Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Only Jesus Is Altogether Lovely

Only Jesus Is Altogether Lovely

    Leviticus 2:1
    1‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour...

I love the symbolism of Jesus as fine flour. Fine, even flour comes from wheat that has been pounded and beaten again and again, and sifted several times. Doesn’t that remind you of Jesus’ sufferings and sacrifice for you?

And like fine flour, there is nothing coarse about the person of Jesus. Everything about Him is in even proportions. Every word that He spoke when He was in this world, every thought of His, every action of His, was so fine! When He was kind, He was not soft. When He was assertive, He was not overbearing. He is steel and velvet, meekness and majesty. Like a perfect diamond, every which way you turn Him, you see flawlessness, beauty and brilliance. There is no one altogether lovely like Jesus!

What about Bible greats like Moses and Abraham, or Peter, John and Paul?

Moses, whom the Bible says was more humble than any man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3), was once so furious with his people that he struck a rock twice, something he was not supposed to do. (Numbers 20:1–12) His temper got the better of him on that occasion.

Abraham, whom Christians regard as a man of faith (Hebrews 11:8–10), lied about his wife being his sister when a king coveted her. He endangered her life just to save his own skin. (Genesis 20:1–18)

Peter, who was deeply zealous for Jesus, denied Him three times. (Matthew 26:33–34) John, the beloved disciple who leaned on Jesus’ bosom, was all ready to call down fire from heaven to destroy the inhabitants of Samaria who had rejected Jesus. (Luke 9:52–54)

What about Paul, the apostle of grace, who blazed the missionary trail which future missionaries would follow? Even Paul went to Jerusalem when he was told not to by the Holy Spirit through some disciples and the prophet Agabus. (Acts 21:4, 10–11)

Beloved, the best of us can miss the mark. The only one who is faultless, flawless and altogether lovely is Jesus. And because He never misses the mark, you can look to Him. He will never disappoint you!

JPM

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Believing Is Receiving

Believing Is Receiving
Mark 5:28–29
28
For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” 29Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

You have heard people of the world say, “I will believe it only when I see it.” Generally, that is the way the world thinks. But God’s ways are not like the ways of the world. The world says, “If I can’t feel it or see it, I cannot believe the miracle is here.” God says, “If you believe it before you feel it or see it, you will see your miracle.”

Believing first before seeing the evidence of what we are believing for is called faith. Faith is like a spark and Jesus is the dynamite powder.

In the story of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, there were many people who touched Jesus (Mark 5:31), but nothing happened to them. They didn’t touch Him in faith. But when the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came to Him and touched Him in faith, He felt power leave His body (Mark 5:30), and it sparked off an explosion of healing in the woman’s body!

Hearing about how good, kind and loving Jesus was fired her faith to believe that He could and would heal her. So convinced was she (even when the condition in her body was still evident) that she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Did she experience her healing first before she believed? No, she believed first in Jesus’ goodness and power, acted in faith and only then felt the healing in her body.

In the same way, God wants you to believe in His goodness and love toward you. He wants you to know how willing He is to act on your behalf to bless you, and how, with Christ, He will freely give you every good thing. (Romans 8:32)

He wants you to declare by faith that all is and shall be well with you, and to expect to see just that. And then, no matter how long you have had the problem, no matter how bad the experts say it is, an explosion of healing and restoration will take place, and you will receive what you are believing for!  grace.inspirations@josephprince.org
         
  


Thursday, December 2, 2010

God sees you and beyond

God Knows You Intimately

    Matthew 10:30
    30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.



As much as I love my wife and daughter, I have never bothered to count the number of hairs on their heads. I don’t have the time to do so and I doubt I will ever want to.

Every day, your hair drops. Yet, God knows how many hairs are left on your head. And He also knows how many are growing back! He knows because He bothers to count them again. When it comes to you, He always has time for every little thing about you.

So when Jesus said, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered,” He was not exaggerating. He never exaggerates. He means what He says and He says what He means. So for the Lord to say that the very hairs of your head are all numbered means that He wants you to know that He is very interested in you and has intimate knowledge about you — your body, family, finances, relationships… everything in your life!

He knows the pain you have been having in your body. He is aware of the financial worry which you have been keeping from your family. He sees how your nasty boss is treating you. He understands the hurts you have been keeping in your heart. He hears your heart’s cry for a miracle baby.

Your heavenly Father wants you to know that as long as something concerns you, He does not overlook it, even if it is about your pet, as a church member found out. She panicked when she first discovered that her pet terrapin had gone blind. Then, remembering my messages on confessing healing for our bodies, she did the same for her pet! Three months later, the terrapin’s eyes were wide open and able to see!

God knows you intimately. He knows every small problem you are worried about and every single burden you have. And when you approach Him for help, He has all the time for you as if no one else exists. That is how valuable you are to Him and how absorbed He is in you!

Joseph Prince

Thursday, November 18, 2010

READ: The God Of More-Than-Enough JPM

The God Of More-Than-Enough
Luke 5:9
9
For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken;

As a young Christian, I grew up hearing preachers say that God only supplies our needs, not our wants. Yet, in the Bible, God clearly shows us that He wants to meet not just our needs, but also our wants.

For example, the famous “shepherd psalm” begins with “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”. (Psalm 23:1) Another psalm says, “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalm 34:9–10)

One of the names of our God is Jehovah Jireh, which means “the all-providing One”. He provides more than enough. The God of more-than-enough came in the flesh and walked among His people. And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He did not give His disciples small blessings. That is why He said to Peter, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets [plural] for a catch,” (Luke 5:4) and not “let down your net [singular]”. And what a catch it turned out to be — a boat-sinking, net-breaking catch! It was such a big and unexpected blessing that Peter and all who were with him were “astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken”.

Beloved, see God’s heart for you today. He wants to prosper you greatly. Don’t settle for anything less, thinking that He only supplies your needs and not your wants. If you need a job, know that He wants you to pray not just for a job, but for a position. When you have a position, you have influence and you are able to impact lives. Maybe what you need is a pay increment. Then, pray not just for that, but also to be in a position to give increments!

You may start out poor when you follow God. But you cannot remain poor when you follow the God of more-than-enough. In fact, like Peter, you too will be astonished that God supplies more than what you need and beyond what you have asked!     

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Confessing what's good for us

Good Success Is In Your Mouth

    Joshua 1:8
    8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night… For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.


I had always wondered why the Torah (the first five books of Moses) is read out loud by the Jews. Then, a Jewish Christian told me that for generations, they read God’s Word out loud because of Joshua 1:8 — “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night…”

The word “meditate” in English means to ponder. But in Hebrew, it is the word hagah, which means to utter or mutter under your breath. In other words, when you meditate on God’s Word, you speak forth or confess His Word instead of just giving it mental assent.

My friend, hagah God’s Word by confessing verses in the areas that you are believing God for breakthroughs. When I was working in sales, I confessed verses like, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty…” (Proverbs 3:9–10) In the first year, I became the top salesman in my company! My way was made prosperous and I enjoyed good success.

“Pastor Prince, I am waiting for God to make my way prosperous.”

No, the Bible says that you will make your way prosperous when you hagah God’s Word. So speak forth verses in the areas which you want to see breakthroughs and you will have good success.

Some people have success that destroys them — you don’t see them in church anymore and their family members don’t get to see them either. That is bad success. But when you hagah God’s Word, you will have good success that does not destroy you.

Now, confessing God’s Word does not move God to do things for you. It is not a formula. God had already moved when He gave up Jesus to die for you. However, when you confess His Word, it moves you from a position of doubt to faith. It moves your heart from a position of “Is it true?” to “I believe it!” When that happens, “you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success”!

grace.inspirations@josephprince.org

Monday, November 8, 2010

Know And Believe God’s Love For You

Know And Believe God’s Love For You

    1 John 4:16
    16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us…


You may know that God cares for you and loves you, and that He demonstrated His love for you by dying on the cross for you, but do you believe it? It is one thing to know about the love that God has for you, but another thing to actually believe it in your heart.
It is one thing to know that the sun shines on us during the day. But it is another thing to believe that the sun is still shining even though we don’t feel its warmth and all we see are dark clouds. Sometimes we are slow in believing God’s love for us when we are going through a tough time. But God wants you to know and believe that He loves you in the midst of the deal falling through, when that job is slow in coming, when the boss is fault-finding or when your child still refuses to come home.
In the midst of the pain, He wants you to know and believe that He is wholly on your side defending and taking care of you. And if God, the most powerful being in the universe, is for you, can anyone or anything come against you successfully?
Perhaps you feel like you have messed up big time. God wants you to know and believe that though others may be angry with you, He will never be angry with you. Neither will He condemn you. The sum total of His anger against your sins fell upon Jesus at the cross. So He wants you to know and believe that He will never punish you because Jesus was punished in your place.
When you feel unworthy because you have just blown it for the umpteenth time, know and believe that your heavenly Father still offers you the gift of no condemnation. So come boldly to His throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace. (Hebrews 4:16)
My friend, know and believe that since He loved you and died for you while you were still a sinner (Romans 5:8) at your worst and ugliest, how much more is His love for you now that you are His beloved child and the righteousness of God in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:21)                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
grace.inspirations@josephprince.org

Sunday, November 7, 2010

First post for R8:28

Hi,

I am creating an extension to my http://hahpiness.blogspot.com  I want this page to be mainly "all about God and His blessing". I would like to re post messages from my favorite preachers, testimonies, quotations, inspiring stories from different people including myself. 

I hope I am able to use the Internet for the glory of God. I want to live by this,

Colossians 3:17 (New International Version)17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


And being imperfect, being flawed, being some people's target of criticism, these will not stop me from sharing the gospel because Jesus died for me and He made me more than worthy. I am anyway glorifying my King, trying to expand in my own special way the network of people hearing and reading His words so I will deal with people's criticism just next time. It's not on my priority list now. :)

So why Romans 8:28, simple, it is what is says on the Bible itself,

Romans 8:28 (New International Version) 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.


Amen!

And this has been my MSN personal message, friends and contacts have known this verse already through that so it speaks a little about me. About what I believe. ☺


God bless ♥

Hapi