The Sure Symbol Of God’s Love February 5, 2020 bizadmin But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 THE SURE SYMBOL OF GOD’S LOVE Imagine this scenario: Your car tire blows and you are late for work. At the office, you find out that someone else got the promotion you had been hoping for. Then, you receive a call from home informing you that your kitchen pipes are leaking again. Before long, you hear a voice telling you, “If God loves you so much, how come all these things are happening to you?” Perhaps you are asking the same question today and wondering if God really loves you. Well, I want you to know that you must never judge God’s love for you based on your circumstances. No, look at the cross instead! The cross is the sure symbol of God’s love for you. It is at the cross that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” A teenager learned that the cross indeed spoke of how much God loves her. At one point in her life, she was contemplating suicide as the only way out of her health problems. She had intended to take some Panadol tablets with a bottle of vodka. She was all ready to die when she started clicking aimlessly on some MP3 songs on her computer. And of all the songs that were on her screen, she picked a beautiful song written by one of our church musicians. [abc] The lyrics of the song, sung by one of our church vocalists, spoke of being held by God’s love and being treasured in His sight. They touched this teenager. Sensing that an awesome God with His amazing love was reaching out to her, she abandoned her plan to kill herself. Not long after that, she wrote to our church and even met the worship leader who had sung the song. The worship leader counseled her and she came to know how much God loves her and how He has demonstrated His love for her through the cross. Beloved, when you look at your life and find yourself wondering if God really loves you, look to the cross and see God’s outstretched arms. It will remind and reassure you of how much He loves you! -Joseph Prince [abc]
God Is For You, Not Against You January 29, 2020 bizadmin What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 GOD IS FOR YOU, NOT AGAINST YOU Are you faced with challenges in your life right now? Are you having marital problems and financial woes? Maybe your child is going astray, or an old illness has returned. What then will you say to all these things? Do you know what God wants you to say? He wants you to say, “If God is for me, who can be against me?” If you knew that the President or the Prime Minister was for you, you might believe that everything will be okay. But you have an even better backing! The Bible tells us that God, the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is for you! What problem can fasten its grip on you when the Almighty God is for you? Can the devil come successfully against you with God on your side? If God is for you today, if God is for you right now, you don’t have to moan, “If only I had this…If only I didn’t say that…” And you don’t have to worry about the future: “What if this happens…What if we don’t have enough…” My friend, regretting the past and worrying about the future, won’t change anything. Look to your heavenly Father, instead. Because He is for you at this present moment, you can be confident that He will help you and provide for you. Beloved, God sent His Son to die for you. And Jesus gave you a blood-bought right to an abundant life full of meaning and purpose! He gave you a blood-bought right to walk in divine health all the days of your life! He gave you a blood-bought right to His supply even when the economy goes down! You have all these things not because you deserve them, but because Jesus shed His blood and gave you the right to have them. All these blessings are yours today because God is for you! And if God is for you, who can be against you!
God Is Not On A Sin Hunt January 25, 2020 bizadmin For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 GOD IS NOT ON A SIN HUNT When you think of Sodom and Gomorrah, what comes to your mind? God’s wrath and fiery judgment? The truth is that God was not all out to judge the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He was not on a sin hunt. He was, in fact, on a righteousness hunt! This is evident because if God was on a sin hunt, He would not have allowed anyone to stop Him. But we know that He let Abraham in on what He was about to do and even allowed Abraham to entreat Him. Abraham asked God if He would destroy Sodom if He could find 50 righteous people there. God’s reply was, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes” (Genesis 18:26). Abraham then asked God if He would destroy the city if there were only 45…40…30…or 10 righteous. And each time, God’s reply was that He would spare the place for the sake of the righteous. Abraham stopped at 10. If he had gone down to just one righteous man, I believe God’s reply would have been the same because He was on a righteousness hunt. [abc] Now, if God was not all out to destroy then, how much more is today when God has already judged our sins in the body of His Son? At the cross, Jesus exhausted all of God’s fiery judgments until there was no more fire of God’s wrath left for us! Today, God is not judging us for our sins because He has found the righteousness of the one Man—Christ Jesus. So do not let anyone tell you that God judges you for your sins and punishes you with cancer, car accidents, business failures or brokenness. God would be unjust if He punished the same sins twice—in Jesus’ body and then in yours. Beloved, God is not out to judge you but bless you today, not because you deserve it, but because Jesus was judged and punished in your place! [abc]
You Are Already Blessed January 21, 2020 bizadmin ‘I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’ Joshua 24:13 YOU ARE ALREADY BLESSED God is more willing to bless you than you are willing to be blessed! In fact, He is so keen for you to enjoy His abundance that in His mind, giving you over and above what you need is a settled matter. God has already promised: “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” He did not say, “I may give,” which means that it may or may not happen, but He said, “I have given,” which means that it has already happened. It is only a matter of time before your revelation of what you have through the work of Christ brings forth the abundance that He has already blessed you with. A brother in the United States wrote in to share how he needed to buy a car but had only half the amount of money needed. He kept calculating and strategizing, but the sums just weren’t adding up. He finally quit trying to make it happen and just rested in the Lord’s love and ability to provide for him. Weeks later, he was able to buy a car that was two years newer than what he had wanted, at exactly the amount that he had! My friend, expect divine provision in your life because you are already richly blessed in Christ. Jesus took your place of poverty at the cross—“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). In Him, you are poor no more. So stop looking at the lack of your natural resources. Look to the cross and say, “Because of Jesus’ finished work, I can expect to walk in all of His blessings!” – Joseph Prince [abc]
God Gives You Undeserved Preferential Treatment January 16, 2020 bizadmin …Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7 GOD GIVES YOU UNDESERVED PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT When you fly first class in an airplane, the cabin crew gives you first-class treatment. They ask you, “Is everything okay with you, sir?” They ask you what magazines you want to read. They give you a blanket if you are cold. They give you the best kinds of food. They give you preferential treatment compared to those traveling in economy class. The grace of God is defined as “undeserved, unearned and unmerited favor.” And one of the definitions for favor is “preferential treatment”! Today, God wants you to know that you have His favor on you. He wants you to know that He gives you preferential treatment which you do not deserve. And He wants you to depend on and take full advantage of it in your life. [abc] God also wants you to know that His favor in your life can be increased. You can experience more of His favor from day today. How? The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1:2 that God’s grace (or favor) is multiplied to us “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” The more you behold Jesus and His love for you, the more you believe and confess that God’s favor is on you, the more you will see His favor work for you. So if you are a doctor, you will find patients favoring you and you will have more patients than you can handle. If you are a businessman, you will find people just wanting to do business with you because they like you and feel good about you. Then, you will have more business than you can handle and you will need to plan for expansion! When the favor of God shines on your church, you will find its premises too small for the people who queue up week after week to attend the services! So when people wonder and ask, “What is happening here?” you can tell them, “It is the favor of God multiplied all over us!” And it is all undeserved, unearned and unmerited! [abc]
The Gospel Saves In Every Situation January 13, 2020 bizadmin For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… Romans 1:16 THE GOSPEL SAVES IN EVERY SITUATION Each time you hear the gospel of Christ, you are hearing God’s good news for you. And the Bible tells us that the gospel of Christ—the good news that God wants all men to hear—is the very power of God for your salvation, not just from hell, but also from illnesses, financial lack, harm, a failing marriage—every aspect of your life that needs saving! You may say, “Pastor Prince, I’ve heard the gospel of Christ, but it seems like I am one of those whom the power of God has missed.” My friend, when you hear the gospel of Christ, do you really believe it? You cannot just understand it in your mind. You must know and believe the good news in your heart, and then you will see that it is the power of God for your salvation. [abc] But what is the good news that God wants you to know in your heart, which will release the power and salvation of God into your situation? “For in it [the good news], the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17). The good news is that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, which you receive from faith to faith. This means that this righteousness comes because you have faith in His blood, not your good behavior, to make you righteous. It is from faith to faith, not faith to works, or works to works. [abc] The good news is not preached to show you what is wrong with you. It is preached to show you what is right with you because of Jesus’ work at Calvary, in spite of what is wrong with you! There is nothing left for you to do to earn God’s blessings for your life. You only need to hear and believe the all-encompassing saving power of the gospel of Christ to heal you of diseases, preserve you from danger, bless your finances and bring well-being to your family. The world may say that good news is too good to be true. But for those of us who are the righteousness of God in Christ, the good news is so good because it is indeed true! [abc]
You Have First-Class Righteousness January 13, 2020 bizadmin For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 YOU HAVE FIRST-CLASS RIGHTEOUSNESS Some Christians believe that they have to work at becoming more righteous. And they kick themselves when they do wrong. They don’t realize that by doing these things, they are not seeking God’s righteousness, but are trying to establish their own righteousness by their law-keeping and right conduct. Righteousness is not about the right conduct. It is a gift from God to us through Jesus. And since it is a gift, we cannot earn it by our law-keeping and right conduct. We can only receive it! How do we receive this gift? We receive it through the cross. God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” So today, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We are as righteous as Jesus is! But some of us think that in the body of Christ, there are different classes of righteousness, like the seating classes in an airplane. They think that some of us have economy-class righteousness, others have business-class righteousness and a select few have first-class righteousness. [abc] That is nonsense! When God gave us Jesus, He became our righteousness. So we have His righteousness. This means that we are 100 percent righteous in God’s eyes! We cannot but have first-class righteousness! You might say, “Pastor Prince, I don’t understand. How can I be righteous when I have done wrong?” Think about this: Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us. Jesus knew no sin, did no sin and in Him was no sin. But at the cross, He received our sin and became sin for us. Likewise, we, who were sinners, knew no righteousness, did no righteousness and in us was no righteousness. But at the cross, we received His righteousness and became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. At the cross, the divine exchange took place. Jesus took our place so that we might take His place. He did not deserve to be made sin, but He was made sin in our place. We did not deserve to be made righteous, but we were made righteous because we received His righteousness. What good news! What amazing grace! [abc]
When You See God’s Grace, He Sees Your Faith January 13, 2020 bizadmin For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Ephesians 2:8 WHEN YOU SEE GOD’S GRACE, HE SEES YOUR FAITH Many a time, people ask me, “Pastor Prince, I know that God’s promises are true, but how can I be sure that His promises will come true in my life?” My friend, if you want God’s promises to be sure in your life, you cannot depend on yourself. If you depend on yourself—your obedience, goodness, service and even faith—you will not be able to receive God’s promises. But when you depend on God’s grace—His unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor toward you—that is when His promises become sure in your life. [abc] This was true of the woman with the issue of blood (see Matthew 9:20–22). She didn’t go around saying, “I must have faith…I hope that I have enough faith…I will have faith…I will not lose faith.” No, she was only conscious of the grace of Jesus—how He always healed the sick, how powerful He was in raising the dead and how willing He was to use that power for her healing. She just saw His grace abounding toward her, so much so that she said, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” And when she came behind Jesus and touched the very hem of His garment, she was healed. At that same moment, Jesus stopped, turned around and said to her, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” When the woman saw His grace, God saw her faith! And so it was by grace, through faith, that God’s promise became sure in her life. [abc] God wants you to see His grace. And when you see His grace, He sees your faith. God says, “For by grace are you saved through faith.” The Greek word for “saved,” sozo, doesn’t just mean to save from hell, but also to heal, preserve and make whole. So it is by grace that you are made whole, kept healthy, preserved and blessed. It is by grace through faith that God’s promises become sure in your life. My friend, don’t worry if you feel that you lack faith. Begin to see God’s grace in your situation and He will see that as faith. And because He sees your faith, you will receive the breakthrough you need! [abc]