1 tells us that in the beginning, there was darkness over the face of the whole earth. God saw the darkness and He said, “Light be!” And light was. God called forth what He wanted and it became so! If it was me or you, we would probably have said, “Whoa! It is so dark!”

My friend, despite the pain, call forth your healing. It is pointless to state the obvious. No, change the way you talk. See the way God meant it to be, and start calling forth your healing and wholeness!

Time To Use Your Authority

Exodus 14:15–16
15And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”

The problem with the body of Christ today is not that we are not praying. We are praying. But many of us are praying desperate prayers. We are praying, “God, help… God, please… God, do something about the devil…”

If you are smiling a little by now, most likely, you know about such prayers and might have prayed a couple yourself. God does not want you to pray pleading prayers all the time. He wants you to use the authority He has given you to pray powerful prayers, to boldly command and to “stretch out your hand” to perform miracles.

When Moses stood before the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s armies in hot pursuit, the Bible tells us that he cried out to God. But God told him, “Why do you cry to Me?”

There is a time for you to cry out to God and there is a time for you to use your authority. God told Moses, “Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.”

The rod you have is the name of Jesus. As you command in Jesus’ name, your “sea” will open and you will go on dry ground through the midst of your problem.

Do you realise that Jesus did not say, “Go and pray for the sick”? He said, “Go and heal the sick.” (Matthew 10:8) So stop pleading and asking, and start using the authority you have in Christ.

Jesus told the church, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore…” (Matthew 28:18–19) God wants you to go and use the authority that He has given you. And as you go, miracles will flow!

Jesus Understands Your Struggles

Hebrews 4:15

15For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Imagine meeting your new Member of Parliament (MP) for the first time and discovering that he speaks with a foreign accent and that he has only lived in Singapore for a few years! You will be wondering, “Can this guy really represent me when he sits in Parliament? Does he know anything about living in public housing? Can he help me enrol my child in one of the popular local schools? Is he familiar with the issues regarding the Certificate of Entitlement for car ownership?” I am sure you would prefer a bona fide Singaporean representing you as your MP!

In the same way, I am so glad that right now at the Father’s right hand, we have someone who came as a Man to redeem us, and who fully understands what man goes through. When Jesus walked on earth, He went through every human emotion so that He could identify with us. Jesus is God, but He is in the Father’s presence as Man, representing us.

My friend, you may feel that no one understands your struggles. Listen, while this may be true of man, it is not true of Jesus. He knows exactly what you are going through and He can sympathise with your weaknesses because He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”.

None of us have been tempted in all points. But God allowed Jesus to be tempted in all points so that He can understand and identify with every single person on this earth. He can be touched with our humanity — our weaknesses, tears, disappointments, griefs... all points!

There is no trial, difficulty, challenge or temptation that you face that Jesus cannot identify with. My friend, the moment you go through it, right there and then, He feels it too. That is the kind of representative you have in Jesus! That is the love of God so that you will draw near to His throne of grace (not judgment) to find mercy and grace in time of need! (Hebrews 4:15–16)

God Is Your Strength

Ephesians 6:10

10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

When you say, “I can manage this problem, Lord,” God is likely to say, “Okay, you do it then.” But when you say, “Help me, Lord! I need You. I cannot do this on my own,” God says, “Good, I have been waiting for you to say that. You cannot, but I can. Now, watch me!” That is how God is — He loves it when you depend on Him.

You see, when you think that you are strong, God cannot help you. But when you need Him and look to Him, He will not leave you weak and helpless. He comes and becomes the strength of your life. He becomes the breakthrough that you need.

A church member with a smoking habit came to me one day and said, “Pastor Prince, please pray that God will help me. I want to stop my smoking habit.”

I simply told him, “You cannot, but God can.”

He replied, “Yes, I know that I cannot. But with God helping me, I will discipline myself and try my best to quit the habit.”

I told him, “No, you cannot, but God can.” I repeated this to him a few times until he realised that it was not his self-discipline or willpower that would help him overcome his smoking habit, but the power of God. He finally understood that his true deliverance from this destructive habit would not come by his own strength, but by “[being] strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”.

When I saw him again a few weeks later, he said, “Pastor Prince, since that day, I did not even try to stop myself from smoking. But each time I lit up, I told God, ‘I cannot, but You can.’ Then one day, the craving was gone! Jesus has completely delivered me from my bondage to nicotine!” This man experienced true deliverance, not just an outward form of discipline and willpower.

So when you say, “I can do something about it,” you are still relying on your human strength. But when you say to God, “I cannot, but You can,” you have just tapped into the real source of your strength — Jesus. And as you feed on His strength, you will see His power exploding in your life.

Have You Taken Your Love Break Today?

John 15:9

9“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”

In the workplace, it is common to take coffee breaks, lunch breaks, tea breaks and especially toilet breaks. Why not do the same in your spiritual life — take time out for love breaks?
What is a love break? It is the time you take to enjoy and feed on the love of Jesus for you. At any time during the day, wherever you are, find a quiet spot and feed on the love of Jesus. Just sit down and talk to Him. Say to Him, “Thank You, Jesus, for loving me. Nothing is going to happen to me that You don’t already know. Jesus, when I could not save myself, You died for me. You gave up Your life for me. What else will You not do for me!”
Such love breaks are typified in the Old Testament when Aaron the high priest and his sons ate the breast of the animal offering. (Leviticus 7:31) The breast of the animal speaks of the love of Jesus. Today, you are a priest to God. (Revelation 1:6) So spend time feeding on the love of Jesus for you, and see yourself nourished, strengthened and sustained by His love. Jesus is our High Priest today. This means that His food is in loving us. He enjoys loving us and is also nourished by His love for us.
But do not forget that the breast was roasted by fire (Leviticus 7:35), which speaks of God’s judgment on Jesus as He hung on the cross because He was carrying our sins. So as you feed on Jesus’ love for you, see Him loving you at the cross. When things around you are not going well, do not allow the devil to say to you, “If God loves you, how come these things are happening to you?” My friend, interpret God’s love for you from the cross, not from your current circumstances.
During the day, when you are hard at work, when busyness sets in, when problems pile up or when discouragement comes, just stop everything and take a love break with Jesus! Let Jesus love you. Let yourself enjoy being loved by Him. Lean on His bosom, abide in His love and be nourished by His love for you!

Come As You Are

Ephesians 5:27

27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Have you been to a worship service where you stood with your hands raised, ready to worship God, only to hear the worship leader say, “Before we worship God, let’s all search our hearts”? Then, as you search your heart, before long, you dig up something that you don’t like. The next thing you know, your hands are no longer raised and soon, you find yourself sitting down — you don’t feel good worshipping God any more!
My friend, I have good news for you. Come and worship Him as you are! Come into God’s presence Jesus-conscious, forgiveness-conscious and grace-conscious. Come into God’s presence bringing only Jesus the spotless Lamb of God as your offering.
Your worshipping God is like the times God’s people in the Old Testament brought their offerings to the priest. The priest examined the animal sacrifice to ensure that it was without blemishes. The priest did not examine the sinner. If the animal was without any blemish, God accepted the animal sacrifice as well as the offerer who brought the animal.
So when you come into God’s presence, don’t do any self-examination and be discouraged when you find sins in your life. God does not examine you. Know that God sees you through the full value, and all the loveliness and acceptance of His Son. God sees you holy and without blemish!
Remember the woman who was referred to as a sinner, possibly a prostitute, who went to the house of the Pharisee who was hosting Jesus? (Luke 7:36–50) She wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. That was her act of worship.
She came to Him as she was. Yes, she knew that she had sinned, but she worshiped Jesus first because of who He was. She was Jesus-conscious. Then, she heard Jesus say, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:48) She received the forgiveness she needed from Him.
Whatever you need from the Saviour, come to Him as you are. Worship Him for who He is and then you will hear Him say, “Go your way. Your restoration has come. Your prosperity is here. You are healed. You have been made whole!”

The Answer For A Guilty Conscience

Hebrews 9:14

14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Have you heard the voice of your conscience saying things like, “You deserve hell for the sins you committed against your wife three years ago” and “Why are you surprised that your child is not talking to you? You were never around when he needed you”?

You know, there are people who feel depressed all the time because of a sense of guilt. And they “pay” for their sins in terms of illnesses. In fact, doctors are discovering that the bulk of psychosomatic sicknesses are caused by guilt and condemnation because the conscience is saying, “You have done wrong. You must be punished. How can your sin not be punished?”

That is why you must have an answer that will satisfy your conscience. When your conscience says, “You have sinned. You must be punished for this sin or else God is not a just God”, you say, “Yes, I have sinned. But this sin and every other sin that I have committed was punished to the maximum in the body of Jesus Christ! So there remains no more punishment for me today, for how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse my conscience!”

My friend, the only way to bring peace into your conscience is to revert to the cross. The cross of Jesus is the only answer that will satisfy your conscience.

So the next time your conscience condemns you because of sin, don’t try to silence it with your good works. Revert to the cross and say, “Father, thank You for Jesus and the cross. Christ was totally condemned on my behalf for this sin, so there is now absolutely no condemnation left for me.” Then, your conscience will look at the cross and say, “Ahhhh... peace.” My friend, Jesus’ finished work at the cross truly sets you free!

His Blood Keeps On Cleansing You

1 John 1:7
7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

During the day, the devil may whisper in your head, “You cannot go into God’s presence because you have not spent enough time with Him.” Or, he will tell you that it is because of the sin you have just committed.

The devil will always make you feel that you are not qualified or clean enough to go near God. But the truth is, regardless of how you feel and what you have done, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”.

In the original Greek, the word “cleanses” is in the present continuous tense. This means that once you are a believer, the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing you from every sin!

You can rest knowing that you are always forgiven in this continuous wash cycle of the blood of Jesus. Because you are continually cleansed, you are also always in the light. You will never walk in darkness. You walk in the light and when you sin, the blood is there continuously washing you and keeping you in the light.

The Bible says that we overcome the devil, the accuser of our brethren, by the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 12:11) If you have sinned, remind yourself that Jesus’ blood keeps on cleansing you from every sin — 24 hours a day, seven days a week! The devil cannot defeat you when your faith is in the blood that cleanses you continuously.

If you are still guilt-stricken, it is your consciousness of your sin that condemns you. It is your refusal to let it go because you think that you are being humble and holy when you feel bad about your sins. This is nothing more than self-righteousness!

The eternal blood of Jesus Christ offers you eternal redemption and everlasting righteousness. My friend, it is time for you to accept the payment of Jesus’ blood as the final sacrifice!

You Have First-Class Righteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21
21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Some Christians believe that they have to work at becoming more righteous. And they kick themselves when they do wrong. They may not realise that by doing this, they are not seeking God’s righteousness, but are establishing their own righteousness by their law-keeping and right conduct.

Righteousness is not about right conduct. It is a gift from God to us through Jesus. And since it is a gift, we cannot earn it by our law-keeping and right conduct, we can only receive it!

How do we receive this gift? We receive it through the cross. God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. So today, we are the righteousness of God in Christ! We are as righteous as Jesus is!

But some of us think that in the body of Christ, there are different classes of righteousness, like the seating positions in an airplane. They think that some of us have economy-class righteousness, others have business-class righteousness and a select few have first-class righteousness.

That is nonsense! When God gave us Jesus, He became our righteousness. So we have His righteousness. This means that we are 100 per cent righteous in God’s eyes! We cannot have first-class righteousness!

You might say, “Pastor Prince, I don’t understand. How can I become the righteousness of God when I have done wrong?” Think about this: Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us. Jesus knew no sin, did no sin and in Him there was no sin. But at the cross, He received our sin and became sin for us.

Likewise, we, who were sinners, knew no righteousness, did no righteousness and in us there was no righteousness. But at the cross, we received His righteousness and became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

At the cross, the divine exchange took place. Jesus took our place so that we might take His place. Jesus did not deserve to be made sin, but He was made sin in our place. We did not deserve to be made righteous, but we were made righteous because we received His righteousness. Hallelujah! What good news, what amazing grace!

God Remembers Your Sins No More

Hebrews 10:17

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

I don’t know about you, but I would say that Hebrews 10:17 is good news. God sees all our sins — past, present and future — and says, “Your sins I remember no more!” The words “no more” are a strong double negative in the Greek. In other words, God is saying, “Your sins I will never, by no means, remember!”
Has God lowered His standards? No, God is still perfectly holy. God did remember all our sins — 2,000 years ago at the cross. Every single sin we have ever committed or will ever commit has been punished to the full in the body of Jesus Christ on the cross. That is why today, God remembers our sins no more. We should, therefore, not be sin-conscious.
Each time we fall into sin, God wants us to remember the cross and say, “Lord Jesus, you were sentenced for this sin I committed. You bore the judgment, so there is no judgment for me. You were condemned for this sin, so there is no condemnation for me.”
If you don’t revert to the cross, you will become sin-conscious and you will walk around with a certain expectation of judgment. And that expectation of judgment will give the devil a chance to start you thinking that God has something against you because of your sin.
You must come to the place where you know that all your sins are forgiven, that there is no sin that will ever disqualify you from God’s blessings, that there is no sin that will ever send you to hell, because you are forgiven and saved eternally.
Hebrews 10:12,14 says, “But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God… For by one offering He has perfected forever… ”
You and I are perfected forever because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross. We are perfected by God’s full acceptance and perfect delight in His Son’s work that has so glorified His holiness. So today, God says to you, “I will be merciful. Your sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

The Reason For The Resurrection

Romans 4:25

25who [Jesus] was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised because of our justification.

The Bible tells us that Christ was delivered up for our sins and raised from the dead for our justification. You may already know why Jesus died for our sins, but do you know the significance of God raising Him from the dead?
Let me give you an illustration to help you understand the significance of Jesus’ resurrection.
Let’s say that you are living in a foreign country. One day, you happen to break a major rule of the land. You appeal to the king for mercy. He says, “A rule is a rule. I cannot bend the rules for you. What will others say about my integrity? However, if you can find a substitute to take your punishment — three months in jail — I will allow it.”
By God’s grace, you find a willing substitute. He goes to prison on your behalf and you don’t see him for some time. The days, weeks and months pass by.
Now, how or when will you know that your crime has been fully paid? When will you be able to rest easy regarding your crime? When you see your substitute walking in freedom again! When you see him out of the prison, you will know that the sentence has been fully served. You will know that you are now justified and no one can bring a charge against you for your old crime. No longer will you be afraid of the king or his guards coming after you because you know that the one who was punished in your place is now walking free.
Beloved, Jesus, your substitute, paid the debt you could not pay. On the cross, He bore the sins of your entire life. God put it all on Jesus and then He punished Jesus for every single one of those sins until He was fully satisfied. And because He was so pleased with what Jesus had done, He raised Him from the dead.
Today, Jesus’ tomb remains empty. He is not there for He has risen! His resurrection and empty tomb will forever be our assurance that we have been fully justified!

God Is For You, Not Against You

Romans 8:31

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Are you faced with challenges in your life right now? Are you having marital problems and financial woes? Maybe your child is going astray, or an old illness has returned. What then, will you say to all these things?
Do you know what God wants you to say? He wants you to say, “If God is for me, who can be against me?”
If you know that the President or the Prime Minister is for you, you might believe that everything will be okay. But you have an even better backing! The Bible tells us that God, the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is for you! What problem can hold fast its grip on you when the Almighty God is for you? Can the devil come successfully against you with God on your side?
If God is for you today, if God is for you right now, you don’t have to moan, “If only I had this… If only I didn’t say that…” And you don’t have to worry about the future —“What if this happens… What if we don’t have enough…” Regretting the past and worrying about the future won’t change anything. Look to your heavenly Father, instead. Because He is for you at this present moment, you can be confident that He will help you and provide for you.
My friend, God is for you. He sent His Son to die for you. Jesus gave you a blood-bought right to an abundant life full of meaning and purpose! He gave you a blood-bought right to walk in divine health all the days of your life! He gave you a blood-bought right to prosperity even when the economy goes down!
You have all these things not because you deserve them, but because Jesus shed His blood and gave you the right to have them. All these blessings are yours today because God is for you! And if God is for you, who can be against you!

God Will Never Turn His Back On You

Hebrews 13:5-6

5… He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

For six whole hours, the Son of God was suspended between heaven and earth. And at the height of His suffering on the cross, He cried out in the deep darkness, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45–46)
For the first time, Jesus addressed His Father as “God”. The Father had forsaken the Son. As Judge of the universe, God had to turn His back on His Son, who was carrying all the filth of the world’s sins, for His eyes are too pure to behold evil. (Habakkuk 1:13)
If the Father had not turned His back on His Son, He would have to turn His back on you today when you call out to Him in your hour of need. But because Jesus took your place, today, you take His place, and have God’s face smiling on you always!
Right now, God’s face is smiling on you. His countenance is shining on you. I can stand before you and declare, “The Lord make His face shine upon you.” (Numbers 6:25–26) And it is all because Jesus has paid the price for God to never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
As Judge, God turned His back on His Son. But as Father, He cried. His heart was broken because Christ was never more pleasing to Him than when He was on the cross. Christ’s suffering was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. (Ephesians 5:2)
Do you remember what Jesus said? “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.” (John 10:17) If you are a parent, you love each one of your children equally. But when one of them does something special for you out of love, it touches your heart, and you just want to run to him and hug him.
That was what happened at the cross, except that the Father could not embrace His Son. Instead, He had to turn His back on His Son because our sins had to be punished in His Son’s body.
Beloved, when you cry out to the Father for help, know that He hears you and will surely help you. Because of Jesus, He will never turn His back on you!

If It Matters To You, It Matters To Him

Luke 12:6-7

6“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that God is too busy taking care of the “big things” to be interested in the little problems they are facing. Are you one of them? It may be your child’s bed-wetting habit, a quarrel with a friend or the small pimple on your face. No matter how trivial it sounds, if it troubles you, then God wants to take care of it.
God wants to take care of every area of your life, down to the smallest detail. He loves you so much that He knows even the number of hairs you have on your head. And if your loving heavenly Father knows and is interested in the small details of your life, then you don’t have to overcome any problem on your own.
When my daughter Jessica turned three years old, my wife Wendy and I decided to bring her to Tokyo Disneyland. Knowing that it was her first encounter with Disneyland and that she could be frightened by unexpected shocks, I decided to watch one of the theatre productions which I planned to bring her to, before I took her to watch it.
As I sat through the whole production, my mind was on Jessica all the time. I was thinking, “Is this too frightening for her? Will she like the mechanical singing bear? Is the place too dark for her?” I decided to bring her to the show only after I had seen it myself and was sure that she would enjoy it.
My friend, that is what your heavenly Father goes through as He lays out His plans for you. You are on His heart all the time as He carefully considers and plans every aspect of your life, both big and small. And the very thought of you puts a smile on His face because He knows that the plans He has for you are plans to prosper you. (Jeremiah 29:11)
So no matter what problems you are facing right now, you can rest in His love for you. There is no problem that is too insignificant for Him to handle. He is not just God Almighty, He is also your heavenly Father who loves you!

Your Father's Heart

Matthew 7:11
11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Let me tell you a true story I heard. There was a pastor whose young child was diagnosed with cancer. The day his boy was scheduled for an operation, he cried out to God, “God, I’m almost 30 years old, but my boy is only about three months old. Why don’t you just take some years off my life and give them to my boy?”

Then, deep down within the man, an almost audible voice said, “I am not like that.” When the man heard that, he realised immediately that his son’s sickness was not from God. He also realised that if he, who was sinful, wanted his child well, how much more his heavenly Father. So he changed his prayer and said, “Father God, I come against this sickness and I ask you for healing for my child.” That day, on the operating table, the surgeons found no trace of cancer!

Today, God wants you to know that He is not the kind of Father who wants you sick and defeated, keeps you poor and wanting, refuses to provide for your needs and denies you of your blessings.

When my daughter Jessica was younger, I bought a beautiful teddy bear for her. Teddy bears are her favourite toys and I could not wait to see her joy when she saw it. My joy is to see her happy. When she is sick and has difficulty sleeping at night, it hurts me to hear her cry. When she is crying, I cannot ignore her cries. I enter into her discomfort and pain even though I know her sickness is something that will pass shortly. When she is in pain, I feel the pain too. When she is sad, I am sad too.

I believe that God gives us children to help us understand what His Father-heart is like. His joy is to enter into your joy and see you happy. God wants you to know that if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to you when you ask Him! My prayer today is that you will know just how much your Father loves you!

Jesus, Our True Passover Lamb

Exodus 12:3

3… every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

Jews worldwide are celebrating Passover this week. The feast, which has been kept for generations, commemorates the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. (Exodus 12:14)

The night before the Israelites left Egypt, the destroyer went through the land killing the firstborn of man and beast. Only those households with the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts were spared.

God had told the Israelites, “Take a lamb, a lamb for a household.” It was a lamb for each family. This tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our true Passover Lamb, is for whole families to be saved!

So your children are blessed once you receive Jesus. Your unsaved spouse and grandparents are blessed too, because Jesus is now the Lamb for your whole household. Your unsaved loved ones will enjoy the blessings of the saved. The Bible says that the sanctified will sanctify the unsanctified. (1 Corinthians 7:14) Yes, they will still need to personally receive Jesus as their Saviour, but God has marked them for salvation because you are saved!

So each household took a lamb which God said had to be without blemish. Why? Because the lamb typified Jesus, the true Lamb of God who is without sin. John the Baptist said of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

The lamb was then killed, and its blood put on the two doorposts and lintel of the house (Exodus 12:7), such that it looked like a cross. Today, the destroyer has to pass over every family that believes in the finished work of the cross and puts its faith in His blood, because there has been a death already. The blood proves it — the innocent Lamb for the guilty family!

Now, Jesus also celebrated the Passover the night before He was crucified. But He instituted the greater Passover. This time, it was not deliverance from Pharaoh and Egypt, but from Satan and his kingdom of darkness. It was not deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but from a life of bondage to sin to a life of liberty as free men and women in Christ. Beloved, when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!

He Still Performs Miracles

John 11:40

40Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

God, who parted the Red Sea, rained manna from heaven, caused the Jericho walls to fall, shut the lions’ mouths, healed the sick, raised the dead and calmed the sea, still performs miracles today.
However, some Christians doubt that God wants to work a miracle for them today. They believe that there were miracles when Jesus walked the earth, but they think that the day of miracles is over. And they talk about how everything will be perfect one day in the sweet by and by. But God wants us to know that He is still the God of miracles today.
Martha was like one of those Christians. She wondered if Jesus could perform a miracle when her brother Lazarus died. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. So she thought that Jesus was four days too late. That is why she said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21) And even when Jesus said that Lazarus would rise again, she said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24)
Martha believed that Jesus could perform miracles in the past and would do the same in the future, but she did not believe that He could give her a miracle when she needed it.
You see, Martha was someone who lived wishing that the past could be changed and believing that the future would be better. But she did not believe that the “I Am” was there to meet her present need.
Today, God stands at the point of your need. What miracle are you expecting from Him? Believe that He is still the same miracle-working God today. Believe that you will see the glory of God. Believe and you will see your miracle!

Nothing Shall By Any Means Hurt You!

Luke 10:19

19Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Years ago, while travelling on a domestic flight in the United States, I sat next to a woman whose whole body was tense with fear. Concerned, I asked if I could help her in any way. In between sobs, she told me about her fear of flying. I told her, “Don’t worry. I am on board. Nothing will happen to the plane.” I did not say it with pride. I said it knowing that the Lord was on board the plane with me and that I would have a safe journey because He has promised that “nothing shall by any means hurt you”.
Once, when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples, He told them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” (Mark 4:35) Believing that they would cross over to the other side, He then fell asleep in the stern. Not even a great storm could arouse Him from His sleep, only the cries of His terrified disciples. They had forgotten what Jesus had said about them crossing over to the other side. They had also forgotten that with Jesus in the boat with them, there was no possibility of their going down. Nothing could by any means hurt them because Jesus was with them.
Even being thrown into a fiery furnace could not hurt three young Hebrew men because they believed that God would deliver them. They had proclaimed to the heathen King Nebuchadnezzar, “... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.” (Daniel 3:17) And in the midst of their fiery trial, their deliverer not only walked with them in the fire, He also delivered them from all harm. King Nebuchadnezzar even said, “Look! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25).
Beloved, in the midst of your storm or fiery trial, because Jesus is with you, nothing shall by any means hurt you!