Category: August 2015

Hebrews 5:9-10

“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek.”

When Jesus died and rose again, He became our High Priest. But notice that Jesus’ priesthood is “according to the order of Melchizedek”. Why the Melchizedek priesthood? The Melchizedek priesthood gives to man (whereas the Aaronic priesthood takes from man). We see this when Melchizedek gave bread and wine to refresh a tired Abraham after his battle with the enemy kings. (Genesis 14:14-20) So if Jesus’ priesthood is according to the Melchizedek order, then it is one in which we can come boldly into His presence to receive from Him! (Hebrews 4:16)

Moreover, the first word from Melchizedek’s mouth was “Blessed” – “Blessed be Abram…” (Genesis 14:19) The Melchizedek order is just that – blessings. In other words, Jesus’ priesthood is one which blesses and never curses us! So are we conscious of Jesus our High Priest giving to us every day? Are we alert to all His blessings coming from heaven toward us on earth?

Now, it is easy for us to believe God for His blessings in creation. For example, we have no difficulty believing that the sun will rise every morning. But while we have no problems believing the work of creation, we have problems believing the work of redemption. We sometimes find it hard to believe God for healing, provision, favor, protection or restoration – blessings that Jesus died to give us. We don’t really believe that every day, the Lord will take care of us, keep our bodies healthy and provide for all our needs. Yet, creation is fallen. It can be a blessing as well as a curse. Sometimes, a storm comes, and powerful winds and rains destroy thousands of homes and lives. Sometimes, dark clouds hide the sun and make the whole day gloomy.

We can’t put our trust in creation, but we can certainly put our trust in redemption. And unlike creation, the blessings of redemption are all good! The work of Jesus is not subject to the weather or anything else. The work of redemption is as sure as Jesus Himself. He died and rose again to be our High Priest who daily showers us with blessings!

Jeremiah 32:17

Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

Our minds tend to see our problems as big or small. Even when we pray for the sick, we say things like, “You have a headache? No problem. Let’s pray for your healing.” But when it is cancer, we say, “Let’s get the senior pastor. It would be better if he prayed for you.” We think of headaches as small problems and cancers as big ones. But that is not the way God thinks. There is nothing too hard for Him who made the heavens and the earth! With God, there is no such thing as a “big” problem. In fact, the “bigger” the problem, the “easier” it is for Him! In the feeding of the 5,000, it took only five loaves to feed the multitude. (Matthew 14:15-21) But in the feeding of the smaller multitude of 4,000, it took seven loaves. (Matthew 15:32-38)

In man’s scheme of things, it should take more loaves to feed more people. But this is not so with God. It took fewer loaves to feed more people. This is God’s way of telling us that the “bigger” the problem, the “easier” it is for Him. I am not saying that small problems are hard for God. But it is so encouraging to think that it is “easier” for God to heal cancers than headaches!

So remember, with God, nothing is never a problem because there is nothing too hard for Him!

Acts 2:46

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

Back then in the early church, Christians would meet each other every day, either corporately in the temple or from house to house in smaller groups. And when they met in their homes, the Bible tells us that they would break bread. That’s the Holy Communion, and they took it every day!

Now, I am not saying that you must take the Holy Communion every day. But if you feel led to and you want to, go ahead! The thing about taking the Holy Communion daily is this: If you are sick, you can be made well on a gradual basis. This means that you get healthier and stronger from day to day – first thirty-fold, then sixty-fold, then a hundredfold!

You see, while you can receive healing through the prayer of faith (Mark 11:24), it sometimes puts pressure on you because it requires you to believe that you receive it all – complete healing – the moment you pray. There is nothing wrong with the prayer of faith, but you may find yourself saying, “I must believe I receive it all, now! I must believe I have it all, now!”

But the Holy Communion allows you to receive a measure of healing every time you partake in faith, so that you get better and better. The more you take it, the better you become. There is no pressure to believe that you receive it all at once. Isn’t God good? He meets you at your level of faith!

Now, there are cases I know of where the manifestation of healing is immediate and complete. If it happens that way, praise God! But if not, don’t worry. The more you partake, the better you will become.

I have heard of people who take the Holy Communion three times a day, just like they would medicine! Why not? If you are very sick and you are diligently taking your medication three times a day, why not give the Lord’s Supper the same amount of attention? Why not boost your recovery rate? And the next time you eat the bread and drink the cup, you may just find your disease totally gone!

Psalm 5:12

For 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)

Bless your loved ones. Declare over them, “The Lord blesses you and surrounds you w

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 we should be saying, “Watch what Jesus does”. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He never changes. When we see Jesus in the Bible we always come across situations where He healed the sick, drove out demons, and guided and directed all that He spoke to. So when we come across a situation today we should not be asking, “What would Jesus do,” but “Watch what Jesus does”.

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

Matthew 20:22

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.

In our early days we thought we knew what “hard” meant. Hard would be rigorous, demanding, even exhausting. Jesus said the way would be hard and with James and John we replied (if not in words, then in unspoken presumption), “We are able” (Matthew 20:22). But like James and John, we didn’t really understand what we were getting ourselves into. Like green recruits we thought we understood what war was like. War is hard. War is hell. Especially when you war with hell.

Devils know no chivalry. They are cruel, and conceal their cruelty in the Trojan horses of pleasure and comfort, wisdom and security, flattery and shame.

Hell’s one primary objective is to destroy our faith in God. All of its elaborate strategies and all of its diabolical energies are focused on this one thing: breaking the power of the word of the Lord by undermining our trust in it. The universe was created and is upheld by the Word of God (John 1:3, Hebrews 1:3), so hell must break the power of the Word of the God, if it wants any chance to win. Therefore, we find ourselves fighting an enemy that constantly seeks to alter our perception of reality. This is why this fight is such a surreal and sometimes horrific experience.

Hell wages a war of distortion. It seeks to make the most destructive things look tantalizingly desirable, while it seeks to make the most wonderful things look unbearably boring.

Hell wages a war of disorientation. Through temptation, condemnation, intimidation, discouragement, disappointment, doubt, illness, weakness, weariness, and appeals to our pride and shame, the spiritual powers of evil seek to keep us off-balance, confused, and turned around. For if we lose our focus on the truth we lose our confidence and may lose our faith.

Hell wages a war of suspicion. One of the most painful things in this spiritual war is hell’s infiltration into our relationships. Marriages break, families fracture, friendships rupture, churches split, movements derail as sin infects and seeds of suspicion are sowed and fertilized.

Jesus was right: the way is hard – far harder than we expected. But Jesus was right about something else: “the gates of hell will not prevail” (Matthew 16:18). The way is hard, but the way is sure. For the Way (John 14:6) is the Word (John 1:1). That Word stands above all earthly powers and smashes against the gates of hell. The way may be hard for us. But the Way will be hell for hell.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:8-10)

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 one righteous 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 in Sodom (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.

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)

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

The Holy Spirit is God’s promise or guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in Him. Most of us would agree that as believers when we die and go to heaven we will receive a new body that is flawless and in perfect health forever. Although this is true, when you look at the verse above you will notice that it says that He will, “give life to your mortal bodies”. These mortal bodies are the ones we are currently living in while we are here on earth. You should also notice in verse 11 above that all three of the Trinity are mentioned. God the father, “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead.” The Son of God ” He who raised Christ from the dead.” And the Holy Spirit, “through His Spirit who lives in you.”

I really like the mention of health for our mortal bodies in this promise of God. For those who have accepted Jesus the Holy Spirit comes and lives within them. So health is given to you through His Spirit who lives in you.

Are you believing God for a miracle? Simply believe that God has already provided your miracle and receive it through faith. The biggest reason that healing does not manifest is not the amount of faith you have, but because of some unbelief. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing would be impossible.”

Believe for your miracle today and God will meet you at your level of faith.

Romans 4:16

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…

God’s grace is His undeserved, unearned and unmerited favor. And because it is undeserved, unearned and unmerited, all of us qualify for it. So how do we walk in it? Just as a password gives you access to a computer program, faith enables you to walk in God’s unmerited favor. Now, faith has nothing to do with what you do or what you can do. Faith is simply believing and declaring what God has done and is doing for you. When you believe that the favor of God is on you because of Christ’s finished work, His promises of provision, healing and restoration become sure to you. They are not just sure to the Jews, but also to you and me because we are “of the faith of Abraham”.

Ruth was a Gentile widow who put her faith in God’s grace. She believed and declared that God’s favor would lead her to the right field in which to glean, where she would find favor in the owner’s sight. (Ruth 2:2) Because she depended on God’s unmerited favor, God not only placed her in wealthy Boaz’s field, but also in the genealogy of Jesus! (Matthew 1:5) Ruth’s faith in God’s favor opened up a whole new world for her. She went from poverty to supply, widowhood to marriage, and from being childless to having a complete family. She also became a respected member of the community. (Ruth 4:13-15) If Ruth, a Gentile who was under the old covenant, enjoyed God’s favor, how much more will we who are under the new covenant of grace enjoy the blessings that the unmerited favor of God brings! In fact, because God sees us in the Beloved today, we enjoy the same favor that Jesus has! (Ephesians 1:3-6)

When you believe that you have the same favor that Jesus has, a whole new world will open up to you – a world where all of God’s promises are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ! (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Psalm 16:7-8

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

It is human nature to make our own plans and then ask God to bless them. Instead we should seek God’s will first. By constantly thinking about the Lord and His way of living, we will gain insights that will help us make right decisions and live the way God desires. Communicating with God allows Him to counsel us and give us wisdom.

By saying that he “will not be shaken,” David was talking about the unique sense of security felt by believers. God does not exempt believers from the day-to-day circumstances of life. Believers and unbelievers alike experience pain, trouble, and failure at times (Matthew 5:45). Unbelievers have a sense of hopelessness about life and confusion over their true purpose on earth. Those who seek God, however, can move ahead confidently with what they know is right and important in God’s eyes. They know that God will help them from being moved off the chosen path.

Psalm 16 is often called the Messianic psalm because it is quoted in the New Testament as referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Both Peter and Paul quoted from this psalm when speaking of Christ’s bodily resurrection (Acts 2:25-28, 31; 13:35-37).

David’s heart was glad – he had found the secret to joy. (Psalm 16:9-10) “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body is also secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” True joy is far deeper than happiness; we can feel joy in spite of our deepest troubles. Happiness is temporary because it is based on external circumstances, but joy is lasting because it is based on God’s presence withing us. As we contemplate His daily presence, we will find contentment. As we understand the future He has for us, we will experience joy.