Mark 4:8

“But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Perhaps you have marveled at God’s instantaneous healing miracles. Perhaps you believed that He would do the same for you. But now, when you see your own healing taking so long to manifest, you are tempted to give up.

My friend, when the manifestation does not come instantaneously, we are not to be discouraged because Jesus let us in on a secret when He shared the parable of the sower. (Mark 4:3–20)

The parable of the sower teaches us that once we receive God’s Word into our hearts regarding our situation, God’s blessings will manifest in progression. When we receive our thirtyfold manifestation, it means that 70 per cent of that condition is still there. But some of us give up at thirtyfold because we still feel more pain than relief.

We need to realize that we are thirtyfold better than before, and our sixtyfold is coming! Once we receive our sixtyfold manifestation, there is still 40 per cent that is not well. But we are more healed than sick now, and we only need to get ready for the hundredfold manifestation!

For years, I had a skin condition. Medication did not help and, finally, after I had done everything I knew to do, I decided to take the Holy Communion and pray about it. I said, “Father, I have an infirmity. I don’t know what is hindering the physical manifestation of this healing. Holy Spirit, I am trusting You to make perfect intercession regarding the manifestation of my healing.”

That was how I prayed for my skin condition. Did I look into the mirror to see if it had left? Of course I did! I am like anyone else. But did I stop praying? No, I kept on praying until one day, I heard a voice within me say, “Look at your body.” When I looked into the mirror, the skin condition was completely gone! I was totally healed, but the manifestation of the healing was gradual.

Today, if you have seen only a thirtyfold increase in your situation, don’t give up. The sixtyfold, then hundredfold increases are on their way to you!

HE IS THE GOD OF YOUR VALLEYS TOO

1 Kings 20:23

Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.

In 1 Kings 20, we find the Syrians being defeated by the Israelites. Then, some of the Syrian king’s advisers gave the king what they thought was the reason for their defeat. They said that they had fought on the hills and lost because Israel’s God is the God of the hills. So if they were to fight the Israelites on the plains or in the valleys, they would win.

What stupid advice! They thought that the God of Israel only helped His people up in the hills and mountains, and not down in the valleys.

Now, mountains refer to our good times, and valleys, our bad times. Some people have this idea that God is the God of our good times, but He is not there when we are going through bad times. They think that He leaves us helpless in the valleys, especially when the troubles are of our own making.

My friend, I want you to know that our God is the God of the mountains, but He is also the God of the valleys!

God the Son laid aside His crown of glory, His royal majesty and came down for us, stepping into a human body as a baby. He came down to where we were for the sole purpose of dying on the cross for our sins, so that He could bring us up to what God the Father has for us at His right hand. Jesus came down to crown us with glory and honor, to clothe us with robes of righteousness and make us His bride, sharing everything that He has with us. That is the grace of God. He came down to our valley.

So whatever you are going through right now, know that God is right there in your valley with you. He is holding you in His arms and carrying you through the valley. Victory is already yours. Just as the Israelites were also victorious in the valley (1 Kings 20:28–29), so will you be because the God of the valleys is right there with you!

Galatians 5:4

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 and delivering 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 and blessed!
Thought For The Day

The only way you fall from God’s grace is by believing that you can earn, merit and deserve it through your obedience and good works.

John 21:9, 12

Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread… Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.”

Like many parents, Wendy and I pray for our daughter Jessica every night before she sleeps. When Jessica was two years old, we decided to pray that her diapers would not overflow during the night. Her diapers not overflowing might be a small thing, but we knew that it would give our little girl a comfortable sleep every night. And after we started praying for this, we noticed that her diapers did not overflow.

That incident made me realize that our God is not just interested in the big things that affect us. He bothers and cares about the minor things that affect us too. There is nothing too insignificant for Him. So don’t be like some religious people who have this idea that God only wants us to bring the big issues to Him, and that He doesn’t want us to bother Him with small issues.

Nothing could be further from the truth. God cares about everything that you experience, from the small ulcer in your mouth to your concerns about the world’s economy. Even when you tell Him about the inconvenience that might arise if the bus is late, He takes note of that too. In fact, when you come to Him often about anything and everything in your daily life, you compliment Him because you are telling Him that He is your Daddy God who watches over you.

Jesus represented the Father’s heart and will when He was on earth. (John 5:19) He cared when His disciples were out at sea the whole night, cold and shivering. He cared when they caught nothing that night. (John 21:3) He cared that they would not have fish to sell. So He gave them a huge catch early the next morning. (John 21:5–6) He knew that they were cold and hungry, so He prepared breakfast for them, served over a fire of coals to keep them warm.

Jesus showed us that God is our loving heavenly Father who cares about the big and small things that happen every day in our lives. Nothing escapes God’s eyes because He loves you!
Thought For The Day

God is not just interested in the big things that affect us. He bothers and cares about the small things too.

Galatians 4:6–7

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Perhaps these questions have been popping into your head lately: “If You are a Christian, why are you sick? If your heavenly Father is so wonderful, why do you have so many problems? Doesn’t your God help you, His child?”

And if you have been tempted to ask, “God, I am Your child. Why is this happening to me?” know that Jesus knows exactly how you feel because 2,000 years ago, the devil played the same trick on Him—“If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3) You see, the devil’s intention was to make Jesus doubt His Sonship, and the devil wants to do the same thing to you today.

He wants to destroy the Spirit of sonship in you and in the body of believers. He knows that once you really believe that you are a son of God, something happens—you begin to live life as “an heir of God through Christ”.

As a son and an heir of God, you inherit all the blessings of God which Jesus died to give you, including salvation, healing, provision, wholeness, favor, intimacy with God and answered prayers. And Jesus rose from the dead to make sure that what He died to give you, you get. He is alive today to enforce this rich, blood-bought inheritance in your life!

My friend, you are an heir of God through Christ. This means that you are joint heirs with Jesus. (Romans 8:17) So His inheritance is your inheritance too!

What is provision when you are an heir of God? He owns every beast in the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10) All the diamonds and gold came from Him. What is healing when you are an heir of God? He is your Creator and the very breath of your life.

Beloved, enjoy every bit of your inheritance in Christ, not because you deserve it, but because it was paid for by Jesus’ blood!

Isaiah 28:11–12

For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”...

To counter stress, many people resort to tobacco, alcohol or tranquilizers. These things, besides having harmful side effects, are costly and often lead to addictions.

God has something better for us. It is powerful, costs us nothing and has no harmful side effects. He calls it “the rest” and “the refreshing”. What is He referring to? Speaking in tongues—“For with stammering lips and another tongue…”

One of our church members was on medication for nine long years for a host of problems: severe depression, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, chronic sinusitis, gastritis and panic attacks. Every day, he had to take up to 30 tablets to keep these conditions under control.

He suffered from such bad sinusitis that he had to visit the hospital regularly to drain the mucus. He could not sleep much—at most three hours—even with sleeping pills. And because of his panic attacks, he could not go to work and seldom left his house. His wife had to look after him and their three kids. The side effects of the long-term medication also caused his physique to balloon.

One day, he felt God prompting him to pray in tongues as often as he could. He obeyed. The moment he started to pray in tongues, even though it was just a few syllables, he felt a rest, a peace. This encouraged him to pray in tongues more. And the more he prayed in tongues, the more rest and peace he felt.

His sinuses began to clear up and he was healed of gastritis. Slowly, the fears and panic attacks left him too. He also started to have quality sleep without the sleeping pills! The Lord even taught him how he was to eat—two meals a day, but to eat whatever he wanted. Today, he is back to his normal weight!

Through praying in tongues regularly, God delivered this man from a host of long-term illnesses. My friend, this is the rest and the refreshing which God has promised us. So start praying in tongues regularly, and let His rest and peace saturate your entire being!

Proverbs 4:20–21

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;

George Müller, who lived in the 1800s, cared for about 10,000 orphans in total in his five large orphanages. But he never allowed his huge responsibility to take him away from the Word of God. He said that every day, he would set aside time to study the scriptures until his inner man was happy in the Lord.

Once, Müller met a man who worked between 14 and 16 hours every day. He told the man, “You are destroying your health. You don’t have time for your family and, most importantly, you don’t have time to nourish your inner man with the Word of God.”

The man replied, “I hear you, but I can’t see how I can cut down my working hours and spend time in the Word because even with the 14 to 16 hours I put in each day, I still can’t put enough bread on the table for my family.”

As the man walked away, Müller said, “He doesn’t believe that if he gives time to God’s Word first, God will take care of all his needs.”

Likewise, do you really believe that every day, only one thing is needful? Even if the bills don’t get paid, the children are not making any headway in their studies and the office work is not completed, all these things can wait. Only one thing is needful—that you spend time in the Word of God.

When Martha complained to Jesus that her sister Mary had left her to serve alone (Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing His Word), Jesus defended Mary by saying, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41–42)

My friend, you will not lose out when you take time to sit down and listen to God’s Word. Even your health and well-being will be blessed. (Proverbs 4:22) So take time today to meditate on His Word. It will make your way prosperous (Joshua 1:8–9), and give you divine health and good success!

Luke 1:37

“For with God nothing will be impossible.”

You may have heard from friends or seen in Christian books the popular question, “What would Jesus do?” It is a question Christians are taught to ask themselves when faced with a problem.

But when you ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” in any situation, it is subject to your own interpretation and theology. For example, if you are from a church that doesn’t believe that Jesus heals today, you may think that this is how Jesus would pray for the sick, “O Father, give him patience to endure his sufferings,” and proceed to pray that way for a sick person. So when you try to think of what Jesus would do, you are going back to your flesh!

Maybe the reminder should be, “Watch what Jesus does”. When I preach, I watch what Jesus is doing or leading me to do. If He prompts me to say or do something, I say or do it. I know that I am not in the pulpit to manifest Pastor Prince or his flesh, but to manifest Jesus Christ, with whom nothing is impossible!

One Sunday service, prompted by God, I shared with the congregation that He wanted to restore lost items. The following week, a church member wrote, “Last Sunday, Pastor Prince, you mentioned that the Lord would help us recover lost items. I knew that the word was for me. My diamond bracelet and ring had been missing for weeks…Praise God, when I returned home that day, my maid placed the lost items in my hands. She found them at 10.30 that morning while I was still worshiping in church.”

On another occasion, I was praying for a wheelchair-bound lady when I felt God telling me to pull her up from her wheelchair. Boy, was I glad that before I realized what I was doing, she was standing up on her feet unaided! Now, if I had taken some time to think—“My goodness, what am I doing?”—my thinking could have obstructed my obedience to God’s prompting.

So when you are led to talk to someone, watch what Jesus does. When you pray for your child, watch what Jesus does. When you confess God’s Word into your situation, watch what Jesus does! Keep your eyes on Jesus, with whom nothing is impossible!

Thought For The Day

Watch what Jesus is leading you to do and experience the miraculous.

Job 5:19

He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

God will deliver you from all your troubles. (Psalm 34:19, 2 Timothy 4:18) But deliverance is actually not the best that God has for you because it implies that you are in trouble. God’s best for you is the place where no trouble or evil can touch you. And with His help, you will come to that place because the Bible says, “He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.”

This does not mean that God will only deliver you six times. It just means that as you keep believing God’s promises of protection, after some time, you will come to a place where no evil will touch you!

So when trouble comes, God does not want you to be discouraged. He wants you to know that it is only the devil trying to steal His Word from your heart. The devil is afraid of leaving God’s Word in your heart for even one second because he knows that it will lead you to a place where no evil will touch you. That is why he comes immediately to steal God’s Word from your heart.

He will do so by telling you, “Look, your child is sick. Where is God now?” You must not respond by saying, “Well, I guess it does not work. Maybe God’s promises of deliverance are not for my family.”

No, you must continue to stand on God’s promises. Say, “The previous flu my child had did not stay. God promises me deliverance and He did deliver my child then. So I will live life believing His promises of deliverance because His Word is true. And I will come to a place where no evil can touch me and my family!”

Beloved, even if in the next moment you happen to stub your toe against something hard, don’t be discouraged and wonder why God did not protect your toe. The devil had meant to cause greater harm to you, but thank God that he could not because God is watching over you. And keep standing on His promises until you come to the place where no evil will touch you!
Thought For The Day

Keep believing God’s promises of protection and come to a place where no evil will touch you!

1 Peter 5:8–9

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…

When I was a teenager, I was taught that if I wanted to resist the devil, I had to rebuke him. So whenever an evil thought came to my mind or I was tempted, I found myself saying, “I resist you, devil, in Jesus’ name! I bind you, devil! Go away from me, devil! I rebuke you in Jesus’ name!”

This went on until God showed me one day that though I had “resisted” the devil, I had spent more time talking to him than to God! I was more conscious of the devil than of God throughout the day.

I checked the Word of God and realized that we resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are made right with God through Jesus’ blood, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Yes, the devil will continue to remind you of your mistakes, failures and sins. And he will tell you that because of these things, you cannot receive your healing, that you will have to pay for your mistakes or that something bad will happen to your family. He will accuse you, condemn you and try to persuade your heart to believe that he can do bad things to you.

But the truth is that the devil cannot enforce anything in your life if he cannot persuade your heart. And your heart cannot be persuaded if it is “steadfast in the faith”, if it is established in righteousness. God says that once 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”. (Isaiah 54:14)

So now that my heart is established in righteousness, I can boldly declare, “Yes, I may have these problems in my life, but I am not guilty in God’s eyes. I am justified in God’s eyes by faith because of what Christ has done. I am righteous by Jesus’ blood!” My friend, that is how you resist the devil and become undevourable!

Psalm 5:12For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.

What do you believe and say to your loved ones every day? For orthodox Jews, on Friday evenings in their homes, the father lays his hands on his children and pronounces God’s blessings over them. No wonder Jewish children grow up to be winners in the fight of life! They become some of the world’s greatest inventors, bankers, musicians and entertainers.

Although a minority race, the Jews have produced the most number of Nobel Prize winners. I believe that it is because they bless their children in the same way the patriarchs of the Old Testament did. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob released God’s blessings upon their children by laying hands on them and speaking forth the blessings. (Genesis 27:27–29, 38–40; 48:14–16)

In the New Testament, the apostles pronounced blessings over the churches they were preaching to. To the church in Philippi, Paul declared, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) John released a powerful blessing upon Gaius when he said, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2)

Even Jesus pronounced a blessing of deliverance on the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman—“go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter”. (Mark 7:29) This was a blessing of deliverance by proxy. The woman took it by faith and found that her daughter was well when she reached home. (Mark 7:30) Likewise, the centurion took the blessing by faith and healing came upon his servant back home. (Matthew 8:8–13)

The parents of a little girl did the same thing while worshiping in our church. Their daughter was in hospital in the final stages of cancer. When I pronounced the blessing of healing that Sunday, they received it and pronounced it over their daughter. She was soon discharged from the hospital healed!

My friend, bless your loved ones. Declare over them, “The Lord blesses you and surrounds you with His favor as with a shield.” Speak forth your own blessings by declaring, “Thank You Lord, You over supply my needs and I am in excellent health!”

Ephesians 6:11

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

God does not need you to defeat the devil today. Jesus has already done it and given you the victory. (Colossians 2:15, Romans 8:37) Your part is to enforce the victory by simply standing your ground, which is victory ground. In other words, you “fight” from victory ground by standing. You don’t fight for victory.

In Ephesians 6:10–18, the passage on spiritual warfare, the word “wrestle” appears only once (verse 12), while the word “stand” appears four times—“stand against the wiles of the devil”, “withstand in the evil day”, “having done all, to stand”, “Stand therefore”. (Verses 11, 13–14) Four times the Holy Spirit tells us to stand. Yet, many Christians are focusing on wrestling their way to victory!

My friend, you are already on victory ground. You already have everything in Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:21, 23) You are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) The devil knows this. And that is why his tactic is to deceive you and make you think that you don’t have the victory.

So when he attacks you by saying, “Look at that small sum in your bank account! How are you going to pay the bills?” stand your ground. Declare, “I am not trying to be rich. I am already blessed in Christ!” It doesn’t matter how much you have in the bank. You are richly supplied because you are in Christ. And as the need arises, the supply will be there if you believe it.

It is the same with healing. The devil will try to attack you with symptoms in your body. He will try to put pain in your body, and make you feel weak here and there, so that you think that you are still sick. He is trying to make you believe that you don’t have your healing. That is the time to be conscious of Jesus’ finished work and declare, “I am not trying to get healed, I am healed! I am standing on the victory ground which Jesus has given me!”

Beloved, it makes a world of difference when you fight from victory and not for victory!
Thought For The Day

You are already on victory ground. You are already blessed with every blessing in Christ.

Romans 8:27

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Wouldn’t you like to pray effective prayers that are always in line with the will of God and which always hit the mark? Well, when you pray in the Spirit, you can.

You see, when we pray in English or our known language, and according to our limited understanding, we can pray amiss. Sometimes, our heads get in the way and we find ourselves asking, “Isn’t it selfish of me to pray like this?” or “Am I praying in line with God’s will?”

My friend, that is why God gives us the gift of praying in tongues. When we pray in tongues or in the Holy Spirit, we can never pray out of God’s will because the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”.

In other words, we pray perfect prayers in line with God’s will when we pray in tongues. And the Bible goes on to tell us that “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him”. (1 John 5:14–15)

Isn’t it wonderful that God has put in you the Holy Spirit who prays perfectly? He knows the heart of God and precisely what you need. And He makes intercession for you because He loves you very much.

The Holy Spirit is like your lawyer or legal counselor. He knows what belongs to you legally. He knows what your blood-bought rights are in Christ. Best of all, He knows exactly how to enforce them in your life!

Beloved, when you pray in tongues, you allow the Holy Spirit to pray perfect prayers through you. He pleads your case before God. He knows where you have gone wrong and what the root of the problem is. He also has the wisdom, solution and power to win your case. With the Holy Spirit on your side, you cannot but come out victorious!

Psalm 103:4

who [the Lord] redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

Four women are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. (Matthew 1:1–16) Interestingly, they are not Sarah, Rebekah, Leah or Rachel, wives of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Instead, they are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, women who had morally questionable backgrounds.

Tamar resorted to deception and prostitution to produce children through her father-in-law. Yet, it was from her line, the tribe of Judah, that the Messiah came. (Genesis 38) Rahab was a Gentile and a prostitute in Jericho, who became a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Joshua 2:1–21) She also became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth. (Ruth 4:13)

Ruth was morally upright. But as a Moabitess, she was a Gentile and therefore considered unclean. Yet, she became the grandmother of David (Ruth 4:13–17), whom the Jews regard as their greatest king. Bathsheba committed adultery with David. (2 Samuel 11:4) Later, she gave birth to King Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24), from whose royal line Jesus descended.

So what is God saying to us here?

He is saying that He is greater than our sins—where sin abounds, His grace abounds much more. (Romans 5:20) His grace is greater than our sins, so that even when the world disqualifies us, He can qualify us to receive His blessings!

God is also saying that He is a God of many chances. These women’s stories show us that even when our troubles are of our own making, they are neither final nor fatal. When we turn to Him, He will turn our situations around until we see His glory upon us!

Finally, God is saying that He is a God of supernatural positioning. Even when all our earthly connections are gone, the moment we turn to Him, He will find ways to turn our captivity into blessings.

My friend, don’t look at your natural circumstances and be discouraged. Trust the One “who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies”. Trust Him who qualifies the disqualified!

2 Corinthians 5:19

…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them…

On which two ancient cities did God rain brimstone and fire? If your answer is Sodom and Gomorrah, you are right. But if you think that God was all eager to destroy the two cities, you are wrong!

God wasn’t willing at all. He was not on a sin hunt. He was on a righteousness hunt so that He could spare the cities. (Genesis 18:23–32) And I believe that if Abraham had asked God, “What if You can find just one righteous man?” God’s answer would have been the same: “I will not destroy the place for the sake of onerighteous man.”

Today, the righteousness of one Man—Jesus—has come. Jesus died for our sins and rose again for our justification. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our sins against us!

Therefore, no judgment will fall on you today because it fell on Jesus 2,000 years ago at Calvary. And if God was gracious enough to remove Lot and his family before the judgment fell (Genesis 19:12–22), how much more will He do for you who are no longer under judgment!

And because God does not judge you, don’t be like Lot’s wife, who became a pillar of salt when she turned around to look at the brimstone and fire. (Genesis 19:24–26) She wanted to see God’s judgment, even though the angels had warned, “Don’t look back, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17)

So don’t be judgment-focused and look back at the sins you have committed. God is not against you. He is for you and on your side. He remembers that He has already judged and punished your sins in the body of His Son. And because He is faithful to His Son and to what His Son has done, He will never judge or punish you. Any trouble that you might have today is not from Him. But He will show you a way of escape because He is on your side. He loves you and has your best interests at heart.

Beloved, God is not out to get you. He is out to bless you. And He wants you blessed more than you can ever ask or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)

Matthew 4:4

…He [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

When the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus turned the Word of God on him, saying, “It is written…It is written…It is written…” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10)

Likewise, should the devil remind you of the pain in your body, say what God’s Word says: “It is written, ‘By His stripes I am healed!’” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24) And tell Daddy God, “I have Your Word for it and I am standing on Your Word. I am not trying to be healed. My healing has already happened. I don’t care what this body says. It has to line up with Your Word because by Jesus’ stripes I am healed!”

And if the devil says to you, “Look at the meager balance in your bank account. How are you going to pay your bills?” just say, “I'm not going to worry because I know that my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:19) It doesn’t matter how much I have in the bank. God’s Word tells me that as the need arises, the supply will be there!”

When fear grips you, don’t say to yourself, “This fear is stupid. Come on, what are the chances of it happening to me?” Don’t try to rationalize or reason your fear away. Instead, speak God’s Word into the situation. Say, “It is written, ‘For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’” (2 Timothy 1:7) What if the fear returns? Speak God’s Word again. Say, “It is written, ‘For God has not given me a spirit of fear…’”

When the devil tries to deceive you, give him the Word of God. There is something about the Word of God that causes him not to want to hang around those who use it. It reminds him of Jesus, the Word made flesh (John 1:14), who rendered him powerless and of no effect when He said, “It is written…”

Romans 8:35

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

The pastor of our Hokkien and Mandarin congregations, Pastor Mark, used to suffer from certain health problems before he became a Christian. His doctor told him that he had to be on medication for life. He also had a huge financial debt. But when he caught hold of the teaching that he is God’s beloved, he believed it totally. He also believed that nothing could be greater than God’s love for him.

Today, Pastor Mark is off medication and completely delivered from that debt. God caused him to triumph over his sickness and debt because he cannot be defeated when he knows that he is God’s beloved.

Tribulation, distress or persecution cannot stop your heavenly Father’s love from working on your behalf. His love for you is bigger and stronger than your financial woes, marital problems or health concerns. And when God’s heart of love moves for His beloved, He opens doors that no one can shut and He makes a way when there seems to be none.

Even during lean times, you will never find the righteous forsaken. King David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25) Can famine or recession stop God’s love from providing for His beloved? No! So don’t think to yourself, “I must provide for my family. If I don’t, who is going to take care of them? How are they going to survive?” God wants you to know that His love will continue to provide abundantly for you and your family.

What about deadly pestilences such as bird flu and mad cow disease, natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes, or terrorist bombings? My friend, these things cannot devour you because His love protects you. You will enjoy His protection when you know that you are His beloved.

Because God’s love is greater than all the evil put together, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. (Romans 8:37) We always win in the fight of life not because of our love for Him, but because of His love for us!

Isaiah 60:1

Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

People might have said to you, “Why are you so lucky?” or “You seem to be looking younger and younger,” or “There is so much bad news these days, yet you seem untroubled by them.”

Now, the people of the world don’t have spiritual discernment. They can only go by your physical appearance, behavior and what happens to you. In other words, if they notice something different about you, it is because they see the evidence of God’s glory on your life—in your family and work life, health and finances.

Your friends and colleagues may have told you that you stand out from the rest as though a spotlight were on you. Indeed, this is so because of Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) When God’s glory rises upon you, your words carry weight, even if you are not eloquent. I should know. I stuttered and stammered right up into my teens. So when your words change people’s lives, you know that it is not you. It is the Lord!

You don’t have to be a straight-A student or someone able to speak the Queen’s English. You may be foul-mouthed like the disciple Peter, but when God changes you and His glory rises upon you, and you stand up and preach, 3,000 people get saved! (Acts 2:14–41) What is important is that God gives weight to what you say.

You might be a nobody like Joseph, a slave cast aside and forgotten in a dungeon. Yet, the greatest king on earth at that time sought Joseph out to have him interpret his dreams. In other words, God will give to you answers that the people of the world do not have.

Maybe it is your hands. When you lay hands on the sick, they recover. Maybe it is your ability to give counsel that is spot on, or your ability to speak into their future with a word of knowledge or word of wisdom from God.

“The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3) My friend, when you see this happening, it is because the people of the world are drawn to the glory of the Lord which has risen upon you!

2 Corinthians 10:5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Have you ever felt condemned because of the bad thoughts you have had? You could be in the middle of a prayer meeting when suddenly a dirty thought enters your mind. Actually, it is the devil who puts such thoughts in your mind. Then, he steps back, looks at you and knocks you on your head, saying, “How can you call yourself a Christian and still think such thoughts?”

I used to be in bondage over the bad thoughts I had because I felt that I had to confess every one of them and seek God’s forgiveness. But that is not what God’s Word exhorts us to do. You see, God wants us to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. Now, whose obedience are we to focus on? Christ’s obedience and not our own obedience!

But what is “the obedience of Christ”? It is His obedience at the cross, where “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19) Jesus shed His blood for us at the cross. This means that when our thoughts condemn us, we are to focus our thoughts on Jesus’ obedience at the cross.

My friend, the devil can only make inroads into our minds when he gets us to focus on our obedience instead of Christ’s obedience. His strategy is to point us to our obedience or the lack of it to determine our standing before God. But just as our position as sinners is not based on what we do, but what the first Adam did, in the same way, we are forever righteous today not because of what we do, but because of what Christ, the last Adam, did on the cross.

So the next time your thoughts seem to condemn you, say, “I am righteous whether I have good or bad thoughts. My righteousness has nothing to do with my obedience. Jesus’ obedience at the cross made me righteous.” Then, go ahead and pray, knowing that you have access to God and His favor, and that He hears the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)

Romans 14:17

…the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Are you troubled by many things today? For example, are you concerned about your rebellious teenager? Perhaps you see him as your problem, so you do your best to discipline him, only to end up with a heart full of worries and pain. And he is no better!

God says to you, “Don’t focus on controlling your rebellious teenager. Instead, seek first My kingdom, which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Be conscious of the righteousness you have as a gift from My Son. Keep your inner man flowing with My peace and joy, and I will take care of your child.”

We tend to think that the people around us are the problem. When we don’t get the promotion we want, we blame our bosses and colleagues. When we lose our temper, we blame our wives and kids. However, God wants us to stop looking outside and to start looking within because His kingdom is within us. (Luke 17:21)

The abundance of the kingdom of God is already inside you. As you seek first God’s kingdom, and follow His righteousness, peace and joy, the abundance within you will flow out and become a reality in your circumstances. (Matthew 6:33) You will find that God has not only taken care of what is troubling you, but has also added blessings to you, be it a promotion, well-behaved kids or a loving wife.

“But Pastor Prince, how do I keep my inner man flowing with righteousness, peace and joy?”

Be conscious of your righteousness in Christ. Don’t be conscious of your sins and problems. Listen to anointed sermons that remind you of how righteous you are because of the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Peace and joy flow when you know that all your sins have been forgiven because of Jesus’ finished work.

So the next time something troubles you, don’t focus on correcting the problem. Instead, seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Make it a priority to have your inner man flowing with His peace and joy, and He will take care of that problem for you!