Category: Blackboards

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Ever been too busy to get something done, and then find out that it’s too late when you finally get down to it? As human beings, we live our lives constrained by time. But Jesus, the one who created time, is not time-bound. He always has time for each one of us!

Even in His earthly ministry, in His limited form as Man, He always had time to minister to people. Consider a typical day in His ministry: When a severely demon-possessed man cried out from the tombs of a distant region, He had time to sail all the way from Galilee to the country of the Gadarenes to save that lonely, tormented man. On the way there, He had time to respond to the cries of His disciples when a fierce storm arose. He awoke from a much-deserved sleep and calmed the storm for them. After He saved the demon possessed man and returned to Galilee, another man, Jairus, came to him for help. Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter was dying and he begged Jesus to come to his house to heal her. Jesus agreed – He had time. But on His way there, a woman with a 12-year bleeding condition secretly touched the hem of His garment and received her healing. Though Jairus’ daughter was in the throes of death, Jesus had time to find out who had touched Him, just so that He could minister to that person.

While Jesus was ministering to the woman, He received a death report concerning Jairus’ daughter. Now, in the natural, Jesus was “too late”. Yet, He did not consider it a waste of time to encourage Jairus, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” (Luke 8:49–50) He wasn’t troubled or hurried. He took time to go to Jairus’ house and He raised the little girl from the dead.

This same loving Jesus always has time for you, His beloved. He hears your cries, cares about the little and big things that bother you, and will come and save you. Even when He is “busy”, He has time to stop and minister to you. Even when it seems “too late”, He will still see to it that you get your miracle!

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!

Hebrews 10:12

But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

Do you know that we once owed God a huge debt? It was not a money debt, it was a sin debt. We owed God a sin debt which we could never pay. But God so loved us that He came up with a plan to pay the debt – He gave us His Son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus was without sin. So when He went to the cross as punishment for our sins, He paid for us a debt He did not owe. The reality is that our sin debt has been more than paid in full. In fact, Jesus overpaid it! Jesus’ sacrifice was an overpayment because it was not just a good man, revered for his saintly qualities and good character, who died for us. It was the Son of the living God, the Creator of the universe, the perfect Man, who died for us! Because Jesus is God, His sacrifice is greater than the sacrifices of all good men – past, present and future – put together. His sacrifice avails for all who lived in the past, all who are currently alive and all who will live in the future. And His one sacrifice forever took away all our sins.

Jesus’ sacrifice was also an overpayment because His blood is of far more value to God than the blood of bulls and goats used in the past to atone for the sins of the Israelites. His blood is the blood of God Himself, not of animals. Because His blood is eternal, His blood cleanses us forever, so we have eternal forgiveness!

The next time you are mindful of a bad deed, remember that Jesus, your sacrifice for sins, not only paid 100% for your sin, but His sacrifice was also an overpayment. You can therefore truly and completely rest in the presence of God, knowing that He is fully satisfied and completely at rest concerning you. He is not going to find some sin you had committed that Jesus’ blood failed to cover.

God can righteously give you His blessings and you can expect to receive them because Jesus overpaid your debt!

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!”

Romans 12:31

…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

As children of God, we should never say, “I don’t have any faith.” To say this is to say that God is a liar because His Word already tells us that “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith”.

Why then does the faith of some seem to be stronger than others? Faith is like muscles, we are all born with a measure of muscles, but some of us develop our muscles better than others. Bodybuilders, for example, exercise their muscles very regularly to make them grow bigger and stronger. Likewise, your measure of faith grows when you feed and use it. Each time you hear or read God’s Word, you are feeding your faith. When you confess God’s Word and expect good things to happen to you, you are using it. And the more you use it, the more your faith grows.

So use your faith. You could start with headaches, for example. When you have a headache, instead of always running straight for your painkillers, use your faith. Ask God for healing, and trust and thank Him for the healing. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with taking medicine. And if you have to go to the doctor, don’t feel condemned either. Just start using your faith at a level you are comfortable with. If you need to go to the doctor, then go in faith, praying, “Abba Father, I am going to the doctor. I am asking You in Jesus’ name to give the doctor wisdom to give me an accurate diagnosis. My trust is not in him but in You.” When you take your medicine, don’t just pop in the pills. In faith, say, “Lord, sanctify this medicine,” then take it. This is because some medicines have negative side effects. So when you ask God to sanctify it, He blesses that medicine. And what will be developing in you, growing bigger and possessing your body until it is too widespread, is divine health!

You have been given a measure of faith. Start using it, believing that it is this measure of your faith that causes you to draw from the inexhaustible power of a faithful and loving God!