Christ Is The Treasure In You November 19, 2020 bizadmin But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 CHRIST IS THE TREASURE IN YOU The verse tells us that we have “this treasure” in earthen vessels. Who is the treasure? Christ! Who are the earthen vessels here? You and I! Thank God the treasure is in the earthen vessels. My friend, Christ the treasure is in you. So don’t get frustrated when you see your “earthiness.” You will always be “earthen” as long as you are in your mortal body, but remember that Christ the treasure is in you. Should you lose your cool with your spouse or children, remember that Christ in you is your patience. When I feel impatient, I don’t pray, “Lord Jesus, give me patience…now!” No, I look to Jesus and I say, “Lord Jesus, I thank You that You are my patience.” In my younger days and even when I first got married, I had a bad temper. I tried all sorts of anger management techniques, but I never got very far until I told God, “God, I am so frustrated trying to overcome my anger. I give up! I cannot. You can. I rest and depend on You.” Not too long after that, my wife commented, “You know, you have improved in the area of your temper.” I thought about what she had said and realized that I was not even conscious of the change in me. When family members can see the patience of Christ manifesting through a naturally impatient person, God gets the glory. Perhaps you are frustrated with your smoking and drinking habits. Or maybe you are discouraged by your feelings of jealousy, distrust, bitterness, depression and defeat. Don’t condemn yourself for being earthen. Don’t try to “cast out” your earthiness. Just realize that you have Christ the treasure in you. The more you see that treasure in you, the more Christ’s brilliance shines forth in you. And in the midst of your earthiness, God gets the glory as you yourself are transformed from glory to glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:18)!
‘Help Me Pray, Holy Spirit’ November 5, 2020 bizadmin But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, Jude 1:20 ‘HELP ME PRAY, HOLY SPIRIT’ When my daughter Jessica was little, she woke up one night crying. She was not sick, but would not stop crying even though her mother and I tried to pacify her. I did not know what to do. I went to the restroom, sat on the floor and cried out, “Holy Spirit, You know what is wrong with my child. You know what she needs better than I do, so I yield her to You now.” I started praying in tongues and she stopped crying immediately! Now, I wish that such instantaneous results are the norm, but they are not. On another occasion, I experienced severe pain from the back of my neck to my shoulders. I prayed for healing, but the pain persisted for quite some time and I was quite concerned. One night, in my room, I knelt down and prayed, “Holy Spirit, You know this condition. I don’t know what it is, but I am asking You to make perfect prayer against this condition.” I started praying in tongues. I don’t know how long I prayed, maybe an hour or so, until I felt the burden lift. I finally fell asleep, still in pain. But when I woke up, all the pain was gone! When you are faced with a crisis, you can tell the Holy Spirit, “I don’t know how to pray about this problem. I have done everything I know, but I don’t seem to be getting my breakthrough. Help me pray, Holy Spirit.” And as you pray in the Spirit, you will feel like there is a prayer going on within you. Flow with it until you feel a release. You will feel peace, the burden lifting and a note of victory inside you. The Holy Spirit will assure you that everything is going to be all right or He will prompt you to do something. Then, you will find that what has been hindering you from receiving your breakthrough is removed, and in its place is the answer you need!
The Life Of Jesus Is In You October 28, 2020 bizadmin …I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 THE LIFE OF JESUS IS IN YOU Though Jesus is completely God, He was born completely human. He went through temptation after temptation and conquered every one of them (see Hebrews 4:15). And all that overcoming power is found in His life. And He put that life in you—the life of Christ is in you! During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He conquered sickness, the winds and waves, the powers of darkness and death. It is His life that brings victory over the devil and all his works. And He put that life in you—the life of Christ is in you! Finally, Jesus went to the cross. And that life in Him put an end to everything that was natural of the Adamic race—sickness, poverty, failures, pains, curses and death. All that was natural ceased to be in that life of His. But all that was supernatural remained in Him. And He put that life in you—the life of Christ is in you! Then, Jesus rose from the dead. And in that life of His was added the power of resurrection. And He put that life in you—the life of Christ is in you! After His resurrection, Jesus went back to heaven to His Father. Today, He is seated at the right hand of God, resting in His finished work, occupying a place of the highest authority. And He put that life in you—the life of Christ is in you! And because Jesus went back to the Father, the Holy Spirit came to indwell you (see John 16:7), so that you will live life with His anointing in you and walk in His overcoming power. All that Jesus is, God meant for you to be. All that He has, God meant for you to have. All the exciting things that you read in the Bible about Jesus, all the treasures of Him hidden in the Old Testament and the unsearchable riches in Him that you find in the New Testament, all of that life of His, is not out there somewhere. God has deposited all of it in you, so that you can live the abundant life that Jesus came to give you!
Cultivate Your Giftings With God’s Wisdom October 22, 2020 bizadmin A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; wherever he turns, he prospers. Proverbs 17:8 CULTIVATE YOUR GIFTINGS WITH GOD’S WISDOM When we see something moldy, we throw it away. But when Alexander Fleming saw his culture dishes contaminated with mold, he discovered penicillin. You see, he had a gift which prospered him. Joseph, a Hebrew slave in Egypt, had nothing except his gift of interpreting dreams. But look at what that gift did for him. It prospered him. He interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and became the most powerful man in Egypt after Pharaoh (see Genesis 41). “But Pastor Prince, what if I don’t have any gift?” My friend, don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have any gift. God has given each person a gift which can open doors of opportunities and bring in great blessings. Maybe you are just not aware of that gift you have inside you, or perhaps it has profited you nothing thus far as you have not found out how best to use it. You need to take your gift and ask God for wisdom to cultivate it until it becomes such a powerful tool or “precious stone” that wherever you turn, you prosper. This was the case with a church brother who was tremendously gifted in the creative arts. For a long time, he lacked the confidence and boldness to leave the security of his police job and step out on his own. But when he began to seek God’s wisdom for his situation, God gave him boldness to leave his job and go back to school to pursue the creative arts. In school, he prospered, becoming one of its top students and impressing the principal so much with his creative gift that he was offered a teaching position in the school even before he graduated. Now, please don’t go and quit your job after reading this. What you should do is ask God for wisdom regarding your gift. For when the wisdom of God is added to your gift, that gift becomes “a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; wherever he turns, he prospers.”
Joint Heirs With Christ Jesus October 12, 2020 bizadmin The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ… Romans 8:16–17 JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST JESUS As long as you are born again, you are no longer a “slave,” but a son of the Most High God. And God does not just call you His son. He also calls you “an heir” through Christ (see Galatians 4:7). In fact, Romans 8:17 says that you are “joint heirs” with Christ. As a joint heir with Christ Jesus, you inherit everything that He is. How precious Jesus is to the Father, is how precious you are to the Father. The way the Father loves Jesus, is the way the Father loves you! How accepted are you by God today? Look at Jesus. That is how accepted you are! Christ is the measure of your acceptance. How favored are you by God? Look at Jesus, who is seated at the Father’s right hand. You enjoy that same favor today because whatever Christ enjoys, you enjoy! As a joint heir with Christ Jesus, you also inherit all that He has obtained from the Father. How much Jesus has, is how much you have. How prosperous is the one who made all things, and who put the gold, silver and diamonds in the earth? So are you in this world (see 1 John 4:17)! I used to read the Bible to find out how to be a successful and victorious Christian. But now, I read it to find out more about Jesus because I know that when I find Him, I find my every blessing in Him (see Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3). My friend, all that Jesus is in heaven today, you are in this world. All that belongs to Him belongs to you. That is why it is in your interest to know Him more, to see Him in all His glory and beauty. And because Jesus is so glorious, it will take you a lifetime to discover everything that He has done for you and has for you. Beloved, you are an heir of the Most High God. You are a joint heir with Christ Jesus. So find out all the blessings that your rich inheritance includes and start walking in them today!
God Is Behind Your Increase October 8, 2020 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!
The Light Of The World Exposes Your Perfection October 4, 2020 bizadmin Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12 Then I was a teenager, I heard preachers saying this: “Jesus is the light of the world. So don’t think for one moment that you can do things behind His back. His light will expose all the bad things that you have done!” So I was afraid to come near God, fearing that His glorious light would show up my faults, weaknesses and shame. But is this what “the light of the world” does? The truth is found in the context of the verse. Jesus declared that He was the light of the world right after He had told the woman caught in the act of adultery, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” When she said, “No one, Lord,” He said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Then, the Bible tells us that “Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world…’” (John 8:10–12). How wonderful it is to know that when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” His light was not to show up the woman’s sin because He had just told her that He did not condemn her. This tells us that we don’t have to be fearful when we come into God’s presence. He is not there waiting to punish us for our mistakes and failures. His light is not for exposing our sins and shame, or for condemning us. No, His glorious light is for showing us how perfectly His Son’s blood has washed away our sins! That is why Jesus could tell the woman that He did not condemn her—because He would be condemned for her sin as well as ours at the cross. Beloved, Jesus’ light unveils the truth that our sins have been completely removed. It reveals how perfect and spotless we are because of Christ’s perfect work at the cross. When you know this, you can go boldly into God’s presence, knowing that you have the light of life that gives you grace and hope!
Lift Songs Of Praise To The Lord October 3, 2020 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!