Category: August 2015

John 6:28-29

…”What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

In the Gospel of John, we find Jesus being asked by the multitude who had been awed by His miracles – “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” The people had seen Jesus healing the sick, and feeding 5,000 men with only five loaves and two fish. Notice how Jesus answered them: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” The greatest doing is believing – believing in Jesus the sent one, who has done it all for you at the cross!

If you are asking, “What must I do to receive my healing?” the answer is this: Believe in Jesus, who “Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses”. (Matthew 8:17)

When the jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31) The greatest miracle in your life happens not by you working and trying to save yourself, but by you simply believing in Jesus who died to save you from eternal damnation and to give you eternal life. Why then, should the lesser miracles of healing or financial breakthroughs be any different?

What is the miracle you need today? There is nothing left for you to do, but everything for you to believe, because Jesus has done it all for you!

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Do you sometimes wonder if God really understands what it is like to be poor, rejected by people or sick with aches and pains. Perhaps you are asking, “Does God really understand what I am going through?” Jesus was no stranger to emotional or physical pains, poverty or hardships. He was born into a poor family. He had a smelly manger for His birthplace. (Luke 2:7) From an early age, as a carpenter, He knew all about working hard with His hands, standing on His feet all day and returning home with aches in His body.

The religious leaders of His day made life difficult for Him. They challenged His authority (Matthew 21:23) and tested His teachings. (Matthew 19:3) They also called Him a glutton, winebibber, friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 11:19), and blasphemer. (Mark 2:7) They said that He was demon-possessed and mad (John 10:20), put Him on the spot when they brought an adulterous woman to Him (John 8:2-11), attempted to stone Him (John 8:59, 10:31-39) and accused Him of perverting the nation. (Luke 23:2)

Have you been chased out of your home because of your Christian beliefs? Jesus understands what you are going through. He was chased out of His own hometown. (Luke 4:29) Have you been rejected by someone you love? Jesus also experienced the pain of being denied by a loved one (Luke 22:54-62) and betrayed by one considered close to Him. (Luke 22:47-48) He also knows all about the sickness you are suffering because He bore your sicknesses and pains on the cross. (Isaiah 53:4)

Jesus certainly understands all that we are going through because being born fully Man, He was “in all points tempted as we are”. He endured His sufferings for our sakes, so that we can have His peace and the anointing to rise above the troubles we are facing!

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Do you sometimes feel forsaken by the people you love? Have you been falsely accused and stripped of everything, without a dime to your name? Maybe today, you feel that you have hit rock bottom and you wonder if you can ever rise again.

Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery (Genesis 37:28), went through all these experiences and emotions. Still, he was conscious that God was in it with him every step of the way. Though his life was a “mess”, he believed that it was not an accident. Though the things that were happening to him were not good, he believed that God was making all things work together for his good. And it was indeed so – Joseph eventually rose to occupy the most powerful position in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:40)

Probably, this consciousness that God was in it with him was the reason he forgave his brothers when he met them again later in his life. Joseph told them, “But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” (Genesis 45:5) So like Joseph, whatever you are facing now, be conscious that God is in it with you. Be Jesus-conscious. Though you may have nothing or not much now in the natural, the truth is that you have everything when you have Jesus! The same Jesus who went around blessing others with 12 baskets full of leftovers, a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fishes, and who never impoverished anybody, will empower you to succeed in life. The same Jesus who went about doing good will cause good to explode in your life. The same Jesus who went about healing the sick and never giving anyone sickness will keep you in divine health and protect you from harm.

Because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), as He was with Joseph, He is with you right now. And He will empower you to live the high life – the abundant life in which you will see God’s promises manifest!

Psalm 103:4

who [the Lord] redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,

Four women are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. (Matthew 1:1-16) Interestingly, they are not Sarah, Rebekah, Leah or Rachel, wives of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Instead, they are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, women who had morally questionable backgrounds.

Tamar resorted to deception and prostitution to produce children through her father-in-law. Yet, it was from her line, the tribe of Judah, that the Messiah came. (Genesis 38)

Rahab was a Gentile and a prostitute in Jericho, who became a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Joshua 2:1-21) She also became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth. (Ruth 4:13)

Ruth was morally upright. But as a Moabitess, she was a Gentile and therefore considered unclean. Yet, she became the grandmother of David (Ruth 4:13-17), whom the Jews regard as their greatest king.

Bathsheba committed adultery with David. (2 Samuel 11:4) Later, she gave birth to King Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24), from whose royal line Jesus descended.

So what is God saying to us here?

He is saying that He is greater than our sins – where sin abounds, His grace abounds much more. (Romans 5:20) His grace is greater than our sins, so that even when the world disqualifies us, He can qualify us to receive His blessings! God is also saying that He is a God of many chances. These women’s stories show us that even when our troubles are of our own making, they are neither final nor fatal. When we turn to Him, He will turn our situations around until we see His glory upon us! Finally, God is saying that He is a God of supernatural positioning. Even when all our earthly connections are gone, the moment we turn to Him, He will find ways to turn our captivity into blessings.

Don’t look at your natural circumstances and be discouraged. Trust the One “who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies”. Trust Him who qualifies the disqualified!

Matthew 6:25

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

Do you worry about your health, finances, family or future? Even when all is well, some people still worry because they have heard others say, “You should worry when everything is peaceful because it’s the calm before the storm.” So they worry even when there is nothing to worry about!

But Jesus does not want you to worry about what you will eat or drink, or about your body and what you will put on your back. He tells us not to worry about our daily provisions because God, who is your heavenly Father, knows that you need all these things and He wants to add these things to you. (Matthew 6:32-33)

God is the same God who took care of the children of Israel in the wilderness, feeding them with manna every day for 40 years! (Exodus 16) Under His care, His people had no lack. When the people wanted meat for dinner, He simply rained quails on them. (Numbers 11:31-32) The children of Israel only had to pick them up. If they had gone to look for meat themselves, they probably would not have found any in the desert.

The problem with us today is that we think that we must do something to help ourselves. Some of us may even think that it is easy for Jesus to say, “Don’t worry,” because He does not understand the problems we face in life. But the truth is that Jesus understands every problem we face in life. In fact, He even faced the “final problem” – death. Death is the “final problem” because it puts an end to all our other problems. Jesus faced death at the cross, conquered it and rose from the dead. And because He conquered the problem of problems, we can trust Him when He tells us not to worry!

Hebrews 13:15

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Lifting up your hands and thanking God is spontaneous and easy when you have just received a wonderful blessing: “God, I can’t thank You enough for this miracle!” or “Thank You Father, for answering my prayer!” or “Father, thank You for the windfall!”

When you don’t feel like lifting up your hands to thank and praise God, do it anyway. Perhaps you are feeling discouraged lately. Perhaps everything is going wrong and you feel like your life is in a mess. You can’t hold back the tears. Yet, you make a conscious decision to lift your hands and thank God for being in the situation with you. You open your mouth and begin to praise Him even though you really don’t feel like doing it. In the midst of the trial that you are going through, you praise Him that He is your righteousness in spite of all the mistakes you have made. You thank Him that He is your Prince of Peace, and that His peace will arise in you and still the storms in your life.

God sees and appreciates such times when, despite feeling so discouraged, you offer a freewill thanksgiving offering to Him. In fact, your thanksgiving during such times is more highly prized by Him than your thanksgiving during those times when you are feeling joyful because you have just been blessed. And when you choose to thank Him for His unfailing love, and His faithfulness to deliver, protect and provide for you even when you don’t see the blessings. So lift your hands and praise the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever! (Psalm 106:1)

Deuteronomy 28:8

“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”

Do you remember the story of King Midas and his golden touch? He made a wish that everything he touched would turn into gold, and his wish came true. He touched his food, the trees in his garden and his palace, and they all turned into gold! Then, he hugged his daughter whom he loved very much and she immediately turned into a gold statue!

God’s way is better and it has no side effects. He wants to bless everything you touch. The Bible says, “The Lord will command the blessing on you…and in all to which you set your hand…” This means that whatever you touch, whatever you set your hands to, God will command the blessing upon it, be it a person, thing or business. So if you touch your child, he is blessed. If you touch your guitar, anointed music flows forth. If you touch your business, it prospers. When you touch a sick person, he gets healed. When you touch someone who is facing lack, his needs are met.

In the Bible, everything that Jesus touched prospered. He touched the eyes of two blind men and their eyes were opened. (Matthew 9:28-30) He touched the open coffin of a widow’s son, and the young man sat up and began to speak. (Luke 7:12-15) He touched the leper and the leprosy departed. (Mark 1:40-42) Under the old covenant laws, no one was supposed to touch a leper as lepers were considered unclean. If you touched the unclean, you became unclean. But Jesus touched the leper and the unclean became clean!

Everyone whom Jesus touched received a blessing. And because Jesus lives in you by His Spirit, what you touch will be blessed too. He paid the price for you to have this blessing. His loving hands which imparted blessings to so many were nailed to the cross so that today, God can command His blessing on all to which you set your hands!

Job 42:5

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.”

You may have heard of God from a friend or colleague. Perhaps you continue to hear of Him in church services on Sundays. Like Job, you say to God, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear.” But God also wants you to be able to say to Him, “But now my eye sees You.” When Job told the Lord, “My eye sees You,” he was not saying that he saw God physically. He was referring to the moment when he had a personal revelation of God.

Why was it so important for Job to have a personal revelation of God? You see, God wanted Job to know that without a personal revelation of Him, the devil could easily steal from him. But from the moment that Job had a personal revelation of God, things got a lot better for him, with God restoring to him double of everything that he had lost. (Job 42:10-16)

There are people who can memorize the Bible word for word, yet never have a revelation of who God really is. Revelation is personal and it comes about because God wants to reveal Himself to you. When you are reading your Bible or hearing God’s Word being preached, and suddenly you exclaim, “I see it, Lord!” that is when your personal revelation of God has come. And you are now in a position to receive all that He has for you!

Today’s Words of Encouragement

Romans 4:5

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

This was the kind of boldness that the woman with the issue of blood had when she touched Jesus. (Mark 5:25-34) By touching Jesus, she knew that she was breaking a Levitical law which states that anyone with a bodily discharge is unclean, and should not appear in public, let alone touch another person. (Leviticus 1:5) But she refused to feel condemned by the law. She believed what she had heard about Jesus, and was confident that there would only be love and compassion, not condemnation, from Him. She believed that Jesus would justify her and qualify her to receive the miracle she needed. That was why she boldly pressed her way into the crowd to touch Jesus, who indeed said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” (Mark 5:34)

What was it about her faith that made her well? Romans 4:5 talks about faith that believes God justifies the ungodly. When you believe that God justifies the ungodly, it will give you boldness to come to God, even when you feel unclean because you have just blown it. When you fail, don’t run away from God run boldly to Him, knowing that you are justified by the blood of Christ and not by your good behavior.

The devil may say to you, “How can you do that? Who do you think you are?” Don’t listen to him. Pick yourself up and thank God for the blood and the gift of no condemnation. (Romans 8:1) If God justifies the ungodly, how much more you, His beloved child!