And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of [fearless] courage.
—Judges 6:12
In the book of Judges, God decided to work through a man named Gideon to deliver the Israelites from captivity. But when the angel came to call Gideon, Gideon began rehearsing a list of his inabilities, including reasons why he thought he could not do what God was calling him to do.
In Judges 6:14 God says, Have I not sent you? In other words, “Would I ask you to do something I haven’t equipped you to do?” And again, in the next verse, Gideon responds with excuses—I’m too poor, too small, too weak. Because words have power, Gideon believed what he said about himself more than the encouraging words of the Lord.
Stop thinking of excuses or things to complain about—It’s too hard; I’ve never done this before; this isn’t what I had planned; I don’t know how; I’m too old/young; I don’t feel like it; I’m afraid—and start doing what God is telling you to do.
Power Thought: I can do whatever God asks me to do— no excuses—because He is with me.
22
Jun
Mark 11:17
Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’.”
It would be great if every time we prayed, the answers came quickly. Thank God for immediate results, but what do we do when the results are not immediate? The promises of God are there for us, but when they have yet to manifest in our circumstances, what should we do in the meantime?
Jesus showed us what to do. After He had cursed the fig tree, the tree did not wither immediately. (Mark 11:14) What did He do then? He went to the temple in Jerusalem and cleansed it, saying that it should be a house of prayer and not a den of thieves. (Mark 11:15–17) After cleansing the temple, when the disciples saw the same fig tree the next day, it had dried up from its roots! (Mark 11:20–21)
Today, you are the temple of God. (1 Corinthians 3:16) And your temple should be a “house of prayer” or it becomes a “den of thieves”. These thieves, or powers of darkness, will steal and rob from your temple, which is your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19) They will steal and rob you of your strength, health, youthfulness, wisdom, hopes and dreams.
So make your temple a house of prayer by praying in tongues frequently. (Ephesians 6:18) When you pray in the Spirit, you are praying perfect prayers. This is because the Spirit Himself makes intercession for you when He prays through you in tongues. (Romans 8:26)
“Pastor Prince, how long must I pray?”
Well, how often in a day does the enemy attack you with fears, anxieties and worries? How often does that disease in your body remind you that it is there? How healthy and whole do you want to be?
Beloved, as you make your temple a house of prayer, the powers of darkness that have been stealing or robbing from you will be driven out of your life completely. You will see the manifestation of what you have spoken over your circumstances and you will see the withering of what you have cursed!
Thought For The Day
Make your body, God’s temple, a house of prayer by praying in the Spirit frequently.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.” So, Christianity is a call to warfare not funfair. And a war is fought with weapons, not toys. That is why the next verse says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;” The word ‘canal’ in this context means they are not physically identified or seen. But even then, they are effectual through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So, there is no hold of the devil any where that you can’t pull down. You can pull down the devil from any height! How? By “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
Now, imaginations talks of reasonings or mental pictures. So, every physical warfare you see around you is traceable to a mental warfare. Until satan overcomes you in your mind, he cannot prevail over you in the physical.
The mind of man is an open junction. I can’t promise you that satan will stop suggesting evil thoughts to you, but you have the power either to reject those thoughts or embraces them. When he flashes a picture before your mind and tells you, “You will have accident”, you have the power to reject it and tell him, “No! Satan, you are too small to try that!”
No matter what is happening around you, to keep thinking right. When you touch your child and it seems the temperature is high, instead of thinking, “Maybe this child has a disease. Ahh! It might even lead to death!” Simply tell yourself, “The seed of the righteous shall be mighty upon earth. This is a mighty man in the making, not a weakling.”
And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].
—Colossians 3:15
When you do feel you need to say no, you don’t have to give a reason why. So often people want us to justify our decisions, and we really don’t need to do that. I try to be led by God’s Spirit—or another way of saying it is I try to be led by my heart—and sometimes I don’t even fully understand why I don’t feel something isn’t right for me.
But I have learned if I do feel that way, I am not going to go against my own conscience in order to have everyone be happy with me. I often say, “I just don’t have peace about it,” or “I don’t feel right about it,” or even a plain old “I don’t want to” is sufficient.
There is nothing wrong with giving a reason if you have one, but I think we go overboard trying to explain ourselves sometimes. Follow your heart and keep your peace. Say no when you need to and yes when you should.
Lord, make me more sensitive to the peace that comes when You are ruling in my heart. May I be quick to follow Your peace and leading in everything I do. Amen.
21
Jun
Numbers 21:9
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
“Pastor Prince, I know that God is my healer. But why is this sickness and pain still in my body?” If you have been looking at your sickness and pain all this while, stop looking at yourself and start looking at Jesus. Did He or did He not take upon Himself your sickness and pain?
God’s Word declares, “Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, and our pains—he hath carried them…” (Isaiah 53:4, YLT) Since Jesus has already taken your sickness and pain at the cross, then He cannot “untake” them. Even if you find it hard to believe that Jesus has paid for your healing, especially when the pain is unbearable, the truth is that it is still paid for. It is a finished work!
God is not saying that your sickness does not exist, nor is He asking you to pretend that it is not there. He is asking you to look away from the sickness, painful as it may be, and look to the truth that it has already been judged at the cross in the body of His Son.
Once, while still in the wilderness, the children of Israel were bitten by deadly desert serpents. The serpents were real. The bites were painful and deadly. So God told Moses to point the people to the bronze serpent put on a pole—a picture of the cross. (John 3:14) Bronze signifies judgment. In other words, the serpent—their problem—was already judged at the cross.
Those who kept their eyes on the bronze serpent lived. Those who focused on their wounds died. So stop looking at your sickness. Instead, look to the cross and see your sickness already judged in the body of Jesus. Surely He has borne your sicknesses and carried your pains! That is the truth of God’s Word. And His Word supersedes natural facts.
My friend, you let natural facts rule or establish God’s truths over your problem by what you choose to focus on. So decide today not to focus on the facts concerning your problem. Instead, establish the truth of God’s Word and Christ’s finished work over your problem—and live!
Thought For The Day
The truth of God’s Word supersedes natural facts.
The easiest thing for any man to do is to talk about some beautiful visions and great plans of what he desires to do. Taking steps to actualize those plans is where the real work lies. Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.”
You can’t tell how much you can do until you start doing it. Your capabilities are revealed only when you take steps. So, start taking steps, no matter how small. Anyone who succeeds in taking small steps is automatically qualified for big steps. Unfortunately many people want to take big steps when they have not succeeded in taking small ones. I am not against your dreaming big, but the truth is, no big dream is ever born in a big way, every big dream must first be conceived, be born as a babe, go from crawling to walking, and then start running before it will eventually fly. So, stop complaining about what you don’t have, do something with what you have! There is always something you can do, no matter how small!
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. . . . Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
—Isaiah 41:10-14 NKJV
When we start reading today’s Scripture, we might think, Wow. God must be talking to people who really have their act together, but the good news is that He is talking to ordinary people just like you and me. He helps us because He is good, not because we are. Fear comes against all of us, and God wants us to know that we don’t have to let the feelings of fear defeat us. We can keep moving forward in the presence of fear because He is with us.
If someone has hurt you or treated you unjustly, remember that God promises to deal with them and make them as nothing at all… nonexistent!! When we read that God will strengthen us that means He will enable us to do whatever we need to do today and everyday. God is with you, and that makes you equal to anything that comes against you. Because God is with you, that makes you greater than any problem you have.
Fear is not God’s will for you. He wants you to be bold, courageous, and confident, and you can be if you remind yourself often that you are not alone. God is with you!!
Love Yourself Today: Remember that God is with you at all times and you can do whatever you need to do.
20
Jun
1 Corinthians 11:29–30
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
Have you ever wondered why some Christians are weak and sick, and die young? I thank God that the Holy Spirit gives us the reason as well as the solution. In 1 Corinthians 11:29–30, He tells us clearly that the one reason some Christians are weak and sick, and die prematurely, is that they don’t discern the Lord’s body when they partake of the Holy Communion.
Many believers don’t understand that the pierced, striped and slightly burnt bread, which represents the Lord’s body, is for their health and healing. And when they partake without discerning this truth, they partake in an unworthy manner. The reverse is true: If they discern accurately the Lord’s body, then they will be strong and healthy, and live long.
Unfortunately, the church down through the years has misconstrued this teaching and taught that if you have sin in your life, you are unworthy and cannot partake of the Holy Communion, lest you become weak and sick, and even die! We have turned a blessing into a curse. Because of this, many Christians are afraid to come to the Lord’s table and are therefore robbed of the health-giving power of the Holy Communion.
My friend, there is no such thing as a worthy person! The best of us still miss it and fail. So unworthy people are the only people who partake of the Lord’s Supper. But because Jesus died for unworthy people, He has qualified those of us who take Him as our righteousness to partake of every benefit that He died to give us.
So it is not a matter of whether you are worthy or unworthy to partake, but how you partake. Come to the Lord’s table with boldness and partake because Jesus has qualified you with His precious blood. Don’t treat it as a ritual, but release your faith for health and healing as you discern that Jesus’ body was broken so that yours can be healthy and whole today. When you partake like this, you are partaking in a worthy manner, and you will not be weak or sickly, or die prematurely!
Thought For The Day
The pierced, striped and slightly burnt Holy Communion bread, which represents the Lord’s body, is for our health and healing.
For those whom He foreknew . . . He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of his Son . . .
—Romans 8:29
According to the verse for today, one of God’s goals in our lives is to make us become like Jesus. He wants us to continue to become more like Jesus in our thoughts, in our words, in the way we treat other people, in our personal lives, and in our actions. Becoming like Jesus does not happen overnight; it’s a process we have to choose to embrace.
Romans 12:1 says I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication… This means we have to make a deliberate decision to give ourselves to God. God has given us a free will, and the only way we will ever belong to Him completely is to give ourselves freely to Him. He will never force us to love Him or serve Him. He will speak to us, lead us, guide us, and prompt us, but He will always leave the decision to surrender up to us.
God created human beings, not robots, and He will not try to program us to behave a certain way because He has given us the freedom to make our own choices—and He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to willingly put our lives before Him every day and say, “God, Your will be done, not mine.” That short, simple prayer is extremely powerful when we really mean it, and it represents the kind of full surrender God requires.
If God has been speaking to you or dealing with you about anything, I encourage you not to put off surrendering it any longer. Choose to obey His voice and surrender today. Ask Him to be your Strength and remember that through Him you can do all things.
June 19, 2017
Topic:- SEE THE MIRACULOUS
WHEN YOU GIVE
THANKS
John 11:41
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes
and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
Jesus lived a life of thanksgiving. He always
thanked His Father for what He had and for
always hearing Him when He prayed. That was
how He released miracles in His life.
In the story of the feeding of the five thousand
(John 6:1–13), Jesus’ attitude was one of
thankfulness. He took a little boy’s lunch of five
loaves and two fish, gave thanks and had them
distributed. He gave thanks for the little that was
there and the little multiplied. Not only did the
people eat as much as they wanted, there were
12 baskets full of leftovers!
So when you see the meager balance in your
bank account, thank the Lord for what you have.
That’s your “five loaves and two fish”. When you
give Him thanks that He is your provider and the
source of your supply, in spite of the little you
have, your little will become much, with leftovers!
Even when faced with the impossible, the
solution was still, “Father, I thank You…” When
Jesus stood outside Lazarus’ tomb, and the
people took away the stone that was covering
the tomb, He did not see the situation as
hopeless and impossible. He simply lifted up His
eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You
have heard Me.” Then, He proceeded to call forth
Lazarus, and the man came forth alive once
more!
The raising of Lazarus, who had been dead for
more than four days, was one of Jesus’ greatest
miracles. And He accomplished this by saying,
“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”
He thanked His way to an awesome miracle.
My friend, the next time you find yourself
praying, “God, please do this for me! Please give
me…” stop! Instead, say, “Thank You God, for
hearing me. And because You have heard me, I
thank You that I have what I asked for.” And
when you thank God, the little that you have will
multiply. Your impossible situations will turn
around to reflect God’s provision. And
resurrection life will hit you!
Thought For The Day
When you give Him thanks for the little you have,
your little will become much, with leftovers!
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