Category: 2017 Daily Blackboards

Romans 8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

When you have a plant with sick leaves, it would be foolish to just treat the leaves without knowing the root cause of the problem. Similarly, when “leaves” of sickness, poverty and destructive habits start sprouting in your life, you need to know what the root cause is. Experts will tell you that it could be stress. They may go a little deeper and say that it is fear – fear of the future, of rejection, of loss, of death and so on. But is fear really the root? Or is there something deeper than fear?

The Bible shows us that the most fundamental cause of problems in our lives is condemnation. With condemnation comes fear. Fear then induces stress which brings about the symptoms of the curse. This is exactly what happened to Adam. Long before he faced poverty, sickness and eventually death, he had stress. Because of his sin, God told him, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.” (Genesis 3:19) Sweat speaks of stress. But before there was stress, there was fear because Adam told God, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)

But what made Adam fearful? Adam only feared when, seeing his nakedness, he realized that he had sinned against God. He felt so ashamed and condemned that he hid himself. God then asked him, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11) There was no one else in the garden other than Adam and Eve, so we know that it was probably the devil who told Adam that he was naked.

Condemnation is the root cause of the symptoms of the curse manifesting in your life. That is why you need to know that at the cross, God took all your sins, put them on Jesus and unleashed the full fury of His wrath against them until Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” All your sins have been completely punished in the body of Christ who was condemned for you. The root cause of all your problems has been dealt with. This means that the devil cannot enforce the curse in your life apart from your receiving condemnation. So come to the place of no condemnation and no sick leaves will sprout in your life!

3 John 1:2

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Let’s say that you are now in your nineties. Someone comes along and asks you, “Sir, you have been a Christian for a very long time. You have seen much and done much with God by your side. You have prayed all kinds of prayers. So what would you place as top priority when you pray for people?”

I believe the apostle John was asked a similar question and his reply was, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” When the apostle John wrote 3 John, he was already a very old man and probably the only disciple of the original 12 who was still alive. It had been so long ago since he last walked alongside his beloved Lord, and witnessed His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. The apostle John had also leaned on the Lord’s bosom on the night of the Last Supper. And I believe that there on Jesus’ bosom, he must have felt the heartbeat of the Son of God – that loving and compassionate heartbeat which had caused Him to go about “doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”. (Acts 10:38) In fact, two-thirds of Jesus’ ministry on earth had to do with healing the sick.

And now, nearing the end of his life, and after all he had heard, seen and experienced, the apostle John prioritized, above all things, health as well as holistic prosperity. He said, “I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” He knew the Lord’s heartbeat. He knew that the Lord wants and will always want these for His people.

Jesus had prioritized divine healing during His earthly ministry. And Jesus, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), will do the same for you today. His heart still beats for you. He will never miss an opportunity to do good for you, to heal you of your broken body, emotional scars and weary spirit, and to bless you!

Luke 17:21

“For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

When you were younger, were you may have been scolded for not finishing all your food or leaving the lights on when you left your room? Were you constantly reminded that there are people starving in the world, that electricity costs a lot of money and that money doesn’t grow on trees? Now, do you find yourself telling your child the same things?

We are naturally conscious of lack in this world, but Jesus isn’t. Even in the midst of lack, He was always conscious of abundance. Remember the little boy’s five loaves and two fish? What did Jesus do when these were placed in His hands? Did He say, “What do you expect Me to do with so little?” No, His eyes were not on the natural, the visible, the lack. His eyes were on the kingdom of God where there is always abundance. So in His hands, the little boy’s lunch was multiplied, and 5,000 men, not counting women and children, were fed that day! (John 6:1-13) God doesn’t want you to be conscious of the lack in your natural circumstances. He doesn’t want you to live by how much you earn or how much you have in the bank. Now, I am not encouraging you to spend foolishly beyond your means. I am saying that God wants you to be conscious of the abundance of resources in His kingdom.

You may be asking, “Where is that kingdom?” As long as you have received Jesus as your Savior, that kingdom is in you! Jesus said that “the kingdom of God is within you”. This means that the kingdom of God is not some physical place. It is within you and it is where the abundance of resources are. So if you want to experience abundance in your life, be conscious first of the abundance inside you. Then, what is inside you will become a reality on the outside. God doesn’t want you to be conscious of the lack you see outside you. He wants you to be conscious of the abundance within you because His kingdom is within you!

2 Samuel 9:7

So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

When the people in the palace heard that King Saul and his son Jonathan had died in battle, they panicked. Fearful that David was coming to seize the throne, and kill all the sons and grandsons of Saul, they ran for their lives. A nurse took Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, and ran. But as she fled, the five-year-old boy fell and became lame in both feet. (2 Samuel 4:4) The poor boy would not have become crippled if they had known that David actually loved Jonathan and Saul, and would have looked after Jonathan’s son because he had made a covenant with Jonathan. (1 Samuel 18:3)

In this story, King Saul represents the human race. He is like Adam who sinned against God and forfeited all that God gave to man. He had the position, but not the power anymore because of sin. Jonathan, who came after Saul, represents Jesus, who came as a human. Jonathan was not like Saul – he was good, just as Jesus is not like Adam – Jesus is the perfect Man. David represents God. So Jonathan’s covenant with David speaks of Jesus’ covenant with God. Mephibosheth represents believers today who are “lame” in some way – sick, depressed, fearful, poor and so on.

Now, Mephibosheth became lame because of bad news that was based on a lie. Many believers today are suffering needlessly because they believe the wrong things about God. They think, “My sin has found me out! God is coming after me!” Well, I have good news for all Mephibosheths: David is not after your life! When David looked for Mephibosheth, it was to show him kindness, to take care of him and restore to him the land that had belonged to Saul his grandfather. Likewise, God is not out to get you. He knows all about your sins and still loves you. That is why He sent Jesus as the payment for your sins. And because of Jesus’ covenant with Him, He says to you, “Don’t be afraid, I will surely show you kindness. I will restore all to you and you shall always eat at My table!”

Exodus 15:26

…I am the Lord who heals you.”

Do you know that the first compound name that the Lord revealed to the Israelites after they came out of Egypt was Jehovah Rapha, which means the Lord who heals you? It was as if He was telling them, that as they began their new life with Him, He had already healed them of all the diseases and pains they suffered when they were in bondage in Egypt. Indeed, when He brought them out of Egypt, “there was none feeble among His tribes”. (Psalm 105:37)

Today, just as the Israelites were delivered from their bondage in Egypt and from slavery to Pharaoh, you have also been delivered from the bondage of sin and sickness, and from slavery to the devil, by the blood of the Lamb. And the Lord, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, still says to you, “I am the Lord who heals you.”

If the doctor has given you a bad report regarding your health, don’t despair. Look to Jesus and expect healing for your body. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is still Jehovah Rapha – the Lord who heals you!

Psalm 107:20

He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Your Bible will do you no good if you leave it on your bedside table, gathering dust. It will do you no good if you hold it like a teddy bear when you are facing your “giants”. But God’s Word will do you a lot of good when you receive it as truth and speak it as truth! Then, you will see your healing and deliverance from every evil condition that has been sent to destroy you! The Bible says that “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions”.

Now, when God wants to heal you, what does He do? He sends His Word. Before God delivers you from your destruction, He sends His Word. Are you still waiting to experience the blessing of healing that Jesus died on the cross to give you? Don’t feel condemned. Your Father in heaven loves you and wants you well. But how does your healing come? By you receiving His Word on healing that He has already sent you. His promises of healing are all there in your Bible. But have you received them?

Never underestimate the power of God’s Word, confess it and received your miracle.

Acts 27:22

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

When you are faced with a big challenge, do you automatically look for the most powerful way to solve the problem? Well, that is not thinking the way God thinks. The Bible tells us that it pleases God to use what the world considers weak, foolish and despised to bring to nothing things which are mighty.

“What is that in your hand?” God asked. “A rod,” Moses said. And with that rod, he performed miracles and confounded the might of Pharaoh.

“Five loaves and two fish,” a little boy said. And with that little boy’s lunch, Jesus fed 5,000 men, and his disciples gathered 12 baskets full of leftovers.

“The jawbone of an ass,” Samson said. And with that, he slew a thousand Philistines, who were the enemies of God’s people.

“Five stones and a sling,” said David the shepherd boy. And with one of his stones and the sling, he brought down Goliath, the mighty Philistine champion.

Don’t despise what seems weak and insignificant to the world. God can use them to bring down the giants in your life!

Luke 17:15

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God.

People who have a grateful heart are always praising God. You often hear them say, “God is good!” They know that God is the reason for every blessing they get. But there are those who look to God for blessings and when they get blessed, they just go on their merry way. Their hearts are captivated by the blessings instead of the One who has blessed them.

Jesus had an encounter with both these types of people when He walked into a village one day. Ten lepers cried out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13) Now, when you call out to Jesus for mercy, He always hears you. On another occasion, when two blind men cried out to Him, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” He took the time to give them their miracles. (Matthew 9:27-30) So these 10 lepers cried out to Him for mercy. He stopped, looked at them and said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And “as they went, they were cleansed”. (Luke 17:14)

But only one came back and fell at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Notice the very sad words of Jesus that followed: “Were there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17) The other nine obviously knew that it was Jesus who had cleansed them. Yet, they did not bother to go back and thank Him. Let it be said of you that when the blessings come, you remember to give God the praise, glory and honor, and acknowledge that He is the source of every blessing in your life.

Did you know that when the man came back to thank Jesus, he received the additional blessing of becoming whole? Jesus said to him, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:19, KJV) He was not just cleansed of leprosy, he got his missing fingers and toes back! When your heart is thankful toward God, you position yourself for even greater blessings!