Natural gas find could transform Israeli economy

Noble Energy Inc. announced on Sunday that one of its exploratory wells off the coast of Israel had discovered three enormous underwater gas reservoirs.

The reservoirs are about 50 miles off the coast of the northern Israel port city of Haifa, and could mark the largest natural gas find in history, according to Yitzhak Tshuva, whose Delek Group Ltd. is one of the owners of the well.

Tshuva told Army Radio that the find could transform the Israeli economy.

"We will no longer be dependent [on foreign sources] for our gas, and will even export," said Tshuva. "We are dealing with inconceivably huge quantities; Israel now has a solution for the future generations."

Israeli Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer described the discovery as "historic."

Sunday, January 18, 2009 Israel Today Staff

Your Answer Is In His Word

Your Answer Is In His Word

Proverbs 4:20–22
20My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; 22for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.

God has given us a sure way to receive the answers to our problems and challenges. It is His Word. Every answer or solution we need is found in the Bible.

Yet, many Christians are not walking victoriously in certain areas of their lives. This is because the devil continuously wages a war of distraction against them. He has managed to take them away from the one thing that can bring them victory — the Word. He will do everything possible to prevent them from opening the Bible because he knows that the Word will deliver them.

The distraction can be very subtle: A lot of things to get done, a lot of TV programs that interest you, or it may take the form of a big problem that makes you feel that you need to focus all your attention on it. The enemy knows that if he can get you to take your eyes off the Word of God, he can keep you from winning the battle.

When you are going through a tough time, it is not enough to know that God’s answer to the problem is “somewhere in the Bible”. Find the scripture in which God has promised the solution. Meditate on it until the truth of that scripture is revealed to you. When you do this, no demon or devil can prevent that word from God from bearing fruit in your life.

Even Jesus Himself used the Word to defeat the devil in the wilderness — “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) The way to defeat the enemy is with “It is written…”

My friend, there is no substitute for the written Word. God tells us that we will find life and health if we give our attention to His Word and keep it in the midst of our hearts. So get into the Word and let God’s promises abide in you.

Receive By Grace Through Faith

Receive By Grace Through Faith

Galatians 3:5
5Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?...

Imagine that you are at a healing service. An alcoholic walks into the church reeking of alcohol. He sits behind the pianist, a nice elderly lady who has been serving in the church for 50 years. Both of them are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The healing power of God is present. In an instant, the alcoholic, who has never been in church before, gets healed. The pianist does not.

Most people, on hearing stories like this, would get upset and confused. They might ask, “Shouldn’t God heal this nice, old lady who has been serving Him faithfully all these years, and not that debauched drunkard?” You see, many people still believe that God heals only the deserving.

But that is not how God works. God looks at faith, not works. His power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior. So if we go back to the above example, God wants to heal both the alcoholic and the nice elderly pianist. All they need to do is to receive by grace, or unmerited favor, through faith.

You see, we cannot earn the blessings of God. We receive them by believing God’s love and grace toward us. If we receive the greatest blessing — salvation — by simply believing that Jesus did it all for us and not by working for it, what makes us think that the other lesser blessings can be obtained by our works?

So if my daughter Jessica falls sick, I don’t go to the Father and say, “Father, heal my daughter because I am Pastor Joseph Prince and I preach healing to the people.” No, I go to Him by the blood of Jesus and say, “Father, I thank You that 2,000 years ago, Jesus bore Jessica’s sickness in His body. On that basis alone and by Your grace, I pronounce her healed in Jesus’ name.”

When you simply believe that you receive your blessings based on Jesus’ finished work and by His grace alone, you will receive your blessings!

God Says ‘I Will’ In The New Covenant

God Says ‘I Will’ In The New Covenant

Hebrews 8:10,12
10… I will put My laws in their mind… I will be their God… 12… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness… their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

You may be feeling stressed at work today because your boss just gave you a list of things to do. Maybe he told you, “You have to type this letter. You have to meet this client. You have to write this report. You have to…” Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss had, instead, said, “I will type this letter for you. I will meet this client for you. I will write this report for you. I will…”?

Well, your boss may not be that gracious, but your Father in heaven is! When He found fault with the old covenant and established the new covenant (Hebrews 8:7–8) in His Son’s blood, His “Thou shalls” became “I wills”.

You see, under the old covenant, the focus is on you — Thou shall not… Thou shall not… Thou shall not… It is all about your performance, your obedience, your works. But under the new covenant, God says, “I will put My laws in their mind… I will be their God… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness… their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It is no longer you working for God, but God working for you, in you, through you!

“Isn’t there something for me to do?” you may ask.

My friend, the only thing for you to do is to believe God’s “I wills”. The more you believe His “I wills” or promises, the more you will see His heart for you and the more your faith will grow.

It is foolish for me to just tell you, “Come on, man, have faith!” You will still find it hard to have faith because I am not giving you anything to build faith in you. But if I were to tell you all about what God says He will do for you, faith will arise in your heart. Faith is a response to knowing what God says He will do for you.

So the best thing you can “do” under the new covenant is to not focus on what you must do for God, but what God says He will do for you!

Jesus Delights In You Drawing From Him

Jesus Delights In You Drawing From Him

John 4:32
32But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

When people make demands on you or keep depending on you, you may end up stressed, tired and irritable. But this is not the case with Jesus. When people draw from Him, He is strengthened and refreshed!

Jesus is, after all, God. And you honor God when you take your place as man and let God be God by drawing from Him. The One who said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve,” (Matthew 20:28) loves it when you allow Him to minister to you.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus arrived at Sychar, He was wearied from the journey and rested at a well. A sinful Samaritan woman then came to the well to draw water. Jesus ministered to her and she left rejoicing with the promise of living water. The disciples, having returned with food for Jesus, found Him already strengthened and refreshed. When they wondered who had given Him food while they were away, He told them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” (John 4:1–42)

Today, when you draw from Jesus and let Him minister to you, it is “food” for Him that “refreshes” and “strengthens” Him.

But it takes humility for us to allow Jesus to minister to us. We take pride in doing things for the Lord. We want to build our businesses, families and ministries for Him. All that is good, but without Jesus, we are spiritually bankrupt! We really have nothing to give to the Lord and His work. What we need to do first is to receive from Him because when we freely receive from Him, we are able to freely give. (Matthew 10:8)

My friend, Jesus wants to minister to you. Don’t try to minister to yourself. That is pride and self-righteousness. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who felt that they did not need Him and that they could provide for themselves, were the ones who could not receive from Him. So bring to Him your needs and say, “Lord, I need to draw from You. I present my needs to You. Minister to me and meet my needs. I cannot, but You can. Thank you, Lord.”

Your Sins Are Not Being Recorded

Your Sins Are Not Being Recorded

Hebrews 8:12
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

I once read a comic book which showed how a man lusted after a woman, then died of a heart attack and went to heaven. In heaven, he saw a big screen showing everyone present a recording of all the sins which he had committed while on earth, including the last one. How embarrassing!

Don’t worry, that is not going to happen to you in heaven. There is no big screen with front-row and circle seats for everyone to sit and watch your past sins. There is no video recorder in heaven recording your sins right now. Because your lifetime of sins has already been punished in the body of Jesus, God declares to you, “Your sins and lawless deeds, I will by no means ever remember!”

This is true even for the Old Testament heroes of faith such as Abraham, Moses and David. If you read Hebrews 11, which was written after the cross of Jesus, you will notice that there is no record of their sins or failures. Yet, their life stories tell us that they were far from perfect.

Abraham lied twice about his wife Sarah. He told Pharaoh, and later, King Abimelech, that she was his sister to protect his own life. Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, and hid the body in the sand. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and later arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. Yet, their sins were not recorded in Hebrews 11, only their deeds done in faith!

God is showing you that He does not record your sins or failures today. Instead, He records your faith confessions and deeds done in response to what His Son has done for you. Every time you sin, every time you waver in your faith, God does not record it. But every time you believe Him and respond in faith, He records it! That should not make you want to sin more. It should free you to love God more!

So don’t be conscious of your failures. If God Himself does not remember them, who are you to remember them? Be conscious instead of your righteousness in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), and you will reign in life! (Romans 5:17)

Confessing Your Righteousness Pleases God

Confessing Your Righteousness Pleases God

Romans 10:6
6... the righteousness of faith speaks...

Every time you confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ”, God the Father is pleased. When you confess that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, it reminds Him of what His Son has done for you to become righteous.

Also, by making you righteous, God is showing Himself righteous — “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”. (Romans 3:26)

Each time Jesus hears you confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ,” it brings much pleasure to His heart too, because you are laying hold of what He suffered and died to give you.

The Holy Spirit, who now indwells you to convict you of righteousness (John 16:10), also rejoices when you confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” He is pleased when you flow with Him.

The delight of the Godhead is not the only thing you gain when you declare, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” The Bible tells us that when you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… all these things shall be added to you”. (Matthew 6:33)

Whether it is food, clothing or other necessities in life, “all these things” will be added to you. They will not just be given to you, but added to you as your inheritance when you seek first His righteousness.

You don’t need to use your faith for every single need in life. You just need to use your faith for one thing — to believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, and it will cause all the blessings you seek to come after you and overtake you!

The King Is Not Angry With You

The King Is Not Angry With You

Proverbs 19:12
12The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

The Bible tells us that the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) But have you ever wondered why he acts like a roaring lion?

It has something to do with a lion’s roar. In the Bible, the roaring of a lion speaks of the king’s wrath — “The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion”. So when the devil walks about like a roaring lion, he is trying to give you the impression that the King is angry with you. And when you believe that God is angry with you, the devil knows that he has got you.

When you think that God is angry or displeased with you, you will not be confident of His love toward you. Instead, you will expect and fear punishment from Him. And you will want to stay away from Him because you do not wish to incur His wrath any further.

But the truth is that God is not angry with you, even when you fail or blow it, because all your sins have already been judged in the body of His Son at the cross. As the Lamb of God, Jesus became your burnt offering. That is why He said, “I thirst.” (John 19:28)

Those who heard Him say that at Calvary that day thought that His thirst was physical. Actually, His thirst was spiritual because He was being “burnt” by the fire of God’s wrath. He was being judged for our sins. His body exhausted all of God’s wrath until every claim of God’s holiness was satisfied and His wrath appeased!

Now, there is a law called “the law of double jeopardy”, which states that the same crime cannot be tried twice. Today, the fire of God’s wrath will never fall on you as a believer because it has already fallen on His Son at the cross. He judged your sins then, but in the body of His Son.

So right now, you are not under the King’s wrath but His favor. And His favor rains down on you like dew on the grass every morning!

See God As A Good Father

See God As A Good Father

Luke 15:31
31“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.

Faith is believing that we have a good God, and that He protects and provides for those who trust in Him. Remember the parable of the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11–32) Jesus shared it to illustrate how good our heavenly Father is. The wayward son had squandered his father’s inheritance before he decided to go home to ask his father to make him a hired servant.

But before he could reach home, his father saw him from afar, ran toward him and embraced him. And instead of making him a hired servant, the father turned to his servants and said, “Bring out the best robe! Get a ring and sandals for my son! Let’s kill the fatted calf and celebrate!”

Now, when the older son returned from work and heard about the celebration, he became angry and refused to enter the house. When his father came out to ask him what was wrong, the older son complained, “Look, I’ve served you all these years. Yet, you never gave me a calf to celebrate with my friends. But as soon as this prodigal son of yours comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him!”

Notice what his father told him: “Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours. We should celebrate because your brother was dead but is alive again. He was lost but is now found.”

Can you see how the older brother perceived his father? He saw his father as a hard and stingy man. He believed that he had to work to get something good from his father. He didn’t realize that he already had an inheritance! He could have killed the fatted calf any time for a celebration!

Like the father in the parable, God has already given you an inheritance in Christ. Don’t fail to enjoy it by doubting God’s goodness or by believing that you must work for it. See your Father’s heart of love and goodness toward you, and celebrate your inheritance today!

The Reason For The Resurrection

The Reason For The Resurrection

Romans 4:25
25who [Jesus] was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

The Bible tells us that Christ was delivered up for our sins and raised from the dead for our justification. You may already know why Jesus died for our sins, but do you know the significance of God raising Him from the dead?

Let me give you an illustration to help you understand the significance of Jesus’ resurrection.

Let’s say that you are living in a foreign country. One day, you happen to break a major rule of the land. You appeal to the king for mercy. He says, “A rule is a rule. I cannot bend the rule for you. What will others say about my integrity? However, if you can find a substitute to take your punishment — three months in jail — I will allow it.”

By God’s grace, you find a willing substitute. He goes to prison on your behalf and you don’t see him for some time. Days, weeks and months pass by.

Now, how or when will you know that your crime has been fully paid for? When will you be able to rest easy regarding your crime? It is when you see your substitute walking free again! When you see him out of prison, you will know that the sentence has been fully served. You will know that you are now justified and no one can bring a charge against you for your old crime. No longer will you be afraid of the king or his guards coming after you because you know that the one who was punished in your place is now walking free.

Beloved, Jesus, your substitute, paid the debt you could not pay. On the cross, He bore the sins of your entire life. God put it all on Jesus and then He punished Jesus for every single one of those sins until He was fully satisfied. And because He was so pleased with what Jesus had done, He raised Him from the dead.

Today, Jesus’ tomb remains empty. He is not there for He has risen! His resurrection and empty tomb will forever be our assurance that we have been fully justified. You no longer have to be afraid of God judging you for your sins. His justice is on your side today!

God Can Turn Your Evil Day Into Good Days

God Can Turn Your Evil Day Into Good Days

Esther 9:22
22… rest from their enemies… sorrow to joy… mourning to a holiday…

Today, many Jews still celebrate the feast of Purim. The name Purim is derived from “the lot” which a Gentile, Haman, cast concerning the fate of the Jews when they were in Persia under King Ahasuerus.

Haman, the villain in this story in the book of Esther, hated the Jews and sought to exterminate them. He got King Ahasuerus to allow him to issue a decree to annihilate all the Jews in one day — the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar. But God used Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai, both Jews, to turn the tables on Haman and save the Jews.

Haman was hanged on the very gallows that he had constructed for Mordecai! Then, the king allowed Queen Esther and Mordecai to issue a counter-decree to allow all the Jews to defend themselves and destroy their enemies in one day — the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar!

So instead of the Jews being exterminated on that fateful day, their enemies were destroyed! God turned an evil day for the Jews into good days. He turned their mourning into rejoicing and gave them victory over their enemies.

My friend, God can do the same for you today. He only wants you to remain in your position of rest in Christ. You see, because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross, you are seated in heavenly places in Christ, far above every principality, and evil assault the devil can throw at you. (Ephesians 2:6) Just as Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, and refused to stand up and bow to Haman, let’s not “bow” to the devil by being persuaded to move from our position of rest in Christ. Don’t allow him to get you worried, frantic and doing things to save yourself.

Queen Esther was also in a position of rest before Haman was executed. (Esther 7) She was seated on a couch as Haman pleaded with her for his life. While doing so, he accidentally fell over the couch where the queen was. The king, thinking that Haman was assaulting his queen, sent him to the gallows!

Beloved, remain at rest in Christ’s finished work, and He will turn your evil day into days of rejoicing and feasting!

God Will Never Turn His Back On You

God Will Never Turn His Back On You

Hebrews 13:5
5… He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

For six whole hours, the Son of God was suspended between heaven and earth. And at the height of His suffering on the cross, He cried out in the deep darkness, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45–46)

For the first time, Jesus addressed His Father as “God”. The Father had forsaken the Son. As Judge of the universe, God had to turn His back on His Son, who was carrying the filth of the world’s sins, for His eyes are too pure to behold evil. (Habakkuk 1:13)

If the Father had not turned His back on His Son, He would have to turn His back on you today when you call out to Him in your hour of need. But because Jesus has taken your place, today, you take His place, and you have God’s face smiling on you always!

Right now, God’s face is smiling on you. His countenance is shining on you. I can stand before you and declare, “The Lord make His face shine upon you.” (Numbers 6:25–26) And it is all because Jesus has paid the price for God to never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

As Judge, God turned His back on His Son. But as Father, He cried. His heart was broken because Christ was never more pleasing to Him than when He was on the cross. Christ’s suffering was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. (Ephesians 5:2)

Do you remember what Jesus said? “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.” (John 10:17) If you are a parent, you love each one of your children equally. But when one of them does something special for you out of love, it touches your heart, and you just want to run to him and hug him.

That was what happened at the cross, except that the Father could not embrace His Son. Instead, He had to turn His back on His Son because our sins had to be punished in His Son’s body.

Beloved, when you cry out to the Father for help today, know that He hears you and will surely help you. Because of Jesus, He will never turn His back on you!

Let God Love You Instead

Let God Love You Instead

1 John 4:10
10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

"You have to love God more! You must have more passion for God!” You have probably heard this type of preaching and may have even tried your best to love God, only to fail miserably.

But what is the true definition of love? Let the Bible define it for us: “… this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us…” Yes, it is not about our love for Him, but His love for us!

“Pastor Prince, the Bible says that you must love God with all your heart, soul and strength!”

Yes, that is true according to the law (Deuteronomy 6:5), and even Jesus taught that as the great commandment when He walked on earth. (Matthew 22:37) But that was before He died on the cross. At the cross, He became the very fulfillment of this law for us when He loved us with all His heart, soul and strength, by laying down His body and life on the cross for us.

Today, we are no longer under the law but under grace. And grace tells us that God loves us, not that we love God. Yet, we will love Him when we see how much He loves us. The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8) That’s how much He loves us!

Beloved, God has seen you trying your best to love Him. And because He loves you, He wants you to sit down and be still, and let Him love you instead. He wants to love you with all that He is and all that He has. He loves you unconditionally regardless of who you are or what you have done because His love is not dependent on you but on Himself. He will never stop loving you.

So let God love you today. Don’t worry about loving Him. The more of His love you receive, the more you will fall in love with Him!

The Blood Of Jesus Protects

The Blood Of Jesus Protects

Exodus 12:13
13… And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

For 400 years, the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. Life for them was one of hard labor, pain, loss and even death. When Moses their deliverer came, what soon followed was one plague after another on the Egyptians. But none of the plagues caused Pharaoh to release the Israelites until they put the blood on their doorposts. What nine plagues could not do, the blood did! The Israelites were finally set free because of the blood.

Are you under any kind of bondage? Are your loved ones held captive by the destroyer who is bent on destroying them? Plead the blood of the Lamb of God over all that is yours and your family’s. When nothing else seems to work, His blood always works!

When I was a teenager doing a stint as a relief teacher in a primary school, one of the girls in my class was absent from school one day. I didn’t think too much about her absence until I returned home that afternoon. As I was praying, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to pray for her protection and to cover her with the precious blood of Jesus.

It was revealed later on that she had been abducted by a notorious serial killer who had murdered a number of young children. My pupil recounted how she had been tied up and offered to the “deities” the killer had in his flat. Miraculously, he released her when the evil spirits found her to be an unsuitable offering.

Why was this pupil released unharmed? I believe that she was presented to the deities on the same afternoon that I pleaded the blood of Jesus over her. Of course, the evil spirits did not want her because the Most High God would not allow them to have her. God was protecting her. She was set free because of the blood of Jesus!

You see, when you plead the blood of Jesus, the destroyer cannot come near. When he sees the blood, he must respect the blood. He cannot touch what is covered by the blood. The blood of Jesus truly protects and sets you free!

Blessed Wherever You Are

Blessed Wherever You Are

Deuteronomy 28:3
3“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

You may have heard of people who think that to have better “luck”, they have to move to a new home, work for a certain company or even migrate to another country.

The truth is that it is not the place that gets you the blessings, but whether God’s blessing is on you. And for you, child of God, you are already blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:3) He has paid for your blessings with His blood. So the blessing is not on the land but on the man!

It was in the city of Jerusalem that Jesus was whipped, cursed and spat on. And it was outside the city on Calvary’s hill that He was pierced and crucified. That is why you are blessed in the city as well as outside in the country! In fact, you are blessed regardless of your location.

Perhaps you work in a non-Christian company and your boss doesn’t quite like you. In fact, he sometimes mistreats you. But God can still bless you in spite of your boss. You get blessed because you believe God for it. It has nothing to do with your boss or the company.

Why then don’t you seem to see the blessings?

My friend, if you don’t see the blessings, check what you have been believing and saying. Some people complain and blame everyone and everything around them — their parents, race, gender, environment and government — for their lack of blessings. Beloved, I want you to believe and confess that you are blessed because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, not because you are of a certain race or work in a certain place.

It does not matter where you work or live, what color your skin is or what you do for a living. If God blesses you, you are blessed! And it is all because of Jesus. So say to yourself, “I am blessed wherever I am — blessed in the city, blessed in the country!”

You Are Complete In Christ

You Are Complete In Christ

Colossians 2:10
10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

When you look at yourself, what do you see? Do you see someone who is imperfect and lacking in many areas, or someone who is whole and complete in Christ?

There are believers who see themselves as incomplete. This is because they are conscious of their lack and imperfections. They say, “There are so many things imperfect about me! How can I be complete if there are so many things I am lacking in?” They see their weaknesses, condemn themselves and feel inferior to others.

The good news is that God does not see the way man sees. Man sees the flesh. God sees the spirit. He sees us already complete in Christ. In spite of our imperfections, He sees us as new creations, partakers of His divine nature and more than conquerors over our faults. And He wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us.

What we think we need or are lacking in, whether it is godly character traits or physical health, we already have in Christ.

I used to think that I had to ask God to make me more patient, until I realized one day that Jesus is my patience. Since then, I no longer ask God to make me wiser either, because Jesus is my wisdom. (1 Corinthians 1:30) I am not waiting to receive more healing because Jesus is my complete healing at this moment. And I am not yearning for peace and rest one day because Jesus is my peace and rest today. Right now, I have everything because I stand complete in Christ!

My friend, you are not going to be complete in Christ some day — you are already complete in Christ! And what remains for you to do is to walk daily in that completeness by believing that it is true and confessing that what you need right now, Jesus is to you. He is your complete forgiveness, complete righteousness, complete favor and complete protection.

So don’t focus on the lack you see in your life. Focus instead on how in Christ, you are complete in everything at this moment. And instead of weaknesses, lack and defects, you will see His strength, wholeness, soundness and completeness manifesting in you!

Nothing Shall By Any Means Hurt You!

Nothing Shall By Any Means Hurt You!

Luke 10:19
19Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Years ago, while traveling on a domestic flight in the United States, I was seated next to a woman whose whole body was tense with fear. Concerned, I asked if I could help her in any way. Between sobs, she told me about her fear of flying. I told her, “Don’t worry. I am on board. Nothing will happen to the plane.” I did not say it with pride. I said it knowing that the Lord was on board the plane with me and that I would have a safe journey because He has promised that “nothing shall by any means hurt you”.

Once, when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples, He told them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” (Mark 4:35) Believing that they would cross over to the other side, He fell asleep in the stern. A great storm arose, but it could not rouse Him from His sleep, only the cries of His terrified disciples did. They had forgotten what Jesus had said about them crossing over to the other side. They had also forgotten that with Jesus in the boat with them, there was no possibility of them going down. Nothing could by any means hurt them because Jesus was with them.

Even being thrown into a fiery furnace could not hurt three young Hebrew men because they believed that God would deliver them. They had proclaimed to the heathen King Nebuchadnezzar, “... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.” (Daniel 3:17) And in the midst of their fiery trial, their deliverer not only walked with them in the fire, He also delivered them from all harm. King Nebuchadnezzar even said, “Look! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25).

Beloved, in the midst of your storm or fiery trial, because Jesus is with you, nothing shall by any means hurt you!

God’s Superabounding Grace For You

God’s Superabounding Grace For You

2 Corinthians 9:8
8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

If you were in the same synagogue as the man with the withered hand (Luke 6:6–11), how would you see him and what do you think you would say to him?

Jesus was preaching in that synagogue when He saw the man with the withered hand. But He also saw superabounding grace around that hand for healing and wholeness. He sees differently from us. He sees the invisible. He sees that the kingdom of God is here, ever-present in any situation, with superabundant supply. We see only the visible, which is tangible, temporal and which seems so real to us.

But Jesus saw superabounding grace on that withered hand for healing because you do not tell a man with a withered hand, “Stretch out your hand,” unless you see the supply, the superabundance for wholeness for that hand. Jesus called forth the superabounding grace to envelop that man’s withered hand, and the hand was made whole.

It is possible for someone who is sick to have superabounding grace on him and yet that superabundance of grace does not heal his body. That is because he keeps acknowledging the lack or the problem he sees. He is more concerned with that which is visible and temporal.

Instead of calling forth, and acknowledging and confessing the superabundance of God’s grace, he confesses his negative circumstance all the time. So even though the superabounding grace is there, it is there in vain. Isn’t that sad?

Jesus called forth life, and life sprang into visibility. We must call forth what we want to see. Say, “Father, I thank You that right now, though my health is under attack, there is superabounding grace available for my healing and health. I call it forth and receive it now in Jesus’ name. Amen!”

My friend, don’t be conscious of what you see lacking or missing. Be conscious of God’s superabounding grace for you and avail yourself of it!

Redeemed From Every Type Of Sickness

Redeemed From Every Type Of Sickness

Galatians 3:13
13Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

The One who cleansed lepers, opened blind eyes and made the lame to walk took your sins, sicknesses and every curse when He hung on Calvary’s tree. The curses that were meant for you because of your sins fell on Him instead. He was cursed in your place to redeem you from every curse that comes as a result of breaking God’s laws.

What are these curses? They are listed in Deuteronomy 28. It is a long and detailed list. Don’t get frightened when you read the curses, but rejoice because Christ has redeemed you from every single one of them, including those curses of sicknesses!

Are you stricken with tuberculosis, fever or inflammation? (Deuteronomy 28:22) Christ has redeemed you from every one of these conditions!

Do you have painful boils, tumors or an itch which doctors say cannot be healed? (Deuteronomy 28:27) Christ has redeemed you from every one of these conditions!

Perhaps yours is a serious and prolonged sickness. (Deuteronomy 28:59) It doesn’t matter. Christ has redeemed you from every prolonged sickness!

“Well, Pastor Prince, you have covered tuberculosis, fever, itch… but what about my disease? It is not covered in Deuteronomy 28. Did Jesus forget my disease?”

No, His work is perfect! Look at Deuteronomy 28:61: “Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed.” That covers everything. So if Christ has redeemed you from this curse, then He has redeemed you from every type of sickness! I don’t care what new type of sickness the world discovers because Christ has redeemed us from every type of sickness!

Now, if you have a particular sickness, say, “This (name the sickness) is part of the curse of the law. But Galatians 3:13 says that Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. Therefore, I have been redeemed from (name the sickness)!” Believe and confess that every day, and as surely as Jesus took every curse of sickness, your healing will break forth!

You Have It, So Say It!

You Have It, So Say It!

Matthew 25:29
29‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

Have you come across people who have little, yet even that little is taken away from them? On the other hand, there are those who already have much, yet they receive even more.

Jesus said, “To everyone who has, more will be given. From him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t go on to say what it is we have. He simply says, “But to everyone who has.”

Jesus is talking about a firm belief in God’s Word that gives one the courage to say, “I have it!” If you say that you have it, you have it, and more will be given to you. But if you say that you don’t have it, when you actually do because God has freely given us all things (Romans 8:32), then even what you have will be taken away — not by God but by the devil! The devil does not want you to walk in God’s blessings. So when you say that you don’t have it, he can rob you of your blessings because he has your agreement!

When you need something, God says that you are to ask of Him. And when you ask, believe that you receive it. (Mark 11:24) Say you already have it even if you don’t see it in the physical realm yet, and one day, you will see it!

God is not saying, “Oh come on, pretend that you see it. And if you pretend long enough, you will have it.” This is not a game! God is telling us to call forth those things which don’t exist as though they do. (Romans 4:17)

Today, we are talking about the haves and have-nots in the church. If you believe that it is yours, you will have it. You will see yourself possessing it and enjoying it, and more will be given to you. But if you say, “Well, I don’t feel it and I’m not sure if it will come,” in essence, you are saying that you don’t have it when you actually do. Then, even what you have will be taken away. So say you have it today!

How Do You See God?

How Do You See God?

Luke 7:9
9When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

The way you see Jesus, the revelation that you have of Him, will not affect God’s acceptance of you. But it will affect your acceptance of what God has for you. It will affect how you receive from Him.

Consider the Roman centurion who told Jesus, “You don’t have to come to my house. Just speak the word and my servant at home will be healed.” (Luke 7:6–7) Compare him with Jairus, the ruler of a synagogue, who told Jesus, “My daughter is dying. Please come to my house and lay Your hands on her, and she shall live.” (Mark 5:22–23)

Do you know that Jesus does not have to go to your house to heal you? So why did Jesus follow Jairus to his house? Jesus had to come down to Jairus’ level of faith. Jairus believed that his daughter could be healed, but only if Jesus came and laid His hands on her.

The centurion was different. He said, “Lord, You don’t have to come to my house. I know who You are.” This centurion believed that Jesus did not have to come to his house for his servant to be healed. He believed that Jesus only needed to speak the word. He said to Jesus, “Just speak the word and my servant at home will be healed.”

Do you know who Jesus is? The centurion had a greater understanding of who Jesus is than Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, and he wasn’t even a Jew!

Jesus asked his disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40) He even remarked, “O you of little faith.” (Matthew 6:30) But to the woman whose daughter was demon-possessed, He said, “O woman, great is your faith!” (Matthew 15:28) And to the centurion, He declared, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

My desire is for you to have an accurate understanding of who Jesus is because when your revelation of Jesus is big, you will know what has been freely given to you. And when you know what is yours in Christ Jesus, you will be rich in all things!

You Have The Victory!

You Have The Victory!

Romans 8:37
37Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

If God’s Word says that we are more than conquerors through Christ, then we are. We are not going to become, we already are. We may be experiencing some failures or setbacks in life right now, but only good will come out of our situations because God says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. We have the victory!

You see, God has placed us in Christ, whom He has exalted to the highest place in the universe. We are not trying to get to victory ground. We are already on victory ground. We don’t confess God’s Word to get victory. We confess His Word because we already have the victory. We don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory.

The devil will try to steal our victory. He will come against us with lies and fears, and cause us to be conscious of our failures, weaknesses and symptoms in areas such as our health. But we are not trying to be healed. We are already healed because God’s Word declares that “by His stripes we are healed”. (Isaiah 53:5)

A sister in our church was seeing two psychiatrists. She had been under psychiatric care and medication for panic attacks for the most part of her life. She said that when she started coming to church and learning about Jesus, the truth of God’s Word began to dawn on her.

She started believing that victory over her condition was already hers and began confessing it. From then on, all her fears were removed and her panic attacks ceased. Today, she has a sound mind, is free from all medication and knows that her life is greatly blessed through Jesus who loves her.

My friend, the moment you accept Jesus as your Savior, you are born again and the new person inside you is more than a conqueror. You are already on victory ground and you have victory over every challenging situation in your life!

They Gave From Their Hearts

They Gave From Their Hearts

Tue, Mar 10, 2009
My Paper

By Joy Fang

THEY came, they listened and they contributed.

The 22,000-strong congregation rallied when their senior pastor, Pastor
Joseph Prince, 45, asked them for help in funding the construction of
their premises in the Integrated Hub, during a special service held on
Feb 15.

Located at Vista Xchange at one-north in Buona Vista, the hub is
scheduled for completion by mid-2012.

The nine-storey civic and cultural plaza in the complex, developed by
Rock Productions - the commercial-development arm of New Creation Church
- will house a 5,000-seat auditorium.

Members of New Creation Church told my paper that there was "no coercion
involved", and it was "entirely up to individual members" to give.

"The money was collected through an invitation to anyone who wanted to
give," said Mr Dylan Loh, 24, an undergraduate from National University
of Singapore.

"In fact, Pastor Prince mentioned that if we didn't feel the need or
desire to give, we shouldn't give, and it would have been perfectly
fine," he added.

Explaining how the church managed to raise $19 million in one day, civil
servant Goh Ying Ying, 26, said: "People...gave out of the abundance of
their hearts because they believed they will get something back."

Mr Loh agreed, saying: "It was based purely on the generosity of the
congregation and their own willingness to give."

Marketing manager Flora Lim, 23, who was not from the church, said:
"Considering we're in the midst of a recession, they are still willing
to give so much. (But) it's their church and the people are willing to
give their own money, so I don't see any problems with it."

‘I Will Be Your God’

‘I Will Be Your God’

Hebrews 8:10
10 … and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

When God says, “I will be your God,” that is a declaration that He will work miracles in your life. So if it is a miracle you need, it is a miracle you will get!

If there is a huge sea blocking the way to your blessing and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that He will open the sea for you so that you can receive your blessing.

If you are poor and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that you will be well-provided for. Since God fed nearly three million Israelites in the wilderness every single day for 40 years, you can be sure that God will provide for you too.

If you are sick and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that He is going to be “the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15:26), and you will be healthy.

If you have incurred a huge debt and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that He will bring about a supernatural cancellation of your debt.

But not only did God say, “I will be their God,” He also said, “they shall be My people”.

To be God’s people means to be the protected ones. Not all on earth are God’s people — only we who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. During times of uncertainties, God says to you, “You shall be My people.” This means that you are protected from all pestilences, plagues, attacks and destruction.

Even when you hear people say that the economic crisis is coming, God says to you, “You shall be My people.” This means that you don’t have to worry or be anxious. The crisis will not affect you. Regardless of the situation in the world, you are protected and you will walk in the blessings of God.

God’s power comes into every challenge you face when He says to you, “I will be your God and you shall be My people.” You will experience the supernatural life. Your part is to believe what He declares and act like it is so!

The Clause That Makes It All Happen

The Clause That Makes It All Happen

Hebrews 8:12
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

We are no longer under the old covenant. We are now under the new covenant. And in this new covenant, God says that He will do three things for us:

Lead us — “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.” (Hebrews 8:10) These are the laws of faith, love and liberty to guide you in everything you do. It is a spontaneous, dynamic, active and intimate way to be led by God.

Work miracles for us — “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Hebrews 8:10) The phrase “I will be their God” denotes a miracle-working God. So if you are sick and God says, “I will be your God,” get ready for healing! If you are poor and God says, “I will be your God,” get ready for prosperity!

Cause us to know Him effortlessly — “… all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (Hebrews 8:11) The Greek word for “know” here is eido. It means to know intuitively without effort. This means that you will know God easily.

Do you want to experience all these blessings in your life today?
“Of course, Pastor Prince, I want to be led by God. I want Him to work miracles in my life. I want to know Him intimately without straining or striving.”

Then, you need to know the clause that makes it all happen: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” The words “no more” in the Greek carry a strong double-negative sense. So God is saying, “I will never, by no means, remember your sins!”

Beloved, the more you believe this in your heart, the more you will see those blessings fulfilled in your life. When you realize how much God has forgiven you and remembers your sins no more, you will know Him, His ways and His will for you intimately and intuitively without effort.

So believe in your heart today the clause on which all these blessings hinge, and get ready for miracles and hopes fulfilled in the days ahead!

Come As You Are And Receive

Come As You Are And Receive

Matthew 15:27
27And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Come as you are to the Lord with your need, and lean on His unfailing and unconditional love for you. You don’t have to pretend to be more than what you are to receive the blessing you need from God. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else to appear more deserving to receive from God.

A Canaanite woman desperately seeking healing for her demon-possessed daughter came to Jesus. (Matthew 15:22–28) Knowing that He healed and did miracles among the Jews, she pretended to be a Jew, calling out, “O Lord, Son of David!” (Only the Jews addressed Jesus as the “Son of David”.) Jesus did not answer her. His silence made her drop her pretense and cry out, “Lord, help me!”

Only when her pretenses had melted away did she see the grace of God extended to her. Jesus made a way for her to receive her miracle even though it was not yet time for the Gentiles to receive His blessings. He told her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

Many people might be offended at being called a “dog”. Actually, the Greek word used here by Jesus means “puppy”, and is thus an affectionate rather than offensive term. So this woman was not offended. In fact, she knew then that she could receive healing for her daughter because even puppies get to eat what falls from their masters’ table.

She saw that the crumbs under the Master’s table were enough for a Gentile, a “little dog”, like herself. You must understand that the Jews then considered Gentiles dogs. But what Jesus was trying to say was that He was called to the Jews first, not the Gentiles. Yet, He loved this Gentile woman and her daughter enough to provide a “loophole” for them to receive their miracle.

So when the Canaanite woman took her place by dropping the title “Son of David” and just leaned on Jesus’ compassion for her, her daughter was healed from that very hour.

If God was willing to extend His grace to a Gentile, how much more you, His beloved child! You do not need to depend on pretensions to receive a miracle from Him. Come as you are and lean on His grace. If He has delivered Jesus up for us, “how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things”? (Romans 8:32)

Live The ‘Much More’ Life

Live The ‘Much More’ Life

Romans 5:17
17For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ…

When God created man, He did not intend for man to grow old, become weak and powerless, suffer diseases and die — first the physical death, then the second or eternal death.

God never meant for man to go through all these and for death to reign. But because of one man’s offense — that man being Adam — death reigns.

The ultimate death is the second or eternal death in the lake of fire. Before this death is physical death. Before physical death, you have diseases and illnesses. Not all diseases and illnesses lead to death, but they are manifestations of death. One step before diseases and illnesses is tiredness, weakness and powerlessness, which are signs and symptoms of death. Now, all these are forms of death. As you can see, death reigns!

Are you resigned to the fact that death can strike whoever, whenever and wherever it wishes? Are you allowing death to reign in your life and in the lives of your loved ones? Or are you allowing God’s Word to tell you the truth about death?

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more… ” Thank God for the “much more”! What Jesus, the last Adam, did is much more and far greater than what the first Adam did. We are those who have received the “abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”. Therefore, our “much more” is that we will reign in life through Jesus Christ!

God considers death an enemy. He came to destroy death and give us eternal life. And the more we walk in the grace of God and His righteousness, the more we will reign in life. The more we believe in His grace or undeserved favor, and the more we know that we have been made righteous by His blood and not our good behavior, the more we will reign over all forms of death!

Be Established In God’s Righteousness

Be Established In God’s Righteousness

Isaiah 54:14
14In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Have you ever asked yourself why some Christians are constantly beset with overwhelming challenges, sicknesses and defeat if God’s promise, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), is true?

Well, this promise comes with a condition — “In righteousness you shall be established”. When you are established in righteousness, you will be far from oppression and terror, and not a single weapon formed against you will prosper!

This condition is not hard to meet. For a start, you already have righteousness! When you received Jesus as your Savior, you received the gift of righteousness which enables you to reign in life. (Romans 5:17) This righteousness does not come from you but the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17) And when you are established in His righteousness, no weapon formed against you will prosper.

But what does being established in righteousness mean? To be established in something is to have that something as your very foundation for security. So God wants you to know, be sure of and grow in the revelation that you are righteous by the blood of Jesus, by His perfect sacrifice at the cross.

When you feel as if you are in a storm, tossed here and there, and you begin to experience worry and fear, remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You are the righteousness of God in Christ and you have His righteousness!

As you do this, you will begin to notice the worry and fear slide off you, for when you are established in righteousness, “you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”! That is why God wants you to be established in righteousness. He wants you to be free from fear, and far from oppression and terror.

So when the pressure is on, hold fast to the belief that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. That is where no weapon formed against you can prosper. As you keep believing and confessing your righteousness in Christ, revelation will break forth and you will experience the release of God’s miraculous provision, divine protection and blessings into your life!

God Is Not Judging You

God Is Not Judging You
Romans 8:33
33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Some people see God as a judge who has exacting demands on man. When they fall short or when things go wrong in their lives, they think that God is judging them.

My friend, the truth is that if you are a believer, God does not bring any charge against you. Instead, He justifies you because of the blood of His Son. In fact, God’s Word goes on to say that the One who has the right to condemn you, chose instead to die for you and is risen at the Father’s right hand to be your righteousness! (Romans 8:34)

But what the devil tries to do is to get you to believe that God watches you with a critical eye and punishes you when you do wrong. He has deceived many sincere Christians into believing that if they have done something wrong, sickness or some other evil thing has a right to come upon them and their families. And when these things happen, he convinces them that they are suffering God’s judgment because of their wrongdoings. In the meantime, these sincere Christians struggle with condemnation because they think that they are the cause of their problems.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ever since the cross, where Jesus was judged in your place for every one of your wrong actions, thoughts and words, God no longer judges you, His child. You need not accept condemnation or evil things happening to you because Jesus took all your punishment at the cross.

So when you start to feel condemned for your actions or when you experience negative circumstances, say, “It is written: It is God who justifies me. I am completely forgiven and made righteous before Him. I refuse to accept any condemnation and I reject every symptom of the curse that I am seeing in my circumstances!”

Then, simply stand on the truth of God’s Word, and watch Him deliver and bless you!

The Antidote To Fear

The Antidote To Fear

1 John 4:18
18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…

Experts tell us that babies have two natural fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. A study on fear was conducted on 500 adults of varying ages, backgrounds and lifestyles. The results showed that they shared some 7,000 different fears. This means that they must have learnt 6,998 fears since they were born. That is a lot of fears!

Actually, our bodies are designed for faith. Fear was foreign to man until Adam sinned against God. For the first time, Adam knew fear, and he hid from God and said, “I heard Your voice… I was afraid… I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)

Since then, man has been living in the realm of fear — fear of the future, fear of what others might say, fear of diseases, fear of flying… Actually, every fear is born out of the feeling of being cut off from God. If you think that God is still mad at you, that He is out to punish you, how can you have faith that everything will be all right? How can you have faith for your miracle?

But I have good news for you. There is a sure antidote to fear. The apostle John says that “perfect love casts out fear”. When you know that God so loves you that He gave His Son to take your beating so that you can take His blessings, you will stop fearing.

God so loves you that at the cross, Jesus was rejected so that you could become God’s beloved. It was not the nails that kept Jesus on the cross. It was His love for you. And if God did not withhold Jesus, why do you think that He will withhold healing, finances or a blessed marriage from you? (Romans 8:32)

Today, when you hear His voice, you will hear Him say, “You are My beloved child, in you I am well pleased.” And you don’t have to hide but you can run to Him without fear because He is not out to punish you. He is out to protect, prosper and provide for you, so fear not!

What Is On Your Heart?

What Is On Your Heart?

Hebrews 8:10
10“… I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts…”

Many of us have been taught that we cannot trust our hearts. We quote verses like “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah 17:9), not knowing that Jeremiah was referring to the man who had not received Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

I have had people come to me and say, “Pastor Prince, I don’t know what I should do with my life.”

“What is on your heart?” I asked one of them.

“I would love to work among children.”

“Then work among children!”

“But I am waiting on the Lord to tell me to do that.”

“Well, He has given you the desire, so go and work among children!”

“But the desire comes from my heart. How do I know if it is of God?”

My friend, once you are saved, you have a brand new heart (Ezekiel 36:26), and you can trust the promptings of your heart because God dwells in you and He leads you from within. And don’t worry because His promptings will never contradict His Word. It will lead you to good success.

Often, you find that when you follow your inner promptings, it is actually God who has put those desires in your mind and written them on your heart. I remember years ago when I approached one of our church leaders and told him, “I really think that you are called to be a full-time pastor.” It turned out to be a confirmation of what he already knew on the inside. You see, God was already leading him from within. Today, he is one of our full-time pastors.

If you enjoy something and desire to do it, then go for it! Go with the flow. God Himself says that He will guide us from within. Let’s not doubt Him. And don’t worry about the outcome. Your part is just to follow the flow. God’s part is to work in you both the willingness and the performance of it! (Philippians 2:13)

Beloved, because God has given you a new heart, He will write His desires on it. And as you fulfill these desires, you will bring forth fruit, and not wither and die. Whatever you do will prosper!

Covered, Protected, Delivered

Covered, Protected, Delivered

Exodus 13:21
21And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.

When the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, God led them by going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

By day, God spread the pillar of cloud as a covering over His people in the desert to prevent the scorching sun from striking them down. The people were shaded and kept cool. Today, you are also under His covering. He will not allow you to be struck down (Psalm 121:3–8), nor be oppressed by the “heat” of the day. (Isaiah 54:14)

At night, when the desert became dark and cold, God gave His people the pillar of fire to light the way for them, as well as to keep them warm and safe. Today, as you walk with God, you will not be overwhelmed by the cold, dark places in life because God’s Word says, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5) You will not fear the terror by night or the pestilence that walks in darkness because God will deliver you from them. (Psalm 91:5–6)

Like the children of Israel, who only needed to look up, and keep their eyes on the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, all you need to do today is to look up and keep your eyes on Jesus. When you need His direction for a situation, look to Jesus who has the words of eternal life. (John 6:68) When you see symptoms of sickness in your body, look to Jesus who has borne away every disease and physical affliction. (Matthew 8:17)

When the children of Israel were bitten by serpents in the desert, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole — a picture of Christ being judged on the cross. (John 3:14) Those who looked at the bronze serpent instead of their wounds were healed. (Numbers 21:9) He who looks to Jesus lives!

Beloved, look to Jesus. He is your covering, protection and deliverance!

God Can Use Those Whom The World Rejects

God Can Use Those Whom The World Rejects

1 Corinthians 1:26
26For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

You may think that you are a nobody, maybe even a has-been or a loser in the eyes of the world. Take heart because God’s Word says that if you are not wise, not mighty or not noble according to the flesh, then you are a prime candidate for Him to call on! And when He begins to use you, you will see His favor, power and increase change your life.

In the eyes of the ancient world, Moses was the rising star of Egypt. The Bible tells us that in the first 40 years of his life, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds”. (Acts 7:22) But God could not use him then because he was too smart, strong and full of himself.

It was only 40 years later, after having been in the unglamorous desert of Midian, emptied of himself and thinking that he was a has-been, that God sent him to confound the might of Pharaoh.

The world may pass them by — the weak, the small, the forgotten and the losers, but God chooses them to confound those mighty in the world.

I know this to be true. As a little boy, I grew up facing rejection and ridicule because of my Indian-Chinese racial mix. And as a teenager, I was the butt of many jokes because of my stammering and stuttering.

When I was in my teens, I remember praying to God, “I don’t know what I can do for or give You, but You got me — spirit, soul and body.” I don’t know how many times I prayed that prayer. But I knew that God heard me because He called me. Only God would dare choose me, a stammerer and stutterer, to pastor a church for Him that has since grown to more than 18,000 members today.

I know what I was and where I came from. I know I have done nothing and can do nothing apart from His anointing and grace in my life.

My friend, when you think that you are weak and small compared to others in the world, that is when God can use you to do great and wonderful things for Him!