Category: October 2017

Matthew 8:3

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Most of us are familiar with the healing of the leper in Matthew 8. It is a beautiful account of God’s willingness to touch and heal the sick, no matter how unclean they may be. Whenever we doubt God’s willingness to heal us, we should listen to the words of Jesus again: “I am willing; be cleansed.”

God is the same yesterday, today and forever! And because the Bible is clear about God’s willingness to heal, why do we still have problems with our health? Why do we still experience symptoms in our bodies? I believe that the answer is found in what Jesus told the leper to do next. He told him to go and show himself to the priest. (Matthew 8:4) This was the law then for lepers who were healed. (Leviticus 14:2-3) And he was to hear the priest pronounce the word “clean” over him. (Leviticus 14:7)

You see, as believers, when we received Jesus, His blood cleansed us from sin as well as sickness. (Isaiah 53:4-5) But we keep hearing people pronounce sin, sickness, poverty and death over us. We keep hearing people tell us that we are unclean, undeserving, poor, weak, and that it is only natural that we grow old and sickly, and die. God is waiting for a priesthood that will rise up and pronounce His people clean! So where can we find such priests? Who are the priests today? You and I! In fact, we have more authority to pronounce good things than the Levitical priests of the Old Testament. They were just priests. But we are king-priests by the blood of Jesus! (Revelation 1:5-6)

Where the word of the king is, there is power. (Ecclesiastes 8:4) And by the word of a priest, every controversy and every assault shall be settled. (Deuteronomy 21:5) God has cleansed you, so pronounce yourself clean! Right now, put your hand on your heart and pronounce good things over yourself. Say, “I pronounce myself clean, righteous, healed, whole and abundantly supplied by the blood of Jesus!” By your word as a king-priest, every assault against you shall be settled!

Acts 1:8

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Before Jesus went back to heaven, He told His disciples to “wait for the Promise of the Father”. (Acts 1:4) Now there are thousands of promises in the Bible, so which promise was He referring to? The early church knew which promise Jesus was referring to because He had told His disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father, which you have heard Me speak about. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5)

Jesus was referring to the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. (Acts 2:1-4) Jesus wants you to know the value of the Promise of the Father because He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…” He did not say, “You shall do witnessing,” but “You shall be witnesses”. In other words, your very person will be a witness to Him! This is because the power you receive when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit is the same power that so anointed Peter that the sick were laid on the streets for his shadow to fall on them and heal them. (Acts 5:15) Even handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul’s body were so saturated with the anointing of the Spirit that when they touched the sick, people witnessed diseases and evil spirits leaving the sick! (Acts 19:12)

When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you will be a witness to others, so that no problem, trial, disease or sickness is a match for the power of the Spirit in you!

Genesis 26:12

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.

When you sow apple seeds, you get apples. When you sow seeds of friendship, you get friends. If in the natural, you receive in the area in which you sow, how much more will you receive in the supernatural when God blesses you! The Bible tells us that when Isaac sowed in the land, he reaped a hundredfold even though there was a famine in that land. (Genesis 26:1) The reason was that “the Lord blessed him”. So if you are believing God for a breakthrough in a particular area, sow in that area.

Whatever money or time you give to the Lord, He will multiply it back to you. For example, you have 24 hours a day like everyone else, but the Lord can make your day very fruitful. And even after doing all that needs to be done, you will find that you still have time left to rest. Even when you have nothing to give but prayers, your prayers will not return to you void. God can answer them exceedingly above what you have asked. When Job lost everything that he possessed, he prayed for his friends, and the Lord not only restored his losses, but He also “gave Job twice as much as he had before”. (Job 42:10)

So start sowing seeds in the area that you are believing God for, and know that before long, you will be reaping your harvest!

Psalms 94:22

But the Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge.

Imagine being a poor widow, a stranger in the land and holding one of the lowliest jobs in society. That was Ruth’s situation, so it would have been easy for her to feel vulnerable and defenseless. But because she trusted the Lord (Ruth 1:16), He placed her under Boaz’s protection. Boaz, the owner of the field she worked in, commanded his young men saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.” (Ruth 2:15) What he was saying to his men was this: “She might be a gleaner, but because I care for her, treat her with respect and make sure she is not put to shame.”

Boaz is a picture of our Lord Jesus. If you are feeling vulnerable and defenseless right now, imagine Jesus commanding His angels, “Watch over this one who belongs to Me. Make sure he is treated with respect and not put to shame because he is someone I love and someone whom I died for.”

God’s Word tells us that if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) No one who has set himself against us can prevail because when God is for us, His protection is upon us. Jesus is my defense. If He does not defend me, it means that there are things in my life that are not to be defended, and I would be glad to find out about them now rather than later. On the other hand, because I take the Lord as my defense, and He defends me, what can those who are against me do to me?

When you defend yourself, you have only your two hands and your own human resources. But when you let Jesus take up your defense, He defends you with His nail-pierced hands and His legions of angels! The results will be amazing.

The Lord is your defense and refuge. Trust Him to defend and protect you!

John 10:10

“I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Though Jesus is completely God, He was born completely human. He went through temptation after temptation and conquered every one of them. (Hebrews 4:15) And all that overcoming power is found in His life. And He put that life in you – the life of Christ is in you as a believer!

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He conquered sickness, the winds and waves, the powers of darkness and death. It is His life that brings victory over the devil and all his works. And He put that life in you – the life of Christ is in you as a believer!

Finally, Jesus went to the cross. And that life in Him put an end to everything that was natural of the Adamic race – sickness, poverty, failures, pains, curses and death. All that was natural ceased to be in that life of His. But all that was supernatural remained in Him. And He put that life in you – the life of Christ is in you as a believer!

Then, Jesus rose from the dead. And in that life of His was added the power of resurrection. And He put that life in you – the life of Christ is in you as a believer!

After His resurrection, Jesus went back to heaven to His Father. Today, He is seated at the right hand of God, resting in His finished work, occupying a place of the highest authority. And He put that life in you – the life of Christ is in you as a believer!

And because Jesus went back to the Father, the Holy Spirit came to indwell you (John 16:7), so that you will live life with His anointing in you and walk in His overcoming power.

All that Jesus is, God meant for you to be. All that He has, God meant for you to have. All the exciting things that you read in the Bible about Jesus, all the treasures of Him hidden in the Old Testament and the unsearchable riches in Him that you find in the New Testament, all of that life of His, is not out there somewhere. God has deposited all of it in you, so that you can live the abundant life that Jesus came to give you!

Romans 4:13

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

God promised Abraham that he would be the heir of the world. Now, don’t be too quick to think that promise was made only to Abraham and not to you. The verse says, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” So the promise was not just made to Abraham, but to “his seed” as well, that is, you and I who belong to Christ – “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

Notice that God did not say that you would be the heir of the country you are living in, but heir of the world! The Greek word for “world” here is kosmos, which means the universe as well as the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, advantages and pleasures. All these are yours to inherit through the righteousness of faith in Jesus and His finished work at the cross. This righteousness is given to you as a gift from God, so you don’t have to earn it through good works.

For God to fulfill His promise, He has to prosper you. You can’t be the heir of the world and be in lack or in debt! Not only that, He must keep you healthy because you can’t inherit the world when you are sick and always flat on your back.

Don’t listen to people who tell you that you will only get to enjoy these blessings when you get to heaven one fine day. Why would you need riches in heaven? There, even the streets are made of pure gold. (Revelation 21:21) And why would you need healing in heaven? There is no sickness there. So you need the health and provision in the here and now!

God wants you to be the heir of the world today. So lay hold of your rich inheritance today. Jesus paid for it with His blood. Don’t push it all to the sweet by and by!

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

If you are facing a challenge right now, know that you have a standing invitation from your heavenly Father to come boldly to the throne of grace to “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. The phrase “help in time of need” means that you get healing when you are sick, provisions when you are in lack, and favor when news of job cuts or bad prospects are rife.

You might say, “how can I come boldly when I have been a lousy Christian?” You can come boldly because you come to God by the blood of Jesus Christ, not by how you have lived your life. So whenever you come into God’s presence, you don’t have to be afraid that your sins will be exposed because the blood of Jesus has removed every one of them. God does not see even one speck of sin in you because He sees only the blood of His Son, which has been shed for your total forgiveness and acceptance.

When you have failed and need mercy, God’s Word assures you that you will find mercy when you come boldly to God. Mercy means that you don’t get the bad things you deserve, such as condemnation, poverty, failure, loss and even death. And mercy is not the only thing that you will obtain when you come boldly to God. You will also find grace. Grace means that you get the good things that you don’t deserve, such as health, protection, anointing, favor, good success and life more abundant.

So come boldly to the One who loves you passionately, unconditionally and with an undying love. Come boldly to Him who knows everything about your situation and has the solution. He has wisdom far beyond that doctor you highly respect, that lawyer you greatly honor and the best experts you can consult. Come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help in your time of need!

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When you look in a mirror, what do you see? Of course, you see yourself. But God does not want you to see yourself in the natural. You may be sick, weak, broke and depressed, yet God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you – healed, strong, favored and whole because Christ is in you. (Colossians 1:27) God wants you to behold as in a mirror the glory of His Son who is in you by His Spirit. As you do this, His Word says that you are being transformed from glory to glory – sick to healed, loser to winner!

The world may say to you, “It can’t be that easy. You can’t be transformed just by beholding the glory of Jesus. No, you must do something about you. If you don’t put in effort, nothing will happen. If you don’t start making changes, nothing will change.” But the world will never understand that as you are beholding the glory of the Lord, who is the successful one in you, you are being transformed from a failure to a success. And this is not accomplished by any effort of yours to get ahead in life, but by the Spirit of the Lord! (Zechariah 4:6)

As you behold the glory of the Lord who is the healthy one in your sick body, you are transformed from sickness to health. And this is not accomplished by any effort of yours to keep fit and eat well, but by the Spirit of the Lord! What can be easier than beholding the beauty of the Son? So stop focusing on yourself and your efforts. Look away from these things and begin to behold the glory of Jesus who is in you right now, and you will begin to behold the miracles that you need!

Proverbs 17:8

A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; wherever he turns, he prospers.

When we see something moldy, we throw it away. But when Alexander Fleming saw his culture dishes contaminated with mold, he discovered penicillin. You see, he had a gift which prospered him.

Joseph, a Hebrew slave in Egypt, had nothing except his gift of interpreting dreams. But look at what that gift did for him. It prospered him. He interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and became the most powerful man in Egypt after Pharaoh. (Genesis 41)

You might be thinking, but what if I don’t have any gift? Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have any gift. God has given each person a gift which can open doors of opportunities and bring in great blessings. Maybe you are just not aware of the gift you have inside you, or it has not profited you because you don’t know how to use it. You need to take your gift and ask God for wisdom to cultivate it until it becomes such a powerful tool or “precious stone” that wherever you turn, you prosper.

We all have one or more gifts that God has given us. Perhaps your gift is singing, writing, painting, computer programming, helping others or feeding the homeless. Then ask God to add His wisdom to your gift, and that gift will become, “a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; wherever he turns, he prospers”.

Psalm 65:11

You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.

The economic experts may have painted a gloomy picture for the year, but as far as God is concerned, He has crowned the year with His goodness and abundance! God’s supply and provision are never affected by world events, so good times or bad times, expect every month, every week and every day of this year to be surrounded by His goodness. Expect His abundance to meet your every need!

Now you might have not done much good in the past year, so how can you be confident that God will provide for you this year? God doesn’t bless you because of what you have done. He blesses you because of what Jesus has done. At the cross, Jesus bore all your sins and was punished to the full for every one of them, so that you can have His righteousness as a gift and be blessed with every one of God’s blessings. (Ephesians 1:3)

Now, look at the word “abundance” in Psalm 65:11. It is the Hebrew word deshen, which means “fatness”. The idea here is abundant provision and blessings. The word deshen also has another meaning – “ashes”. Ash is the final form of something that has been burnt. For example, the animal sacrifices to God in the Old Testament were burnt on the altar until they became ashes. (Leviticus 4:12) So ashes here speak of the finished work of Jesus at the cross that has put away your sins. Because of Jesus’ finished work you can confidently believe and declare that the year is crowned with goodness and that God’s paths drip with His provision, blessings and good success for you every step of the way. If the devil tells you that God won’t bless you because of your sins, just tell him, “Ashes!” and point him to the cross of Jesus!

You are blessed not because of your good works, good looks, qualifications or industry experience, but because of Jesus’ finished work. He alone has qualified you to receive God’s goodness and abundance every day for the rest of your life!