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coram_deo 13-Jul-21, 06:10 |
 DevotionalsThis is a great statement from a devotional I received today: “If God can be fully proved by the human mind, then He is no greater than the mind that proves Him.” |
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coram_deo 19-Jul-21, 10:27 |
“Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 3:3 CONTINUE IN GOD’S GRACE How were you first impacted by Jesus? Was it through the law or was it His grace in your life that touched your heart? We all began our relationship with the Lord because we were impacted by His love and grace. Let us then continue in that grace. Paul warned the Galatians against turning back to the law after beginning in grace. He said, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace [unmerited favor] of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:6–7). Paul takes this very seriously. He calls any gospel apart from the gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor) a perversion. Attempting to be justified by the works of the Ten Commandments is a perversion of the gospel of Christ. Paul asked the church in Galatia point-blank, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [self-effort]?" (Gal. 3:2–3). Paul was saying to them, "You began by believing in His grace, why are you now depending on your works? That is foolishness! You should be continuing in His unmerited favor!” These are strong words by Paul. Don’t start with grace and end up with the law. Don’t start with the new covenant, only to turn back to the old covenant! There are those who say that they are not justified by the law, but believe that they should keep the law for sanctification. My friend, both justification and sanctification come by our faith in Jesus' finished work alone. When you are established in the new covenant of grace, you will experience a tremendous sense of confidence and security in Christ. When your confidence is in His unmerited favor and not your performance, you will not feel as if you are constantly jumping in and out of His favor and acceptance. It is unfortunate that some believers have put themselves back under the old covenant without realizing it. Sometimes, they feel that God is on their side, but at other times, they feel that God is far away from them. Sometimes, they feel that God is satisfied with them, but at other times, they feel that God is angry with them. All these feelings are based predominantly on their own evaluation of how they have performed, how they feel about themselves, and not how God sees them. Because there is no new covenant scriptural basis for such evaluations, they end up arbitrarily deciding if they are deserving of God’s blessings and favor in their lives or not, when in fact, they actually have access to His blessings all the time, simply because of Jesus and His finished work at the cross. Today, think, talk and act knowing that it is not about you or your works—it is about Jesus and Him alone, and step out into His blessings for you! This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.” |
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coram_deo 20-Jul-21, 09:48 |
Q: How does God even know who I am? – K.G. A: There are three great truths about our journey through life. First, God put us on the journey of life. We were not put on Earth by chance or by accident. Second, God wants to be with us on our journey through life. We must never assume that God is not interested in us. God is not distant; understanding this truth brings hope. Third, God calls us to a new journey – the path of faith and trust in Him. Imagine we hike a path never traveled and come to a fork in the trail. Which path is right? Both lead somewhere – but which one will lead to the right destination? One path appears wider and easier to travel and apparently used by more people, concluding it must be the right way. Then another hiker approaches and we may ask which road would he or she take? Without hesitation the hiker points to the lesser path traveled and waves us onward, “I’ll lead you to your destination.” Then we ask: “How do you know this is right?” The hiker answers: “Because I cut this pathway from start to finish. In fact, I’m headed that way myself, and I’ll walk with you so you won’t get lost.” Which path would we choose? We would likely follow the one who had created that path. This is what Christ says: “Follow Me. I will lead you along the path of righteousness.” This is what God urges us to do: to choose a new path – a different path from the one we have been on. This path is one He has laid out for us, and He assures us that it alone leads to true life. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).” |
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coram_deo 20-Jul-21, 10:51 |
“I have been accused of being one of those health and wealth ‘prosperity gospel’ preachers. Actually, there is no such thing as a ‘prosperity gospel.’ There is only one gospel and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus' finished work on the cross, you can depend on Him for His resurrection life to pulsate and flow in your physical body from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. Sicknesses and diseases are not from God. On the cross, Jesus bore not just our sins, but also our sicknesses, diseases and infirmities, and ‘by His stripes we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5)! That's not all, my friend. On the cross, Jesus bore the curse of poverty! This is what the Word of God declares: ‘For you know the grace [unmerited favor] 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). Read 2 Corinthians 8 for yourself. The entire chapter is about money and being a blessing financially to those who are in need. So don't let anyone tell you that the verse is referring to ‘spiritual’ riches. Let me tell you this: It is the devil who wants you sick and poor, but the God I know has paid a heavy price to redeem you from the curse of sickness and poverty! Let's understand how God deals with us from the point of relationship. As parents, we always seek the best things for our children. How much more would our Father in heaven want the best things for us, His precious children? In the same way that you want your children to be healthy, God wants you to enjoy His divine health. And in the same way that you want your children to always have more than enough, God wants you to enjoy His supernatural provision. When He provides, get ready for a net-breaking, boat-sinking load (Luke 5:6–7). Get ready for 12 baskets full of leftovers (John 6:13)! The Bible puts things in perspective most clearly in Matthew 7:11—If you then, as imperfect parents, ‘know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him’ “! |
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coram_deo 21-Jul-21, 06:05 |
“VERSE OF THE DAY July 21 Hebrews 13:5-6 5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” |
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coram_deo 22-Jul-21, 21:10 |
“But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.” (Jeremiah 20:11) Do you know that the best time to thank Jesus for His presence is when you don't "feel" His presence? When it comes to the presence of Jesus, don't go by your feelings. Feelings can be deceptive. Go by His promise that He is Immanuel—God with us! Have you heard the story of a groom who approached his pastor almost immediately after his wedding ceremony? He went up to his pastor and said, "Pastor, can I talk to you for a second?" "Sure," the pastor replied. The groom said, "You know what, I don't feel married." The pastor grabbed him by the collar and growled, "Listen, boy. You ARE married whether you feel it or not, understand? Just take it by faith that you are married!" You see, my friend, you can't go by your feelings. You go by the truth and the truth is this: God promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So the best time to practice His presence is precisely when you feel like Jesus is 100,000 miles away. Remember that feelings aren't based on truth. God's Word is truth! Soon after I graduated from high school, I took on a part-time job to teach in an elementary school where I was placed in charge of a class of 10-year-olds. I remember one day, when I was practicing His presence, I knelt down in my living room and prayed, "Lord, I just thank You that You are always with me." As I was on my knees, the Lord told me to pray specifically for one of the girls in my class who had been absent from school that day. Now, it is very common for kids to miss class now and then for various reasons, and I had never been led by the Lord to pray specifically for any of them. This girl was the first! The Lord told me very clearly to pray for His protection to be over this girl and to cover her with His precious blood. The next day, there was a big commotion in the school and I found out that the girl had been kidnapped by a notorious serial killer that very afternoon when the Lord had told me to pray for her. The killer, Adrian Lim, had kidnapped several children to be offered up as sacrifices to the devil. He believed that Satan would give him power when he offered the blood of these children to him. Over the next couple of days, this girl from my class was all over our national media because she had been miraculously released. Sadly, she was the only girl released. All the other kidnapped children had been brutally murdered. When she returned to class, I asked her how she came to be freed. She told me that her kidnapper was "praying" over her when suddenly he stopped and told her, "The gods do not want you." She was quickly released that evening. Of course, you and I know why the "gods" didn't want her—she was covered and protected by Jesus' blood! Listen to what I am saying here. In America today and around the world, the devil is trying to destroy a new generation because he is afraid that the young people of the new millennium are going to take over the world for Jesus. That is why we have to cover our children with Jesus' protection. I am sharing all this with you because I want you to see the importance and power of practicing His presence. As a teacher during that time, my class was my responsibility, just like my congregation is my responsibility today. Think with me: How in the world, with my finite knowledge and intelligence, could I have known that one of my students was in grave danger? It is not possible! But because the Lord, who knows all things, was with me, He enabled me to make a difference in my student's life. Similarly, whatever role or vocation you are in, whether you are a schoolteacher, business leader or homemaker, I want you to know that Jesus is with you and He wants to make you a success. Now, remember, all this happened to me before I became a full-time pastor, so please don't think that this unmerited favor from Jesus is only for pastors. Beloved, His unmerited favor is for you. The Lord Immanuel is with you.“ |
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coram_deo 23-Jul-21, 11:02 |
“There once was a wealthy man who loved his one and only son above all things. Together, they spent ten years building one of the rarest, most valuable art collections in the world, with everything from Picasso to Raphael. Then war broke out and the son went off to fight. One day the father’s worst fears were realized when the war department informed him his beloved son had been killed while attempting to rescue another soldier. About six months later, a young soldier with a large package under his arm visited the wealthy man and said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the man your son saved the day he died. Your son was my friend and we spent many nights talking about you and your love for art.” Then he held out his package and said, “I’m not much of an artist, but I wanted you to have this painting I’ve done of your son as I last remember him.” The father found himself gazing at a portrait of his one and only son. Fighting back tears, he said, “You have captured the essence of my son’s smile in this painting and I will cherish it above all others.” The father hung the portrait of his son over his mantelpiece and showed it to visitors before any of the other masterpieces. When the father died, his entire collection of masterpieces was offered at an exclusive private auction. Collectors and art experts from around the world gathered and were surprised when the first painting on the auction block was the soldier’s modest rendering of the man’s son. The auctioneer asked someone to start bidding, but the sophisticated crowd scoffed and demanded for the Van Goghs and Rembrandts to be brought forth. The auctioneer persisted, but when no bid was offered, the crowd hissed for the auction to move on. Still, the auctioneer asked, “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?” Finally a voice from the back said, “I’ll bid ten dollars for the son.” The bidder was none other than the young soldier whom the son had died saving. He said, “All I have is ten dollars to my name, but I’ll bid it all for the painting.” The auctioneer continued to seek a higher bid, but the angry crowd shouted, “Sell it to him and let’s get on with the auction.” The auctioneer pounded the gavel and sold the painting to the soldier for the bid of ten dollars. “Finally, we can get on with the auction,” someone from the second row bellowed. But right at that moment, the auctioneer announced, “The auction is now officially closed.” The crowd gathered there was shocked and demanded to know why. The auctioneer simply replied, “According to the wishes of the deceased, only the painting of the son was to be sold today. And whoever gets this painting gets it all—every piece of art in this priceless collection and the entire estate in which it is housed. The auction is closed.” And with the swing of his gavel, he left the crowd sitting in stunned silence, staring at the young soldier. Every time I think about this story, I think of how, like the father in the story, God is looking for people who value and appreciate His Son. Whoever receives the Son receives all of God’s blessings. To the one who values His Son, He gives every good thing He has. And how do we value His Son? One of the primary ways is by taking time to hear Him. Hear His words of grace to us and hear what He has done for us through His sacrifice at the cross. In today’s scripture, the psalmist says, “I will hear what God the LORD will say; for He will speak peace to His people.” The Hebrew word for “peace” here is shalom, which means completeness, soundness, well-being in body and mind, safety, contentment, and peace in our relationships with people. My friend, if you desire to experience an increase in these blessings in your body, family, career, and ministry, then focus on hearing Jesus and growing in the knowledge of Him and His grace. The Bible tells us that grace and peace (and every good blessing) are multiplied to us when we grow in the knowledge of Jesus our Lord (2 Pet. 1:2).“ |
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coram_deo 23-Jul-21, 22:37 |
Q: What makes a Christian different from anyone else in the world? – H.Q. A: One Christian might say he is different from his non-Christian friends because he belongs to a church. Another might reply that she is different because she knows she has been forgiven of her sins and is going to Heaven. Someone else might say Christians are different because of what they believe: that the Bible is the Word of God, Jesus was the divine Son of God who died for our sins. Still others might suggest that what makes Christians different is the way they live (although a cynic might respond that he doesn’t see anything different about the Christians he knows). The complete answer is that the difference in Christians – followers of Jesus Christ – is that God Himself lives within them by His Holy Spirit who does a transforming work in the life of every true believer. When we come to Christ and give our lives to Him, God actually takes up residence within us. We may not always feel different or be aware of His presence, but Jesus’ promise to His disciples was fulfilled; for He sent a Counselor to be with us forever, and that is God’s Holy Spirit (see John 14:16-17). The Bible clearly tells us that if we have given our lives to Jesus Christ by receiving His forgiveness of sins and accepting His salvation, He now lives in us through His Spirit. Scripture says that if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he/she does not belong to Christ (see Romans 8:9). God is love and He will not forsake His own.” |
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coram_deo 23-Jul-21, 22:55 |
“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:15) “We have a God who wants us to run to Him. And the moment we do, He has promised that He will answer us. Not ‘might,’ or ‘perhaps,’ but a definite ‘will.’ And He does not stop at merely assuring us that He will answer us. He goes on record for all eternity, saying, ‘I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.’ Do you know why we can have the assurance that when we call on Him, He will answer us? It's because of the divine exchange that took place at the cross, where our Lord Jesus cried out, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matt. 27:46). He was forsaken—left helpless, totally abandoned, and deserted—so that today, we can have the confidence that our heavenly Father will never leave us nor forsake us (see Heb. 13:5). What a Savior! Don't you feel so loved and so cherished by our Lord? And He made it so easy for us to receive His promises—our part is to simply call upon Him and let Him be our God. Whatever you may be going through today, call upon Him right now and He will deliver and honor you! Whenever I am troubled, I tell the Lord, ‘Lord, I am worried about this situation, but I place it in Your nail-pierced hands right now. I surrender into Your hands all my worries, concerns, and cares in this area.’ Then, I receive His peace, and when the enemy tries to fire new arrows of fear into my heart and mind, I remind myself that the situation is already in the Lord's hands. I remind myself of His promise that He will deliver me! Are you living with panic attacks, fear, and chronic anxiety? Don't allow the devil to cripple you with all kinds of negative mental pictures, or by replaying all the worst-case scenarios in your head. Call out to your Savior, Jesus Christ! He wants you to cast ‘all your care upon Him, for He cares for you’ (1 Pet. 5:7). You are not a sheep without a Shepherd, so stop trying to carry all your cares upon your own shoulders. Whether it is a physical symptom, a financial challenge, or a family situation that you are anxious about, call upon Him and allow His peace to supernaturally guard your heart in every area that you are troubled (see Phil. 4:6–7).“ |
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coram_deo 25-Jul-21, 05:58 |
Here is the devotional I received today, which I’ll also be posting in the thread, “What Did Jesus Write On The Ground?” “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:13–14 - JULY 25 - GOD’S PERFECT LAW PERFECTLY FULFILLED When we consider the account of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, interestingly, the Bible is silent on what Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger in response to the Pharisees on the matter (John 8:6). But I believe that when He stooped down, He was writing the Law of Moses. I have been to Jerusalem many times. During one of my visits many years ago to the temple precinct where Jesus would have met this woman, the Lord opened my eyes to see that the floor of the temple precinct was made of hard cobblestone. This means Jesus was not writing on soil. He was writing with His finger on stone. Then, in a flash, I saw that Jesus was writing the law on stone. He was effectively saying to the Pharisees, “You presume to teach Me about the Law of Moses? I am He who wrote the law.” Jesus wrote twice on the ground with His finger, thus completing the typology, as we know that God wrote the Ten Commandments with His finger twice. The first set of the Ten Commandments was destroyed by Moses when he saw the Israelites worshipping the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. God then wrote another set on stones and gave it to Moses for it to be placed under the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant. I had never heard anyone preach this before—it was a fresh revelation straight from heaven. I love it when the Lord opens my eyes to see His grace! Do you know why it’s so exciting to know what Jesus wrote on the ground that day? It’s so significant because it shows us that the very author of God’s perfect law does not use the law to judge and condemn us today. And it’s not because God simply decided to be merciful on us. No! It’s because Jesus Himself fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and took upon Himself every curse and stroke of punishment for our sins on His own body at the cross. We are forgiven because He was judged. We are accepted because He was condemned! Whatever your challenge today, your answer is found in receiving a fresh revelation of how much you are forgiven in Christ. This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.” |
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coram_deo 26-Jul-21, 19:46 |
What is right believing? That God has forgiven you of all your sins - past, present and future - and has made you His righteousness in Jesus Christ because you’ve accepted and have believed in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is your holiness and your righteousness if you’ve accepted Him. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust. . . . You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame.” Joel 2:25–26 - JULY 26 - LOST YEARS RESTORED Today’s scripture contains such a beautiful promise. The most precious thing that our Lord Jesus can restore to you is the lost years of your life. All the years that the locusts have eaten, God can supernaturally restore to you. Every minute spent in fear, worry, doubt, guilt, condemnation, addiction, and sin adds up to wasted years that have been stolen from you. But I have good news for you today. Because of what our Lord Jesus has done for us on the cross, you can believe for total and complete restoration, for God to redeem ALL the time that has been lost and wasted! Let me share this phenomenal testimony of God’s restoration from a brother by the name of Clarence, who resides in West Virginia: I was a drug addict for ten years, injecting opiates into my veins every day. Even though I knew that the addiction was destroying me, I did not want to stop what I was doing. But two years ago, my heavenly Daddy delivered me from the addiction by placing me in a halfway house. I was stuck there, unable to leave, and unable to get anyone to pick me up. And God not only removed my drug addiction, but my smoking addiction at the same time! While I was in the halfway house, I listened to many grace preachers but always ended up with a feeling of weight on my shoulders. My mother had been telling me to listen to Joseph Prince, but I resisted it initially, wondering how a man from Singapore could have anything to say about God’s grace. Boy, was I wrong. Singapore sent a missionary to America! Praise the Lord! Through Joseph Prince’s messages, I found rest in understanding Jesus’ finished work at the cross. I also learned that condemnation kills and that on the cross, Christ had absorbed all my condemnation. Once I saw that, I saw the next crucial thing—that GOD IS MY DAD, and that means all good things are mine in Christ Jesus! Today, I am running a successful art business that has grown by leaps and bounds. I now own a home with my wife and she also has a growing business. In addition, my relationship with my daughter from my previous marriage has also been restored. I was not allowed to see her for the past ten years but now, she has been staying with me over the weekends! It is truly overwhelming to think of how fast my Dad has restored all the wasted years! Not only has He restored my life, but He has also restored my heart and mind toward Him. What a contrast to the years when I was still a drug addict, homeless, and eating scraps off plates at the houses of drug dealers!” The grace revolution is a revolution of restoration. All the years this precious brother had lost to his addiction were restored to him when he embraced the grace of our Lord. In the same way, all the years lost wandering in the parched wilderness of legalism, Christian religion, and the ways of the old covenant can be restored to you. You don’t have to live bound by any shackles. You can be set free to truly live the abundant life Jesus came to give you! This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution.” It’s so simple! Man could not - and cannot - abide by God’s holy law, but Jesus Christ, as God in the flesh, could. So those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ receive the gift of no condemnation and eternal life. What’s your part? Accepting God’s gift. If you don’t want to accept it, that’s fine. God respects man’s free will. |
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coram_deo 27-Jul-21, 09:21 |
“I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 1 John 2:12 People have asked me from time to time, "Pastor Prince, why is an understanding of the complete forgiveness of my sins so important for me to walk in God's unmerited favor?" This is a good question. Friend, when you don't have a clear sense of your complete forgiveness, you will constantly be on an emotional seesaw. Sometimes, you feel that things between you and God are all right, but at other times, you don't think that it is so. Sometimes, you feel confident that the Lord is with you to make you a success, but at other times, you feel like you blew it and the Lord will not help you until you confess your sin and make amends. You will be in a constant cycle of feeling insecure, where you are always hopping in and out of God's favor. All these feelings depend on how well you think you have performed, and ignore the cross of Jesus altogether. My friend, God does not evaluate you based on your behavior. He sees only Jesus' perfect work. But because you do not believe that Jesus has indeed forgiven you of all your sins, you end up feeling like a total and complete hypocrite and failure. I hope that you are beginning to see that understanding the complete forgiveness of your sins is not just for theologians. Thinking that your sins are not completely forgiven will fundamentally affect your relationship with Jesus. While He is all ready to bless you, give you favor and make you a success, unbelief in His finished work robs you of the ability to receive His goodness, His blessings, His unmerited favor, and His success in your life. The cross of Jesus qualified you, but unbelief in the main clause of the new covenant disqualifies you. Meditate on what God says about your sins in the new covenant and free yourself to receive from Him today. The new covenant is based entirely on His unmerited favor. There is nothing for you to do, nothing for you to perform, nothing for you to accomplish. Your part in the new covenant is just to have faith in Jesus and to believe that you are totally forgiven and free to enjoy the new covenant blessings through His finished work!” |
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coram_deo 27-Jul-21, 22:08 |
“Then the LORD said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.’ Genesis 7:1 - JULY 27 - SAFE IN THE ARK Remember how Noah was safe in the ark when the floodwaters came? While Noah was not perfect, God saw him as righteous because of his faith in God (Heb. 11:7). When the flood came, everyone outside the ark died, but Noah and his family were protected and saved. Why? Because they were in the ark, which is a type of Christ, who is our salvation (Acts 4:12). The ark didn’t have windows along its sides, only near the roof. The truth here is that God does not want you to focus on all the darkness, terror, and evil that are around you and in the world. He wants you to look up and know that His Son is coming back for you. I want you to see something else: I believe there were times when Noah might have lost his balance and fallen as the storm waters crashed against the ark. But Noah fell in the ark; he never fell out of the ark. Similarly, for the believer today, when the devil tempts you and you fall, you don’t fall out of your position in Christ; you are still in Christ. In the book of Proverbs, it says, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again” (Prov. 24:16). You see, a believer doesn’t fall in and out of righteousness. Our righteousness today is a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17). This means that even though we may fail from time to time because we are imperfect human beings, we are still in Christ our ark and do not forfeit His blessings of protection. Now, in case you are wondering, does this make someone want to live recklessly? Certainly not! I believe that knowing you are righteous in Christ makes you live responsibly and in honor to the Lord (Rom. 6:10–14). The revelation of our righteousness in Christ produces righteous living (Titus 2:11–12).” |
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coram_deo 28-Jul-21, 03:34 |
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4–5 - JULY 28 - BY HIS STRIPES YOU ARE HEALED One of the most evil teachings that I have heard is that God will chastise His own with sicknesses, diseases, accidents, and tragedies. When I was a teenager, one of the youth leaders in my previous church was involved in a horrible accident that nearly killed him. A church leader gathered some of us youths to go visit that youth leader and began to lament, ‘Why did this happen to him? What did he do to cause God to chastise him this way?’ Can you imagine how I felt when I ‘realized’ that God was behind the accident? Honestly, it frightened the living daylights out of me to think that God would chastise a believer using such a harsh method! I remember praying, ‘God, please don’t ever chastise me this way. Whatever it is, please, just tell me, all right? I will listen, I promise!’ I didn’t want to draw near to Him also because I was afraid of Him, afraid that if I made a mistake, He would not hesitate to chastise me with an accident that could leave me crippled for life or even dead! Do you know that this erroneous teaching is actually based on the old covenant and not the new covenant? In Leviticus 26:28, God says to those who fail to obey His commandments, ‘I will chastise you seven times for your sins.’ But guess what? You are no longer under the covenant of law. You are under the covenant of grace! Jesus has already borne all your chastisement and punishment on the cross. Read it for yourself in today’s scripture, then reread it and reread it once more. The prophet Isaiah saw a prophetic vision of our Lord Jesus on the cross, bearing the punishment for our transgressions. He declared that the chastisement that we deserved came upon Jesus so that you and I will never have to go through what He endured on our behalf. And by the stripes laid on Him as He bore our chastisement, we are healed! Hallelujah! So how can anyone have the audacity to say that God will still chastise us with sicknesses, diseases, and accidents today? To say this is to negate the finished work of Jesus Christ! Under the new covenant, God will never again chastise the believer for his sins! Whatever condition you have today, it is not from the Lord! Look to Jesus on the cross. See Him beaten and scourged for you, and receive healing and wholeness from Him. He has paid the price for your total healing. By His stripes you are healed!“ |
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coram_deo 30-Jul-21, 00:57 |
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:15-16) “I love it when I'm in Israel and I hear little children running around in playgrounds, calling out, ‘Abba! Abba!’ and jumping into their daddies' embraces. To the Jews, Abba is the most intimate way in which you can address your father. It's a beautiful picture of the truth that through Jesus, you have received the Spirit of sonship by whom you cry out ‘Abba, Father.’ Did you notice that the Holy Spirit refused to translate the original Aramaic word ‘Abba’ into English? In Abba's arms, a child is most secure, protected, and loved. No enemy can pull a child out of his or her Abba's strong arms. That's the image God wants us to have when we pray to Him and call Him ‘Abba.’ Of course, you can call Him ‘Daddy’ or ‘Papa,’ or whatever term helps you to see God as a warm, loving, and caring Father. Unless you can see Him as your Abba Father, you will continue to have a ‘spirit of bondage again to fear’ (Rom. 8:15), referring to the Old Testament fear of God. It's a slavish fear of judgment and punishment that brings you into bondage and makes you afraid of God. But God doesn't want you to fear Him. He wants you to have a Spirit of sonship! Too many believers are living with an orphan, fatherless spirit. If you are entangled with all kinds of fears, guilt, and worries today, what you need is a good heavenly dose of the Father's love for you! Something amazing happens in your spirit when you see God as your Father. If my daughter, Jessica, has a nightmare, all she has to do is cry out, ‘Daddy!’ and Daddy is there! Jessica doesn't have to go, ‘O Father that liveth and inhabiteth the next room, I plead with thee to come to me at this time of peril, that thou mayest rescue me from this nightmare!’ All she has to do is to cry out, ‘Daddy!’ and I'm there. Similarly, in your moments of weakness you don't have to approach God with perfect prayers. You just cry out, ‘Daddy!’ and your heavenly Father runs to you! You are not coming before a judge. You are coming before your Father, your Daddy God, who embraces and loves you just the way you are. Take time to come to your Abba Father today. Believe that He loves you unconditionally today. See Him welcoming you with a smile on His face and with outstretched arms. Run into His embrace, bask in His perfect love for you, and let it melt away every worry, fear, and insecurity. When you believe and receive your Father's love for you, it will put unshakable peace and strength in your heart!“ |
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coram_deo 01-Aug-21, 07:04 |
“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Romans 16:20 - AUGUST 1 - THE POWER OF HIS LOVE AND GRACE Grace is the only thing against which the devil has no defense. If you are living by your self-effort to earn God’s approval, the devil has power over you because he can always point to something that you have not done. This gives him dominion over you. If you claim God’s protection and healing based on what you have done, the devil, who is a master accuser, just has to point to one of your failures, and all your faith implodes. You will disqualify yourself mentally and inwardly from receiving whatever you might be trusting the Lord for. But grace qualifies us for protection. Because Jesus paid the price, we who are in Him have a right to walk in divine health and protection. When the devil accuses you, saying, “How dare you believe God for protection, when you are (he goes on to list your failures),” you just have to point to Jesus’ blood, which has paid for all your failures. With grace as your basis, the God of peace can reign over your fears and impart to you unshakable faith for His protection! Something else happens when you understand His grace—you will also grow in your understanding of how perfectly loved you are by your Father in heaven. God so loved you and me, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross on our behalf, carrying all our sins upon His own body so that today, we can come boldly to His throne of grace. He did it so that today, we are not as sheep without a shepherd, but we are so deeply loved and cared for by our Abba Father. We are His children and when we call on Him, He WILL answer. We have a God who demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners—when we had nothing to offer Him but our brokenness, our shame, our sins, and our disqualifications! Oh what perfect love! The Word of God says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:18–19). Are you fearful today? Ask yourself this question: Do you know how much God loves you? You see, you can’t reason away fear. But when you have a revelation of His perfect love for you, every fear in your life will be cast out. To the extent that you understand His love for you, you will live fearlessly in dangerous times!” |
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coram_deo 03-Aug-21, 11:06 |
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace [unmerited favor] and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 - AUGUST 3 - GRACE AND TRUTH ARE ONE Did you know that God sees grace (unmerited favor) and truth as one and the same thing? Notice in John 1:17 that truth is on the same side as God's unmerited favor and both grace (unmerited favor) and truth came through Jesus Christ. When I did a study of this verse in its original Greek, I found out that ‘grace and truth’ are actually referred to as a singular unit, since they are followed by the singular verb translated as ‘came.’ In other words, in God’s eyes, grace and truth are synonymous—unmerited favor is truth and truth is unmerited favor. Sometimes, people tell me things like, ‘Well, it’s good that you preach grace, but we also have to tell people about truth.’ This makes it seem as though grace and truth are two different things when, in fact, they are one and the same. You cannot separate truth from grace and grace from truth as they are both embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. In fact, just a few verses before this, John 1:14, referring to the person of Jesus, says, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace [unmerited favor] and truth.’ Grace and truth came together through the person and ministry of Jesus. Grace is not a doctrine or teaching. Grace is a Person. This is contrasted with the old covenant of law that was given through Moses on Mount Sinai. We can see that God is very precise in dealing with the two covenants and does not mix them together. Grace is grace and law is law. Grace came by Jesus whereas the law was given through Moses. Jesus didn’t come to give us more laws. He came to give us His unmerited favor, which is His truth! It would be of immense profit to you to keep in mind that every time you read the word ‘grace’ in the Bible, you translate it mentally as ‘unmerited favor,’ because that is what it is. My friend, ‘grace came.’ It is one thing to give, but it is another thing to come. You see, I could send a DVD of my sermon to you instead of coming to you. But if I come to you, it’s personal. The law was given by Moses, but grace came by Jesus Christ. Every system of morality is about man trying to reach God with his discipline and good works, but in Christianity, God came down to where we were to lift us up to where He is!” |
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coram_deo 04-Aug-21, 02:56 |
Q: There has been so much talk the last year about science. I used to trust in it quite a bit, but after all the confusion surrounding the coronavirus, I’m not so sure that science has the answers. – S.S. A: Science is learning to control just about everything but man. More important than electricity, technology, and medicine are the issues of the heart. Solve the problems of hate, lust, greed, and prejudice – which produce social strife and ultimately war – and the world would be a different place. Our future is threatened by many dangers, but they all stem from the heart. Greater than the enemy outside is the enemy within – sin. No matter how advanced its progress, civilizations that neglect its spiritual and moral life will eventually disintegrate. This is the history of mankind, and it is our problem still today. Science cannot change the seasons, the rising of the sun, or the setting of the moon. Nor can man’s knowledge change human nature. When doubt reigns, faith cannot abide. Where hatred rules, love is crowded out. Much of the world in search of knowledge ignores God. Today we have more knowledge than at any other time in history. In seconds, our computers can call up information about a topic that took years to collect. We are the most informed people in the history of civilization – and yet the most confused. Though our heads are crammed with knowledge, our hearts are empty. But where man has failed, God has succeeded. Keep His Word at the center of life and remember what the Bible says, ‘The fear [reverence] of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge’ (Proverbs 1:7).” |
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coram_deo 04-Aug-21, 03:52 |
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20) Beloved, understanding the purpose of the law is critical to your relationship with God. He gave the law for one purpose: that you would have the knowledge of sin and recognize your need for a Savior. Without the law, there would be no sin (Rom. 4:15). For example, if there is no law on how fast you can drive on a particular road, that is, if there is no speed limit, the state trooper cannot stop you and give you a ticket for speeding. In simple terms, no law equals no sin. No recognition of sin equals no need for a Savior! The law was thus given to bring man to the end of himself so that in his despair, he would see his need for Jesus. Because of the law, no man can say that he is not a sinner and no man can say that he doesn't need Jesus. That is the purpose of the law. It was not designed to make you godly, but to expose your ungodliness. What the devil wants to do is keep the law over your head all the time so that you constantly feel condemned and guilty. That is how he keeps you trapped in a cycle of defeat. The devil is the master legalist who constantly reminds you of how unworthy you are of God's blessings. Known as the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), here are some of his common attacks: You call yourself a Christian? You are a hypocrite! Forget about praying. God will never listen to your prayers. Look at your life. How dare you step into church? My friend, these are lies, all lies! The devil is using the law to make you conscious of all your shortcomings. But through Jesus Christ, you are no longer under the condemnation of the law. The devil has been disarmed by the power of the cross! Jesus, who knew no sin, was condemned on your behalf on the cross. Through Jesus Christ, you are now made righteous apart from the works of the law. So when you hear the voice of the accuser condemning you, remind yourself that you are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). Declare it out loud! Come on, say it with me three times, each time louder than the first: I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ! I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ! I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ! Righteousness is a gift. It is not a reward for perfect obedience to the law. You are clothed today not in your own righteousness, which is self-righteousness, but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God sees you as righteous as Jesus Himself. This is your permanent, eternal standing before Him because of what Christ has done for you. And hey, when you are clothed in Jesus' righteousness, any obstacle that tries to obstruct you from living your life to the fullest, whether it's an addiction, sickness, fear, or depression, has to go!” |
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coram_deo 04-Aug-21, 23:31 |
“Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:14-15) For all the talk of ‘nuclear disarmament,’ are you aware that there is someone more sinister who has already been disarmed of his power over your life? The Bible says that God has ‘disarmed principalities and powers,’ referring to Satan and his cohorts (Eph. 6:12). So the devil has already been disarmed. But do you know what weapon he was wielding before his forced disarmament? Today's Scripture gives us the answer clearly: the devil was armed with the ‘handwriting of requirements that was against us.’ On Mount Sinai, God wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. The ‘handwriting of requirements’ was thus a reference to the law that was written by the finger of God. Let me stress that the law is holy, just, and good. It was designed by God to expose man's weaknesses, sins, and inability to be holy, just, and good so that man would see his need for a Savior. You need to understand that no amount of keeping the law can make you holy. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. The devil then armed himself with the law to accuse and condemn man. Now, listen carefully to this: God didn't give the law to arm the devil, but the devil, knowing that the law was against us, took advantage of it and has been using it as his weapon to further alienate us from God. That's why when God nailed the law to the cross, He made a public spectacle of the devil and all the powers of darkness! Once the law was nailed to the cross of Jesus, God knew that the law no longer had the power to condemn us as long as we believed on Jesus. Therefore, when you know and believe that Jesus has fulfilled completely the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf, the devil cannot use the law to condemn you every time you fail. Today, if the enemy uses the law to point out your sins, look to the cross of Jesus and reject the condemnation. You may say, ‘No one can blot out God's handwriting.’ Yes, you are right. No man can, but God can! And God did it righteously. My friend, you have been redeemed from the curse of the law. The devil and his crew have been disarmed. Hallelujah! Refuse to subject yourself any longer to the old covenant system of the law. Don't put the weapon of the law back into the devil's hands. Every teaching that says, ‘You have to keep the law to be blessed by God,’ is doing just that. Reject such legalistic teachings and rest in the truth of God's disarmament and grace. The more you believe and embrace the truth of His grace, the more you are empowered to experience victory over your failings and challenges. This is how you reign, and when you reign, the devil doesn't!” |
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coram_deo 05-Aug-21, 06:29 |
“LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God.’ Selah But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. Psalm 3:1–3 - AUGUST 5 - SELAH MOMENTS As you read what happened to David as he cried out to God in the verses above, notice the selah in the psalm. You will find such ‘selah moments’ throughout David’s psalms. That means David paused . . . and listened. In those moments, David turned his eyes from his troubles and looked to his God. In those moments, I believe he remembered afresh that he did not have to fight his battles because the Lord of hosts fought for him (1 Sam. 17:45–47). He remembered afresh the God who had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, the God who overcame Goliath without sword or spear. And as he looked to the Lord, he strengthened himself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6), and that’s when things started to change. Change came when he shifted his focus away from his painful and dire circumstances and allowed himself to be absorbed instead in the grace of the Lord, when he paused and tuned in to what the Lord was encouraging him with on the inside. I believe that in those few moments of meditating on God’s goodness and mercy, he heard the Lord say to him, ‘David, why are you worried about all these people coming against you? I am your shield. I am the glory and the lifter of your head.’ That was what brought about David’s turning point in the situation. God’s comfort came to David as he chose to selah. Does it seem like your enemies have increased and many are rising up against you? Have you been getting one bad report after another from the doctor? Maybe they have found a lot more to be concerned about than you were previously aware of. And now your heart is heavy because it feels like maybe even God can’t help you. At times like this, do what David did. Selah. Pause and choose to run to the Lord in the presence of your enemies. When David came back to the psalm, his enemies were still there. But he could rise up and declare, ‘But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head.’ In your selah moments with the Lord, you will find your turning point and victory. Don’t remain discouraged. Don’t run away from Him. Run to Him and worship Him.“ |
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coram_deo 07-Aug-21, 10:26 |
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 NASB - AUGUST 7 - THE SECRET TO OVERCOMING CONDEMNATION I don’t know about you, but when I read the Bible, I feel encouraged that the apostle Paul—the trailblazing apostle of grace that he was—faced the same struggles with the flesh and with condemnation that you and I face today. Who among us cannot totally identify with his frustrated cry of ‘ . . . the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice . . . O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ (Rom. 7:19, 24). When Paul was struggling under the law, he was condemned again and again (you can read Paul’s account of his struggle in Romans 7). But thank God, Paul does not stop there. He goes on to show us in today’s scripture that we can counter the accuser’s attacks because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! That is it, my friend—even when there is sin, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, period. There are no conditions and no prerequisites. Jesus has already been condemned for all our sins. It’s all about His finished work and none of man’s efforts. He Himself is the answer to Paul’s cry for help. Hallelujah! When the accuser comes to condemn you for all your faults, declare yourself righteous because of what Jesus has done and because His blood cleanses you continually. Remind yourself that the Holy Spirit was sent to convict you of your righteousness apart from works. The declaration is true every moment, every day. It is true in the morning. It is true in the night. And when tomorrow comes, it is still true. There is presently, continuously, no condemnation for you because you are in Christ! Here’s how liberating God’s grace is. A brother named Jeff wrote and told me of how he had been severely depressed for almost 10 months, and became so introspective and self-conscious that he had anxiety attacks. He focused on his actions and failures and allowed his condemning thoughts to define his identity and sense of worth. Hungry and desperate for answers from the Lord, he read the Bible and many books on theology, listened to sermons by various preachers, and researched Bible topics online. Yet, when he tried to apply all this knowledge to his life, none of it worked. He still felt depressed, defeated, and worthless. Then, he discovered the gospel of grace through one of my books, and this is what he experienced: Pastor Prince, the huge burden of trying to live up to the law for almost a decade, and which led to my depression, was finally lifted! I was already a Christian, but I was only set free after I discovered the true meaning of grace and being saved. It was such a simple shift in perspective that I can’t believe I didn’t know this before! It’s not our ability to obey in our thoughts, but it’s Christ’s obedience. Because I now know that I’m righteous in Christ and that God no longer condemns me because of Jesus, I have no more fears as my focus is now on Him and not me! I am now even more confident and joyful than I was before the depression had even started! Beloved, what will give you the boldness to go to God is the knowledge that today, He is ever gracious and He sees you completely righteous. What will cause you to go boldly before His throne of grace is the knowledge that He will never condemn you because you are in Jesus Christ! Praise be to God, there is therefore now—presently and continuously—no condemnation for those who are in Christ. This is the Word of God for you today!” |
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coram_deo 09-Aug-21, 07:46 |
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 NIV - AUGUST 9 - OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU! Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver because he did not understand the value of Jesus. After the deed, he cried out in despair, “I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4 NIV). Then he went out and committed suicide. He rejected the Lord and his guilt drove him to hang himself on a tree. The truth is, he didn’t have to, because Jesus was going to hang on another tree for his sin. It is sad to see so many people today who, as Judas did, are punishing themselves for their own sins! They live in perpetual guilt and condemnation, punishing themselves and subjecting themselves to self-destructive behavior. They don’t know all that our Lord Jesus has sacrificed on the cross for their forgiveness, deliverance, redemption, and freedom. To anesthetize the voices of accusation in their own consciences, many become bound to alcohol, drugs, and all kinds of debilitating substance abuse. They end up living in a state of constant fear, anxiety attacks, sleeplessness, and psychosomatic illnesses. Let me share with you a really precious testimony I received from Garrett who lives in South Africa. Unable to find a way out of a downward spiral of years of depression, drug and alcohol addiction, and despair, Garrett lost his job, wife, and son. A slave to his situation, he grew to hate himself to the point where he attempted suicide. Be blessed as you read how his encounter with Jesus and His amazing grace completely turned his life around: I was crying out to God for help and asking, “God, what do You want from me? Where are You? Am I being punished for the way I am . . . do You really exist?” I came home to an empty house, turned on the television, and inadvertently came to your TV broadcast. I immediately tried to change the channel, but the channel got stuck. Pastor Prince, at that very instant, you looked into the camera and said, “Perhaps your life is right now being tossed by certain winds. Maybe it is a wind of financial turbulence, maybe it is a storm of sickness that has come into your life. Whatever the winds are, whatever the storm is, I am here to tell you, in the midst of the storm, look out for Jesus.” I felt like I was being hit by a freight train. I stopped in my tracks and I was freaked out because just a few minutes ago I was screaming at God for answers. I was certain that God was pointing me somewhere that moment. My body started to tingle and the light in the room started to get brighter. Even though I am not one for having “religious” moments, I was positive that I was having a moment with Christ. That was how real it was, and totally unexpected. Your sermon changed my world! I had no idea that God could love a person like me after all I had done. I bought one of your books, and after reading it, I felt a hunger that I never experienced before. My eyes were opened and I wanted more. Through your teachings, I am now able to understand the Word of God like never before. I am applying the Word in my life. I am now free! Free to be loved by God because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am free to hope, free to receive, and free to come to Jesus even when I fail. Pastor Prince, as a result of the knowledge of Jesus and His amazing grace, I now have no drug addictions, no alcohol dependence, and my life of unhappiness and despair is gone. God’s grace has even impacted my relationships and made them better than ever. I am now full of the Holy Spirit and reigning in life. Hallelujah! Beloved, if you’ve been bogged down in the mire of loneliness, discouragement, and self-destruction, don’t waste another day in this dark place. Instead worship the One—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—Who gave up everything and allowed Himself to be spat at, brutally beaten, and pierced with heavy nails at the cross for your redemption. Allow the fragrance of His love and His grace to flood every area of your life. Allow the perfume of His sacrifice to permeate and heal every hurt, every disappointment, and every insecurity. He has already paid the price for you to be whole and restored. He has already paid the price for you to come boldly and freely before His throne of grace. Oh, how He loves you! He loves you! He loves you! |
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coram_deo 09-Aug-21, 07:52 |
Q: I grew up hearing that jealousy is a worse sin than hatred. Which sin is worse? – H.J. A: Sin is sin, but it is true that hate knows no bounds. It is in motion at every level. “Look Out for Number One,” has become the motto of scores of people. To make good, they kick anyone who threatens their way of life – no matter how dark. One of the reasons hatred abounds all over the world stems from jealousy. Satan’s hatred of God was due to jealousy. At no time in history was hatred on display more than during the time of Jesus on Earth. Herod hated Him because of fear that the Baby Jesus would someday become King. Herod caused the slaughter of infant children in and around the village of Bethlehem so that the prophecy would not come to pass. We are living in a world that hates. We have even seen violence prompted by hatred within church buildings. Hatred is carried out against those who desire more than anything to preach the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and demonstrate compassion for those who suffer. Hatred is a social cancer that gnaws at the vitals of our people. It threatens the freedom of worshiping Jesus Christ as witnessed in every continent. Hatred is rampant – a sign of the depravity of the human race. The Bible teaches hatred is sin. The Bible also teaches that God is a God of love (1 John 4:8). Love is a basic part of God’s nature. Whoever you are, whatever your circumstances – God loves you and He is waiting for you to come to Him in repentance of sin. Rejection of Christ is hatred of Him. Say an eternal “Yes” to Christ and make Him the Lord of your life. |
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coram_deo 09-Aug-21, 19:34 |
And his master [Potiphar] saw that the Lord was with him [Joseph] and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. (Genesis 39:3) Do you know of anyone who is in a worse situation than Joseph when he stood naked in an Egyptian market, waiting to be sold as a slave? His whole world appeared to have collapsed around him. Just a few days earlier, he was in his father's embrace but now, his own brothers had betrayed him. All that he owned had been stripped from him. He was reduced to nothing more than a slave in a foreign land. Was this the end of Joseph? In the natural scheme of things, it sure looked like it was. But even with the odds stacked up against Joseph, the Lord was far from finished. Even in this dire situation, the Lord was with Joseph, and at this dark and bleak juncture in Joseph's life, the Lord called him a successful man (Genesis 39:1–2)! Remember, it is not what you have. It is who you have that makes all the difference. "How can the Lord make a young slave with not a single cent or possession to his name succeed?" Well, let's continue with Joseph's story. Genesis 39:3 tells us, "And his master [Potiphar] saw that the Lord was with him [Joseph] and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand." This is a powerful statement and it offers a promise that you can believe Jesus for, in every area of your life. Can you imagine every project, assignment and even errand that you undertake becoming prosperous? Your hands become hands of blessing. You touch your family members and they are blessed. Your company may be struggling to manage a difficult project, but once it is placed in your hands, the project becomes blessed. You become a blessing waiting to happen to someone, waiting to happen to something, everywhere you go! Now, how will this happen? The Lord Jesus will make it happen when you depend on Him in the same way that Joseph depended on Him. Joseph had nothing. He could not trust in his skills or experience (he had never been a slave), nor could he trust in his natural connections (his father was out of the picture because he believed that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal). All Joseph had was the Lord's presence, and he depended on the Lord to manifest His presence, His power, and His glory through him! That's what you and I need—a manifestation of His presence in everything that we do! You see, it is one thing to have His presence (all Christians have His presence because they have accepted Him as their personal Lord and Savior), but when His presence is made manifest in your life, that's when His glory shines forth through you! My friend, God wants to make everything you do prosper, just like He did for Joseph. See Him leading and blessing you, and increasing your effectiveness today! |
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coram_deo 10-Aug-21, 03:39 |
He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6 - AUGUST 10 - GOD IS SATISFIED WITH YOU When I was a teenager, I used to belong to a Christian fellowship group. We would sing this song which you may be familiar with. It went like this: “Is He satisfied, is He satisfied, is He satisfied with me? Have I done my best? Have I stood the test? Is He satisfied with me?” Let me just say that ten out of ten times when we sang this song, I would always believe that God was not satisfied with me. When we look to ourselves, all there is to see is the inadequacy and futility of our ability and performance. In and of ourselves, we will never meet God’s standard for Him to be satisfied with us. We will always fall short! You can imagine how condemned we felt each time we sang this song. After all, we had never been taught that God was satisfied with His Son's sacrifice at the cross, and we did not understand what the new covenant of grace was all about. We were young and zealous for God, but defeated by our lack of knowledge. With all due respect to the songwriter, whom I believe had the best intentions when he wrote the song, this song is not based on the new covenant of God’s unmerited favor. It negates the cross and places the emphasis back on you—what you must do, what you must perform and what you must achieve for God to be satisfied with you. But the question to ask today is not if God is satisfied with you. The question that we need to ask is this: Is God satisfied with the cross of Jesus? And the answer is this: He is completely satisfied! At the cross, our acceptance is found. There, Jesus cried out with His last breath, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) The work is complete. The full punishment for all our sins was exacted on Jesus at the cross. God will not punish the believer again, not because He has gone soft on sin, but because all our sins have already been punished in the body of Jesus. God’s holiness and His justice are now on your side! Today, God is not assessing you based on what you have or have not done. He is assessing you based on what Jesus has done. Is God satisfied with Jesus today? Yes, of course He is! Then, to the same extent that God is satisfied with Jesus, He is satisfied with you. God’s own Son had to be crushed at Calvary for this blessing to become a reality in your life. The gift of His unmerited favor and His righteousness is only a free gift for you today because the full payment for this gift was exacted upon Jesus’ body. The cross made all the difference! Don’t let anyone hoodwink you into thinking that you need to pay for your own sins. Don’t let anyone deceive you with the lie that your eternal salvation in Christ is uncertain and shakable! |
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coram_deo 10-Aug-21, 04:02 |
Q: I am a new Christian and am trying to learn from others about what God wants me to do in my new life. Can I ever hope to hear directly from God, or does He only communicate through Scripture? – G.S. A: God speaks to those who belong to Him through His holy word—He is the Word! The authors of Scripture made it clear that God was speaking to them and through them. More than 3,000 times they said, “Thus saith the Lord” or its equivalent. And because “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16), we are taught what is right and wrong. God’s purpose is to train us in His righteousness. We must not let anything or anyone take the place of the Bible to guide our lives. God also speaks to us in nature. When He created the heavens and the earth, He gave us an incredible, complex, beautiful, orderly universe. “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20). God speaks through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is revealed for us in the pages of the Bible. He is the Word of God incarnate, and He speaks to us by the Holy Spirit. This may be the “still small voice” of the conscience that will not let us go until we do what is right – or it may be a loud, clear conviction of what God wants us to do. We must never silence that inner voice. We must check what we believe it is saying against the Scriptures to be sure that inner voice is true to God’s Word – and then we must obey, “heeding the voice of His word” (Psalm 103:20). |
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coram_deo 12-Aug-21, 14:22 |
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) Do you know what makes Christianity unique and gives it the power to free people from all fears, condemning thoughts, and addictions? Many of the world's belief systems are governed by moral codes, rules, and laws. But Christianity is unique in that it is not about an impersonal list of dos and don'ts. It is about having a relationship with Almighty God. And it is God working in us and for us through this relationship that brings transformation in our lives. Beloved, God is all about having a relationship with you today. The apostle John tells us that "the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Notice also that the law was given. This implies a sense of distance. In contrast, grace came! Grace is personal and came as a person—the person of Jesus Christ. The law is hard, cold, and impersonal. You cannot have a relationship with two tablets of stone. But grace is gentle and warm. Grace is not a teaching or doctrine. Grace is a person, and you can have a relationship with a person. God is not interested in mere obedience and submission. He is a God of love and He longs to have an intimate relationship with you. Jesus came and died a cruel death on the cross, paying the full debt of sin with His own life so that you and I can reign in life today. His sacrifice fulfilled every requirement of the law perfectly on our behalf (Matt. 5:17, NIV). All that we were unable to do, He did on our behalf. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are made holy and righteous by His blood once and for all. You can enter into a relationship with Almighty God and come boldly into His presence without any guilt, condemnation, or expectation of punishment. You see, when you have fulfilled your debt to the lender for the mortgage on your house, you stop sending in your monthly payments because the debt has already been fulfilled. If the lender sends you a letter demanding additional payment, all you have to do is produce the title deed to your home. In the same sense, the debt that you and I owed to the law has already been fulfilled by our Savior, Jesus Christ! Hallelujah! When the devil comes to accuse you with the law and shows you how you have fallen short and failed, turn your eyes away from yourself and point to the payment that Jesus made on the cross. Christ is your title deed, which is why you are called a "Christian" today. You are not your own. You have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. His blood, shed for you, is what makes your relationship with God secure. It is what gives you the basis to reach out and receive your freedom from your loving Savior today! |
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coram_deo 13-Aug-21, 09:36 |
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4-6) There are many believers who are defeated because they are struggling to qualify for God's blessings through their own works. What you need to understand is that self-effort will rob you of reigning in life by God's grace. You cannot earn your salvation, healing, or financial breakthrough by your own efforts. If the greatest miracle—being saved and made alive with Jesus—comes by grace through faith, and not by your works, how much more the lesser miracles, such as healing, provision, and restored marriages? It is not about your work or performance, but Jesus' work and performance. Only His work is a finished work. And not only did He sit down at the Father's right hand, but today's Scripture states that He also made us sit with Jesus! What does this mean? Well, my friend, "sitting down" in the Bible is a picture of the believer resting in the perfect and finished work of Jesus. Christ has finished all the work on the cross on your behalf and is now seated at the right hand of God. As it has all been accomplished on your behalf, this means that you can stop depending on your self-efforts to earn and qualify for God's blessings in your life. You can sit down with Jesus at the Father's right hand! Now, listen carefully to what I am saying. I am not advocating a life of passiveness and laziness regarding the study of God's Word, prayer, or worship. When it comes to success in your job, I'm also certainly not saying that you shouldn't be diligent or seeking to develop your abilities. God's grace does not make you lazy and unproductive. On the contrary, it makes you labor more abundantly for His glory. The apostle Paul, a preacher of God's grace and the finished work of Jesus, said that he "labored more abundantly than they all" (1 Cor. 15:10). What you need to realize is, in the new covenant, God's way is to bless you first, and the knowledge of His blessing then empowers you to labor more abundantly. In other words, we do not labor to be blessed, but rather we have the power to labor because we are already blessed. Can you see the different premise for laboring in the new covenant? My friend, Jesus has accomplished everything for us on the cross. Our part is to trust in His perfect work. Receive with open arms His abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness, and sit down and begin to reign in life through Him. Today, let it be your prayer that you will stop trying to earn God's grace and righteousness. Let the Holy Spirit teach you to start depending on Jesus' finished work and to start receiving by His grace. This is God's way to success, wholeness, and victorious living! |
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coram_deo 14-Aug-21, 18:40 |
From Joseph Prince Ministries: Do you often feel as though God is displeased with you because you can't seem to break out of a bad habit? Are you facing a situation that just seems impossible to overcome? Let me share Colton's testimony with you to show you how believing in Jesus' finished work and receiving His grace are key to receiving your breakthrough. Since Colton was a little boy, he tried to please God by his performance and obedience. Whenever he sinned by doing or not doing something, he would feel totally condemned and depressed. He found that the more he tried to get rid of certain bad habits by self-discipline, the more he continued in them. Right after graduation from high school, this young man from Texas received one of my books. Through reading the book, he understood that God is fully pleased with him—not based on his works, but on the perfect, finished work of Jesus at the cross. Colton began confessing that he was still righteous in Christ through His perfect sacrifice whenever he missed the mark. The result? Listen to what he says: "I was finally able to overcome many wrong habits and attitudes. I also went from a 1.76 grade point average (GPA) in high school to a 4.00 GPA in my first semester in college. As I began to be more conscious of Jesus and not my performance, faith was just there and things that held me back fell away." When Colton decided to pursue further education in the field of medicine, it appeared to be an impossible situation as the tuition fee was simply unaffordable for his family. But as this brother continued to believe God and receive His grace through Christ Jesus, he began to see "obstacle after obstacle removed." He shared happily with me, "Today, half of my tuition fee has been paid off, and Jesus is already working on clearing the rest for me!" Beloved, God still sees you righteous even when you fail, because you are forever perfect and accepted in Christ. God judges you not based on your imperfect performance, but on the perfect performance and sacrifice of Christ. The more you believe and receive this truth, the more you will, like Colton, overcome every bad habit and receive your breakthroughs. |
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