Amir Tsarfati: All Things
In times of uncertainty and hardship, it’s important to hold onto the promises of God. Even when we can’t see it, He is always working for our good.
Watch this entire interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2t71W-0HrU
The secret of David
Have you ever wondered why God called David “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22)? What made him so special, and how can we also be a man or woman after God’s heart?
I believe David was special because he got hold of something that was of the greatest importance to God’s heart. He got hold of a divine thought and objective in God’s heart and made a vow to God in the wilderness to bring back the ark of the covenant to its rightful place among God’s people in Jerusalem (Ps. 132:1–5). Because David placed such importance on bringing back the ark, God considered him a man after His own heart.
For more than twenty years, King Saul had left the ark in a hilly place called Kirjath Jearim (1 Sam. 7:2). So David made it his passion to bring the ark to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, for the Lord had chosen Zion (which represents God’s grace, as opposed to Mount Sinai, which represents His law) as His dwelling place. God Himself said of Zion, “This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it” (Ps. 132:14).
When you understand the typology of the ark of the covenant, you will see that bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem is the same as bringing Jesus Christ back into a place of prominence and making Him and His finished work the center of all our teaching and preaching and lives.
This was the secret to David’s blessings. He pursued the ark of the covenant and God called him a man after His own heart. Today, you too can be a man or woman after God’s own heart. You can pursue Jesus and bring Him back into the center of your life. Make Jesus the centerpiece of every aspect of your life.
When Gillian from New Jersey and her husband started doing this, not only did it make their relationship stronger, but one blessing after another came into their lives. Round about the time they were introduced to the gospel of grace through my television broadcast, Gillian and her husband were struggling to conceive after being childless for all eleven years of their married life. They had tried all means, including in vitro fertilization, and Gillian was finally told that between her system being “so messed up” and her husband being diagnosed with a low sperm count, diabetes, and other diseases, they could never have a child on their own.
“But we watched you every morning,” Gillian told me, “and as we listened, we got a better and better understanding of God’s grace. Your sermons always teach us to put Jesus in the center of our lives, and so we started doing that. We began to believe that Jesus has paid the full price for us to have whatever we need through Him. We would see Him and His finished work in our relationship with each other and in our challenges.”
Well, as Gillian gave the Lord center place by giving heed to the hearing of His Word, she heard me speak in one of my sermons of an anointing to have children. She shared, “Instantly, I believed it and received it into my spirit. Pastor Prince, I am now six weeks pregnant. What medical science could not do, our beautiful Savior did! Praise the Lord! Not only that, but God has also been increasing my business to the extent that I need new equipment now, and I have no doubt He will supply it all. We know we are truly God’s beloved.”
What an awesome testimony! My friend, like Gillian and her husband, make Jesus, His finished work, and His grace, the center of everything in your life. Make Him the center of your marriage, family, career, and finances, and allow the fullness of His blessings to flow in your life today!
This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs. Joseph Prince
God preserves the simple
Psalms 116:6: “The Lord preserves the simple, I was brought low and He helped me.”
Psalm 116 was written after God delivered David from those who were seeking his life while he was on the run from King Saul. He is saying that God preserved him. The word preserve in Hebrew is shamar which is to watch over, take heed or to put a hedge or a wall of protection.
God will do this protecting for the simple. Who are the simple? It is the word pathi which has a wide range of meanings as demonstrated by the different renderings in our modern English Translations. The NIV calls them the “unwary” (whatever that is), the NLB says those of “childlike faith.” The Berean Study Bible says the “simplehearted,” and the CSB says the “inexperienced.” The ISV uses the word , “innocent.”
The word pathi comes from the root word patah which means a fool or one who is easily seduced. Someone who is vulnerably minded, that is someone who is easily conned as we say today…a mark. It is that trusting person who is easily deceived. It is that parent of the drug addict who continually believes the child when he says he will never do it again. A patah is that person that just breaks your heart because they are so vulnerable to the wicked in the world. These are the ones that David says God is protecting because he believes that he himself is a patah. He has trusted people who stabbed him in the back. He believed King Saul when King Saul supposedly repented. He had such simple childlike naivete that as a youth he went up against a giant with no more than a sling and a stone believing that God would watch over him – which God did by the way.
Because of his childlike trust in the world and others, David says he was brought low. Practically all modern translations use that expression “brought low,” but that is an English idiom. What does it mean to be brought low?
When we say we are left hanging, it means we are abandoned. People make promises to us and then when we act based upon those promises but the promises get broken and we are “left hanging.” I believe that is the best definition of daloti.
Do you ever feel that way? Do you feel that people have broken promises, let you done, left you in the lurch? David knew what that was like. He was like a naïve little child, a little lamb as he calls himself at times, trusting and then being stabbed in the back. Yet, he had the assurance that despite his innocent nature, God was watching over him, God had his back, just like you can be assured God has your back. By Chaim Bentorah
God loves you perfectly
God is a God of forgiveness. He knows you perfectly and still loves you perfectly. We are slaves to the idea that if someone sees our flaws, they won’t love us anymore. Well, while that may be true in human relationships, God is not like that.
God sees all our imperfections, failings, and flaws on Jesus at the cross. Our sins and ugliness do not turn Him off. In fact, to Him they are occasions to demonstrate His grace and forgiveness through the blood of His Son, who has removed all our sins efficaciously at Calvary.
So don’t be embarrassed about your flaws, mistakes, and imperfections. God knows your weaknesses better than you do, and He loves you just the same. His Word reminds us that Jesus is not someone “who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.” Instead, Jesus was tempted in all points, yet He was without sin (Heb. 4:15).
He understands every temptation and every trial that you are going through. He is not disappointed with you, and He is not waiting for you to live up to a set of dos and don’ts before He forgives and loves you. The Bible says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:8–9).
Did you get that? When did God love you?
That’s right, when you were still a sinner. Before you even knew Him, when you were still in sin, He already loved you. How much more today, when you have been cleansed by Jesus’ blood and made righteous! Having received Jesus’ righteousness, you are righteous forever. Even when you fall into sin, your sins don’t make you a sinner again.
When you fall short today, you are still the righteousness of God. This is because your righteousness comes from Jesus. In the same way that a beautiful butterfly cannot morph back into a caterpillar, once you have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus, you cannot morph back into a sinner. Knowing your righteous identity in Him then gives you the power to overcome every sin, every addiction, and every bad habit!
This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing. Joseph Prince
Slay your dragons
Beloved, if you want to have faith for your breakthrough, make sure you are hearing and believing right about God through the word of Christ. By the way, in Romans 10:17, it is the word of Christ, not the word of God, as written in some Bible translations.
The Greek word used here is Christos for Christ. What’s the difference? The word of Christ refers to the word of the new covenant, the word of His grace.
In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul says, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
What is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among the saints? It is the word of His grace or the word of Christ. The Bible exhorts us to “let the word of Christ [Christos] dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16).
So if you’re feeling discouraged, I encourage you to keep hearing messages full of the grace and finished work of our Lord Jesus as was proclaimed by the apostle Paul. This was what the crippled man in today’s scripture did.
Whatever your circumstances, keep hearing about how your sins have all been forgiven through Christ and how you are today the righteousness of God in Christ. Whatever the prognosis you’ve heard, keep hearing about how much God loves you and wants to be a loving Father to you, to watch over you, provide for you, and deliver you from all your fears and afflictions.
My friend, when you give priority to this daily, you will have the word of Christ dwelling richly in you. And it is this word of His grace that will impart faith and hope to you.
When you know God’s love for you, it will cause you to run to Him instead of hiding from Him. His love upon you and in you will make you strong. It will cause you to overcome every temptation and fear, slay your giants, and live life with greater boldness and victory!
This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution. Joseph Prince
Right believing
Most of us think that if we could just change our circumstances, we could have the lives we want. However, today’s scripture shows us that that is not what Jesus said. Do you see from His words that your life today is a reflection of what has been hidden and carried in your heart all this time?
If you don’t want your life to remain the same, the solution is not in changing your circumstances. It is in changing your heart, changing what you believe.
My friend, for every area of weakness, failure, or defeat that you may be experiencing right now, I assure you that there is some wrong believing in that area. Search the Scriptures for the truth. Your answer lies in right believing.
Now, commit this to memory: right believing always leads to right living!
Say it out loud for this is a powerful revelation you cannot afford to miss.
Let me share with you a powerful testimony of a precious brother in my church who struggled with a smoking habit. He had been smoking for many years and went through at least one pack of cigarettes a day. Besides feeling lousy every time he smoked, he felt condemned and constantly heard the voice of the accuser bombarding him with accusations:
How can you call yourself a Christian? Look at you—you are still a smoker! Give up, you hypocrite! You are not worthy to be a Christian.
The more he heard the accusations, the more he smoked. Though he tried to muster all his willpower to overcome this destructive habit, he just could not do it. He knew that his body was a temple of God, and he sincerely wanted to glorify the Lord, but there was no power to do so.
Then, he heard me preach on how the Holy Spirit is present in him to convict him of righteousness, and how the more he believed that he was righteous because of Jesus Christ, the more his behavior would line up with what he believed. So he began to confess this daily: “I am the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ,” even when he succumbed to the temptation and lit up. Every day, he would wake up, stare at himself in the mirror, and say, “I see a righteous man standing in front of me.”
This brother really believed that he was righteous, not because of what he did, but because of what Jesus has done. And the more he believed that he was the righteousness of God in Christ, the more his nicotine addiction faded.
He began to have a supernatural strength to cut down his daily tobacco intake within a short span of time. He began to replace the voice of the accuser that called him a hypocrite with the voice of the Holy Spirit that declared, “You are righteous in God’s eyes. God sees you as righteous as Jesus Christ today.”
The voice of the Holy Spirit became louder and louder until he finally heard only His voice, and one day he woke up and realized that the desire for cigarettes was no longer there! Hallelujah!
Can you see? Deliverance from destructive habits comes simply by believing the voice of the Holy Spirit and seeing yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ every day.
Just being faithful in believing and confessing, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ,” will cause a power to be released in your life that overcomes the bondage to cigarettes, pornography, alcohol, drugs, or gambling. Today is the day that the Lord will set you free from every lie, guilt, and condemnation that the accuser has been bombarding you with.
Please pray this prayer with me right now. My friend, let’s silence the voice of the accuser and allow Jesus to set you free to reign:
Lord Jesus, I thank You for the cross. I thank You that when You died for me, Your blood cleansed me from all my unrighteousness and the sins of my entire life. You are my Lord and Savior. I give You all my addictions (and/or bondages) today. I am sick and tired of being defeated and condemned by the accuser. Today, I confess that because of Your blood, I am right now the righteousness of God. By the supernatural strength and power of the Holy Spirit who is present to convict me of my righteousness, I will be reminded every day that I am the righteousness of God through You. Amen!
This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs. Joseph Prince
Jesus wants you to have good success
Do you believe that Jesus is interested in your success?
Take a moment to reflect on this.
My friend, I want you to know that Jesus delights in blessing you. It is His good pleasure to see you blessed in every area of your life!
Now, don’t put a limit on His blessings in your life. The blessings of the Lord are not (as some may erroneously believe) just seen in material things. Jesus is infinitely interested in your total well-being. He is interested in your family, career, fulfillment in life, marriage, ministry, and boy, does the list go on!
When it comes to your desires, hopes, and dreams, there is no detail that is too minuscule, minute, or insignificant for Jesus. Trust me, if it matters to you, it matters to Him!
Even if you go to Him in prayer to remove that small pimple on your nose, He is not going to look at you and reply mockingly, “Hey buddy, don’t you know that I’ve got a whole universe to run? Come to Me when you have a bigger prayer request.”
No way! A thousand times no! Jesus will never ridicule or deride your concerns as petty. He is never dismissive or condescending. He is not like some of your so-called “friends,” who may delight in poking fun at your shortcomings. If it bothers you, it “bothers” Him.
You are important to Jesus. Know with full assurance in your heart that Jesus knows you perfectly, and yet accepts and loves you perfectly. When you begin to understand that, you will realize that it is truly that unmerited favor, that favor from Jesus that you know you do not deserve, did not merit, and cannot earn for yourself, that will perfect every imperfection and weakness in your life.
If you are facing challenges, such as lack in any area, addictions, fears, sicknesses, or broken relationships, Jesus’ unmerited favor will protect, deliver, prosper, bring restoration to, and provide for you. His unmerited favor will transform you into wholeness, and it is the goodness of God, not your striving and self-efforts, that will lead you to live victoriously for His glory.
This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor. Joseph Prince
Peace
LUKE 10:5
Peace is the result of casting our care upon the Lord through prayer and thanksgiving. However, many people are asking God to give them peace so that their cares will leave. It doesn't work that way. Through faith we cast our cares on the Lord, and then God's peace comes. Christians who are lacking God's peace have not taken their cares to the Lord and left them there. All Christians have peace. It is a fruit of the Spirit that is always present in our born-again spirits. Cares will blind us to God's peace. When we eliminate the cares, peace flows.
Being carnally minded doesn't just tend toward death, it is death. Likewise, being spiritually minded doesn't just tend toward life, it is life and peace. A person who says he or she is spiritually minded and yet is experiencing death is deceived. If we would just dominate ourselves with the spiritual truths of God's Word, we would receive only life and peace.
True peace, which comes from God, only comes by grace through faith. No one who seeks to obtain right standing with God by his own effort will ever have God's peace. Human peace is only experienced in the absence of problems. Those who only know human peace don't experience it very often and to a lesser degree. But God's peace is independent of circumstances and infinitely greater in supply than any problem we could ever have. God has given us His supernatural peace to enjoy. What a blessing! Andrew Womack
The best that heaven has
Our Lord Jesus went into a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a man was there with a withered hand. The Pharisees were looking for opportunities to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing, so they challenged Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
Our Lord answered, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand,” and restored it as whole as the other (Matt. 12:9–13).
This is what I want you to know: when someone is sick, the Lord never faults and condemns the person. He sees the person as a sheep that has fallen into a pit and needs rescuing.
If you are dealing with a medical condition, don’t allow the accuser to disqualify you from receiving your healing by telling you things like, “You should have watched your diet” or “You should have exercised more.” Even if you were at fault, the Lord Jesus can heal you, and He is most willing to.
That doesn’t mean you neglect wisdom in taking care of your health. If you allow Him to, the Lord can lead you even in practical matters like what to eat and how to exercise. The key here is not to pay attention to the voice of shame, condemnation, and accusation. Listen instead to the voice of your Shepherd coming to rescue you!
Our Good Shepherd says He gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11). But do you know the context of this verse? Let me show you:
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
—John 10:10–11
Even though He is our Shepherd, He laid down His life as the Lamb of God. Revelation 5:12 declares, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”
Why does God use the picture of the Lamb and not the Shepherd in the sacrifice? Because God wants you to see that Jesus died in your place. He, the Good Shepherd, became the Lamb of God for you.
You can have life more abundantly not because you deserve it but because He gave His life for yours. He took your sicknesses and your pains and gave you His wholeness and His health.
Today hear your Lord Jesus saying to you, “Do not fear, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Whatever condition you might be faced with, you can believe you will see the full manifestation of your healing. Keep partaking of the Tree of Life through the holy Communion and allow His abundant life to flood your body each time you partake.
This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional. Joseph Prince
Worship the LORD
I am sure that you have heard a lot of teaching on fearing the Lord. I do believe in a reverential honor of the Lord. But I am not for any kind of teaching that promotes this idea that God wants you to be afraid of Him.
Instead, God delights in having us close to Him. He welcomes us to dwell in His secret place, to be so close to Him that we come under His shadow.
These are all pictures of intimacy. In any relationship, fear and intimacy cannot coexist. If you fear God today, you won’t be able to believe Him for His protection. That is why it is so important for you to be strong and established in His grace.
The author of the book of Hebrews says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). This is a picture of the ark of the covenant, God’s throne of grace.
Because our Lord’s blood has been shed on the mercy seat, today, we can come boldly into His presence without any sense of inferiority or shame, and receive His favor, His supply, His protection, and His help in our time of need.
Jesus defined the fear of the Lord as the worship of the Lord. In the wilderness temptation, Jesus responded to the devil by saying, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Matt. 4:8–10). Our Lord was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13, which says, “You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him.” Our Lord substituted the word “fear” with the word “worship.”
Jesus was showing us how to accurately understand the fear of the Lord. In the new covenant, it has nothing to do with being afraid of the Lord; it has everything to do with coming into His presence with boldness and worshiping Him.
Stop living in fear, my friend. Instead, follow our Lord wholly like Caleb did and worship His wonderful name. The prayer of protection is a psalm of worship.
When you worship Jesus, all your fears will fade away. When you worship Him, the angel of the Lord encamps around you like a shield of protection. When you worship your Savior, His Spirit of wisdom and counsel will lead and guide you with rivers of peace!
This devotional is adapted from the book The Prayer of Protection Devotional—Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times. Joseph Prince
Is Israel ready for Gog and Magog war?
Israel is back. Jerusalem is the Capitol. They are thriving. One of the top countries militarily and economically. They dwell safely in their land, compared to what it used to be. They are alive.
Mat 24:32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
“So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!
“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
“and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
“Then two will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
“Two will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
The fig tree is blooming. God loves us so wisely, that He has spelled all this out for us in prophecy. The prophets told of these things. Isaiah, Hosea, Ezekiel, Zechariah all speak in detail about these things. God, in His love, is not hiding these things from His people. The longest answer Jesus gave to any question was regarding these last day events. We can’t say we didn’t know. Many people refuse to believe the prophets. Everything they prophesied has come to pass and will come to pass.
Heb 10 says, And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. And not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another." And then, he says, "And so much more as you see the day approaching."
We see the day approaching. You see Israel back after 2000 years. You see Jerusalem is in their control. It is their Capitol! You see the Temple Institute preparing for another temple. The red heifer is back, the blue dye has been discovered. You see Russia on the border. Iran and Turkey, Sudan, and Libya, are ready for the Eze 38 war, Gog and Magog. It is hot over there right now. Ethiopia is taking 25% of the Nile River from Egypt. Turkey is more aggressive than ever and trying to resurrect the Ottoman Empire. Europe, with all the satanic practices and schemes, and confusion and darkness, is ready for the anti-Christ to be revealed. They boast of the Babylonian alter and the woman on the beast is inscribed on their coins and portrayed at entrances to EU buildings. The anti-christ is being groomed even now. It’s been said that when the rapture happens, most of Europe won’t even know it happened. The day is approaching. Amir Isarfati
How to get a good night of sleep
Song of Solomon 5:2 “I sleep but my heart is awake, it is the voice of my beloved that knocks.”
This very romantic phrase carries very deep spiritual insight. The lover may be asleep, but her heart is awake waiting for that knock at the door.
The Hebrew word for sleep is yishen (ya-shane). It also has the idea of receiving a revelation while asleep.
Our hearts are awake when we sleep. When we are asleep our hearts are open to whatever comes knocking. The word knock in Hebrew has the idea of standing at a doorway, knocking, speaking and calling.
Your heart is awake, and it is getting a lot of callers at night. It may be fear, doubt, worry, etc. or it may be Jesus. He comes a calling every night. He wants to come in and show you things. That’s why some dreams are filled with symbols.
One-third of our lives are spent sleeping. If our time on earth is so short, why did God create us so that we end up spending one-third of it in an unconscious state. Perhaps that one-third part of our lives is the most important part in terms of our relationship with God, for it is that one third that He can have us completely. It is up to us who we will open our door to.
So, how do we open the door to our nightly visitors? Psalms 1:2: “In His law he mediates day and night.” How can you meditate on the Word of God at night if you are sleeping? Apparently, if you are meditating on the Word God as you go to sleep, your awakened heart will continue the meditation when Jesus comes a calling, your heart will open its door to Him. Of course, if you are meditating on fear, lust, worry, anger, etc. that is what your heart will open its the door to at night. Whatever you fill your heart with before you go to sleep will determine who your heart will open itself to when you are asleep.
If you meditate on God’s Word or think about Jesus and His love for you before you go to sleep….while you sleep, your heart will be awake to the voice of your Beloved Who comes knocking. Chaim Bentorah
Clothed in His righteousness
SEE YOURSELF CLOTHED IN JESUS’ RIGHTEOUSNESS
Are you, like some believers today, still rather confused about the gift of righteousness you have received through Christ? Perhaps you’ve heard through conventional theology that although you were made righteous by grace (called “positional righteousness”), you now have to do right and keep the law to continue being righteous. (They call this having “practical righteousness.”)
My friend, this is something that Apostle Paul never taught! Today’s scripture declares that there is only one righteousness of God that we are to submit to. It is clear that Paul is against any teaching that says you have to merit or maintain your own righteousness. You are either righteous or you are not. There is no such thing as first having “positional righteousness” and then having to maintain that through “practical righteousness.” You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period!
There are many believers who are very sincere about keeping the law and establishing their own righteousness, but I’m sorry to say this: they are sincerely wrong. God’s way is by grace. Righteousness cannot be earned by good works. It can only be received as a gift. A gift is no longer a gift if you have to work for it. If I gave you a brand new, dazzling red Ferrari on the condition that you pay me US$20,000 every month until it is all paid up, is the Ferrari really a gift? Of course not! How can it be a gift if you have to pay or work for it? That is double-talk! So stop trying to earn God’s gifts with your own works. His gifts to us are without conditions attached and can only be received by faith.
Many believers are defeated today because they are trying to earn their own righteousness by their law keeping and good works. My friend, start believing that righteousness is a gift because of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross for you. All your sins—past, present, and future—have been washed away by His precious blood. You were completely forgiven the moment you received Jesus into your life. You will never be held liable by God for your sins ever again. You have been made as righteous as Jesus not through your behavior, but by faith in Him and His finished work on the cross (Phil. 3:9).
Perhaps you are saying, “But I didn’t do anything to become righteous!” That is exactly right. And Jesus did nothing to become sin. Being clothed with Jesus’ perfect righteousness is a gift that He purchased for you with His own blood! Therefore, righteousness before the Lord cannot be earned. Your righteous standing or right standing before Him can only be received as a gift. Today, your right to be righteous is a blood-bought right! There is nothing you can do that will make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do that will make Him love you less. He loves you perfectly and sees you clothed with Jesus’ righteousness.
My friend, you no longer have to live confused about your standing before God. Know that when God sees you today, He sees you clothed with Jesus’ righteousness. Use your faith to believe that God accepts you and sees you righteous, blessed, favored, and healed. See yourself as God sees you and begin to be set free from every pang of guilt, all forms of condemnation, and every kind of bondage and sin!
This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs. Joseph Prince
The Word of God is a weapon
The Weapon Of The Word
January 24
Luke 4:4, 'And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'
MT. 4:1-11; MK. 1:12-13; LK. 4:1-13
Jesus answered every temptation with, 'It is written.' The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). It is the only offensive spiritual weapon that we have.
Since Jesus was the Word of God (Jn. 1:1), anything he would have spoken would have been the Word. He could have said 'scat' and the devil would have had to go, yet He quoted the written Word of God three times.
This gives us great assurance that the written Word of God is sufficient for us. Jesus, in the face of the greatest temptations that Satan had to offer, did not need to say anything that was not already recorded in scripture.
It is likely that when Jesus returns to this earth and destroys His enemies, He will just speak the Word that has already been given in scripture. No wonder Satan tries to keep us from studying and knowing God's Word. Even our good works will hurt us if they keep us from really knowing the scriptures.
God has given us this mighty weapon of His Word! When we speak the Word in faith, hell shakes. Satan and his minions have already experienced what the Word can do. They know its power. We need to know it, too.
No Condemnation
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned.”John 3:17–18
- JANUARY 22 -
NO CONDEMNATION
My friend, if you’ve been living in the abyss of fear for as long as you can remember, it is time for your liberty. You can begin on this journey of freedom today by believing that God’s heart is full of love, grace, and mercy toward you.
Listen to your Father’s heartbeat in today’s scripture. Do you believe in Jesus? There is no condemnation for anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus! All who call on Him and believe in Him are not condemned but saved. That is the good news of the gospel.
Unfortunately, many believers are still living under the heavy yoke of condemnation and fear because they hear the Mosaic covenant being proclaimed and put themselves under the Ten Commandments.
Look at how the apostle Paul describes the Ten Commandments in 2 Corinthians 3:7–9: “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious . . . how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.”
Can you see the clear distinction that God makes in His Word? The Ten Commandments minister death and condemnation because no man was able to keep God’s perfect law.
Failure to keep the law at any point brings you under its curse, condemns you, and hangs a death sentence over your head. See how in contrast, the covenant of grace “exceeds much more in glory” because it ministers the spirit of liberty and the gift of God’s righteousness.
Now, please understand this: the Ten Commandments are glorious! The problem has never been the Ten Commandments or God’s perfect law. The problem has always been imperfect man’s ability to keep God’s perfect law. That is why our Lord Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it on our behalf (Matt. 5:17).
And the law was perfectly fulfilled at the cross when He cried out, “Finished!” (John 19:30). He met the demands of the first covenant, which is the Mosaic covenant of the Ten Commandments, in order to put the second, which is the new covenant of God’s grace, into effect (Heb. 10:9–10 NLT)!
Beloved, we are in the age of God’s grace. That is why we preach the gospel of grace! My friend, the cross of Jesus has made all the difference! You no longer have to live in condemnation and fear under the old covenant of the law. You are now under the new covenant of grace, where you are fully forgiven, justified, and made righteous by Jesus’ blood to reign in life.
When you realize you are justified by faith and not by your works in the new covenant of God’s grace, something liberating happens. You become free from the ministry of condemnation and the death it ministers—guilt, insecurity, dread, anxieties, and all sorts of debilitating fears.
Condemnation robs you of peace in your heart and of joy in your relationship with your Father. It robs you of faith and confidence in His love and ability to save you.
But when you know and believe you are not under the ministry of condemnation but the ministry of righteousness, you can come freely before your heavenly Father and cast every concern on your heart to Him. You will not be constantly fearful that your failures will cause Him to punish you or withhold His blessings and protection from you, because you know that Jesus bore the punishment meant for you upon Himself at the cross.
My friend, perhaps you know what it’s like to battle fear every day. Perhaps you’ve been plagued by fears of being unable to cope with certain changes in your circumstances. Maybe fearful thoughts of losing your health, your job, your children, or your very life keep you awake at night. Perhaps you suffer from severe anxiety attacks and the very thought of going anywhere outside of your home fills you with suffocating fear.
I want you to know that this is not the life God wants you to live. Through the sacrifice of His Son and the perfection of Christ’s finished work, He has made a way for you to live free from the captivity of fear.
This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution. Joseph Prince
Meditate on God's word
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.Joshua 1:8
- JANUARY 21 -
MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD
Look at the instructions that God gave Joshua when he was appointed as Moses’ successor: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
God told Joshua that to have good success, he had to meditate on the law day and night. Joshua lived under the old covenant, so how should we, who live under the new covenant, benefit from this scripture?
We need to read this portion of Scripture in view of Jesus’ finished work. That is why it is essential for you to be firmly established on the rock-solid foundation of the new covenant of grace. Now that you know that we are no longer under the law, what is the new covenant way to be blessed and to experience good success?
Joshua only had the law to meditate upon because the New Testament had not been written yet. For us, the secret to good success is found in meditating on God’s Word in the light of the new covenant of grace.
Before we can go into what it means to meditate on God’s Word, what exactly does it mean to “meditate”?
When the Bible talks about meditation, it’s not referring to a mental exercise. The Hebrew word for meditation in the Old Testament is the word hagah, which means to utter or mutter. So to hagah is to speak under your breath.
Notice that the Lord told Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth.” He did not say that it “shall not depart from your mind.” The key to meditating on God’s Word is not mental contemplation. It is in speaking God’s promises with your mouth!
“Pastor Prince, does this mean that I should keep repeating God’s Word? For instance, should I keep saying ‘by His stripes I am healed’ when I need healing?”
Meditating on God’s Word does not mean making vain repetitions of scriptures. It is much more and is something that first occurs deep in your heart. The psalmist David captured the essence of meditation most aptly when he said, “My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue” (Ps. 39:3).
As you are meditating on God’s Word, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a fresh revelation of Jesus. Let that scripture burn with revelation in your heart. And as you speak out of that burning revelation, God anoints the words that you speak. When you declare, “By His stripes I am healed,” and that declaration is uttered with a sense of revelation and faith in Jesus, there will be power in your declaration!
This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor. Joseph Prince
Knowing your value makes a difference
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor), comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word.2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 AMPC
- JANUARY 19 -
KNOWING YOUR VALUE MAKES A DIFFERENCE
It is the Father’s love for you that gives you the power to overcome every mistake, failure, and sin in your life. The Bible puts it this way: “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Rom. 6:14 NLT). Isn’t that beautiful?
Today you are living under the freedom of God’s amazing grace—His unmerited, undeserved, and unearned favor in your life. Grace gives you freedom. Freedom from lack, from fear, from addictions, from the torment of guilt, and from every curse and every sin! The more you experience the love and grace of your heavenly Father, the more you fall in love with Him and out of love with sin.
Did you know that the enemy has no hold over people who know their Father loves them? If Adam and Eve had believed in God’s love for them, the devil would not have been successful in tempting them. Unfortunately, they chose to believe the lie that the serpent had planted by portraying God as stingy and selfish, as if He was withholding something good from them.
That’s why I want you to be anchored in the Father’s love. You will be unshakable. You will have no desire to touch certain things, go to certain places, or be associated with certain people. You will keep away from negative influences because you trust your Father’s heart for you and believe that He only wants what’s best for you. You rest, knowing that He is watching out for you to protect you and insulate you from harm.
I’ve seen that children who are secure in their father’s love are able to say no to all kinds of temptations. This is because that vacuum in their lives is already filled. They don’t have to do things to win the approval of their friends when they can find absolute security, identity, and approval in their parents’ love for them and, most of all, in their heavenly Father’s love for them.
In the same way, when we trust in our Father’s love for us, we will have the power to say no to temptations. When you have an abiding revelation of just how valuable, precious, and righteous you are in Christ, it becomes increasingly easy to say no to sin.
The more righteousness-conscious you are and the more conscious of how valuable and precious you are in Christ, the more you will know that your righteous identity in Christ and sin don’t go together—and the more you will experience the power to say no to temptation.
This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing. Joseph Prince
What produces peace in your heart?
. . . giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.Colossians 1:12
- JANUARY 16 -
WHAT PRODUCES PEACE IN YOUR HEART?
Several years ago, I had the privilege of counseling one of my wife’s close friends. Wendy’s friend was a young Christian who attended another church. Over dinner, she shared that one of her spiritual leaders had told her that the Christian life was difficult, and that she had to suffer for the Lord and pay her dues. She was told that she had to work hard, pray hard, and make sure that she read the Bible every day so that God would be pleased with her.
Once she shared all that with us, I felt that it was my responsibility to tell her the good news. So I shared with her that we do not read the Bible because we want to qualify for God’s blessings. We read the Bible to find out about our blessings and inheritance in Christ.
See the difference? I told her that if I stopped reading the Bible for a few days, I should not be feeling guilty; I should be feeling hungry.
God is not pleased with us on the condition that we read the Bible, pray long prayers, and pay our dues. No, absolutely not! He is pleased with us because our trust is in Jesus, who qualified us.
The Bible never said that it is our works that qualify us. Today’s scripture says, “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”
It is the Father who has qualified us, and He qualified us by sending His Son to save us. He has qualified us to be partakers of His favor, healing, provision, love, joy, peace, and well-being. All these blessings are the inheritance of the saints, purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. We partake of our inheritance by giving thanks to the Father for sending His Son.
I shared with this lady that she can wake up every day and say, “Father, I thank You that You have qualified me to walk in victory, healing, and supply.” I told her that she should not be racking her brains wondering what she must do to qualify for God’s goodness. His goodness is already hers!
There are too many teachings today telling believers what they must do to qualify for this and that. God’s way is for us to know that through Jesus, we are already qualified.
At the end of the dinner, I said, “Test whatever I have shared with you about the goodness of God, His grace, and Jesus’ work at the cross against what you have been taught. Which produces peace in your heart? Joy and peace are the trademarks of the kingdom of God. God is not the author of confusion.”
She reflected on what I had shared with her and said, “While I may not understand everything about Jesus because I am a baby Christian, I know that all you’ve shared has produced great peace and joy in my heart.”
Let me ask you the same question today: what produces more peace and joy in your heart—to know that God will never punish and condemn you again for your sins because Jesus has already been punished and condemned for you, or to hear that God is sometimes pleased but sometimes angry with you depending on how you perform?
Beloved, the answer is found in Jesus and His finished work. It is found in His grace, not in your own doing. By trying to qualify yourself today for God’s blessings with all your Bible reading, praying, and hard work, you are asking Him to assess and judge you according to your goodness and faithfulness.
Is that what you really want? If not, then begin to put your trust in the finished work of Christ today and enjoy peace, joy, and every blessing that flows from His unconditional love for you!
This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs. Joseph Prince Ministries
Look to Jesus
“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”2 Chronicles 20:12 NIV
- JANUARY 13 -
FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS
Today I’d like to share with you a powerful truth that will help you see how you can effectively drive fear out of your life and keep it out. It is a precious truth that will garrison your heart and mind from the enemy’s lies.
Take time to worship the Lord, especially when it feels like overwhelming odds are against you. Do what King Jehoshaphat did when his enemies joined forces and amassed a formidable army to destroy Israel.
In the natural, Jehoshaphat knew Israel had no chance of winning the battle. But he chose to do something you and I need to learn to do whenever we are besieged by our enemies. He cried out to the Lord, saying, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chron. 20:12 NIV). Jehoshaphat then placed not commandos but worshipers at the head of his army, and this is what they sang: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever” (2 Chron. 20:21 NIV).
Instead of despairing because of their enemies, they chose to fix their eyes on the Lord, giving thanks to Him and singing of His love. This happened long before the cross of Jesus. How much more can you and I sing of His love, which never fails, which endures forever!
And do you know what happened? The Lord defeated Israel’s enemies by turning them against each other, and Jehoshaphat’s troops did not even have to lift a finger to fight. Instead, when they came to the place that was supposed to be their battleground, their enemies were already dead, and all they ended up doing was collecting so much plunder that it took them three days to collect it all.
In Jesus’ name, may this happen to you too. When you are overwhelmed by challenges, and you don’t know what to do or even how to feel, just cry out to the Lord and tell Him, “Lord, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You.”
That’s the most powerful posture you can take, with your eyes fixed not on your enemies but on your Savior. As you focus on His love that endures forever, the Lord Himself will fight your battle for you (2 Chron. 20:15).
May you be so conscious of His perfect love that every fear is driven from your life, and may you walk away so much stronger than before your enemies tried to come against you!
This devotional is adapted from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.
You are the Beloved
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”Matthew 3:16–17
- JANUARY 9 -
YOU ARE BELOVED AND WELL PLEASING
After Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness, and the devil came to tempt Him saying, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matt. 4:3).
Many years ago when I was studying this, the Lord opened my eyes and showed me that the devil had subtly left out the word “beloved.” Just moments ago, God the Father had just affirmed Jesus as His beloved Son at the Jordan River. However, when the devil came to tempt Jesus, he removed the word “beloved” and simply said, “If You are the Son of God . . .”
The Lord unveiled to me that if you are reminded that you are the beloved of the Father, you can never be successfully tempted! Even the devil knew this, and that’s why he removed the word “beloved” when he spoke to Jesus. Now that’s a powerful truth!
So every time you are tempted, just remind yourself, “I am God’s beloved child, and my Father loves me.” No temptation can triumph over you when you rest securely in your Father’s love.
Now observe Jesus’ reply. He didn’t have to prove to the devil that He was the Son of God. Secure in His identity as God’s beloved Son, He simply replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4). And what words had the Father just said at the Jordan River? “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
I want to encourage you to personalize this and meditate on it every day! That’s how the Father sees you today. He sees you in Christ, and in Christ you are His precious, beloved child, in whom He is well pleased. Place your hand on your heart and hear your Father in heaven saying these words to you:
“You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”
Would you believe that with all your heart today? If you are struggling to overcome a disorder or addiction, close your eyes and hear your Father saying to you, “You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.” Every time you are fearful, every time you are consumed by worry, anger, or depression, hear your Father saying to you, “You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”
Yes, right in the midst of whatever failures you may be experiencing, you are His beloved child, and He is well pleased with you because you are in Christ. Keep hearing it and repeating it until you find rest, peace, and joy overflowing in your heart.
If you feel like just crying in His presence, cry. He knows what you are going through and He understands—in a way that no one else can—the pain, hurt, suffering, and loss that you are experiencing. Let His perfect love cast out every fear and bring healing and wholeness to your heart.
This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing. Joseph Prince Ministries