Our Inheritance

God has revealed them [the things He has prepared for those who love Him] to us through His Spirit. . . . Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.1 Corinthians 2:10, 12

- MAY 30 -
GOD’S GUARANTEE OF YOUR PRECIOUS INHERITANCE

Even though you may not be able to see right now the good things that God has for your future, today’s scripture says that the Holy Spirit is in us to reveal to us the things that God has freely given to us. These are precious and priceless gifts, such as the gift of forgiveness, of no condemnation, of righteousness, of eternal life, and the different gifts of the Spirit that God has placed in all our lives!

Because you are a believer in Jesus Christ, not only have all your sins been forgiven, but you have also been justified by faith and made righteous by His blood. And the Holy Spirit lives in you! You have something that the patriarchs of the Old Testament never had.

Abraham, “the friend of God” (James 2:23), never had it. Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt, never had it. And even David, whom the Bible calls “a man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22), never had it.

They had the Spirit on them, but not in them. Back then, the Holy Spirit would come and go (1 Sam. 16:13–14, Ps. 51:11). You and I, however, have been so perfectly cleansed by the blood of Jesus—once and for all—that the Holy Spirit now lives in us and abides with us forever (John 14:16–17)!

The apostle Paul tells us that when we believed in Jesus, He identified us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He has promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people (Eph. 1:13–14).

My friend, when you believed the gospel and got saved, God sealed you with the Holy Spirit of promise to attest that you have been given the free gift of righteousness and the gift of eternal life through Jesus’ finished work. That is why when you hear the purity of the gospel of grace being preached, the Holy Spirit in you responds with great joy and great peace.

Listen to this praise report by Pete from Oklahoma:

When I heard one of Pastor Joseph Prince’s sermons for the first time, I knew that this message of grace was what I’d been seeking my entire Christian life. I felt like I was born again, all over again!

Since then, I’ve been listening to and feeding on the word of grace daily. I think I cried every day as the understanding that all of my sins are forgiven began to sink in. My faith has shot through the ceiling and my life has been radically transformed!

My wife and my four kids have also been listening to Pastor Prince’s sermons and we are forever “ruined” by this incredible message of grace. This truth has borne fruit in our lives and caused us to be blessed beyond anything we could ever think of!

When Pete and so many other people hear preaching on the love of God and His beautiful grace, the shackles of Christian religion, legalism, self-righteousness, and years of toilsome condemnation start to break off one by one. Precious intimacy with the Lord Jesus is restored. Fear is replaced with His perfect love, insecurities with His assurance of grace, and self-doubt with His strong embrace of affirmation. The preaching of the gospel of grace changes lives!

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

Finished

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.Titus 3:4–7

- MAY 29 -
YOU CAN’T ADD TO A FINISHED WORK

It’s interesting to note in the biblical account of the crippled man being healed at Lystra that even as hearing the gospel of grace produced a wonderful miracle of healing, it also produced outright opposition to it.

The Jews there who held on to the old covenant of law came to see what all the commotion was about, won the crowd to their side, and began to stone Paul and left him for dead (Acts 14:19).

The gospel the apostle Paul preached is not a man-pleasing gospel and was opposed by legalists everywhere he went. (Today’s legalists are still doing the same thing. I call them the “religious mafia,” those who depend on their own efforts to achieve their own sense of righteousness.)

Yet, Paul preached the truth of the gospel even if it meant being stoned by his opponents and being expelled from cities. Why? Because the gospel is the power of God to salvation!

Are you faced with an impossible situation today? Are you trusting the Lord for a breakthrough or wanting to see more of His power in your life, body, finances, or career? If so, make sure you are hearing the gospel that Paul preached.

I encourage you to get hold of good teachings that are full of the good news of Jesus. The more you hear about Jesus, His beauty, His forgiveness, and His finished work, the more you will stop being preoccupied with yourself, your lack, and your weaknesses. You will become fully occupied with Jesus, His glory, His perfection, and His grace, and freedom, healing, and wholeness are the result!

Josephine, who lives in Virginia, adds a heartfelt “Amen!” to this truth. She is in her twenties and has been a Christian since she was very young. However, when she went to college, she fought a losing battle with depression that lasted seven years. Treated with therapy and medication, she had to constantly increase the dosage but still felt completely miserable and in her case, continually terrified.

People told her she just had to love God more, but she never seemed to measure up. She struggled with depression to the point she couldn’t even get up in the mornings because she was so tormented in her mind.

Then, her mom gave her one of my books. Josephine wrote to me and said, “After reading your book and accepting God’s love for me and trusting in Him and His finished work, I was totally and miraculously healed. I learned to just say, ‘God, I know that I cannot overcome this on my own. I rest in You. You live the victorious life for me. I know I cannot overcome these thoughts on my own, but I can rest in You.’

“I now live a life of joy and peace that I never imagined was possible for me. I am so in love with my Savior and now the gospel all makes sense. He first loved me and healed me, and now I have the ability to love and to live life with peace and joy. Just like the Word says, knowing the truth set me free!”

What an amazing testimony of the power of simply hearing and believing the gospel of grace. My friend, if you have been struggling with a particular challenge, keep feeding on the abundance of God’s grace through the hearing of the gospel.

Don’t let anyone from the “religious mafia” add more conditions to your forgiveness. You are already forgiven of all your sins simply because you believe in Jesus! Nothing more, nothing less.

This is the gospel that Paul preached. And when you get a hold of this truth and simply believe it, you will see the power of God come into your situation to give you the breakthrough you need!

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

Notes from Amir

Look around. You are the generation that is watching the fig tree come back to life. You are watching God's handling with Israel within your lifetime in a way the apostles and disciples never saw. Jesus said, “Learn this parable from the fig tree,” when He spoke about the end time signs. He said, "When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors." The point He was making was this: When the Jewish people return to their land, signaling that the cursed fig tree is coming back to life, you know it's the end.

He said, "Assuredly I say to you, this generation…”. I want you to lift up your hand right now. Hello. You are the generation! "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My word will by no means pass away." And the Psalmist wrote, "Bring us back to the land.” He said, "Like the streams in the south." Have you been to Israel? Good. Because there are no streams in the south. The southern part of Israel is a desert. There's only one case where that part of the land has streams. Do you know when? Flash floods. When it rains heavily all around in the mountains, the water arrives in the form of flash floods. Have you ever seen a flash flood? It takes everything in its path.

And that’s exactly what happened in 1948. I started this message with my grandparents surviving Auschwitz, making it all the way to the land. For every person that lived in Israel in 1948, three new immigrants came. Amazing, flash flood. And it's Aliyah. It’s immigration from the four winds. And we didn't even know how to communicate. Yemenite Jews, Moroccan Jews, German Jews, Spanish Jews, Polish Jews, Russian Jews. How will they even communicate? God says, "It's time to restore their language. Hebrew." Wow. You see, He restored first the land, then restored them from their graveyard in Europe, brought them back to their land, restored the language, and now, thus, the fig tree is coming back to life.

Jesus Challenges

The Sadducees were a Jewish sect (Acts 5:17), of both a political and religious nature, that was best known for its opposition to the more popular party (the Pharisees), because of differences in various doctrinal and political questions. Sadducees rejected the oral tradition of the Pharisees who made a 'mountain' of burdensome legislation and accepted only the written law. We are told they believed there is 'no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit' (Acts 23:8). From Josephus, we learn that the Sadducees believed that the soul perishes with the body (Antiq. XVIII. 1.4) and, therefore, can receive neither penalties nor rewards in an afterlife (War II. 8.14).

The most significant mention of the Sadducees in the Gospels concerns their interview with Jesus in Jerusalem. They tried to trap Jesus with a crafty question concerning the resurrection. In His answer, Jesus accused them of not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God (Mt. 22:29). He then proceeded to quote from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) out of Exodus 3:6 in support of the doctrine of the resurrection. The Sadducees became alarmed and decided to take action (Jn. 11:47), as Jesus posed a threat to their security and position (as in the cleansing of the temple; Mk. 11:15-18). Confronted with Jesus and His claims, the Sadducees were able to unite with their traditional enemies, the Pharisees, for the purpose of disposing of Jesus. Both parties worked together for the arrest and trial of Jesus by the Sanhedrin. These religious leaders were only aware of external actions and ignorant of the issues of the heart. Religion (man trying to approach God) will always differ with Christianity (God coming to man) in this respect. 'Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart' (1 Sam. 16:7). Andrew Womack

Door of Hope

“I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.”Hosea 2:15 NLT

- MAY 22 -
A DOOR OF HOPE

Are you among the people who think that when you fail, God leaves you and only returns when you get your act together? Some people think that they must clean up their lives and overcome all their struggles on their own before they can come before the presence of God. Well, I have a simple question for you: Do you clean yourself before you take a bath? Of course not!

In the same way, God wants you to come to Him just as you are, with all your weaknesses, idiosyncrasies, wrong beliefs, hang-ups, and all your bondages, fears, and addictions. He is the bath! You don’t have to try to clean yourself up before you come to Him.

But Pastor Prince, what if the mess I’m in is entirely of my own doing? Can I still just come to God as I am and expect Him to help me?

Yes, even if your trouble is due to your own willfulness or a mistake of your own making, He is still with you. He has never left you, and He never will. He will never forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

You are precious in His eyes. Can you imagine living life with the kind of confidence, assurance, and peace that comes when you are truly anchored in this truth?

Today, even if you find yourself in the Valley of Trouble, know that you will not remain there for long. You will walk through it and not remain or camp there (Ps. 23:4).

God is opening a door of hope in your life today for you to step out of your darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). Things are going to get better. The breakthroughs that you have been waiting for are coming your way.

Step through the door of hope and out of your Valley of Trouble today. Jesus is your door of hope!

Believe in His love for you and allow Him to lead you to freedom. In His loving presence, you will find forgiveness, healing, and restoration. He will mend your life and transform you from the inside out.

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

Israel is Important to the Church

Other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, few sources in scripture teach us more about the nature and character of God than that of His relationship with the nation of Israel. Through Israel we have learned that the Lord is our provider, protector, redeemer, enabler, and deliverer. We learn that He is faithful to His word, He neither leaves nor forsakes us, and, even in His disciplines, He remembers His promises.

Romans 11:25-29
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

While it may be popular to believe and teach that the church has replaced Israel, this is nothing more than the proverbial “cut off your nose to spite your face” idiom. In other words, if God is in the business of casting off those to whom He has made unconditional and eternal promises, then we are all in trouble. If He cast off Israel, then He could do the same with the church.

Paul reminded the Romans that someday “all Israel will be saved.” This has not happened yet. Instead, it will occur at the second coming, according to Zechariah 12:10. Does this not demand that there be a nation of Israel in order to save them and that the nation must exist at the time of tribulation?

Deuteronomy 7:6-8
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

It is a bit odd that many who do not believe that modern Israel is biblical Israel do believe that God chooses to save some and not others, and that those whom He chooses to save cannot be lost because they are eternally secure. Yet they deny this very security when it comes to the nation of Israel. If God doesn’t change, then how can their belief about modern Israel be true? 

God is omniscient and knows what will happen long before any of it actually takes place. Why would He choose Israel only to cast them off later? This too is a denial of the nature and character of God. The only way to look at this is that God has not cast off His chosen people. Despite knowing full well of their national rejection of the Holy One of Israel, He chose them anyway.

After all, He chose us while we were His enemies (Colossians 1:21) and were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). He chose us knowing we would fail and falter at times, and yet He doesn’t cast us off. Besides, there are too many prophetic scriptures regarding Israel that are yet unfulfilled for Replacement Theology to be true or for modern Israel to be anything other than biblical Israel. 

So take heart! Learn from Israel that God is faithful to His promises, and not even nearly 2000 years outside of their national homeland can separate them from His unconditional and everlasting promises. That means we can know that when we blow it – and we all do – that He will remain faithful to us, for He cannot deny Himself. 

2 Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

You won’t find a greater proof of this than the miracle of the regathered nation of Israel being back in their national homeland.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Amir Tsarfati

Look Intently

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”John 3:14–15

- MAY 20 -
LOOK INTENTLY

I want to show you something powerful in the story of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness when the children of Israel were bitten by snakes. I believe it is going to release you to partake of the holy Communion with greater revelation each time you come to the Lord’s Table.

In the Numbers 21 account of this story, we read that even though many were killed by the snakebites, anyone among the children of Israel who looked at the bronze serpent was healed. The Hebrew word used for look in Numbers 21:9 is nabat, which means to “look intently at.”

In the same way, when you partake of the holy Communion, be conscious of Jesus and how He bore all your sins and sicknesses in His own body. Don’t partake with consciousness of the symptoms in your body.

Beloved, I know that the waves of nausea that immobilize you are real. The shortness of breath you have been struggling with is real. The pain that slices through your head with every move is real, just as the painful bites from the fiery serpents were real for the children of Israel.

Right now, I pray that every pain and every discomfort be removed from your body in the mighty name of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus called healing “the children’s bread” (Matt. 15:26). If you are a child of God, healing belongs to you.

But my friend, your healing will not come from focusing on your condition. Your healing will come as you do what the children of Israel did—they looked away from their wounds and looked at the bronze serpent lifted up on the pole.

Today, as you partake of the Communion, partake in remembrance of your Lord Jesus and not in remembrance of your pain. Look to Him intently and with the expectation He will save you and heal you.

See Him lifted on the cross, being judged with your disease. If you have a problem with your kidney, see Jesus’ kidney smitten with your disease at the cross. If you have a degenerative condition in your spine, see Jesus’ spine smitten with that condition at the cross.

When you see Jesus’ body smitten with your disease, it cannot remain in you. Even if you have a “terminal” disease others have died from, look to Him and receive your healing!

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

Right Timing

The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.Ecclesiastes 9:11

- MAY 19 -
DEPEND ON THE LORD FOR RIGHT TIMING

Beloved, never forget that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong . . . but time and chance happen to them all.” God wants you to have the right timing—His timing, and nothing is left to chance because you are God's child.

Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.” You are that “good man” because you are the righteousness of God in Christ.

Now, look at the word “happen.” In the original Hebrew text, it is the word qarah, which means “to encounter, to meet (without pre-arrangement), to chance to be present." In a nutshell, it means “right happening.”

My friend, you can depend on God to cause you to be at the right place at the right time, to have right happenings happen in your life! I am sure that you would agree that being at the right place at the right time is a tremendous blessing. You certainly don’t want to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That can lead to disastrous results.

But even if you think that you are at the wrong place at the wrong time, such as when you are caught in a traffic jam or when you miss your train, don’t be too agitated. A delay can turn out to be God’s protection from an accident ahead. Sometimes, a delay of just a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death!

In 2001, a brother in my church wrote in to share that his son's office was in the twin towers in New York. On one particular morning, his son’s alarm clock did not go off and he ended up missing his regular train to work and was late arriving at work. Had he been on time that morning, he would have been in his office when the planes plowed into the building during the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11.

In 2003, another brother from my church was in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a business trip. He was staying at the Marriott Hotel and he was in the lobby when a bomb went off just outside the hotel. The bomb tore through the lobby and he saw a body flying past him as the deafening blast reverberated all around him.

After the dust had settled, he found blood spattered on him and debris strewn all around, but amazingly, he was completely unhurt. At the very moment when the bomb exploded, he happened to walk behind a pillar and it protected him from the impact of the blast. Just think what would have happened to him if he had reached that pillar just a few seconds before or after the bomb went off!

No matter how intelligent you are, how fat your savings account is, or how prestigious your family name may be, there is no way you can know beforehand when to position yourself behind a pillar just as a bomb that you are unaware of explodes near you.

Only God can put you at the right place at the right time. It was the Lord who placed this brother behind the pillar at the precise moment. His steps were literally ordered by the Lord. All glory to Him! Jesus is our true pillar of protection!

God’s faithfulness in protecting His beloved by putting them at the right place at the right time was demonstrated even more recently. Two massive explosions rocked Jakarta, Indonesia, again on the morning of July 17, 2009, and this time both the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels were the targets of terrorist attacks.

A lady from our church was in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton when one of the bombs was detonated in the nearby restaurant where guests were having breakfast. The force of the explosion sent glass shards flying past her, ripping into the flesh of other guests who were standing in front of her. Amazingly, she was completely unharmed!

She shared that she had initially planned to have breakfast at that very restaurant at the time the bomb exploded. That would certainly have put her at the wrong place at the wrong time. If she had done so, she could have been killed by the blast in the restaurant.

However, she shared that the reason she missed her usual breakfast time that morning was that she was caught up in reading a few devotional entries from my Destined to Reign Devotional and spending time with the Lord in her hotel room. The “delay” she experienced in reading my book kept her away from the restaurant and saved her life! Praise Jesus!

My friend, nothing happens by chance—the Lord knows how to place you at the right place and the right time! You can depend on Jesus for right happenings. They all come by His unmerited favor.

In the new covenant of grace, the Bible says that the Lord Himself writes His laws on your heart (Heb. 8:10). He can speak to you and guide you in everything that you do. Allow Him to lead you supernaturally!

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

News from Amir

Shalom from CONNECT in the beautiful Jezreel Valley of Israel! What an eventful week this has been. It began with watching the mounting positive reviews of my latest book, Discovering Daniel. When Dr. Rick Yohn and I first discussed this work, our goal was to take what can be a very confusing book of the Bible and make it easy to understand. Not only that, but we wanted it to be enjoyable to read instead of some stuffy commentary. Judging by the more than 400 five-star Amazon reviews, that is exactly what God accomplished in this book! It is so wonderful when, through God’s guiding hand, we can see a plan come to fruition. And thank you so much to all of you who have taken time to write such encouraging words in the Amazon reviews.

As we came to Sunday evening, the mood in my house, and all across Israel, changed greatly. At sundown began Yom Ha’Zikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. On this day, every business, restaurant, and workplace shut its doors so we could take time to remember the 25,040 soldiers who have fallen and victims of terror who have died since 1948. This is the first year we’ve had the murdered innocents of October 7 to include in our mourning. The violence and evil actions perpetrated by Hamas on that day were brought right back in front of our faces. While it was a day of mourning, it also steeled us for what is ahead. I appreciated the words on Tuesday of former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, when he said, “If you take the math and do 1,200 [victims of October 7] and apply it to the United States, that’d be 50,000-100,000 people dead in a morning. Can you imagine what we would do?” You’re exactly right, general, and we’re carrying out precisely those actions that you would imagine.

We’ve mourned those whom we’ve lost, but even mourning must come to an end. As the psalms tell us “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Or, because in Israel our days change in the evening, joy comes at sunset. When sundown came on Monday, Yom Ha’Zikaron became Yom Ha’atzmaut. Memorial Day became Independence Day! Sorrow turned into joy! This Independence Day celebrated the 76th anniversary of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in the final chapter of his book:

Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. (Isaiah 66:8)

Not only do we celebrate the birth of the State of Israel, but we rejoice in the fact that following one attack after another we are still here! From the river to the sea, Israel shall always be!

Now, as this week wraps up, my joy moves from a national celebration to a ministry one. Today, I will be recording the very first video in the CONNECT studio. What began as a vision well over a year ago has now come to pass. I am overwhelmed at what the Lord has done from the planning of CONNECT to its provision to the final completion of the project. In the months ahead, prepare yourself for the increase in both quality and quantity of biblical teachings, news reports, interviews, panel discussions, and more. The possibilities are almost overwhelming, but, without doubt, when God gives the vision, He will also provide the strength, wisdom, and people to carry it out. Amir Tsarfati

How we see God

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”Matthew 7:11

- MAY 17 -
HOW DO YOU SEE GOD?

Our enemy the devil is well aware that the moment you learn to receive God’s grace, you will start to reign in life. So he has been working hard to prevent you from receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

The devil has been using controversy as a device down through church history to prevent believers from having access to the most powerful truths of God. He has built fences of controversy around healing, prosperity, and grace (calling them heresies) to keep believers from reigning over sickness, poverty, and sin. You can always tell how powerful a truth is by the number of controversies the devil surrounds it with!

Please pay close attention to what I am saying. Not all controversies are based on the truth of God’s Word. We have to test everything against what the Bible says.

Nevertheless, controversy is a tool that the devil uses to prevent God’s people from accessing His truths. The enemy is a crafty liar and deceitful thief, so we have to base what we believe on the Scriptures and test everything against it. If you want to know the truth about God’s grace, study His Word yourself and see what it has to say about grace!

Pastor Prince, are you one of those “prosperity gospel” preachers?

My friend, there is no such thing as a “prosperity gospel.” There is only one gospel in the Bible—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace, it will result in health and abundance of provision. In fact, the gospel of Jesus Christ leads to blessings, success, healing, restoration, protection, financial breakthroughs, security, peace, wholeness, and much more!

God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good. It is based on His faithfulness and goodness toward you. It is not contingent on your performance, but on His undeserved favor.

If it were contingent on how good you are, then it would no longer be grace but the law. It would be deserved favor. This is the difference between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace:

Law is deserved favor—When you obey the commandments perfectly, you will be blessed.

Grace is undeserved favor—Jesus obeyed God perfectly, and you will be blessed by believing in Him.

My friend, which covenant are you under today? Law or grace? Deserved favor or undeserved favor? How do you see God—as your Judge or loving Father? If you think that being blessed by God today is dependent on your doing, your ability to keep the law, and your ability to make yourself righteous, I ask you to test your understanding of grace against the Scriptures.

Read today’s scripture again and open your heart to what it says about God and His grace toward you: God is your loving Father in heaven who loves you and has nothing but good gifts for you. He sent His Son to die for you so that you can enjoy every one of these good gifts. Today, receive His abundant grace!

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

Speak the Word

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.2 Corinthians 4:13

- MAY 16 -
SPEAK THE WORD

Beloved, it is not enough for you to merely know the Word in your heart. You must say it. That’s when latent power becomes actual power. When our Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He did not merely think about Scripture. He spoke it out loud.

You can memorize thousands of scriptures but if you don’t learn to say, “It is written,” and release the Word, there will be no power. God’s power is there, but it is all lying dormant inside you.

But when you speak it out, God’s power is unleashed. When you release God’s Word through your mouth, you release God’s power into your situation. Amen!

Fear is not something you can reason or analyze away. Fear is irrational. There are some fears that come into your life and you can think to yourself, Come on, what are the chances of that happening? or It’s so silly to fear this.

But have you noticed that those fears still hang around? We are in a war, my friend, and the only way to defeat fear is to speak the Word of God to whatever fear you have by saying, “It is written.”

It is written—“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).

I want you to memorize that. It’s a powerful verse of Scripture.

Now, I want you to say this out loud: It is written—“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Do you feel the power that comes with saying this aloud?

This is the truth: God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. I don’t care what kind of fears you are battling with—fear of growing old, fear of contracting this or that disease, fear of losing your job, fear of failure. Whatever the fear that has come against you, declare, “It is written.”

What if the fear comes back? Then say it again! Sometimes, I speak Scriptures over my situation in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. Whenever the fear comes back, I speak the Word of God.

If the devil wants a fight, give him one! Give him the sword of the Spirit and he will get the point every time. There are many scriptures you can memorize. Write down the scriptures that cover the areas of your need and arm yourself with them!

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

Israel Importance

Sadly, the vast majority of the church today sees the nation of Israel as nothing more than a political entity and not the fulfillment of prophecy. This requires a great deal of overlooking of the obvious.

Ezekiel 36:22-24
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.”’”

Ezekiel 37 gives specific details of the gathering of God’s chosen people back into their land. Chapters 38 and 39 record a battle that has no historic parallel and, thus, is in the future. Ezekiel 40-48 describe a temple that has yet to exist and will be the temple of the millennial reign of Christ on earth.

Chapter 48 of Ezekiel says the 12 gates of the city will be named after the 12 tribes of Israel. If God has cast off His chosen people, then why would the gates of the temple grounds from which Jesus will reign be named after the tribes of Israel? Why would He return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, and why would our eternal home that descends down from heaven be called the New Jerusalem?

None of what Ezekiel wrote was fulfilled at the time of Jesus. In fact, none of it was fulfilled for some 2600 years until May 14th, 1948, when, as Isaiah 66:8 says, a nation was born in a day.

Zechariah 14:1-3
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

The day of the Lord is a reference to the Great Tribulation which is the same as the 70th week of Daniel. Zechariah prophesies that a day is coming when the Lord goes on the offensive against Israel’s enemies and fights as He fights in the day of battle. 

We have seen God regather His people from all the nations where He scattered them. We have seen Him empower them to be victorious against astronomical odds. And, someday after the church is gone and in the Father’s house, He is going to fight against all these nations who gather against Jerusalem. The world is turning in that direction now. That means that since we are seeing Ezekiel 36 and 37 being fulfilled, then the war of chapters 38 and 39 must be drawing near, and the content related to the millennium of Ezekiel 40-48 is not far behind.

Isaiah 43:2-3
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

How do we know that modern Israel is biblical Israel? What God spoke about them through the prophets is happening right before our eyes. He has been miraculously defending and empowering them, and soon He will fight against all the world who want to heave Jerusalem away. He is still with them!

Remember, the Savior of Israel is the Lord our God, and the Holy One of Israel is the same One who is Head of the church. Who is it? It is Jesus. As He was and is with Israel, so too will He be with us. He has not forsaken them and He will not forsake us, even when the water of life is deep and the fiery trials intense like they are now for His chosen people. He is our Savior and there is no other. 

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus, Amir Tsarfati

Israel News

In 1948, we were born as a nation that was on the verge of annihilation every day – every single day of that year, and the following year, and the following year. Every day was a day that was a gift from God because we were supposed to be destroyed. All of our enemies all around us were contemplating day and night, “How are we going to destroy them?” In 1948, two hours after we – about two hours, less than that – after we declared statehood, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt invaded. And if that’s not enough, even Iraq invaded. And if that’s not enough, the local Arabs started from within. And we ended up the war with 30% more land than we had when we started the war. And doing that with what? Two aircraft – but, we needed to hold the stick in one hand and throw the bomb with the other – and five armored vehicles and tens of thousands of soldiers that had absolutely no experience. They had just survived death camps, like my grandparents. 

It’s a miracle. Now, they tried to take some of Israel’s victories to West Point to teach officers how to fight a war. They looked through all the stories of the wars, and they just threw it all away to the garbage because you cannot teach anything from it. The Israelis didn’t do anything great. God fought everywhere for them. West Point cannot take Israel’s wars and teach anything. In 1948, Psalm 83 was fulfilled. All the nations that Psalm 83 mentions are all the countries around us, and He even says, “And Assyria even joined them” – Iraq of today – and what is it that they wanted from us in 1948? Oil? Gas? We had none of these. They wanted us to be cut off from being a nation because we had just changed the name from Palestine to Israel. So that was that war. And look, how many of you here were alive in the last 10 years? You see, in the last 10 years, we, the generation that lives right now, we’ve seen an amazing, amazing transition from Israel being small, vulnerable, insecure, dangerous, and very poor to Israel being safe, secure, and prosperous. So much so that we’re held today as the eighth most powerful nation on planet earth. Amir Tsarfati

Unleash the Power

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”2 Corinthians 5:17–20 NLT

- MAY 13 -
UNLEASH THE POWER

What does preaching the gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, do? The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that it releases “the power of God” to bring His salvation into your life.

The word “salvation” does not just mean being saved from hell to go to heaven. “Salvation” is the ultra-rich Greek word soteria, which means “deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation.” It covers any area of your life that needs saving so that you can enjoy wholeness and well-being in your body, soul, and spirit.

Now, where do you find this salvation? In the gospel of Christ. Not in the old covenant of law.

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that unleashes the power of God to save you and make you whole. It is this gospel that brings protection, healing, deliverance, and soundness to every area of your life.

It is no wonder the enemy brings opposition to anyone who preaches the gospel of Christ. He doesn’t want the power of God to come into people’s lives.

By the same token, if you want the well-being and wholeness of God to come into your areas of challenge, then make sure you are hearing the gospel of Christ, which is the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24).

But what is it about the gospel of grace that makes it so powerful? We find the answer in Romans 1:17—“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”

The gospel is so powerful because in it is the revelation that you have been made righteous by the work of Christ, not by your works. This is the glory of the gospel, the good news that when God looks at a man who has put his faith in what Jesus has done, God sees him perfect, complete, and righteous in Christ. It is knowing this that unleashes the power and salvation of God in all its richness into all areas of our lives.

Notice what the apostle Paul said in Romans 1:17—“The just [or righteous] shall live by faith.” You cannot walk in faith, talk in faith, or live a life of faith when you don’t understand that you have been made righteous by faith.

But once you realize that God is not counting your sins against you because of what Christ has done, peace and joy settle in your heart. Fear flees and hope springs forth. Faith for every blessing Christ purchased for you just erupts in you and activates the power of God to overcome every obstacle in your life!

My friend, whatever you may be struggling with today, come back to the Father’s loving embrace and grace. He loves you.

Receive the good news that you are a new creation in Christ; old things are gone. You have been reconciled to God through Christ’s perfect work at the cross. You are righteous in God’s sight (even when you fail) and are empowered to overcome every failing through His gift of no condemnation.

Let this good news of our Lord Jesus take hold in your heart. And in your every area of challenge, you will begin to experience lasting victory and a multiplication of His grace and peace in your life (2 Pet. 1:2).

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

Win the Battle for the Mind

For as he thinks within himself, so he is.Proverbs 23:7 NASB

- MAY 12 -
WIN THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND

I want you to be aware that as you look to the person of Jesus and cultivate the power of right believing, you’ll experience some battles in your mind that will challenge your beliefs. Be encouraged to know that you don’t have to be afraid of these battles.

Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Based on God’s Word, right believing is the key that unlocks the treasures of God in your life, giving you access to the fullness of His love, grace, favor, blessings, and forgiveness. Jesus has already paid the price on Calvary’s hill. The hindrance then between you and your victory is your wrong beliefs. The battle has to do with your beliefs.

The enemy knows that if he can control your thought life, he can manipulate your emotions and feelings. For instance, if he can make you entertain thoughts of guilt, failure, and defeat, you will begin to feel lousy about yourself, physically weak, and even depressed.

Our emotions are flags that indicate to us what our thoughts are. Thank God for emotions. They tell us if something is terribly wrong with our thoughts. Many of us are not cognizant when our thinking slides down a slippery slope to fear, doubt, pessimism, and anxiety. However, God has designed us in such a way that we can quickly recognize our thinking through our emotions. Try this: whenever you begin to sense negative emotions, such as fear, worry, guilt, and anger, stop and ask yourself, “What am I thinking?”

Your emotions follow quickly at the heels of your thoughts. If your thoughts are negative, you will naturally produce negative emotions. Conversely, if your thoughts are positive in Christ, you will produce positive emotions.

That is why there is a battle for your mind. The devil wants to keep your thoughts negative so that he can keep you defeated. He is a master of mind games, and he doesn’t play fair.

When he first tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, he made them doubt God’s motives by insinuating that God was deliberately withholding something good from them, when in reality God was protecting them. The devil’s strategy hasn’t changed—he is still using fears, lies, accusations, guilt, and condemnation to ensnare believers today and to make them doubt God’s perfect love, forgiveness, and superabounding grace.

My friend, are there areas you are fearful and anxious about today? Realize that those fears and anxieties indicate the presence of wrong beliefs in your life that God wants you to be freed from. Replace those wrong beliefs with right beliefs based on God’s Word, and you will eradicate those fears and anxieties. Through the power of right believing, you will win the battle for your mind.

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

Connect

Shalom from Israel! In April 1915, while serving the Canadian Field Artillery as a brigade-surgeon in an area near Ypres, Belgium, known as Flanders, John McCrae mourned a friend, lost to artillery fire the day before. As he scanned the field of makeshift graves containing the bodies of his friend and many others, he was surprised to see something beautiful. Wild poppies grew all around the fresh mounds, providing a fresh, red burst of life to this field of death. Moved by the stark contrast between life and death, he wrote a poem entitled “In Flanders Field”, which begins:

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row.”

This classic of wartime poetry became a catalyst for numerous nations to use the poppy as a symbol to remember fallen soldiers on Veterans Day. In Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many others, poppies are either passed out to those honoring the dead or they are sold to raise money for veterans’ groups.

This contrast between death and life, the end and the beginning, the decaying ugliness of war and the fresh beauty of something new came to my mind as I walked into CONNECT the other day. Of all times for Behold Israel to be focused on constructing and launching a new ministry base in Israel, the middle of a war seems less than ideal. However, the vision for this ministry hub was set in motion well before the events of October 7. We didn’t know what was coming, but God, who gave the vision, did.

And now, here we are with CONNECT ready to launch. In fact, this coming Wednesday, May 15, we will have our maiden broadcast in which I will interview Dr. Golan Broshi of Israel College of the Bible. I first interviewed him back in 2020 for the fascinating video, “Who are the Real Jews?” His take on what is happening in Israel and the world today should be quite interesting. And this will just be the first! So much more is to come.

I truly feel like CONNECT is an example of life blooming in the midst of war. Not only will Behold Israel be able to disseminate accurate news filtered through the lens of Scripture, but CONNECT will be like a dandelion caught in the wind spreading the seeds of the Gospel throughout the world. But what I am especially excited about is knowing that some of those seeds will fall here in my country of Israel. Never before have I had a base from which I can effectively reach my own people. Isn’t it like God to open the door to teaching the hope found in the Messiah here in Israel during a time when my people need it most? He is so good!

For those of you who have been praying and supporting the creation of CONNECT, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are about to witness the fruition of your time and sacrifice. May God richly bless you! Amir Tsarfati

Build

“He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine He shall redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. You shall laugh at destruction and famine.”Job 5:19–22

- MAY 10 -
BUILD YOUR FAITH UPON HIS PROMISES

I believe the Lord gave me the above portion of scripture to strengthen you. Let’s take a closer look at the first verse: “He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.”

Now, I have read this verse a number of times before, but the Lord quickened this scripture in me, so let me share this fresh insight with you. I want to specially address those who have been greatly discouraged in the area of protection. Perhaps you have experienced a very difficult or even tragic event, or are going through a very challenging situation right now. Can I encourage you to build your faith upon His promises and not upon your experiences?

The Word of God says that in this world, we will have trouble (John 16:33). The fact that God declares in His Word that He will deliver us from troubles tells us that we will experience troubles. But God wants us to know that the more we hear preaching on Psalm 91, the more we quote it and remind ourselves of the Lord’s protection daily, the more our faith in His protection will grow.

Faith comes from “hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17 NASB). The more we hear, the more we believe! The more we claim and pray the prayer of protection, the more we will walk in its blessings. That is the intention of this book—to saturate you with the hearing and hearing of the Lord’s protection promises for your life until your faith is robust and overflowing.

My friend, deliverance from trouble is fantastic, but there is a promise that is even greater, and that is when you are at that place where “no evil shall touch you.” That’s my prayer for you and your loved ones.

While we live in dangerous times, we have an almighty God who watches over us. May we all increase and have a progressive revelation of the Lord’s protection in these last days. While none of us, myself included, are there yet, we are on a journey of faith, of walking fully in the promises of God’s protection.

Let’s give thanks to the Lord for His deliverance from all our troubles as we continue to believe we will come to the place where no evil will touch our loved ones and us!

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

Seek God

Self Seeking Not God Seeking

May 9

John 6:26, 'Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.'

MATTHEW 14:34-36; MARK 6:53-56; JOHN 6:22-39

Jesus knew the hearts of all men and therefore, He did not commit Himself to this crowd. Just the day before, these same people tried to take Him by force and make Him their king, but He withdrew and spent the night in prayer.

This crowd looked like they were seeking Jesus, but they were actually trying to use Jesus to seek their own end. It is true that there are many personal benefits to be reaped through serving the Lord, but the benefits are never to become our object. In all things, Christ must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18).

Jesus exposed the true intentions of the people's hearts by preaching a strong message of commitment. Those who were self-centered were offended and left while those who were willing to lay down their lives to experience God's abundant life remained. Commitment to God Himself (not what He can produce) is what always separates the true worshippers of God from the false.

As Jesus began to explain in these verses that He was the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6) and that they would have to come through Him, the people grew angry. It always angers the flesh to think that all our righteous acts can't save us, but Jesus made it clear that our only part in salvation is to believe. Believe what? Believe on Jesus and His sacrifice - not ours. Salvation is a gift and cannot be purchased (Rom. 10:2-3).

Many times, we get so intent on seeking God in one area that we forget the greatest miracle of all, which is the love and redemption given to us from God through His Son. God loves us so much! Andrew Womack

Qualified

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.Colossians 1:12–14

- MAY 8 -
YOU ARE QUALIFIED

Years ago, when I first started preaching, one of my spiritual heroes back then had said, “There’s nothing wrong with God and nothing wrong with His Word. When you don’t receive from God, there’s something wrong with you.” So that’s what I taught my church too. I wanted my people to be healed and whole, and that’s why I taught them a list of reasons they were not receiving their healings, but that list just kept growing.

One day, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit on the inside of me saying, “Stop disqualifying My people!”

I countered, “But Lord, I am not disqualifying them. I am trying to qualify them for Your healing.”

As I said that, my eyes were opened, and I repented. I cannot qualify anyone for healing, and neither do I need to try. God has already qualified us through the blood of His Son. The Word of God states this so clearly in the verses above.

Today you and I can give thanks to the Father who has qualified us. We are already qualified to partake of every blessing. And not only that, He has already delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. That means the devil no longer has any hold over us. He has no power over us. He has no authority to rob us of our health.

Whatever sin you might have committed, whatever mistakes you might have made, stop disqualifying yourself. Maybe you don’t think you deserve to be healed because of all the junk food you have eaten for years or because you haven’t been exercising. Nothing you can do is so powerful it can wash away the finished work of Christ.

Yes, we should eat healthily and take care of our bodies. But what I am saying is that even if you have made mistakes, you don’t have to disqualify yourself. That’s what grace is about—grace is for the undeserving!

There is nothing wrong with God, nothing wrong with His Word, and definitely nothing wrong with you because Jesus has effectively and perfectly removed all your sins through His blood. He has already qualified you to freely receive His healing. You can boldly declare “Yes” and “Amen” to this promise of God in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Now receive your healing!

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

Rapture

The Bible says, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.” This is all in the Heavenlies. This is not anything the world will hear, the world will understand, the world will take note of. Nothing. It’s all about us. In the Bible, it is the trumpet of God. It’s not the trumpet of men. It’s not the shofar. It’s not anything else. It’s not even the trumpet of an angel. The Bible says that the trumpet of the rapture is connected to the voice of an archangel. Everything is in the celestial realm. It’s not here.

Let me paint it in a better picture. When we return with Him, the Jews will blow the trumpet on the Feast of Trumpets and the whole world will see Him returning with us. But when we go up, nobody will see us. We’ll be gone just like that. All the excitement is not going to be here. Nobody will be excited that, “Oh wow, look, there's a rapture.” No, they’ll probably say, “Good riddance.” I mean, that’s it. “They’re out of here, finally. Let’s party.” Guys, guess who is excited? We are.

No, no, no. Of course we are, because it’s us. But who is excited for our rapture? Heaven is expecting us. There is going to be a celebration in heaven. Heaven is preparing for the coming of the sons and the daughters. It’s amazing.

1 Thessalonians 1:10. When will that happen? 1 Thessalonians 1:10 – “…to wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead. Even Jesus who delivers us,” talk to me, “from the wrath to come.” Not through the wrath, but from the wrath to come. Amir Tsarfati