Exercise Your Soul

'Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'

Matthew 26:41

Our spirit is not our problem. The born-again Christian receives a new spirit at conversion, that is just like Jesus' (1 Jn. 4:17) because it is the Spirit of Jesus. Our born-again spirit is always willing to do God's will. It's our flesh that is the problem.

The flesh, as Jesus describes it here, not only includes our physical body but also describes our soul. God has given every believer everything it takes to walk in victory, but 'we have this treasure in earthen vessels' (2 Cor. 4:7). That is saying that our spirit, where God has deposited all of His power and glory, is locked inside our flesh.

That does not mean that we cannot tap into this divine source. As much as we will renew our minds and act on the Word of God, we can experience this divine flow through our physical bodies. However, just as we must use our muscles to increase in strength, we must exercise ourselves (soul, mind and body) unto godliness (1 Tim. 4:7-8).

Prayer is one important way of exercising ourselves unto godliness, and is why Jesus admonished His disciples to watch and pray with Him. Andrew Womack

You Have It All-in The Spirit

'Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'

Matthew 26:41

The Bible presents salvation as a life transforming experience. Change is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a true believer. Yet, failure to understand that this change takes place in the spirit first, and then is reflected in our outward appearance through our thoughts and actions in direct proportion to the way we renew our minds, causes much confusion.

This change has to take place in our born-again spirit first. Why is that? If you were fat before you got saved, you will be fat after you get saved, unless you go on a weight loss program. Your body doesn't instantly change and neither does your soul or mind.

It is your spirit that is instantly changed at salvation. It is perfect (Heb. 12:23). It cannot sin (1 Jn. 3:9). Everything that is true of Jesus is true of our born-again spirit. Your spiritual salvation is complete. At salvation, you receive the same spirit that you will have throughout all eternity. It will not have to be changed or cleansed again. It is sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13) and therefore, is sanctified and perfected forever (Heb. 10:10, 14; 12:23).

For the remainder of our Christian life, we must not try to obtain faith, joy or love from God, but rather release what we already have in our spirits (Gal. 5:22-23) into our soul and body. Failure to understand this has caused some people to despair when they don't see sufficient change in their life after coming to the Lord for salvation. It must be understood that the change is internal in our spirit and the outward change will take place as we renew our minds through God's Word. Andrew Womack

Choose To Focus On All That Is Good

'Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.'

 Mark 14:38

Temptation is linked directly to what we think upon (Heb. 11:15). Temptation has to be entered into. We can avoid temptation by avoiding thoughts that generate temptation (Prov. 23:7). Since it is impossible to not think, we cannot just try to reject the negative thoughts in this world, but we must choose to think on the positive truths of God. This is where prayer comes in.

In prayer, we have our minds stayed upon God and therefore, are not receptive to thoughts that conceive temptation. Temptation or sin must be conceived (Jas. 1:14-15). In the physical realm, the easiest way to avoid an unwanted birth is to avoid conception, so it is in the spiritual world.

It is easier to avoid being tempted by being in constant communion with God, than it is to overcome temptation once it has been conceived.

Paul admonishes the Philippian believers to reflect and meditate upon eight positive principles of thinking that will lead to a victorious Christian life (Phil. 4:8). These are things that are 'true,' that is: honorable, truthful and upright. Things that are 'honest,' that is: honorable, truthful, genuine, not characterized by deception or fraud. Andrew Womack

What About the Confession of Sins?

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 1:7

When I was a young believer, I was taught that unless I confessed all my sins, I would not be completely forgiven by God. I was even told that if someone dies without having confessed all his sins, he would end up in hell.

Well, that teaching put me in severe bondage. I really believed that I had to confess everything that I thought I had done wrong, including worries, fears, and doubts, because I knew that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23 KJV).

If you really believe that you need to confess all your sins to be completely forgiven by God, you will be confessing your sins all the time and everywhere you go! I tried that and it was impossible! It nearly drove me insane!

But Pastor Prince, are you saying that we don’t have to confess our sins? So what about 1 John 1:9, which states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”?

Listen carefully: Christians have taken this single verse out of context and built a whole doctrine of confession of sins around it when actually, chapter 1 of 1 John was written to address the Gnostics and their heresies that had crept into the church.

The Gnostics were unbelievers who maintained that they had no sin (1 John 1:8). So John was saying that if they would confess that they had sin, and hence see their need for the Savior, God would be faithful and just to cleanse them from all unrighteousness.

Can you now see how this does not apply to the believer who has already acknowledged that he is a sinner and accepted Jesus? We are not to live from confession to confession, but from faith to faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work.

Also, our loving heavenly Father does not forgive us in installments depending on how diligently we confess our sins. Fellowship with Him is not broken because our forgiveness is not contingent on what we do. It is contingent on the finished work of Jesus.

Now, this does not mean that we can’t be honest with God and acknowledge the wrong we have done. It’s a relationship, after all.

But we don’t confess our sins in order to be forgiven. We confess our sins or speak openly to our gracious Father because we are already forgiven. I don’t go before Him begging for forgiveness.

No, I talk to Him because I know that I already have His forgiveness, as today’s scripture states. I know that I can come to Him freely—He is my God, my Daddy God.

So confession in the new covenant is just being honest about your failures and humanity and having an intimate relationship with God. It is the result of being forgiven and not something you do in order to be forgiven, to maintain your salvation, and be ultimately saved.

If confession of sins is vital for our forgiveness, then the apostle Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament epistles, has done us a great injustice because he did not mention it even once in any of his letters to the churches.

For example, when there were people in the Corinthian church living in sin that everyone in the church knew about, he did not say, “Go and confess your sins.” Instead, he reminded them of their righteousness, saying, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?” (1 Cor. 6:19). In spite of their sins, Paul still considered them temples of the Holy Spirit and he reminded them of this truth.

My friend, this is the assurance that you can have today: the day you acknowledged that you were a sinner and confessed Christ as your Lord and Savior, you “confessed all your sins” once and for all. And God was faithful and just to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

All the unrighteousness of your entire life was cleansed at that point, and through the gift of righteousness in Christ Jesus you were set up to reign in life!

This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs.

How to Be Kept in Perfect Peace

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

You need the truth of God’s Word to uproot any wrong belief. This is why it’s so important to get into His Word and take time to meditate upon verses that reveal God’s unwavering and unfailing love for you.

For instance, if you find your mind drifting into anxious thoughts over the smallest things, I encourage you to memorize and quote today’s scripture: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isa. 26:3).

Whenever I feel stressed or worried about something, I pull away from life’s hustle and bustle and simply meditate on God’s promises. Sometimes I like to drive to a quiet park, and as gentle anointed music plays in my car, I feed on and speak His Word, allowing it to permeate my spirit: “God’s Word declares, ‘You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.’”

And I tell the Lord, “Yes, Lord, it is You who will keep me in perfect peace. Perfect peace comes from You. I just need to rest in Your grace and keep my mind on You. I don’t need to think about what to do about this challenge. As I trust in You and keep my mind stayed on You, You will lead me and guide me. My trust is not in my own strength, but in You and You alone, Jesus.”

What am I doing here? Instead of allowing stress and worry to get to me, I’m training my heart to see how God sees my challenges.

The bigger God becomes in my heart, the smaller my challenges become. In fact, many times when I just relax and keep my mind on the Lord, His peace and wisdom begin to flow in me, and the challenge that I was previously so worried about becomes minute and inconsequential in the presence of Almighty God.

Are you faced with an insurmountable circumstance today? Learn to see what God sees by meditating on His Word, and let His peace drive out your anxiety. Let His wisdom direct your paths.

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.

Without Jesus, We Cannot; Without Us, He Will Not.

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

John 15:5

In more than two decades of ministry, I have learned this from the Lord: Without Him, we cannot. Without us, He will not. What this simply means is that we need to recognize the fact that if we do not depend on Jesus, there can be no real, long-lasting, and abiding success—without Him, we cannot.

The Bible tells us that unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain (Ps. 127:1). Believers who want to experience His success need to recognize this truth and begin to depend on Jesus and Jesus alone.

There are some believers who may not articulate it, but in their hearts, they believe that without Jesus, they can still succeed. By believing and acting on this, they fall from the high place of God’s grace (His unmerited favor) back into the law, back into trying to merit and deserve success by their own efforts.

God’s Word tells us, “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace [unmerited favor]" (Gal. 5:4 NLT).

These are strong words of warning. Once you start depending on your own merits and efforts to deserve God’s favor, you are back under the system of the law. You are cut off from Christ and have fallen from the place of having His unmerited favor work in your life.

Don’t misunderstand me, Jesus is still with you (He will never leave you nor forsake you [Heb. 13:5]), but by depending on your self-efforts, you effectively cut off His unmerited favor in your life.

So what do I mean when I say, “Without us, He will not”? Well, Jesus is a gentleman. He will not force His unmerited favor and success down your throat.

He needs you to allow Him to work in your life. He waits patiently for you to trust Him. He waits patiently for you to depend on His unmerited favor, the way Joseph trusted and depended wholly on the Lord’s presence, until His manifested presence took over, and His glory radiated from everything that Joseph touched.

Beloved, let’s learn quickly that without Jesus, we cannot succeed, and if we choose not to respond to His unmerited favor, He will not force it on us.

God's unmerited favor is ever-flowing toward us and Jesus is waiting for us to come to the end of ourselves. He is waiting for you to stop struggling in your own attempts to somehow “deserve” His favor, and just depend on Him.

So in the areas that you are still depending on your own efforts to succeed, start resting in Jesus’ unmerited favor and begin experiencing His manifested presence and glory upon everything you touch!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.

Fill Up With God

'I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.'

John 17:23

God loves us the same as He loves Jesus. A true revelation of this will quicken our faith and allow us to walk in the fullness of God. God's love is the key that opens the door to everything that God is. 'God is love' (1 Jn. 4:8).

God's love is not one dimensional. There is width, length, depth and height to it, which can only be comprehended through the revelation and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Those who only have a superficial knowledge of God's love are like a person who looks at a one dimensional picture of the real thing.

In Ephesians 3:19, Paul prays for us to know the love of God which passes knowledge. How can we know the love of God if it passes knowledge? This sounds like a contradiction. The Greek word that is translated 'know' in this verse is GINOSKO, which is a verb expressing experiential knowledge. The Greek word that is translated 'knowledge' is GNOSIS, which is a noun denoting the act of knowledge. Simply, Paul is praying that we will experience the love of God which passes mere knowledge of it.

Since a true revelation of God's love makes us full with the fullness of God, then a lack of being full of God must mean that we lack understanding and experience of God's love. The end result of having understanding and experiential knowledge of God's love is that we will be filled with all the fullness of God. Andrew Womack

One In Spirit

'That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.'

John 17:21

Jesus is praying for all believers to be one as He and the Father are one.

This goes far beyond what many promote as unity today. Paul besought the Corinthians to 'all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment' (1 Cor. 1:10). This is God's standard of unity.

This oneness among believers is what Jesus said would cause the world to know that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has. The only way that Christ's body will be one as the Father and Jesus are One is through God's kind of love. No wonder Satan tries to get believers to go at each others' throats. We spend billions of dollars a year on evangelism through television, radio, conventions and crusades, yet, the world is not evangelized because the body of Christ is not united in love.

There is very little unity among believers today. This has occured over thousands of years and it probably won't be fixed over night. We must strive towards unity but not be overwhelmed by the problem. All Christians have already been joined to each other through the body of Christ, and God the Father sees us all as His children. All divisions among Christians are made by man, not God. For a brief period of time, the church enjoyed unity on earth.

Regardless of what strife and division has occurred, all believers are still one in Christ and will live in perfect oneness throughout eternity. We are now one in Spirit. We just need to experience that unity here on earth.

'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven' (Mt. 6:10).

Depend On God, Not The Gift

'And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.'

 Mark 11:2 

The gifts of the Spirit are not meant to be a substitute for our own faith in the Lord. We are not to depend so completely on some individual with a spiritual gift that we neglect our own spiritual growth and maturity. We can receive anything we need from the Lord without a gift of the Spirit operating through another individual, if we know how to believe. Dependence on the Lord directly is superior to dependence on the Lord indirectly through someone operating in one of the spiritual gifts.

What if there were no gifts of the Spirit and the Lord established that the only way we could receive from Him was through our own faith? There would be some individuals who would get born again who already had terminal diseases but didn't have enough time left to mature in their faith and receive healing. They would die if it wasn't for others interceding for them or someone with the gift of healing praying for them. That's why the Lord gave these gifts--to keep us encouraged and alive so we can mature. Andrew Womack

The Miracle Of The Donkey And Colt

'And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.'

John 12:14-15

This is the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. Notice how specific Zechariah's prophecy is and how exactly it was fulfilled. Zechariah prophesied Jesus not only riding an ass, but also a colt (unbroken), the foal of an ass. Zechariah also mentioned the people rejoicing greatly and shouting which certainly came to pass on this day.

All four gospels include a triumphal entry, but only Matthew records a donkey with a colt. A simple explanation to a so-called 'contradiction' is that Jesus rode the colt while the other donkey went along. No doubt, He rode each animal part of the way.

Not only was it a miracle that Jesus knew about the ass and its colt, but also where they would be. God also worked some kind of miracle in the owner of these animals so that he would be willing to release them. It is possible that the Lord also revealed to this man that Jesus would need his animals.

Perhaps he was just a devoted follower of Jesus who gladly surrendered them when he knew Jesus was the one wanting them. Either way, it was just as much a miracle that the owner was willing to surrender them as it was that Jesus knew exactly where they would be.

Jesus hadn't been in Jerusalem in quite a while and there is no indication that He had made previous arrangements with anyone there to obtain this ass and its colt. This was nothing less than supernatural knowledge imparted to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus did, let God's gifts flow through you today. Andrew Womack

Be A Witness, Not A Judge

'And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:'

John 16:8

It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to reprove sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is not our ministry. We are simply witnesses. A witness is not the judge or the jury. A witness simply relates what he has experienced, thereby providing evidence to the truth of something. We are to witness in word and deed, to the truth of Jesus being alive in us and let God be the one who convicts. We are simply to testify to what we have seen or to what has happened to us.

Some people in their zeal, have gone beyond the witness stage and have tried to bring people under conviction themselves. This is assuming the job that belongs to the Holy Spirit alone. This not only frustrates the witness but it drives many people away from God. We make a very poor Holy Spirit; therefore, we should stick to our job of being a witness and let the Holy Spirit do His job.

Jesus specified an orderly progression in the way we should witness. First we start in Jerusalem (i.e. where we are). Then we go to those nearby (Judaea).

Finally, we take the gospel to every religious and racial group (Samaria) throughout the whole world.

There are some very practical reasons for becoming witnesses in this way.

Jesus testified that a prophet is honored everywhere except in his home town among his family and friends. Typically, at home is the hardest place to witness. Starting with those who know us best will cause us to humble ourselves and give God all the glory. Also, if rejection comes, this tempers us and our witness, so that we will be more effective and more resilient when we go to the outer most parts of the earth. Andrew Womack

Rejoice In The Lord - Always

'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.'

John 16:33

The world experiences joy and happiness in direct proportion to their circumstances. Bad circumstances produce depression and sorrow, while good circumstances produce joy and peace. That's bondage, and does not have to be the case for a Christian. Our joy is not dependent on things, but rather on the person of Jesus Christ. He is our peace and joy.

The way we take advantage of this joy and peace in the midst of tribulation, is to have our minds and hearts stayed on things above and not on things of this earth. The invisible things of God are eternal while the visible problems on earth are only temporary. All the problems of this life grow very dim when we compare them to the glory of God that is ours through Jesus.

We can rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4) because rejoicing is an action, not a reaction to our environment. Joy is a gift from God that was given to us at salvation. It was placed within our born-again spirit and it doesn't fluctuate or diminish; it is constant. The Lord has put the joy inside us and we are to 'work it out' by choosing to obey this command in scripture.

We are commanded to rejoice 'IN THE LORD.' Many people are not experiencing true joy because their joy is in their circumstances. That is, they are waiting to rejoice when things in their lives are going good, and that doesn't happen very often. We are suppose to 'rejoice in the Lord always.'

That means we are supposed to rejoice in who the Lord is and what He has done for us. He never changes (Heb. 13:8) and His mercies and compassions are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). Andrew Womack

Where Is This Secret Place?

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20 AMPC

Where is this secret place of the Most High and how do you get there? Before I answer this question, I want you to be careful of preaching and teaching about Psalm 91 that make “the secret place of the Most High” a place that only an elite few can go to, while the rest of us have no access to it because we haven’t done enough, such as pray for eight hours.

Usually, the person who teaches along these lines is trying to say that there is a standard of holiness that you must attain before you can reach the secret place of the Most High. Now, if this is true and it takes eight hours of prayer at home to be in the secret place of the Most High, then how about those of us who have full-time jobs and can’t pray for eight hours, and who really need protection?

Think about it for a moment. Who needs more protection—the one praying in the safety of his home or the one working out there? Clearly, it is the guy who is working out there in the world where accidents are possible and where he is exposed to all kinds of viruses.

Yet, according to this teaching, he cannot access the secret place because he has not prayed eight hours a day! Does this even make sense to you?

That’s why I don’t like teaching that makes certain people—especially the preacher—appear like they are part of an elite few. The Lord’s blessings are not just for an elite few.

If a blessing is from our Lord, everyone has access to it. The young and the old, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor—all have access by faith to His blessings that are freely given.

Let me tell you where the secret place of the Most High is. The secret place of the Most High is a place where you are in Christ.

Wouldn’t you agree that being in Christ is to be in the safest hiding place? How did you get to be in Christ? By receiving the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

Once you are a born-again believer, our heavenly Father sees you in Christ. You are safe, protected, and secure in the hiding place! Be anchored in this truth and see yourself walking in a greater measure of His divine protection in the days to come.

This devotional is taken from the book The Prayer of Protection Devotional—Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times.

Study the Bible to See Jesus Unveiled

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Luke 24:25–27

After Jesus rose from the dead, He ministered comfort to two sad and discouraged disciples who were walking to a village called Emmaus. From the way they spoke, you could tell that they did not believe that Jesus would be resurrected.

They said that they were hoping that it was Jesus who was going to redeem Israel, so they were utterly discouraged when He was crucified. They were also astonished when certain women of their company, who had gone to Jesus’ tomb, told them that they could not find His body.

In today’s scripture, the two indictments that Jesus spoke to those disciples are the same ones He speaks to the body of Christ today. The first is that we are “foolish,” that is, we are suffering from ignorance and the lack of knowledge of and revelation from the Word of God. The second is that even when we do have knowledge of the Word, we are “slow of heart to believe.”

Now, our Lord Jesus is so loving that He would not just tell the disciples what their problem was without giving them the solution. So immediately, He began to expound the Scriptures.

He started at Moses, which refers to the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), before moving on to the rest of the Old Testament, which would include the major and minor prophets. He expounded to them “the things concerning Himself” in every single book, showing them pictures of Himself throughout the Scriptures. What a tremendous time of Bible study it must have been!

This tells us that the Bible is all about Jesus. Jesus is in the Old Testament concealed and in the New Testament revealed.

Jesus began to unveil to the disciples that He was the promised Seed in the Garden of Eden who would crush Satan’s head. He would have moved on to share about how each of the five Levitical offerings depicted different aspects of His one perfect work on the cross. He would have shared about the high priest and how the high priest’s garments spoke of Himself as our perfect representative before God.

Jesus would even have unveiled Himself in all the typologies embedded in the Old Testament stories. There are no insignificant details in the Bible and everything in it is there to point to Jesus.

In expounding the Scriptures to the two disciples, I believe that Jesus showed us how we are to study the Bible today. He does not want us to read the Bible to find out what to do and what not to do. He wants us to study the Bible to see Him and all the things in the Scriptures concerning Himself.

When you begin to see Jesus in every page of the Bible and to search out all the hidden gems and truths about Jesus, the Bible comes alive. Faith comes alive in your heart to strengthen your heart and to receive your breakthrough when you see your Savior and His saving grace toward His people.

Jesus’ solution for those who are “foolish” and “slow of heart to believe” is for them to study the Bible to see more of Him. At the end of the disciples’ journey, the Bible says that they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). My friend, when Jesus is unveiled in the Scriptures, our hearts will burn within us with the warmth of His love.

Whatever your need is today, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, social, or financial, your solution is found in a greater revelation of Jesus. When Jesus is unveiled in all His magnificence, the poor will experience provision, the weak will be made strong, and the sick will be healed.

I pray that you will make it your priority to read the Word and hear preaching that unveils the beauty and grace of your Savior. Your life, finances, marriage, and your entire household will be blessed beyond measure.

This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs.

Sound the Ram’s Horn

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

John 19:30

I see a new generation of God’s people emerging as the grace revolution sweeps the globe. The truth is that only grace, found in the person of Jesus Christ, can lead us into the promised land.

Moses, who represents the law, is dead (Josh. 1:2). And only Joshua (Yehowshua in Hebrew), a type of Christ, can bring us into the promised land. We can’t enter it based on the obsolete Mosaic covenant. We can’t inherit it based on our efforts to be justified through keeping perfectly the Ten Commandments.

We can inherit it only through faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus. It is not by our works that we inherit God’s promises, but by Christ’s perfect, finished work.

How did the wall of Jericho that stood between God’s people and the promised land come crashing down? Did God’s people have to use their own might to push down the wall? Did they have to fight an army? No, at just the blast of the rams’ horns and with a great shout, God caused the wall to crumble.

The ram’s horn is a beautiful picture of the death of our Lord Jesus. The ram had to die for the horn to be obtained. The sounding of the ram’s horn is thus a proclamation of our Lord’s death and finished work. At the cross, when Jesus had paid fully for all our sins with His blood, He proclaimed, “It is finished!”

It is the shed blood of Jesus that brings us out of captivity and into the promised land. What the ten plagues of Moses could not do, the blood of Jesus did. It was the blood of Christ, typified by the lambs’ blood applied to the lintels and doorposts of the Hebrew homes, that caused Pharaoh, a type of Satan, to finally release God’s people.

God threw down His trump card—the blood of His Son! So it was His Son, the true Lamb of God, who brought them out of Egypt, and it was also His Son who brought them into the promised land. It is all Christ and Christ alone!

Why couldn’t the miracles of Moses free God’s people? Because they were miracles of judgment. Judgment and condemnation will not free you, only the love and grace of our Lord Jesus, Who shed His blood at Calvary for you, can do that.

My friend, are you hearing about the judgments of the law today, or are you hearing the ram’s horn being blown? One condemns and brings death, the other liberates and gives life. One causes you to remain in bondage to sin and live a defeated life, the other empowers you to break free and reign in life.

Today, make sure you are hearing the true gospel that makes bondages and addictions crumble and fall away like the walls of Jericho did!

This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution.

There Is Just Something Special About You

But 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 marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

It is the Lord’s manifested presence, His glorious power working in your heart and through your hands that will cause everything you touch to prosper with the Jesus-kind of results. In fact, even your harshest critic will have to conclude that the Lord is with you and is prospering the work of your hands!

Beloved, stop looking at your outward circumstances or the position you are in. Whether your employer is a believer or not, Jesus can make ALL that you do prosper when you depend on His unmerited favor in your career!

And believe me, when that begins to happen, your employer will sit up and notice that there is something special about you. You will stand out in a crowd!

Remember that the same Lord who was with Joseph is with you today. His name is Jesus and because Jesus is with you, you can expect good success in everything that you do!

For example, when you are placed over a sales project, believe that your sales team will hit record levels of sales never achieved before in your organization. When you are overseeing the finances of a company, believe that you will find legal ways to help your company save on operating expenses and increase its cash flow like never before.

When you are placed in a business development role, believe that Jesus will cause doors that have always been closed to your company to be opened to you because of His unmerited favor upon your life.

Perhaps your company is just a small IT start-up in the Silicon Valley, but for some reason, all the big boys in the business like you. They can't put their finger on it, but there is just something special about you that makes them compete to find ways to collaborate with you, leaving you spoiled for choice!

Perhaps you are a homemaker. You can also expect Jesus’ presence in your life to give you favor with your children. Instead of constantly resisting and arguing with you, they will find you and your words irresistible. God can increase your influence over them.

My friend, that’s the unmerited favor of God in action. In the natural, you may be unqualified and inexperienced, but remember that all your disqualifications exist in the realm of the natural.

You, beloved, live and operate in the supernatural realm! The Lord Jesus is with you 100 percent. You are a successful person in the Lord’s eyes and as you depend on Him, He will cause everything that your hands touch to prosper.

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.

Intimate Fellowship

But the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:17 AMP

Let me share with you something that I pray will cause your heart to be filled with such warmth as you see more and more of Jesus. The very word communion speaks of the relationship our Lord desires to have with us. The apostle Paul wrote:

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

—1 Corinthians 10:16–18

The word used for communion in the original Greek is the word koinonia, meaning “fellowship.” It also has the idea of an intimate participation, like the intimacy a husband and wife share when they say and do things no one else is privy to. Isn’t that beautiful?

Whenever you partake of the Communion, it’s a time of intimacy between you and the Lord. It’s a time you set aside to remember your heavenly Bridegroom, who loved you so much He gave Himself up for you (Eph. 5:25). It’s a time you run to Him and lose yourself in His presence, and let His perfect love cast out every fear that may be eating at you.

He knows the secret fears of your heart as you look at the symptoms in your body. He knows the burdens that weigh you down as the doctors tell you about the long-term complications, side effects, and financial cost that treatment would entail. Run to Him, and cast all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns on Him, for He cares about you with deepest affection and watches over you very carefully (1 Pet. 5:7 AMP).

As you take time to commune with Him and to remember Him through the holy Communion, do you know what happens? You become an intimate participator of the benefits of the body and the blood.

Just as those who ate of the sacrifices become “partakers of the altar” (1 Cor. 10:18), when you eat the bread and drink the cup, you become a partaker of all Jesus accomplished at the cross. As you drink the cup, that is communion with and sharing in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16 NASB). As you eat of the broken bread, you are participating in the body of Christ that was broken for you (1 Cor. 10:16 NIV).

This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.

Applying the Written Word

But the righteousness of faith speaks . . . But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach).

Romans 10:6, 8

Let me show you examples of how you can use the written Word to come against the attacks of the enemy.

Let’s say that while driving to work one morning, you hear some professor saying over the radio, “One in every five women will develop this disease by the age of forty.” That’s the time you must say, “It is written—‘Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence’” (Ps. 91:3).

If you do this, you are putting up a shield of faith and you are releasing power as you declare that regardless of what the reports of the world say, your God shall deliver you from every deadly disease!

Here’s another example of when and how you can quote the written Word. Suppose for some reason, you are crippled by vivid images in your mind of yourself dying young and leaving your spouse and little ones to fend for themselves. Again, this is the time to speak the Word of God against those fears. Declare, “It is written—‘With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation’” (Ps. 91:16).

Maybe you might know of an acquaintance who was killed in a fatal accident. Now, you are fearful that the same thing might happen to you. My friend, the enemy has just shot you with a fiery dart. We do not know what the other person believed. We can only be responsible for our own beliefs and lives.

Perhaps your relatives or family members have died from the same illness and the enemy is now attacking you with thoughts that you will also develop diabetes like your father and uncle did, or die from the same heart condition they had.

My friend, if you have been entertaining thoughts like these, NOW is the time to rise up and make this declaration: “A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it shall NOT come near me” (Ps. 91:7)!

For something to happen at your right hand means that it has to be really close to you. This means that even if something unfortunate happens to someone close to you, do not allow fear to hold you in its paralyzing grip. Speak forth the written Word of God!

This devotional is taken from the book The Prayer of Protection Devotional—Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times.

The Key to Faith

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2 NASB1995

As humans, not only do we have a propensity to zoom in on every little flaw in our physical and emotional makeup, but we also have a tendency to know, remember, and replay in our minds the sins, failings, and mistakes we have made. We condemn ourselves for even our smallest flaws instead of focusing on how God really sees us—perfect in Christ.

This is why it takes faith to believe that God sees you righteous. It takes faith to believe that He does not see you in your sins, that He does not observe sin or iniquity in you. It takes faith to believe that He means what He says when He says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb. 8:12). It takes faith to believe that God will not remember your failings and mistakes!

But Pastor Prince, my sins are staring right at me. How can I have faith to believe that God doesn’t see them?

My friend, the key to faith is found in looking to the source of faith—Jesus. As the Bible says, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2 NASB). Your faith to believe is found in Jesus! The Amplified Bible puts it this way: “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection].”

In other words, turn your eyes away from your own flaws, imperfections, failings, and mistakes, and just fix your eyes on Jesus. The more you see Jesus and His finished work, the more faith arises in your heart to believe that all your sins are truly forgiven. You can start on a clean slate and have a brand-new beginning in Christ. The old is gone, and the new has come!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.

God Is Our Comfort

'And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,

that he may abide with you for ever;'

John 14:16

Remember that Jesus was saying these things to His disciples so that they would not be offended. Jesus is speaking to His disciples about the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is the front line of defense against the devil and his devices of defeat. The phrase, 'The God of all comfort' carries the idea of a divine comforter who encourages, refreshes, strengthens, aids, assists, and is an ever present help in the time of need. The ways that God chooses to comfort are not always the same. He may deliver you or remove the cause of the affliction, or He may comfort you with words giving you a hope for the future. He also uses people to share their faith with you by prophesying. He sends fellow-laborers to serve and strengthen you by the ministry of the Word, and uses the body of Christ as a channel to comfort you, using prayer.

The point is that the source of all comfort is God, no matter what channel He chooses to use. Andrew Womack