God Favors You Because He Loves You

God Favors You Because He Loves You

1 John 4:19
19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Have you ever found yourself receiving such exceeding favor that you wonder why? My friend, it is because God is lavishing His grace — unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor — on you. And He does it because He loves you.

I love reading the Old Testament story of Ruth, a young Moabite widow, because it speaks of God’s amazing grace. The moment Ruth depended on God’s grace or favor, she had full access to His blessings. Of all the fields in Bethlehem, His grace led her to the field that belonged to Boaz, who was not only a wealthy bachelor, but also a relative of her father-in-law. (Ruth 2:3) Boaz was therefore her potential kinsman-redeemer — someone who could redeem her from her plight as a poor and childless widow.

Boaz favored Ruth from the moment he laid eyes on her. Ruth was not even a Jew, yet he cared for her safety by telling her not to glean in another field and to stay close to his young women. He even commanded the young men working for him not to touch her and to allow her to drink the water which they had drawn.

During mealtimes, he sat her beside the reapers although she was just a lowly gleaner who picked up what they had missed or dropped. On top of that, he gave her parched grain, making sure that she ate and was satisfied, and that she had leftovers to bring back to her mother-in-law. (Ruth 2:1–18)

Ruth simply believed that she would find favor in the field and God placed her at the right place at the right time, so that He could open a big door of blessings to her.

Do you know that Boaz is a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus? The Bible says that “He first loved us”. Jesus saw you and loved you first, long before you knew Him or loved Him. And He favors whom He loves.

Beloved, there is no need to fight or strive to qualify for God’s favor and blessings. His favor is all over you because He first loved you. Just trust in His love for you and you will see His favor bringing an abundance of blessings into your life!

Don’t Put Your Faith In Diets And Exercise

Don’t Put Your Faith In Diets And Exercise

Psalm 118:8
8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

A lot of people think that the way to get health is to watch what they eat. For example, many people say that the Mediterranean diet is a very healthy one. I agree, generally. But do you know that the people whom Jesus healed were also on a Mediterranean diet? They did not eat pork and prawns, for example, because they were Jews and these things are not kosher for them.

I know that you want to walk in divine health. But God does not want your focus to be on food — what to eat, what not to eat — or even exercise — how to exercise, when to exercise. All these are natural means which the people of the world trust in. It is better to trust in the Lord and His finished work, than to put your confidence in the latest man-made diet plans and exercise regimes.

At the cross, Jesus took your sicknesses and carried your pains, and by His stripes you were healed. (Isaiah 53:4–5) The Bible even tells us how to escape sickness and premature death — by discerning the Lord’s body when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:29–30) But instead of focusing on these truths, many of us prefer to focus on dieting and exercising.

Now, I am not against eating well or exercising. I myself exercise and I do watch what I eat. For example, I don’t like to eat oily stuff because it makes me feel uncomfortable. And when I have to preach, I do my best not to eat foods that make me burp!

But I eat generally healthy stuff not because I trust dieting to make me healthy. I exercise not because I trust exercising to make me healthy. No, I trust the finished work of Christ to make me healthy. I eat well because I like to feel good and I exercise because I enjoy the rush, the sweat!

God wants you to be free when it comes to eating and exercising. Don’t make laws for eating and exercising, and then trust these laws to give you “divine” health. Trust in the finished work of Christ. Discern His body when you partake of the Holy Communion. And just enjoy your food and workout!

God’s Grace Is Unmerited

God’s Grace Is Unmerited

Galatians 5:4
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

What is the grace of God? Simply put, the grace of God is God blessing, healing, delivering and prospering you because of Jesus. The grace of God is His unearned, unmerited and undeserved favor toward you simply because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross.

Because God’s grace is based on Jesus’ work and not yours, the only way you fall from this grace is by believing that you can earn, merit and deserve it through your obedience and good works.

For example, you fall from grace when you say, “God has to answer my prayer because I have prayed long enough.” You also fall from grace when you think that because you are serving in church or you have kicked a bad habit, God is pleased with you and He has to bless you.

When you think that it is by your efforts and obedience that you receive God’s blessings, you become like the Pharisees. They believed that their law-keeping justified them and ensured that God would bless them. But the truth is that when you believe like them, “you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace”. This means that you are cut off from Christ, who is your salvation, Redeemer, healer and provider. Christ has become of no effect to you!

My friend, surely you would want Christ to be of effect to you. People to whom Christ is of effect receive from Him the miracle they need. When He is of effect to them, He is their healer and they get healed. He is their wisdom and they are wise before man. He is their good success and they experience good success in all that they do.

Beloved, for Christ to always be of effect to you and to never nullify the grace of God operating in your life, just remember and believe that it is because of Christ and His finished work — His blood, His stripes, His death, His obedience — that you are justified, healed, prosperous and blessed!

Total And Complete Forgiveness

Total And Complete Forgiveness

Ephesians 1:7
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

People have said to me, “Pastor Prince, I was taught that only my past sins — from the day I was born until the day I became a Christian — have been forgiven, and that my future sins are not forgiven until I confess them and seek forgiveness.”

My friend, when Jesus died on the cross, how many of your sins were future?

Unless you are more than 2,000 years old, all your sins were future then! Jesus took them all upon Himself, nailed them to the cross and declared, “It is finished!” So if you are not forgiven of all, then you are not forgiven at all.

“You mean Jesus also died for the sin that I have just committed?”

Yes!

“And also for the sins which I will commit?”

Yes! That is why He said, “It is finished!”

But many of us are inconsistent in our believing. One part of us says, “God has forgiven me of all my sins.” But another part says, “Yes, but I must still confess my sins to be forgiven of them.” Are you like that?

Beloved, you are forgiven not because of your work of confession. Your confession cannot wash away your sins. You are forgiven because of the blood of Jesus shed for you. His blood alone cleanses you.

You cannot believe that you are forgiven of your past, present and future sins, and still think that there is something for you to do to make that forgiveness complete. If you do, then it becomes your work too, not Jesus’ alone.

Is there a place for confession of sins? My friend, if you have just sinned, you can always tell God about it without feeling condemned because you know that you already have forgiveness and that Jesus was condemned in your place. But you don’t confess your sins to God in order to be forgiven. You already have total and complete forgiveness because of the blood of Jesus!

Turn Your Cares Into Prayers

Turn Your Cares Into Prayers

Philippians 4:6
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

My friend, God doesn’t want you to be fearful, fretful or anxious. Instead, He wants you to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”.

So when you have a care or worry, straightaway, turn that care or worry into prayer. That is supplication. And when you are troubled by a care or worry that you don’t know how to pray for, pray in the Spirit or tongues. And in the midst of that prayer, thank God that He is already your healing, provision, prosperity, good success and victory. That, my friend, is thanksgiving.

“Pastor Prince, if I am worried about something, how long should I pray?”

Keep on praying. Pray in the Spirit until the worry lifts or dissipates, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:7)

This was what one of our church members did when he found himself anxiously trying to access some important data in his USB flash drive. After a whole day at it with no results, he finally stopped himself from being anxious and instead, turned his worry into prayer, asking the Lord to settle it for him. As he prayed in tongues, he was also thankfully repeating in his heart that having the Holy Spirit — the Helper — with him was to his advantage. (John 16:7)

Later that evening, using his wife’s computer, he succeeded in accessing the data in his flash drive after a few attempts. He quickly backed up the data. It was only when subsequent attempts to use the flash drive on his wife’s computer failed did it suddenly dawn on him that God had “resurrected” his flash drive that one time, just for him to recover his data!

Beloved, I believe that we would all worry a lot less and enjoy our lives a lot more if only we realized this truth: Our Abba Father is so strong that there is nothing He cannot do, and He is so loving that there is nothing He will not do for us!

God Wants His Children Well And Joyful

God Wants His Children Well And Joyful

John 14:9
9 Jesus said to him, “… He who has seen Me has seen the Father…

Imagine the following scenario: A father tells his little girl, “Come here, girl. Mummy says that you have been playing by the roadside. Is that true?” “Yes, Daddy. I am sorry.” “Sorry? How many times have I told you not to play near the road? Come here! Lie down on the road and stretch out your legs!”

Daddy drives his car over his little girl’s legs. You can hear the sound of bones being crushed and the poor girl screaming in pain!

“Now, darling, you know that Daddy loves you. And Daddy did that to teach you a lesson, that playing by the roadside is dangerous.”

You are probably shaking your head in horror by now, wondering which sick father would do that. Yet, there are many Christians who believe that our heavenly Father does the same thing. They say that He gives people sicknesses, accidents, earthquakes and death to teach them lessons.

But Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus is the nature of God in action. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus or God going about healing the sick. If God wants some people sick, then there should be at least one incident in the Gospels where you see Jesus saying, “Behold, your complexion is too lovely, receive leprosy,” or “Blindness is good for you. Remain blind.” But no, never once! In fact, Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”. (Acts 10:38) That’s the heart of God.

As a father, if your child is sick and in pain, your heart just wants him well. How much more your heavenly Father! My friend, God does not give your child a sickness to teach both of you some lesson or to glorify Himself. To think so is to talk out of a warped mind that doesn’t understand that God is our loving heavenly Father who only wants a loving relationship with us.

Beloved, hear God speaking this to your heart today: “I will never punish you for your sins because they have been punished in My Son’s body. I do not wish you ill. I will not take away your child or give you a car wreck to teach you some lesson. My heart always wants My children well and joyful!”

Jesus, The Measure Of Your Righteousness

Jesus, The Measure Of Your Righteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

God wants us to seek His righteousness and not our own righteousness. When we seek our own righteousness, we will always end up feeling miserable because we can never be righteous by our works, no matter how hard we try. That is why our loving Father wants us to remember that righteousness is not right behavior but a person — Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30), and that we have “become the righteousness of God in Him”.

I know of a lady who, before coming to our church, attempted to establish her own righteousness by confessing all her sins to “clean” herself up. But she found that the more she confessed her sins, the more sins she discovered in herself. She became guilt-ridden and miserable. Feeling stressed out and weary of confessing her sins all the time, she eventually left the church she was attending. In fact, she never stepped into another church again for the next 10 years.

One day, someone gave her my message tape entitled You Will Never Lose God’s Everlasting Righteousness Given To You and she started listening to it. Once she learnt that Jesus was the measure of her righteousness and acceptance before God, she began to seek God’s righteousness by seeing Christ as her righteousness. Before long, peace and joy came flooding back into her life.

Today, she worships in our church. She testified of how God has supernaturally healed her of a long-term medical condition she had. Even her husband, once balding, found hair sprouting supernaturally! God was adding all these things to her according to His promise — “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. (Matthew 6:33)

Beloved, seeking God’s righteousness means that you see Jesus as someone who knew no sin but became sin for you, so that He could give you His righteousness and make you the righteousness of God in Him! As you proclaim daily the truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you will see “all these things” (Matthew 6:33) added to you without even asking for them!