Category: 2017 Daily Blackboards

Zechariah 9:12

Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.

I am sure that you have heard the expression, “When life throws lemons at you, make lemonade!” Well, I want you to know that when the devil throws lemons at you, God Himself will make lemonade for you! After all, the Bible says that God works all things together for your good. (Romans 8:28) And He does it with style – He restores double for your trouble!

Consider Job in the Old Testament. When he lost everything, his wife told him to curse God and die. He refused and, instead, responded to God in faith, and “the Lord gave to Job twice as much as he had before”. (Job 42:10)

When David lost the child he had with Bathsheba, he stopped pleading and started worshiping God because he trusted in the mercies of God. Later, God blessed David and Bathsheba with another son named Solomon, who became the wisest and richest king the world has ever known.

Today, God promises to restore double for your trouble – “Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.” If He declared it, He will do it! So you cannot but have hope that things will be even better than before. That is why in the same verse, He calls you “prisoners of hope”. Hope in the biblical sense means a confident expectation of good things happening in your life. You are a prisoner of that! You can’t help but wake up feeling hopeful. You can’t help but expect good things to happen to you! So when trouble comes from the devil, don’t give up and say, “It is hopeless!” Don’t worry or get angry. Worship God like David did and see that trouble as an opportunity for God to bless you with more than what you originally had. And because God has declared it, be confident that you will get double for your trouble!

Psalm 91:10-11

No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.

Can you just sense your Father’s love in these words? Like a mother hen that spreads her wings over her chicks to protect them, God will “cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge”. (Psalm 91:4) So don’t be fearful of accidents, terrorist attacks, diseases or tsunamis because your heavenly Father loves you and watches over you.

One of the ways He watches over you is with His angels. God has declared that no evil, plague or accident will befall you or even come near your dwelling “for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways”. When He says “no”, He means “no-thing”! And if He tells His angels to “keep you in all your ways”, it means round-the-clock divine protection for you!

Let me share with you a true story. A Christian was flying his plane when he realized that it was low on fuel. He contacted the air traffic controller and asked for assistance to land. But he was told that he could not land because there was a heavy fog. Then, the radio went silent and the plane entered the fog. He was flying blindly when he suddenly heard over his headphones, “Pull up! Pull up!” He pulled up just in time to avoid hitting the expressway! Then, the voice said, “Follow my instructions and I will help you land safely.” He obeyed and landed perfectly. Thinking that it was the air traffic controller who had helped him, he immediately looked for him to thank him. But when he found him, the man said, “Listen, we lost contact with you when I told you that there was a heavy fog. None of us managed to speak to you after that.” The pilot realized then that God had sent an angel to lead him to safety.

Your heavenly Father is watching over you. That is why no evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your dwelling. And He has a host of angels to keep you in all your ways!

John 19:2

And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head…

If hard work is the formula for prosperity, then everyone who works hard should be prosperous. But this is not always the case. Many people who work very hard are still lacking! Now I am not saying you can be lazy. What I am saying is that working hard by the sweat of your brow is not how God’s provision comes. In fact, if you have to work overtime all the time and are stressed out, you are probably operating under the curse.

What curse is that? It is this curse: “In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread…” (Genesis 3:19). And it refers to the stress, struggle and anxieties that come with working hard and yet producing little. Now, work itself is not a curse since God gave Adam work before the fall – Adam was to tend to the garden of Eden. It was only after he sinned that the land was cursed and it brought forth thorns, and man had to toil to eat of it. (Genesis 3:17-18)

But praise God, Jesus wore the thorns on His head to show you that He has borne this curse for you and redeemed you from it. He wore the crown of thorns so that you can work stress-free and yet have the results. You don’t have to be worried and stressed out day and night like the people of the world just to get ahead in life. Your heavenly Father can get you there without the worries and stress. (Matthew 6:31-33) Every curse that was supposed to fall on your head fell on Jesus’ head, typified by the crown of thorns. He wore the crown of thorns for you so that you can have peace of mind. He wore the crown of thorns for you and took your curse so that you can wear the crown of glory and take His righteousness, and all the benefits of that righteousness!

Today, don’t labor and toil like the people of the world. Instead, expect to see the blessings of God come into your life without blood, sweat and tears because Jesus wore the crown of thorns for you!

John 15:5

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

In this verse, Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” He did not say, “I am the vine, try to be the branches.” In other words, He wants us to realize that we are already the branches. We do not have to struggle to become the branches.

As His branches, we only have to abide or remain in Christ our vine. How do we do that? We do that by simply being conscious every day of our position in Christ. Because we have received Christ, we are in Christ and are accepted in the Beloved. (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:6) God accepts us because we are in the Beloved and He is in us. And that is how God sees us today when we come into His presence.

The devil wants you to focus on your condition instead of your position in Christ. The condition you are facing could be financial lack or deteriorating health. The devil wants you to focus on your condition and forget your position – that you are the righteousness of God in Christ and that you are seated with Him in heavenly places at the Father’s right hand. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:6) He wants you to forget that you are an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ. (Romans 8:17)

The devil knows that once you focus on your position in Christ, it will give you the power to change your condition and circumstances. John 15:5 says that you will bear “much fruit”. This means that when you pray against any lack, abundant supply will flow. When you pray for healing, sickness will leave.

None of these things can happen by your own doing, but by His life which flows through you. Just as sap flowing through the branches of a vine will cause them to bring forth fruit, His life flowing through you will bring forth a bountiful harvest of provision, healing and miracles. You only need to remain conscious of who you are in Christ!

Isaiah 53:5

…and by His stripes we are healed.

Under Roman law in Bible times, a criminal was either scourged for a lesser crime and then set free, or crucified straightaway if guilty of a greater crime. But Jesus was both scourged and crucified. Pontius Pilate had hoped that after scourging Jesus and presenting His bloodied body to the people, they would be satisfied and willing to let Him go. But the people were not and demanded His crucifixion instead. Don’t think for a moment that the people had power to inflict such suffering on Jesus. It was all part of God’s plan and the scourging was necessary for only by His stripes are we healed.

The Roman whip used for scourging was made of leather straps embedded with glass, bone and metal hooks. With just one strike, the instrument would have been wrapped around Jesus’ body, causing the glass, bones and hooks to cut deep into His flesh. And as the whip was pulled back, the hooks would have stripped His flesh off, exposing muscle and bone. Indeed, the psalmist says, “They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me,” (Psalm22:16-17) and “The plowers plowed on My back; they made their furrows long”. (Psalm 129:3)

Although 39 was the maximum number of times one could be whipped according to Jewish law, I believe that Jesus was whipped 40. I have been told that every sickness and disease falls under one of 40 different categories, making the 40 lashes cover every sickness and disease. Whichever the case, His back would have been reduced to a mass of bloody, mutilated flesh. That day, Jesus’ blood flowed freely from His body for your deliverance from every kind of disease and physical affliction. God allowed every one of those stripes to fall on His Son’s body so that your body need not be scourged with diseases.

If you are sick or suffering from some physical condition, know that Jesus took the scourging as full payment for you to be free of that condition. He bore those stripes so that, today, there is no sickness, no disease left for you to bear. By His stripes you have been healed!

Matthew 8:13

…as you have believed, so let it be done for you…

You may have heard some people say, “How can I believe it when I don’t see it? If I could see or feel it, I may just believe that something is happening!”

The woman with the issue of blood who came to Jesus could have felt the same way. For 12 long years, she had gone from one doctor to another, trying every conceivable cure they could offer. She not only grew worse, but ended up losing all her money to those doctors and their “cures”. Then, something happened to her when “she heard about Jesus”. (Mark 5:27) She started believing that He could and would heal her to the extent that she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” (Mark 5:28) Acting on her belief, she made her way to Jesus and touched His garment. Immediately, her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was healed of that affliction. Jesus, her true physician, also pronounced her healed.

God wants you to know that when you believe Him, you will see your miracle. What you believe Him for, you will receive. The world says, “Unless I can see it or feel it, I will not believe it.” But God says, “If you will believe it, you will feel it. Indeed, if you will believe it, you will see it!”

Matthew 6:29-29

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

You may think that you must work very hard to provide for yourself and get ahead in life. But God wants you to consider the lilies of the field – they do nothing. They toil not, spin not and struggle not. Yet, they grow and are clothed by God while simply resting and basking in the sunshine of God’s love! And when God clothes them, they look even more glorious than King Solomon, the richest king who ever lived.

Like the lilies of the field, God wants you to let Him take care of providing for your material needs, instead of you striving to do it yourself. When you let go and let Him, you will see Him bless you supernaturally, abundantly and generously!

Just believe that if God clothes the lilies and grass of the field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you, His eternal and precious child, with beauty and favor! All He asks is that you cease from your striving, allow Him to take over and just flow with Him!

Deuteronomy 28:10

Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.

Today, we are called by the name of Christ – Christ-ians. Therefore, the blessing of Deuteronomy 28:10, which says, “Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord” is no longer just a promise but reality! The second part of the verse – “and they shall be afraid of you” – is also true for you. People will respect you. Your boss will favor you and even your competitors will esteem you highly. They know that there is something special about you because good things happen when you are around!

Because you are also called by the name of the Lord, wherever you go, you are a blessing. His blessing is on you. The people around you will look at you and know that you are a blessing going somewhere to happen!

Luke 13:11

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.

Imagine being bowed over for 18 years. All you would see is the dust on the ground. That was the predicament of the woman in Luke 13. Dust was all her eyes fell on, all the time, everywhere she went, until she became dust-conscious. Thank God she finally saw the beautiful feet of Jesus, who brought her good news and raised her up.

Now, dust is the devil’s food. The Bible tells us that God cursed the devil to eat dust all the days of his life. (Genesis 3:14) Dust represents death. (Genesis 3:19) The devil wants you to be like him – to fall flat on your belly, crawl and eat dust. To eat dust is to feed on your shortcomings and lack, until you constantly feel that there is so much in your life that you need to clean up. You may not be physically bowed over, but like the woman, you become dust-conscious and every day life is a struggle.

Having a dust-consciousness also affects the way you see others. You look at people’s faults all the time. You point out their shortcomings and rake up their past failures. When you are dust-conscious, you find your relationships robbed of peace and joy. And if you, like the woman, keep looking at the dust, before long, that inward position of dust-consciousness becomes so entrenched that you become the devil’s food because dust is what he eats. God’s Word describes him as being like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

If you don’t want to be devoured by him, then lift your eyes above the dust! Instead of looking at your failures, look to Christ who has delivered you from every defeat. See yourself the way God sees you – righteous and holy in Christ. (Colossians 3:12, 2 Corinthians 5:21) You are not dust because you are not in and of the flesh – you are in and of the Spirit. (Romans 8:9)

The more you realize who you are in Christ, the more you will straighten up and walk the way God sees you – a new creation with His authority, power and overcoming Spirit!

Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Freedom of religious expression is a key to understanding early American history. Although recent twisting of history declares that America was founded on a basic principle of “freedom from religion,” historic reality is that America was founded on the right of religious expression known as “freedom of religion.”

A quick history lesson will reveal that there is no concept of “freedom FROM religion” in our Constitution, nor is one implied. Our founders quoted thousands of Bible scriptures, opened and closed sessions with prayer to God, and openly stated that they used the Ten Commandments in writing the laws of this great nation. Actually, our founders were standing on government lands while they read directly from the Bible, quoted scripture in speeches, and stood praying together.

If the United States was founded on a principle of “freedom from religion,” would our founders have practiced their religion so openly on government lands? There are more than 4,500 recorded, public quotes by our Founding Fathers about the Bible, God, and yes, the importance of ethics based on Christian principles. All of these statements were delivered while government leaders stood on government properties.

There is absolute historic precedent that the founders of the United States of America and the writers of the U.S. Constitution never believed in “freedom from religion,” nor a silencing of free speech concerning things of a religious nature while on government lands. This is a recent concept – a recent twisting of history that started in the early 1960’s when the U.S. courts started redefining our moral compass as a nation. The notion of “separation of church and state” was popularized at that time, and hundreds of higher court cases removing Judeo-Christian principles from the public arena have followed since.

History is clear. Judeo-Christian ethics are at the foundation of the United States of America. Morality was never seen as relative – it was always based on Natural Law and the authority of Scripture. As hard as it is for some to accept in this 21st century pop-techno-culture, this country and its moral backbone were founded on biblical principles and the freedom of religious expression.