Proclaim Jesus’ Death To Your Enemies
1 Corinthians 11:26
26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
In the Old Testament, whenever the children of Israel sacrificed a lamb for a burnt offering as they faced a strong enemy, victory was theirs. For example, in 1 Samuel 7:7–11, when the Philistines were coming against them, the prophet Samuel offered a lamb as a burnt offering. As it was being offered, the Lord came like a loud thunder on the Philistine army, confusing them. This led to victory for the Israelites.
Every time something bad happened to the children of Israel, by offering a lamb sacrifice, they were proclaiming the Lord’s death, and the battle would turn in their favour.
Today, when we are faced with an enemy or stuck in the thick of battle, how do we offer our burnt offering? How do we proclaim the Lord’s death and come out victorious? Do we ask Jesus to come down to where we are at and die on the cross all over again?
No, we don’t do that! Jesus died once for all our sins — past, present and future. (Hebrews 10:12) His work is perfectly perfect and completely complete, so He doesn’t have to die for us again. Today, we proclaim His death simply by partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
Every time you partake of the bread and wine, you declare to the principalities and powers of darkness that the Lord’s death avails for you. Every time you partake, you are saying that because Jesus has been judged and punished in your place, you cannot be judged and punished. Because Jesus died in your place, you will not die. And because He conquered death and stripped the devil of his powers, you will not be defeated. The victory is already yours!
That is why the psalmist David said, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” (Psalm 23:5) The Lord’s Table is prepared for you in the presence of your enemies because when you partake of the bread and wine, you will see your enemies tremble and scatter! Why? Because when you proclaim the Lord’s death through the Holy Communion, you are reminding them of their humiliating defeat at Calvary’s cross! (Colossians 2:15)
Feed your FAITH and your doubts will STARVE.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
There Is No Spot In You
Song Of Solomon 4:7
7You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.
Jesus tells us, His bride, “You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.” But our reply to Him tends to be, “Me? All fair and no spot? You don’t know me, Lord!”
Do you really think that God does not know you?
God sees reality like no one else sees it. He sees the perfection of His Son’s finished work in your life. By one offering of Himself at the cross, Jesus has perfected you forever! (Hebrews 10:14) You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) And you will never find any spot in this righteousness that Jesus died to give you.
So God wants you to see yourself righteous — all fair and no spot in Christ. Every day, be conscious of your righteousness in Christ. Say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ! There is no spot in me whom He has perfected with His blood!” When you do that, you are honouring Jesus and His finished work.
If you are conscious of your sins, then you are not honouring the work of Christ. You may think that you are being humble or holy by being sin-conscious, but do you know that the Bible calls sin-consciousness an “evil conscience”?
Hebrews 10:21–22 tells us that since we have Jesus as our High Priest, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience”. What does the writer of Hebrews mean by “an evil conscience”? If you read the beginning of the same chapter, you will find that he is talking about a “consciousness of sins”. (Hebrews 10:2) Paul calls it a “conscience seared with a hot iron”. (1 Timothy 4:2) The Greek word for “seared” here is kauteriazo. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, kauteriazo here refers to people who “carry about with them the perpetual consciousness of sin”.
So don’t carry with you an evil or seared conscience. Your lifetime of sins has already been punished fully in the body of Jesus. Be conscious, instead, of your perfection and righteousness in Christ. Because of what Jesus has done for you, you can boldly declare, “I am all fair, and there is no spot in me!”
7You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.
Jesus tells us, His bride, “You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.” But our reply to Him tends to be, “Me? All fair and no spot? You don’t know me, Lord!”
Do you really think that God does not know you?
God sees reality like no one else sees it. He sees the perfection of His Son’s finished work in your life. By one offering of Himself at the cross, Jesus has perfected you forever! (Hebrews 10:14) You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) And you will never find any spot in this righteousness that Jesus died to give you.
So God wants you to see yourself righteous — all fair and no spot in Christ. Every day, be conscious of your righteousness in Christ. Say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ! There is no spot in me whom He has perfected with His blood!” When you do that, you are honouring Jesus and His finished work.
If you are conscious of your sins, then you are not honouring the work of Christ. You may think that you are being humble or holy by being sin-conscious, but do you know that the Bible calls sin-consciousness an “evil conscience”?
Hebrews 10:21–22 tells us that since we have Jesus as our High Priest, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience”. What does the writer of Hebrews mean by “an evil conscience”? If you read the beginning of the same chapter, you will find that he is talking about a “consciousness of sins”. (Hebrews 10:2) Paul calls it a “conscience seared with a hot iron”. (1 Timothy 4:2) The Greek word for “seared” here is kauteriazo. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, kauteriazo here refers to people who “carry about with them the perpetual consciousness of sin”.
So don’t carry with you an evil or seared conscience. Your lifetime of sins has already been punished fully in the body of Jesus. Be conscious, instead, of your perfection and righteousness in Christ. Because of what Jesus has done for you, you can boldly declare, “I am all fair, and there is no spot in me!”
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Let Your Heart Be Established By Grace
Hebrews 13:9
9… it is good that the heart be established by grace…
God does not want your heart full of worries and fears, tossed and turned by every challenge that comes your way. He wants your heart at rest and established by His grace towards you.
But when you think that the breakthroughs to your challenges depend on your ability to obey God, then your heart will never be at rest. It will be full of worries and anxieties. Why? Because you can never obey God perfectly.
But when you depend on God’s grace, that is, His undeserved, unmerited favour, the opposite happens — your heart becomes established. When you know that the only thing that qualifies you to receive God’s blessings is faith in the finished work of Christ, your heart becomes established. Then, you will walk without fear of your troubles swallowing you up. You will walk with full assurance that His blessings will be manifested in your life.
My friend, God wants your heart established, knowing that His righteousness, healing, protection and prosperity are yours — all paid for by Jesus’ finished work at the cross. God’s blessings are sure in your life because they are not dependent on your ability to keep His laws.
You see, under the old covenant, you receive God’s blessings only if you keep all His laws. (Deuteronomy 28:1–2) If you sin and fail to keep even one law, you are disqualified from receiving His blessings. But today, under the new covenant, your sins no longer disqualify you because God Himself has said, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:12)
So let your heart be established by God’s grace. Because of His grace, you have full access to His blessings. You no longer have to worry about whether you are good enough. You can stand firm on the promises made in His Word and enjoy His blessings today because Jesus has paid the price. Your part is only to believe and receive!
9… it is good that the heart be established by grace…
God does not want your heart full of worries and fears, tossed and turned by every challenge that comes your way. He wants your heart at rest and established by His grace towards you.
But when you think that the breakthroughs to your challenges depend on your ability to obey God, then your heart will never be at rest. It will be full of worries and anxieties. Why? Because you can never obey God perfectly.
But when you depend on God’s grace, that is, His undeserved, unmerited favour, the opposite happens — your heart becomes established. When you know that the only thing that qualifies you to receive God’s blessings is faith in the finished work of Christ, your heart becomes established. Then, you will walk without fear of your troubles swallowing you up. You will walk with full assurance that His blessings will be manifested in your life.
My friend, God wants your heart established, knowing that His righteousness, healing, protection and prosperity are yours — all paid for by Jesus’ finished work at the cross. God’s blessings are sure in your life because they are not dependent on your ability to keep His laws.
You see, under the old covenant, you receive God’s blessings only if you keep all His laws. (Deuteronomy 28:1–2) If you sin and fail to keep even one law, you are disqualified from receiving His blessings. But today, under the new covenant, your sins no longer disqualify you because God Himself has said, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:12)
So let your heart be established by God’s grace. Because of His grace, you have full access to His blessings. You no longer have to worry about whether you are good enough. You can stand firm on the promises made in His Word and enjoy His blessings today because Jesus has paid the price. Your part is only to believe and receive!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Jesus Took Your Place So That You Can Take His
Matthew 27:46
46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Do you know that it was at the cross that Jesus addressed His Father as “God” for the first time? He had always addressed His Father as “Father”. But at Calvary’s tree, He addressed His Father as “God”.
Jesus lost that Father-Son relationship when He was representing you and carrying your sins on the cross so that today, you can call God, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15), and have a loving Father-son relationship with God forever. He was forsaken by God when His world became very dark on that lonely hill so that in your darkest hour, God will always say to you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” (Hebrews 13:5)
At the time when Jesus needed God most, God turned His back on Him. God had to turn His back on His Son because His eyes are too holy to behold all the sin that was in His Son’s body. And because God turned His back on Jesus, He will never turn His back on you. Instead, you will see God’s face of favour shining on you all the time!
Jesus also took your place of no protection at the cross. For the first time, He gave up divine protection so that you can enjoy it all the days of your life! And because He became sin, He took your curse at the cross so that today, as you take His gift of righteousness, you receive only blessings from God.
Jesus received the full brunt of God’s wrath in His body once and for all when He carried your sins. All of God’s anger and condemnation fell on Him, consuming all your sins until there was no anger left.
Today, God is not angry with you. The body of Jesus absorbed everything — your sins, curses, and God’s wrath and condemnation. So live life expecting to see not the judgment, but the goodness and blessings of God!
46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Do you know that it was at the cross that Jesus addressed His Father as “God” for the first time? He had always addressed His Father as “Father”. But at Calvary’s tree, He addressed His Father as “God”.
Jesus lost that Father-Son relationship when He was representing you and carrying your sins on the cross so that today, you can call God, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15), and have a loving Father-son relationship with God forever. He was forsaken by God when His world became very dark on that lonely hill so that in your darkest hour, God will always say to you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” (Hebrews 13:5)
At the time when Jesus needed God most, God turned His back on Him. God had to turn His back on His Son because His eyes are too holy to behold all the sin that was in His Son’s body. And because God turned His back on Jesus, He will never turn His back on you. Instead, you will see God’s face of favour shining on you all the time!
Jesus also took your place of no protection at the cross. For the first time, He gave up divine protection so that you can enjoy it all the days of your life! And because He became sin, He took your curse at the cross so that today, as you take His gift of righteousness, you receive only blessings from God.
Jesus received the full brunt of God’s wrath in His body once and for all when He carried your sins. All of God’s anger and condemnation fell on Him, consuming all your sins until there was no anger left.
Today, God is not angry with you. The body of Jesus absorbed everything — your sins, curses, and God’s wrath and condemnation. So live life expecting to see not the judgment, but the goodness and blessings of God!
Monday, June 16, 2008
God Says ‘I Will’ In The New Covenant
Hebrews 8:10,12
10… I will put My laws in their mind… I will be their God… 12… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness… their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
You may be feeling stressed at work today because your boss just gave you a list of things to do. Maybe he told you, “You have to type this letter. You have to meet this client. You have to write this report. You have to…” Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss had, instead, said, “I will type this letter for you. I will meet this client for you. I will write this report for you. I will…”?
Well, your boss may not be that gracious, but your Father in heaven is! When He found fault with the old covenant and established the new covenant (Hebrews 8:7–8) in His Son’s blood, His “Thou shalls” became “I wills”.
You see, under the old covenant, the focus is on you — Thou shall not… Thou shall not… Thou shall not… It is about your performance, your obedience, your works. But under the new covenant, God says, “I will put My laws in their mind… I will be their God… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness… their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It is no longer you working for God, but God working for you, in you and through you!
“Isn’t there something for me to do?” you may ask.
My friend, the only thing for you to do is to believe God’s “I wills”. The more you believe His “I wills” or promises, the more you will see His heart for you and the more your faith will grow.
It is foolish for me to just tell you, “Come on, man, have faith!” You will still not have faith because I am not giving you anything to build faith in you. But if I were to tell you all about what God says He will do for you, faith will arise in your heart. Faith is a response to knowing what God says He will do for you.
So the best thing you can “do” under the new covenant is to not focus on what you must do for God, but what God says He will do for you!
10… I will put My laws in their mind… I will be their God… 12… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness… their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
You may be feeling stressed at work today because your boss just gave you a list of things to do. Maybe he told you, “You have to type this letter. You have to meet this client. You have to write this report. You have to…” Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss had, instead, said, “I will type this letter for you. I will meet this client for you. I will write this report for you. I will…”?
Well, your boss may not be that gracious, but your Father in heaven is! When He found fault with the old covenant and established the new covenant (Hebrews 8:7–8) in His Son’s blood, His “Thou shalls” became “I wills”.
You see, under the old covenant, the focus is on you — Thou shall not… Thou shall not… Thou shall not… It is about your performance, your obedience, your works. But under the new covenant, God says, “I will put My laws in their mind… I will be their God… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness… their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It is no longer you working for God, but God working for you, in you and through you!
“Isn’t there something for me to do?” you may ask.
My friend, the only thing for you to do is to believe God’s “I wills”. The more you believe His “I wills” or promises, the more you will see His heart for you and the more your faith will grow.
It is foolish for me to just tell you, “Come on, man, have faith!” You will still not have faith because I am not giving you anything to build faith in you. But if I were to tell you all about what God says He will do for you, faith will arise in your heart. Faith is a response to knowing what God says He will do for you.
So the best thing you can “do” under the new covenant is to not focus on what you must do for God, but what God says He will do for you!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
You Have The Victory!
Romans 8:37
37Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
If God’s Word says that we are more than conquerors through Christ, then we are. We are not going to become, we already are. We may be experiencing some failures or setbacks in life right now, but only good will come out of our situations because God says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. We have victory!
You see, God has placed us in Christ, in the highest place of the universe where He has exalted His Son. We are not trying to get to victory ground, we already are on victory ground. We don’t confess God’s Word to get victory, we confess His Word because we already have victory. We don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory.
The devil will try to steal our victory. He will come against us with lies and fears, and cause us to be conscious of our failures, weaknesses and symptoms in areas such as our health. But we are not trying to be healed, we are healed. We are healed because God’s Word has already declared that “by His stripes we are healed”. (Isaiah 53:5)
A sister in our church was seeing two psychiatrists. She was under psychiatric care and medication for panic attacks for the most part of her life. She said that when she started coming to church and learning about Jesus, the truth of God’s Word began to dawn on her heart.
She started believing that victory over her condition was already hers and began confessing it. From then onwards, all her fears were removed and her panic attacks were no more. Today, she has a sound mind, is free from all medication and knows that her life is greatly blessed through Jesus who loves her.
The moment you accept Jesus as your Saviour, you are born again and the new person inside you is more than a conqueror. You are already on victory ground and you have victory over every challenging situation in your life!
37Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
If God’s Word says that we are more than conquerors through Christ, then we are. We are not going to become, we already are. We may be experiencing some failures or setbacks in life right now, but only good will come out of our situations because God says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. We have victory!
You see, God has placed us in Christ, in the highest place of the universe where He has exalted His Son. We are not trying to get to victory ground, we already are on victory ground. We don’t confess God’s Word to get victory, we confess His Word because we already have victory. We don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory.
The devil will try to steal our victory. He will come against us with lies and fears, and cause us to be conscious of our failures, weaknesses and symptoms in areas such as our health. But we are not trying to be healed, we are healed. We are healed because God’s Word has already declared that “by His stripes we are healed”. (Isaiah 53:5)
A sister in our church was seeing two psychiatrists. She was under psychiatric care and medication for panic attacks for the most part of her life. She said that when she started coming to church and learning about Jesus, the truth of God’s Word began to dawn on her heart.
She started believing that victory over her condition was already hers and began confessing it. From then onwards, all her fears were removed and her panic attacks were no more. Today, she has a sound mind, is free from all medication and knows that her life is greatly blessed through Jesus who loves her.
The moment you accept Jesus as your Saviour, you are born again and the new person inside you is more than a conqueror. You are already on victory ground and you have victory over every challenging situation in your life!
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