Pronounce Yourself Clean October 12, 2019 bizadmin Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:3 PRONOUNCE YOURSELF CLEAN! Most of us are familiar with the healing of the leper in Matthew 8. It is a beautiful account of God’s willingness to touch and heal the sick, no matter how unclean they may be. Whenever we doubt God’s desire to heal us, we should listen to the words of Jesus again: “I am willing; be cleansed.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Since the Bible is clear about God’s willingness to heal, why do we still have problems with our health? Why do we still experience symptoms in our bodies? I believe that the answer is found in what Jesus told the leper to do next. He told him to go and show himself to the priest (see Matthew 8:4). This was the law than for lepers who were healed (see Leviticus 14:2–3). And he was to hear the priest pronounce the word “clean” over him (see Leviticus 14:7). You see, as believers, when we received Jesus, His blood cleansed us from sin as well as sickness (see Isaiah 53:4–5). But we keep hearing people pronounce sin, sickness, poverty, and death over us. We keep hearing people tell us that we are unclean, undeserving, poor, weak and that it is only natural that we grow old and sickly and die. God is waiting for a priesthood that will rise and pronounce His people clean! “But Pastor Prince, where can I find such priests?” Who are the priests today? You and I! We have more authority to pronounce good things than the Levitical priests of the Old Testament. They were just priests. But we are king-priests by the blood of Jesus (see Revelation 1:5–6)! Where the word of the king is, there is power (see Ecclesiastes 8:4). And by the word of a priest, every controversy and every assault shall be settled (see Deuteronomy 21:5). Beloved, God has cleansed you, so pronounce yourself clean! Right now, put your hand on your heart and declare good things over yourself. Say, “I pronounce myself clean, righteous, healed, whole, and abundantly supplied by the blood of Jesus!” By your word as a king-priest, every assault against you shall be settled! -Joseph Prince
God is behind your Increase October 11, 2019 bizadmin So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:7 GOD IS BEHIND YOUR INCREASE Sometimes, we think that the increase or success which we enjoy is the result of our own efforts or hard work. Now, I am not advocating laziness, but the truth is that God is the one behind our increase. We see this truth when we read the story of Ruth, a young widow from Moab, who worked as a gleaner in a barley field from morning till evening. Now, we could attribute the entire ephah—a substantial 10-day supply—of barley she collected at the end of the day to her hard work. After all, she did work all day in the field. But when we read about how Boaz, the owner of the field, had secretly told his reapers to “let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean” (Ruth 2:16), we know that it was because of Boaz’s intervention that Ruth ended up with so much. I believe that Jesus, our heavenly Boaz, does the same thing for us today. He causes people to favor us and “drop” blessings on us because He loves us. Then, He causes us to “pick up” these blessings. Often, it happens so seemingly naturally we forget that it is the Lord who has blessed us with the increases. A church member who runs a florist business shared that once, God caused someone who needed a lot of flowers to “drop” a huge order with her. She also shared that she was hardly making any money even though she had been working hard for many years. But when she became a Christian after coming to our church, she began to confess every day that God’s favor was on her. Within a few weeks, that big order worth S$14,000 came in. Only God could have given her such a supernatural increase. My friend, your hard work is not behind your increase. The Bible tells us that it is “God who gives the increase.” He is the one who is behind your increase, and He delights in blessing you because He loves you! -Joseph Prince
Life under the New Covenant October 5, 2019 bizadmin …I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts… Hebrews 8:10 LIFE UNDER THE NEW COVENANT What laws was God referring to when He said, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts”? He was certainly not referring to the Ten Commandments, known as the laws of the old covenant since He said that He found fault with that covenant and declared it obsolete (see Hebrews 8:7–9, 13). The laws that God puts in our minds and writes on our hearts refer to the royal law of love (see Matthew 22:37–40), the perfect law of liberty (see James 1:25), and the law of faith (see Romans 3:27). These are the laws of the new covenant. You live according to the laws of the new covenant when you are conscious of how much God loves you. And the more you are conscious of His love for you; the more your heart is filled with love. When that happens, you will love God and the people around you supernaturally and effortlessly. That is God writing on your heart the royal law of love—that we love because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19). Secondly, when you know that you are perfectly accepted by God because of Jesus’ sacrifice, you can have the courage and liberty as a child of God to come boldly into the presence of your heavenly Father. And in His presence, He can write on your heart new desires. You will find yourself wanting to do the right thing at the right time. You will live life victoriously from the inside out. This is the perfect law of liberty operating in your life. Thirdly, when you sense what God is writing on your heart and putting in your mind, and as your faith is activated causing you to trust Him and His love for you, He calls it obeying the law of faith. When that happens, whatever you believe, you receive it! My friend, God, has made it easy—and you will find that it is exciting—to live life under the new covenant! -Joseph Prince
Not Satisfied with Just Being Saved October 2, 2019 bizadmin Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants, I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7 NOT SATISFIED WITH JUST BEING SAVED I don’t know about you, but I am not satisfied with just knowing that I am righteous by faith. I also want to get to know the One who made me righteous. I want to have an intimate relationship with my Savior! Abraham was such a man. He was righteous by faith, but he also had a close walk with God and was blessed by God in all things (see Genesis 24:1). His nephew Lot, on the other hand, although righteous too (see 2 Peter 2:7–8), had no heart for God. He ended up losing a lot when Sodom, the city he dwelt in, was destroyed along with Gomorrah. He was saved by the skin of his teeth! My friend, do you want to be a Christian like Lot, righteous but always finding yourself in trouble, or do you want to be a righteous-and-blessed Christian like Abraham? Then, like Abraham, have a heart for God. From place to place, Abraham would build an altar to the Lord. And in between altars, he grew very rich (see Genesis 13:2)! There is no biblical record, however, of Lot ever building an altar to the Lord. What is an “altar” in today’s context? It is a place where you know that you have a close relationship with God. For example, when my late father was in the hospital, I was worried and did not know what to do. I remember driving down the road and crying. After a while, I just threw my cares to the Lord. When I reached the hospital, I just laid my hands on my father and said, “Be healed in Jesus’ name.” And he was healed! Till today, I can remember the place where I had cast my cares to the Lord and leaned on His love for me. That is my “altar.” And it is not the only one. We have got to have this kind of relationship with God, one full of “altars” that remind us of His love, goodness, and faithfulness. Let’s not live the Christian life like Lot, saved by the skin of our teeth. Let’s walk closely with God as Abraham did, and be richly blessed in every area of our lives! -Joseph Prince
Lift Songs of Praise to the Lord September 28, 2019 bizadmin Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17 LIFT SONGS OF PRAISE TO THE LORD God wants us to walk as wise men and women, and not as fools (see Ephesians 5:15). Now, He will not tell us to walk in wisdom without showing us how. That is why His Word goes on to say, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” So what is the will of God? The next two verses tell us how to identify it: “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord ” (Ephesians 5:18–19). As you allow yourself to be filled with the Spirit by lifting songs of praise to the Lord, singing or speaking (God knows some of us can’t sing!) psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and making melody in your heart to the Lord, God promises that you will know what His will is for your situation. You will then have the wisdom to decide wisely what to do next. I have found this to be true in my own life. Whenever I face a difficult situation, the more I think about it, the more confused I get. The more I try my best to come up with a smart solution, the further the answer seems to get from me. But when I turn away from my problem and turn to God, singing in the Spirit and praising Him, I get a clearer perspective of the problem when I come back to it later. I also find an inner prompting to make certain decisions which in the end, turn out to be better than anything I could have come up with on my own. So my friend, lift up songs of praise to the Lord, whether times are good or bad. For when you fill your mouth with praises to God, He will lead you and guide you in all the affairs of your life. Even if you are stuck with a problem, He will show you the way to go or make a way out for you. Either way, you will get the wisdom and help that you need! -Joseph Prince
Give God’s Word Priority And See Good Success September 25, 2019 bizadmin 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 success. Joshua 1:8 GIVE GOD’S WORD PRIORITY AND SEE GOOD SUCCESS In life, there is a good success and bad success. Bad success is the kind of success which robs you of time with your family, friends, and church, and destroys your health and relationships. With good success, on the other hand, you see prosperity in every area of your life. God wants you to enjoy good success and the key to this lies in what God told Joshua when he took over the reins following the death of his leader Moses—“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.” Spending time in God’s Word daily will give you godly wisdom, which will make your way prosperous and give you good success. Look at how Joshua’s life turned out in the end. When Joshua died, “they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash” (Joshua 24:30). Joshua had a whole mountain for his inheritance! This means that he was prosperous and successful! It was also said that Israel served the Lord, not idols or other gods, all the days of Joshua’s life (see Joshua 24:31). This means that while Joshua was around, people were impacted for God’s glory. And at the end of his life, a fulfilled Joshua had this to say, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Having your family loving God and serving Him with you is the most important success and greatest prosperity that you can ever have. Beloved, when God’s Word takes priority in your daily life, not only will your finances be blessed, your ministry and family life will also be blessed!
He Gives His Angels Charge Over You September 23, 2019 bizadmin For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands, they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Psalm 91:11–12 HE GIVES HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU You are about to step onto the road when something pulls you back just in time to avoid being hit by a speeding car. You are shocked. When you come to your senses, you ask yourself, “Could it be that an angel just saved me from a fatal accident?” I believe that angels walk with us. The verse tells us that God has given His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways. This means that they go ahead of you to protect you from the snares of the enemy. But we may not know it when we encounter an angel (see Hebrews 13:2). This was probably the case with a couple in our church who were holidaying at a beach resort on Penang Island when a tsunami struck at about 12.30 pm on 26 December 2004. It was slightly past 11 am when the wife suddenly had a craving for food from the mainland. The couple decided to check out earlier so that they could reach the mainland in time for lunch. While loading their luggage into their car at the hotel driveway, a man impatiently motioned to them to hurry up and get moving. Annoyed by his impatience, they quickly loaded their stuff and drove off. The minute they reached the mainland, they heard that a tsunami had struck Penang Island at the same beach where they were just a while ago. While thanking God for their narrow escape, it suddenly dawned on them that the impatient man could have been an angel charged by God to hurry them off! God tells us that we have an innumerable company of angels (see Hebrews 12:22). And He has given them charge over us to protect us from accidents and other dangers. So don’t live fearfully and limit your life. Believe that God loves you and that His angels walk with you and watch over you! -Joseph Prince
Like Father, Like Son September 21, 2019 bizadmin The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:16 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Everything produces after its kind. Dogs give birth to puppies; cats give birth to kittens, and tigers give birth to tiger cubs. In the same manner, when you are born again, you are born of God. You are a child of the Most High God. He is your Father, and He doesn’t see you in the flesh. He sees you in the Spirit. And His Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are His child. So when the devil comes to you and says, “Well, your father died of cancer, his father died of cancer, and you are going to die of cancer too, just like your father,” just know in your heart that you are like your Father—your Father in heaven! Declare, “I am a child of the Most High God. He doesn’t have cancer, so neither do I!” My friend, when you are born of God, you are born to win. Because your Daddy God is a winner, you are one too! When you wake up in the morning, say, “I am a winner because God is a winner!” When you say that you cannot afford to buy something that you need, you have forgotten which family you now belong to. You have been born again into a very rich family—your Father owns every beast in the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills (see Psalm 50:10)! You have a Daddy God in heaven who is well able to supply all your needs (see Philippians 4:19). Even if there are areas of lack in your life now, don’t worry. Just ask God for the supply because your heavenly Father loves you and wants to supply your needs. When someone talks to you about a problem and asks, “What are we going to do about it?” you should say, “Don’t worry. Let’s talk to Daddy God about it. It is not a problem for Him, so it will not be a problem for us.” Beloved, even when all around you is going under, your Daddy God is still the same heavenly Father who kept Noah’s world afloat, his loved ones safe and sound, and his possessions intact. Your world will never go under because you are God’s beloved child! -Joseph Prince