Do Not Fear

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Psalm 23:4–6

Even if you are walking through a dark valley and the shadow of death looms over you, keep speaking the promises of Psalm 23:4–6 over yourself. Know that you do not have to fear, for the Lord is with you.

Notice that the Lord prepares a table before you in the presence (not in the absence) of your enemies. The apostle Paul referred to the holy Communion as “the Lord’s table” (1 Cor. 10:21).

That means even when the symptoms are in your body, and even when the pain is there, the Lord wants you to come to His table and eat. By partaking of the holy Communion, you eat and receive of all that our Lord Jesus has done for you on the cross. His body was broken so that yours might be whole.

It is human nature to feast and celebrate only after we see that our problems have been solved and our enemies eradicated. But that’s not what God wants you to do. He loves you so much, and right now He says to you, “Rest. Sit down. Eat. For I will fight your battle. I will defeat your enemies!”

As you eat at His table, see yourself getting supernaturally stronger. See the tumor shriveling up. See His health flowing into your body.

Don’t be afraid of your enemies. They might be all around you, but you can eat from the Lord’s Table with joy, knowing that surely, goodness and mercy and His unfailing love follow after you all the days of your life! If you look up the Hebrew word for follow in Psalm 23:6, you will see that it is radaph, which means “to chase, hunt, or pursue.”

See your Daddy God’s goodness and love chasing you down wherever you go. Even if you have to undergo surgery, chemotherapy, or an organ transplant, He is right there with you. In the operating theater, He is there. In the intensive care unit, He is there.

Do not fear—He is with you, and your enemies have no power over you!

This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.

Angels All Around You

Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure.

Psalm 103:20–21

Some people have the impression that angels look like little babies dressed in white togas, flying about with bows and arrows. The passage above tells us they are strong—they “excel in strength.”

Do you know how strong angels can be? When Sennacherib, the evil king of Assyria, laid a siege around Jerusalem, Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and the Lord sent one angel to the Assyrian camp.

Just one angel. In one night, the Bible tells us that “the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers” (2 Kings 19:35 NLT).

Here’s something else about angels: they “do His word.” They do not operate outside the boundaries of God’s Word.

And we have seen in Psalm 91:11–12 that the Lord has given His angels charge over us. The Amplified Classic version says that His angels will “accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways.” I don’t know about you but that gives me such assurance that I am covered under His wings of refuge and protection!

The Word of God also tells us that when the archangel Lucifer fell, one-third of the angels fell with him. That means that two-thirds of the angels are still on God’s side! Hebrews 12:22 tells us of an “innumerable company of angels.” There are so many angels that they cannot be numbered.

We may not be able to see them, but they are all around us, ministering for us. So don’t be one of those believers who are more conscious of demons than angels. Remember, those who are with us are more than those who are with them (2 Kings 6:16)!

In the garden of Gethsemane, when the Roman soldiers came to arrest our Lord, He said, “Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53 AMPC). According to the Amplified translation, twelve legions is more than 80,000 angels!

All Jesus had to do was pray and those angels would have been activated. But He did not do so because He had already chosen to go to the cross and to die the death that we deserved.

He gave up His protection so that today, you and I can claim all the promises of His protection. And as joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17), each one of us can summon twelve legions of angels! May you be encouraged as you see His desire to protect you as well as His provision of angelic protection over your life.

This devotional is taken from the book The Prayer of Protection Devotional—Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times.

Are You Fully Awake?

Awake to righteousness, and sin not.

1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV

Perhaps you find yourself under a constant siege of condemnation because you have been wrongly taught that the Holy Spirit convicts believers of their sins. You believe that the condemnation you feel is a result of the Holy Spirit’s conviction when it actually originates from the accuser.

Rather than the Holy Spirit being your Helper, convicting you that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, that God will never abandon you even if you have sinned, you are left to struggle with sin, condemnation, and fear. It is time to “awake to righteousness.” As Pamela in Maryland discovered, when you do, oppression, bondage, and sin cannot maintain their hold in your life. Here is Pamela’s testimony:

Dear Pastor Prince, at fifty-nine years of age, I was recovering from multiple fractures in my right ankle and fibula. In the first month, my mobility was severely limited and my physical condition weakened.

During that season of stress, I was oppressed and tormented by strong feelings of fear of abandonment and rejection, experiencing panic attacks almost daily. I was plagued by nightmares and became unable to sleep—due in part to pain medication, but also to the extreme anxiety. Some nights, all I could do was read the Bible until I was exhausted and finally able to sleep.

One day, I came across your television program and was “hooked.” Every day and evening, I watched your program, soaking up the words of life that you were speaking to my soul. I soon ordered one of your books.

For the first time in my life, I heard that it was not the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin, but my conscience. As I read through the book, it was like water to my soul. I read it through three times, each time getting more freedom and peace.

Now, at the age of sixty, I am healthier, happier, and freer than I have ever been in my life. I have been delivered from the stronghold of the fear of abandonment, neglect, and rejection that had oppressed me for most of my life. I have been able to forgive those who physically, emotionally, and sexually abused me, and to repent of my disrespect, self-hatred, bitterness, and resentment.

Today, I am confident that my heavenly Papa loves me, not because of anything I have or have not done, but because of what Jesus did for me. I am continuing to learn that I am completely accepted and righteous in His beloved Son, Jesus, who is altogether lovely, trustworthy, and gracious. Now, I spend my days loving Him and being loved by Him, and I am better able to bless and serve others. Thank you!

Beloved, if you are struggling with condemnation, fear, and sin, the power to overcome is found in knowing that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. When the Bible says, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not,” it means that the more you realize that you are indeed righteous in Christ, and that you are righteous apart from your works, the more you will be empowered to live righteously.

Let this truth sink in and be set free by the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is your Helper, given by God to convict you of righteousness. You are the righteousness of God in Christ!

This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs.

When God Can Use You

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:30–31

It is Jesus, His wisdom in your life, His righteousness, and His perfect redemptive work on the cross that make you a success. So when you boast of your success, you can boast only in Jesus.

Without Jesus, you have nothing to boast about. But with Jesus in your life, you can boast in Him and Him alone for every success and blessing that comes through His unmerited favor.

If you are strong, mighty, and wise in yourself, then God's unmerited favor cannot flow. But when you realize your weaknesses and foolishness, and depend on Jesus instead, that is when His unmerited favor can flow unhindered in your life.

We see this in the story of Moses. In his first 40 years as an Egyptian prince who was looked up to and admired, he thought that he knew everything. The Bible says that in this first 40 years, Moses was "mighty in words and deeds" (Acts 7:22), but God could not use him.

However, in the next 40 years, something happened to Moses. He had fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, and went to dwell in the Midian desert. He became a shepherd and was no longer considered mighty in words nor deeds. Indeed, he had even become a stutterer (Ex. 4:10).

And at this point in his life, when he probably thought that he was a has-been, insignificant compared to what he had been, and that his glory-days were behind him, God appeared to him and said, “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people . . . out of Egypt” (Ex. 3:10).

Forty years earlier, at the zenith of his ability, Moses could not even bury properly one Egyptian whom he had killed—he was found out and forced to flee (Ex. 2:11–15). But now, stripped of his dependence on his human strength and mindful of his weaknesses, he stepped into his call, dependent solely on the unmerited favor of God. And this time, when Moses waved his rod over the sea, the sea covered tens of thousands of Egyptians perfectly (Ex. 14:26–28).

The Bible tells us that “God resists the proud, but gives grace [unmerited favor] to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). Beloved, God will not impose His unmerited favor on us.

Whenever we want to depend on ourselves and our wisdom, He will allow us to do so. His unmerited favor is given to those who humbly acknowledge that they cannot succeed in their own strength and ability. When we let go and depend on His unmerited favor, He will take over and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.

Relationships

Relationships are part of everyday life, whether at home, at work, in church, or with the people we meet along the way.

And often, the way we respond to others is shaped by what is going on in our own lives or what is troubling our hearts. When we feel tired, disappointed, dissatisfied, or under pressure, it can affect our words, our tone, and the way people experience us. But when our hearts are brought back to Jesus and His finished work, His grace begins to shape the way we speak and relate to others.  Joseph Prince

Life Of God

'The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'is own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.'

John 10:10

The Greek word translated 'life' here is 'zoe' and it means life in the absolute sense or life as God has it. Everyone who is breathing has life in the sense of physical existence, but only those who receive Jesus can experience life as God intended it to be. Jesus came to not only save us from the torment of eternal hell, but also to give us this 'zoe' or God-kind of life in abundance. The life of God is not awaiting us in heaven, but is presently possessed by every born-again person in his spirit. We can release this 'zoe' life and enjoy it now by losing our natural life and finding this supernatural life. Andrew Womack

Let Faith Arise

She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.

Mark 5:27 NLT

The woman who touched Jesus in Mark 5 had suffered greatly for twelve years from a hemorrhage. She had not only spent all her money to pay for treatments that did not help her, but her condition had grown worse.

Perhaps you have been put through so many tests, been subject to so many probes, and tried so many “revolutionary cures,” you have lost count. But each time the treatment failed, and all you are left with is more bills and a condition that has deteriorated despite your best efforts.

You may have come to the point where you are tired of trying and tired of hoping. The disease has ravaged your body and you have neither the will nor the finances to continue fighting.

If that describes you, please know it is not by coincidence you are reading these words. I believe the Lord wanted you to read this because He loves you. Do not give up. Even if you have gone to specialist after specialist and tried various treatments to no avail, there is still hope!

I really believe what I am about to share will help you receive your breakthrough both in your body and in your finances. Here is the apostle Mark’s account:

When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction . . . And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

—Mark 5:27–29, 34

If you have been believing God for healing, you might be thinking, If only I could see Jesus with my own eyes or hear Him with my own ears, then I could be healed. The apostle Luke recorded that “great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him” (Luke 5:15). These multitudes heard Jesus themselves, and they were healed.

But the apostle Mark’s account about the woman with the issue of blood doesn’t say, “When she heard Jesus.” It says, “When she heard about Jesus.”

Hallelujah! Do you know what that means? It means we can have the same faith this woman had just by hearing about Jesus. We may not see or hear Jesus in person as the multitudes did. But just by hearing about Jesus, we can receive the same faith and healing breakthrough the woman did—even if the conditions have been in our bodies for years, and even if doctors and expensive treatments have failed!

This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.

Hearing God's Voice

'But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.'

John 10:2-3

This verse promises all who are God's sheep that they not only can, but that they do, hear His voice. Many born-again people doubt the truth of this statement based on their experience. They don't think they can hear God's voice. However, the Word of God is true - not our experience.

The harmony between what this verse says and what our experiences say is that it is our new born-again spirit that hears God's voice. Although God has spoken and still does speak in an audible voice at times, very few people experience this. God speaks to our inner person (spirit) and our inner person hears Him. The problem comes when we aren't sensitive to, or controlled by, our spirit but are walking in the vanity of our mind. The Bible calls this walking in the flesh instead of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-18).

Man is a spirit, soul, and body. Our spirits are as perfect as they will ever be in heaven. If we will change our thinking so that we believe what God says in His Word about who we are and what we have, then this agreement between our spirit and soul forms a majority and our flesh will experience the life of God that has been deposited in our spirits.

Prayer, Bible study, fasting, fellowship, etc. are ways of refocusing our mind's attention away from the voice of this world and back to the voice of our Shepherd who is constantly communicating with our spirit. If we fail to renew our minds, we can live our entire time on this earth without experiencing the abundant life that Jesus provided for us. Listen, and you will hear His voice speak to you through His Word today. Andrew Womack

“The Son! The Son!”

I will hear what God the LORD will say; for He will speak peace to His people.

Psalm 85:8 NASB

There once was a wealthy man who loved his one and only son above all things. Together, they spent ten years building one of the rarest, most valuable art collections in the world, with everything from Picasso to Raphael.

Then war broke out and the son went off to fight. One day the father’s worst fears were realized when the war department informed him his beloved son had been killed while attempting to rescue another soldier.

About six months later, a young soldier with a large package under his arm visited the wealthy man and said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the man your son saved the day he died. Your son was my friend and we spent many nights talking about you and your love for art.” Then he held out his package and said, “I’m not much of an artist, but I wanted you to have this painting I’ve done of your son as I last remember him.”

The father found himself gazing at a portrait of his one and only son. Fighting back tears, he said, “You have captured the essence of my son’s smile in this painting and I will cherish it above all others.” The father hung the portrait of his son over his mantelpiece and showed it to visitors before any of the other masterpieces.

When the father died, his entire collection of masterpieces was offered at an exclusive private auction. Collectors and art experts from around the world gathered and were surprised when the first painting on the auction block was the soldier’s modest rendering of the man’s son.

The auctioneer asked someone to start bidding, but the sophisticated crowd scoffed and demanded for the Van Goghs and Rembrandts to be brought forth. The auctioneer persisted, but when no bid was offered, the crowd hissed for the auction to move on. Still, the auctioneer asked, “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?”

Finally a voice from the back said, “I’ll bid ten dollars for the son.” The bidder was none other than the young soldier whom the son had died saving. He said, “All I have is ten dollars to my name, but I’ll bid it all for the painting.”

The auctioneer continued to seek a higher bid, but the angry crowd shouted, “Sell it to him and let’s get on with the auction.” The auctioneer pounded the gavel and sold the painting to the soldier for the bid of ten dollars.

“Finally, we can get on with the auction,” someone from the second row bellowed. But right at that moment, the auctioneer announced, “The auction is now officially closed.” The crowd gathered there was shocked and demanded to know why.

The auctioneer simply replied, “According to the wishes of the deceased, only the painting of the son was to be sold today. And whoever gets this painting gets it all—every piece of art in this priceless collection and the entire estate in which it is housed. The auction is closed.” And with the swing of his gavel, he left the crowd sitting in stunned silence, staring at the young soldier.

Every time I think about this story, I think of how, like the father in the story, God is looking for people who value and appreciate His Son. Whoever receives the Son receives all of God’s blessings. To the one who values His Son, He gives every good thing He has.

And how do we value His Son? One of the primary ways is by taking time to hear Him. Hear His words of grace to us and hear what He has done for us through His sacrifice at the cross.

In today’s scripture, the psalmist says, “I will hear what God the LORD will say; for He will speak peace to His people.” The Hebrew word for “peace” here is shalom, which means completeness, soundness, well-being in body and mind, safety, contentment, and peace in our relationships with people.

My friend, if you desire to experience an increase in these blessings in your body, family, career, and ministry, then focus on hearing Jesus and growing in the knowledge of Him and His grace. The Bible tells us that grace and peace (and every good blessing) are multiplied to us when we grow in the knowledge of Jesus our Lord (2 Pet. 1:2).

This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution.

About Those Pharisees

'They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins,

and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.'

John 9:34

Much of the Pharisees' problem was spiritual pride, as is very evident by this statement. They were so blinded by their arrogance that they couldn't believe anyone who hadn't been through their 'seminary' could teach them anything.

The name 'Pharisees' comes from a Hebrew word meaning 'separate.' This term was applied to this sect because of its extreme devotion to the Mosaic law and commitment to leading a separated life. This was a reaction of the devout Jews who came back to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, and saw the pagan customs and influences of the Babylonians everywhere. Not only their religion but their identity as a nation was being threatened. The Pharisees were patriots as well as religious zealots, who in the beginning served a very needed function in the Jewish nation which was struggling for survival. However, over the centuries the Pharisees had departed from the Mosaic law and had written their own interpretations of the law - interpretations which they held to be God-inspired and equal to that of Moses. In Jesus' day this group was characterized by hypocrisy and self-righteousness. They, as a whole, persecuted Jesus and His followers and received the Lord's most stinging rebukes.

The Pharisees, like many people today, were ignorant of achieving right standing (righteousness) with God through the simple act of receiving His forgiveness by faith and were trying to earn salvation by their own acts. No one can fulfill God's commands (Rom. 3:23) except Jesus (Heb. 4:15). Therefore, to be righteous, we must put our faith in what He has done for us. Andrew Womack

Never Mix Law and Grace

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

Galatians 3:1–3

Do you know why many believers today have a confused perspective of God? For example, many believers think that God is sometimes angry with them, but at other times pleased with them.

And while they would personally never hurt their own children this way, many believers today think that their heavenly Father would actually punish them with sicknesses and diseases. What accounts for this apparent “schizophrenia” that exists in the body of Christ today?

The answer lies in a mixture of covenants (or “Galatianism”) that is prevalent in the church of Jesus Christ. During Paul’s day, the church in Galatia was struggling with this intermingling of teachings about God that contains a little bit of the law as well as a little bit of grace—a mixture of covenants. From the severity of Apostle Paul’s tone to the Galatians, it is obvious that Paul regarded this issue very seriously.

You might expect Paul to be more upset with the believers in Corinth, who were involved in all kinds of public sins and immoral activities, but he was not. His intense reaction toward the church in Galatia reveals what is of priority to God. It is clear that in God’s eyes, believing the wrong doctrine is worse than exhibiting wrong behavior!

When it came to wrong behavior in Corinth, Paul was cool and collected toward the believers. He was able to handle their wrong behavior because he knew that the grace of God was able to take care of their spree of wrong behavior. That is why he was able to speak positively to them, even telling them, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:4). But when it came to wrong doctrine in Galatia, he rebuked the believers there because they nullified God’s grace by mixing it with the law.

In the very first chapter of Galatians, Paul says, “I marvel . . .” or as you and I would say today, “I am appalled . . .” What appalled him? Paul continues, “. . . that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:6–7).

Paul had preached the gospel of grace to the Galatians, but he found that there were Judaizers who introduced elements of the law to them. They mixed God’s grace with the law, causing the Galatians to turn away from the pure grace of Christ. They said, “Yes, it’s good that you are saved by grace, but it’s not enough for you to just have Jesus. You must also know and abide by the law of Moses and be circumcised to be pleasing to God.”

This mixture of law and grace angered Paul. You see, if you have wrong behavior, as long as there is grace in the church, grace will teach and give you the power to overcome your wrong behavior. But if there is no grace in the church, or if grace is mixed with the law and nullified, then what hope is there for overcoming your wrong behavior?

Beloved, wrongly believing a mixture of law and grace leads you down a path of defeat and will keep you trapped in paralyzing captivity. Right believing in the pure, unmixed gospel of grace, on the other hand, is the door out of this vicious cycle of defeat and bondage.

Today, begin to believe right by choosing to know and believe in the true gospel of grace. Believe that Jesus’ finished work has cleansed and forgiven you, and made you righteous with His own righteousness in the eyes of Almighty God. I pray that as you turn to the person of Jesus who has saved you to the uttermost by His sacrifice on the cross, you will begin to experience your breakthrough and lasting victory!

This devotional is taken from the book Reign in Life—90 Powerful Inspirations for Extraordinary Breakthroughs.

Love Conquers Fear

'He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?'

John 9:27 

This man showed great courage in confronting these religious leaders. Even Peter later backed down for fear of this same group of men (Lk. 22:54-62). Certainly one thing that gave him this boldness was that he knew what Jesus had done for him. And even beyond the physical healing, he knew that Jesus had healed him because He loved him. It's our security in the Lord's love for us that gives us the strength to face rejection from others. As Proverbs 28:1 puts it, 'the righteous are bold as a lion.' The antidote for fear of men is a large dose of the love of God.

One of the greatest truths of the Bible and one of the hardest to comprehend, is that we are the objects of God's love. God didn't just pity us or feel some sense of moral obligation to save us. He saved us because of His infinite love for us (Jn. 3:16). An experiential understanding of God's love is the key to being filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19).

Paul prays in Ephesians 3:19, that we would experience the love of God which passes mere knowledge about it. How can we know the love of God if it passes knowledge? This sounds like a contradiction. It's not. The knowing is experiencing it. The end result of having understanding and experiential knowledge of God's love is that we will be filled with all the fullness of God. God's love is the key that opens the door to everything that God is. God is love (1 Jn. 4:8).

It's not just a casual acquaintance with God's love that we need, but an intimate understanding and experiential knowledge of the depths of God's love. Just as a tree's roots provide stability and nourishment for the tree, so our revelation of God's love is the foundation upon which everything else we receive from God is built. Andrew Womack

Find Rest in the Father’s Love

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10 NIV

Today, I want to share one simple but critical truth with you. Memorize this truth. Feed on it. Let it take root in your spirit and become an anchor in your life.

You will never be the same again. Are you ready? Here it goes:

As a child of God, no matter what happens in your life, your Father in heaven loves you dearly and nothing you do can ever change that.

Will you believe that today? Whether you are going through good times or facing challenging times, you need to know that your Abba loves you.

There is nothing that you can ever do to make Him love you more, and nothing that you can ever do to make Him love you less. Even—or perhaps especially—when you feel like you have failed, know that you will always be the apple of His eye. Always.

God loves you with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). A love that is the same yesterday, today, forever. Feel your Daddy God enfolding you in His embrace right now. You are safe. You are utterly loved and completely accepted.

He loved you before you ever knew Him. His love for you has nothing to do with anything that you have done for Him. Nothing you do will ever affect His unwavering, unconditional love for you.

There is nothing for you to prove. You only need to rest and receive your Abba’s love. Let your life become established and grounded in a love that is so perfect that no challenge or adversity will be able to knock you down.

If you think that you’ve messed up, turn to your Father. In His loving arms you will find hope, security, and refuge from any storm.

I love how the apostle Paul puts it: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35, 37–39).

Beloved, there are no caveats or disclaimers when it comes to the love of your heavenly Father. The Bible plainly states that nothing shall be able to separate you from the love of your Father in heaven.

It’s an absolute declaration and promise. “Nothing” means nothing. As a believer, this means that even your mistakes, failings, and sins cannot separate you from the love of your Father. Hallelujah!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.

Desiring Spiritual Intimacy

“You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.”

Genesis 45:10–11

The “secret place” speaks of a place in Christ, but it also speaks of intimacy. To be “under the shadow of the Almighty” is to be close to Him.

There are times when I travel to Israel with my pastors and the sun is scorching hot. When we are outdoors, whether it is on the Mount of Beatitudes or in Capernaum, we always look forward to being under the shadow of a tree.

The difference in temperature when we are under the protective shelter of a tree is like night and day. Out in the open, we wouldn’t last long under the scorching heat of the sun. But under the shadow of a tree, we can sit for hours, enjoying a time of refreshing as we discuss the Word of God.

Beloved, being under the shadow of the Almighty speaks of closeness, intimacy, and protection. It speaks of a place of refreshing, coolness, and rest.

When Psalm 91 talks about dwelling in the “secret place” of the Most High, that secret place is not a geographical location, but spiritual intimacy with our Lord Jesus. In the same way, the prayer of protection is not an incantation or some kind of magic chant that grants you protection. It is you valuing your position in Christ and your close relationship with Him, and being found in that secret place with Him.

For more than a decade now, I have been teaching my church to declare Psalm 91 over themselves and their loved ones and to be conscious of the close relationship we as believers have with our Lord Jesus.

Some years ago, I received a testimony of divine protection from a businessman who attended our church. He had been on a business trip and was staying at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. While he was in the lobby of the hotel, a bomb was detonated right outside and it tore through the lobby.

The blast was so powerful that he saw a body flying past him. After the dust had settled, he realized that although his shirt was splattered with blood, and debris was strewn all around him, he was completely unharmed. Amazingly, he had stepped behind a pillar at the very moment the bomb went off, and that pillar had shielded him from the direct impact of the explosion.

Just think of what could have happened if this man had not reached the pillar at the precise second the bomb went off. All praise and glory to our Lord Jesus who watches over His own!

This devotional is taken from the book The Prayer of Protection Devotional—Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times.

The Truth That Frees You

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:32

What does “the truth shall make you free” in the verse John 8:32 really mean?

Examine the context of this verse and you’ll notice that Jesus said this to the Jews of His day. These were people who at an early age grew up studying and learning the law. Yet, these people, in ways very similar to us today, still battled with fears, anxieties, sicknesses, and all kinds of oppression, bondages, and addictions.

So this truth that Jesus was talking about clearly cannot be the law, because these people could not find freedom in the law. In fact, the truth of the law only brought them into religious bondage.

My friend, the truth that shall make you free, is the truth of His grace. This is the truth that He came to give us. His Word proclaims that “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

The good news is that grace came to set you free from the curse of the law. Grace is not a doctrine or a theological subject. When Jesus talks about grace, He is talking about Himself. Grace is a person. Grace is Jesus Himself.

The truth that has the power to fling wide open your prison doors is His grace. His grace is the antidote to counteract every poison in your mind!

When you encounter Jesus, taste His love, and savor His loving-kindness and tender mercies, every wrong belief begins to dissolve in the glory of His love. And every dark thought and evil addiction that may have held you captive cannot but scatter when it is exposed to the light of His grace!

Your freedom is found in rightly believing in Jesus—His favor and His love in your life. When you believe right about His grace, you will begin to live right.

The more you see in His Word what His grace has done for you, the more fears, condemnation, depression, and destructive habits will lose their grip in your life. And the more you believe and enjoy His grace and love, the more you’ll find the Lord’s wisdom, stability, and peace guiding your decisions and actions.

Right believing always produces right living and the right results.

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.

The King Came Down

“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Luke 19:38

When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Love your enemies” (Matt. 5:44). Today we have problems loving our neighbors, let alone our enemies.

Jesus also said, “If your right eye offends you, pluck it out, throw it away from you. If your hand offends you, cut it off” (Matt. 5:29–30). Have you seen anyone who’s fighting for the law do that? Have you seen any church practice that? Come on, that church would look like a huge amputation ward!

So what was Jesus doing when He said those things?

Jesus was bringing the law back to its pristine standard, as the Pharisees had brought it down to where it was humanly possible to keep. For example, the Pharisees thought that unless you physically commit adultery, you have not sinned, but Jesus said that if you look at a woman to lust, you have already committed adultery with her (Matt. 5:28).

Jesus demonstrated to those who boasted of their law keeping that it was impossible for man to be justified by the law. He also said that the moment you are angry with a brother in your heart, you have committed murder (Matt. 5:22)! You see, Jesus’ definitive and impeccable interpretation of God’s holy laws brings man to the end of himself so that he will see his need for the Savior.

Now, I want you to catch a beautiful picture of God’s grace: the good news is that Jesus didn’t stop there. He preached the Sermon on the Mount and then He came down. Spiritually speaking, if the King had stayed on the mountain, there would have been no redemption for us.

Are you getting this? If Jesus had stayed high up in heaven and decreed God’s holy standards from there, there would have been no hope and no redemption for us. But all praise and glory to the King Who chose to come down from heaven to this earth! He came down the mountain. He came down into suffering, crying, and dying humanity.

At the foot of the mountain we see how He met a man with leprosy, a picture of you and me before we were washed clean by His precious blood. Imagine: an unclean sinner, standing before the King of kings. There was no way the standards of the Sermon on the Mount could have saved him. There was no way the pristine and perfect standards of God’s holy commandments could have saved us. The King knew that and that’s why He came down to where we were.

In those days, people with leprosy were considered unclean and wherever they went they had to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” (Lev. 13:45) so people would know to run the other way lest they became defiled by the disease. Needless to say, those with leprosy were not welcomed in public places. Yet here the man with leprosy was before the King saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (Matt. 8:2). Notice he didn’t doubt that Jesus could; he doubted that Jesus would.

Without a moment’s hesitation, our Lord Jesus reached out and touched the afflicted man, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matt. 8:3).

Now watch this: under the law those with leprosy—the unclean—make the clean unclean. But under grace Jesus makes the unclean clean. Under the law, sin is contagious. Under grace, righteousness and God’s goodness are contagious!

This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution.

Practice Jesus’ Presence and See His Power

But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.

Jeremiah 20:11

Do you know that the best time to thank Jesus for His presence is when you don’t “feel” His presence? When it comes to the presence of Jesus, don’t go by your feelings. Feelings can be deceptive. Go by His promise that He is Immanuel—God with us!

Have you heard the story of a groom who approached his pastor almost immediately after his wedding ceremony? He went up to his pastor and said, “Pastor, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure,” the pastor replied.

The groom said, “You know what, I don’t feel married.”

The pastor grabbed him by the collar and growled, “Listen, boy. You ARE married whether you feel it or not, understand? Just take it by faith that you are married!”

You see, my friend, you can’t go by your feelings. You go by the truth and the truth is this: God promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So the best time to practice His presence is precisely when you feel like Jesus is 100,000 miles away. Remember that feelings aren’t based on truth. God’s Word is truth!

Soon after I graduated from high school, I took on a part-time job to teach in an elementary school where I was placed in charge of a class of 10-year-olds. I remember one day, when I was practicing His presence, I knelt down in my living room and prayed, “Lord, I just thank You that You are always with me.” As I was on my knees, the Lord told me to pray specifically for one of the girls in my class who had been absent from school that day.

Now, it is very common for kids to miss class now and then for various reasons, and I had never been led by the Lord to pray specifically for any of them. This girl was the first! The Lord told me very clearly to pray for His protection to be over this girl and to cover her with His precious blood.

The next day, there was a big commotion in the school and I found out that the girl had been kidnapped by a notorious serial killer that very afternoon when the Lord had told me to pray for her. The killer, Adrian Lim, had kidnapped several children to be offered up as sacrifices to the devil. He believed that Satan would give him power when he offered the blood of these children to him.

Over the next couple of days, this girl from my class was all over our national media because she had been miraculously released. Sadly, she was the only girl released. All the other kidnapped children had been brutally murdered.

When she returned to class, I asked her how she came to be freed. She told me that her kidnapper was “praying” over her when suddenly he stopped and told her, “The gods do not want you.” She was quickly released that evening. Of course, you and I know why the “gods” didn’t want her—she was covered and protected by Jesus’ blood!

Listen to what I am saying here. In America today and around the world, the devil is trying to destroy a new generation because he is afraid that the young people of the new millennium are going to take over the world for Jesus. That is why we have to cover our children with Jesus’ protection.

I am sharing all this with you because I want you to see the importance and power of practicing His presence. As a teacher during that time, my class was my responsibility, just like my congregation is my responsibility today.

Think with me: How in the world, with my finite knowledge and intelligence, could I have known that one of my students was in grave danger? It is not possible! But because the Lord, who knows all things, was with me, He enabled me to make a difference in my student’s life.

Similarly, whatever role or vocation you are in, whether you are a schoolteacher, business leader, or homemaker, I want you to know that Jesus is with you and He wants to make you a success. Now, remember, all this happened to me before I became a full-time pastor, so please don’t think that this unmerited favor from Jesus is only for pastors. Beloved, His unmerited favor is for you. The Lord Immanuel is with you.

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.

He Can Make a Way

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Exodus 14:13–14

I may not understand fully the circumstances you are going through today or the depths of your despair as you watch your loved one fighting to stay alive. But what I do know is this: God loves you more than you can ever comprehend, and He can make a way even when there seems to be no way.

Exodus 14 records how the children of Israel thought they were doomed when the mighty Egyptian army closed in on them. It appeared they would either be slaughtered by the Egyptians or perish in the watery grave of the Red Sea. But read what Moses said to them in the verses above. Then God split open the sea, and the children of Israel “walked on dry land in the midst of the sea” (Ex. 14:29).

But God didn’t stop there. He caused the sea to return to its full depth while Pharaoh’s formidable forces were still in pursuit, and I love how the Bible spells this out: “Not so much as one of them remained” (Ex. 14:28).

Beloved, you or your loved one might be faced with a daunting and seemingly impossible medical situation. All your fretting and tears cannot change your situation, but there is One who can. Do not be afraid.

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He will fight for you. He will overcome your enemies for you. Don’t keep asking why you have the disease. Don’t accept the disease or believe the lie that you deserve to be sick because of the wrong you have done. The Lord Jesus has already paid the price for your wholeness. Just put your hand in His and let Him lead you through your situation.

He will cause you to walk on dry land in the midst of the sea. The negative reports, medical statistics, and symptoms that you see may spell an inescapable situation, but He will make a way that will stun everyone around you. The Red Sea you thought would drown you will become the burial ground for your enemies instead. You might see them today, but you shall see those oppressive symptoms no more forever!

I see your migraine headaches gone. The inflammation in your joints gone. The paralyzing fatigue gone. The negative report about your unborn baby gone. The blood in your urine gone. Not so much as one of them will remain!

This devotional is taken from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.

Transformed by God’s Favor

The goodness of God leads you to repentance.

Romans 2:4

Let me share with you a testimony of a youth whose life has been wonderfully transformed by the unmerited favor of God. This young man smoked his first cigarette when he was only 9 years old. By the time he was 14, he was already a seasoned gangster, peddling as well as taking drugs, and selling pirated movies.

With the money earned, he would treat his gang members to fancy clothes or meals, and even cover transport expenses for them to congregate for gang fights! At 15, the law caught up with him and he was sent to a boys’ reformatory home where he realized that his life needed to be turned around. And that was when God came into the picture. He said:

The home was where I first encountered God, even though I did not know it was Him then. One of my counselors, a Christian lady, prayed for me and for the first time in my life, I felt that there was “someone” watching over me. I did not think much about it then, but that’s when my heart and my perspective on life began to change.

I started attending New Creation Church (NCC) in September 2005. A friend had invited me to NCC earlier, but I declined. However, one day I happened to oversleep on the train and missed my stop. The platform I got off on was completely deserted, but I noticed a plastic bag left on one of the benches. I looked at its contents to see if I could tell who it belonged to and realized that inside it were actually sermon CDs from NCC!

So even when I didn't want to attend NCC, God sent the church to me! It was no coincidence. It was God-directed! When I played the CDs at home out of curiosity, the presence of God was so real. I experienced such intimacy with God. As I listened to Pastor Prince’s teachings, I knew that this was the God I had always believed in, a God who loves me regardless of who I am or what I do!

Pastor Prince’s teachings have set me free and given me a supernatural strength and passion to do His work. I don’t feel any more bondage when it comes to communicating with God, knowing that He can lead me in every situation.

The most significant change I have experienced has been my inward transformation. I used to have a very bad temper, which got me into a lot of fights because I was easily provoked. Being conscious of His love for me has delivered me from that. I also went from failing in high school to doing well enough in the polytechnic to qualify for a place in a university.

This young man is now a confident, cheerful person with a bright future. He gives talks at schools and at the boys’ reformatory home that he was in to share his journey with the youths and to encourage them. His life has been so incredibly transformed that even a government agency has enlisted him to speak to troubled youths.

He says that ever since Jesus entered His life, he has seen the Lord's grace and favor superabound in his life. Many doors have opened for him and his life has really been enriched, with breakthroughs in areas such as his work, studies, family, and relationships. Let’s give Jesus all the glory!

That’s what our young people need—a revelation of Jesus’ perfect love for them! There is a lost and dying world out there.

My friend, the Ten Commandments cannot be the only thing that youths know about Christianity anymore! How can they help but think that Christianity is nothing but rules, laws, and regulations on what they should or should not be doing? How can they help but imagine God to be someone who is angry with them and looking for opportunities to punish them?

If the young people in your community are to come to Jesus, they will need to know that Christianity is an intimate relationship with a loving God. Once they know this, they will be banging down the doors of churches every Sunday to get in to hear Jesus and His grace preached!

Beloved, I pray that like the young man whose testimony you just read, you will continue to allow Jesus to show you more and more of His perfect love for you every day.

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.

Holy Ghost Teacher

 'And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?'

Jesus received His wisdom and knowledge by direct revelation from the Spirit of God rather than by the teachings of man. Jesus had been learning, but not through man. The Holy Ghost was His teacher. Jesus had to be taught the things of God. This looks contrary to Colossians 2:3, which says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus. If Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, why would He have to learn or be taught?

The harmony between these apparently opposite statements is that Jesus' spirit man was 100% God and had all of the wisdom and understanding of God in it, but it was manifest in natural flesh. It wasn't sinful flesh but it was flesh, nonetheless, and had to be educated. Jesus was not taught by man, but He was taught by the direct revelation of the Holy Spirit. The knowledge was within Him but it had to be drawn out.

At the new birth, a born-again man's spirit 'is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him' (Col. 3:10). 'We have the mind of Christ' (1 Cor. 2:16), and 'an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things' (1 Jn. 2:20).

All of these things are a reality in our spiritual man. However, just as Jesus had to be taught, so we must draw this wisdom and knowledge out of our spirits and renew our minds with it (Rom. 12:2). This is one of the main ministries of the Holy Spirit to the believer. Through the new birth, we have received the mind of Christ in our spirit man and are in the process of growing in wisdom by drawing this knowledge out of our spirits and renewing (or reprogramming) our minds. This wisdom has to be drawn out by faith, time spent in the Word, and prayer. Andrew Womack