The Mind Of Christ Doesn't Grow Old

1 Corinthians 2:16
16... we have the mind of Christ.

“Oh dear, my memory is not as good as it used to be. I must be getting old.”

Have you heard that before? Maybe you have even said it yourself a couple of times!

But who says that as you grow older, you are supposed to forget things?

When the late Reverend Kenneth E Hagin was in his eighties, he was still healthy and strong. This amazing man of God would run around the platform as he preached. And if you have ever heard him preach, you would have heard him say things like, “In 1936, on September 13 at 3.30pm, it was a Wednesday…” Even at that age, the man’s memory was superb!

But he shared one time about how he had started to forget things when he was in his fifties. He had read a medical journal which said that every day millions of cells in our brains die. He didn’t realise it, but those words got into his spirit and he started to forget things.

So he asked the Lord, “What is happening to me?” And the Lord said, “You read that article and you believed it.” He repented and asked the Lord what he should do. The Lord said, “Confess My Word. My Word says that you have the mind of Christ, and the mind of Christ never forgets.” He started to confess that he had the mind of Christ and that was how his memory remained sharp for the rest of his life.

My friend, the Word of God says that you have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is not forgetful, slow or old! I don’t care how old you get. You don’t have to become forgetful. Don’t believe and confess what medical science or your friends say. Believe and confess the Word of God which brings life.

The power of life and death is in your tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) So use your tongue for life. Don’t sit around saying, “I am getting old and forgetful.” Say, “I have the mind of Christ. My mind is sharp and quick because it is the mind of Christ!” Believe it, confess it, and see your thinking and memory live up to it!

Discerning The Lord's Body

1 Corinthians 11:24
24and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Have you ever taken a close look at the Matzah bread that the Jews eat during their Passover meal? The bread, which is unleavened, is pierced with rows of little holes forming stripes. It is also slightly burnt. Many churches today use this bread for the Holy Communion.

Do you know why the bread is pierced, striped and burnt? If you ask a non-believing Jew why it has to be prepared this way, he may not know why.

My friend, the bread that you hold in your hands when you partake of the Lord’s Supper speaks of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ when He bore our sins and sicknesses on the cross.

Like the bread, He was pierced in His brow by the crown of thorns as well as in His hands and feet by the nails. He was also pierced in His side by a soldier’s spear. The prophet Isaiah says, “He was pierced for our transgressions…” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)

Like the bread, He was scourged on His back until His flesh was all torn and bloody, and His bones were exposed, so that today, you can say, “By His stripes, I am healed!” (Isaiah 53:5)

What about the burnt marks? The full fire of God’s wrath fell on Jesus, burning up our sins into ashes, and at the same time, bringing out the fragrance of the offering of Jesus. Today, your sins and lawless deeds are but ashes, and your Father in heaven remembers them no more! (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17)

So the next time you partake of the bread during the Holy Communion, know that Jesus was pierced for your sins and scourged for your healing. He bore God’s fiery judgment so that you will never be judged for your sins! He also bore your diseases and carried your pains so that you can walk in divine health all the days of your life!

When you discern these precious truths about our Lord’s body, you are partaking of the Holy Communion in a worthy manner. And you will not be weak and sickly, or die before your time (1 Corinthians 11:27–30), but you will be strong, healthy and live long!

Shepherd and Sheep By Pastor Joseph Prince

God wants us to rest in Him...

Jesus Bore Your Diseases!

Isaiah 53:4
4Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…

Imagine the dreadful disease leprosy eating a man alive. The poor leper in Matthew 8:2 could stand his suffering no longer, so he came out into the open to look for Jesus. He needed to know if Jesus was willing to heal him. So when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2) The Son of God looked at the outcast with love in His eyes, reached out His hand, touched him and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (Matthew 8:3)

Perhaps you are suffering from some disease and wondering if God is willing to heal you? And you are not sure if He is willing because just as you have seen people get healed, you have also seen people not get healed. My friend, don’t look to people’s experiences, look to the cross! As surely as Jesus bore away your sins, He also bore away your diseases!

I want to give you a solid foundation today for believing this truth. In Isaiah 53, the chapter on our Lord’s crucifixion, it says in verse four: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows”. Now, let’s learn a little Hebrew. The words “griefs” and “sorrows” here mean “sicknesses” and “pains” in the original Hebrew text. So Isaiah is referring to physical healing.

Once, I asked a Jewish friend to read this verse in his Hebrew Bible and tell me what it means. He told me that his Bible says clearly that Jesus has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.

If that is not enough, look at Matthew 8:16–17: “… they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’” Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4, saying that Jesus took our “infirmities” and bore our “sicknesses”. And the context is physical healing.

Beloved, if you will just believe this report, your days of sickness will be over. You will walk in greater health because the One who has surely borne your sicknesses and carried your pains says to you, “I am willing, be cleansed!”

What Have You Been Saying?

Psalm 91:2
2I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

When a great storm arose as Jesus and His disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, He did not say to His disciples, “The storm is here to teach us courage.” Instead, He took authority over the storm and said, “Peace, be still!” And there was a perfect calm. (Mark 4:39)

When He met the widow of Nain whose only son had died, and on another occasion, the two sisters whose brother Lazarus had died, He didn’t tell them, “God wanted to take him home.” No, He spoke to the dead son: “Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Luke 7:14) And standing outside Lazarus’ tomb, He said, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43) And both men came back to life.

What have you been saying about your situation?

When you feel the pain in your body, do not say of the Lord, “God wants me sick to teach me to trust Him more.” Instead, say, “Lord Jesus, I thank You that by Your stripes I am healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

While trying to make ends meet, do not say of the Lord, “The Lord keeps me poor to keep me humble.” Instead, say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

And if you have an intimidating boss at work, do not say, “The Lord is my patience, I will endure.” Instead, say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)

We are living in the last days where there are terrorist bombings and new diseases being discovered, and the world is afraid. But we will not speak negative words and be fearful like the people of the world. Instead, we will speak God’s Word and reign over these things. Like the psalmist, we will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

So find out what God’s Word says, believe it and say it to your situation. And because God’s Word cannot return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11), you will see what you believe and confess come to pass!

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Mark 8:29
29He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

Do you know that how you see Jesus determines what you receive from Him? If you see Jesus as your healer, you will receive healing. If you see Jesus as your refuge and fortress, you will receive protection.

The people from Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, saw Jesus in the natural. They said of Him, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matthew 13:55–56) They saw Jesus in the natural. They did not see Him as God in the flesh. As a result, He could not do many mighty works there. (Matthew 13:58)

Many people, including some philosophers, see Jesus of Nazareth as a good man who led an exemplary life. They feel that if all of us could live our lives like Him, the world would be a better place. They do not see Jesus as the bread of God who came from heaven to give life to the world. (John 6:33) They do not see Him as the one who came to give them living water so that they would never thirst again. (John 4:14) They do not see Him as the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) They do not receive from Him what they need because they do not esteem Him rightly.

But Jesus did not come just to set a good example. He came to be your Redeemer. (Galatians 3:13) He came to be your righteousness. (1 Corinthians 1:30) He came to be your Shepherd so that you will not lack anything. (Psalm 23:1)
Jesus asked His disciples once, “But who do you say that I am?” How you answer this question depends on how you see Jesus. And how you see Jesus is how you will receive from Him. So see Him as your God, as everything He claims to be in His Word, and He will do mighty works in your life!

You Matter To God!

John 10:3
3… he calls his own sheep by name…

Do you sometimes feel like you are just a face in a crowd or a number in a system? You are identified by your identity card number or passport number. Even when you see the doctor, you are called by your queue number. If you feel depersonalised and dehumanised, that is exactly how the devil wants you to feel — that you do not matter much to anyone, especially to God.

But you do matter to God! He calls you by name. He knows what you are going through and where you are hurting. He sees you and cares for you, just as He cared for the people when He first walked on earth.

On one occasion, Jesus crossed all the way to the other side of the lake, even defying the devil’s attempt to drown Him (Luke 8:22–39), because a man who was demonised was calling out to Him for help. Jesus heard him and crossed an entire lake just to go to him. My friend, Jesus came a long way from heaven to come to you. You certainly matter to Him!

Even now, if you have problems in your life, Jesus sees you and He will not pass you by. He will do for you what He did for the woman at Samaria. There was a shorter route from Judea to Galilee, but the Bible said, “He needed to go through Samaria.” (John 4:4) Jesus purposely took a longer route because He wanted to stop by Samaria to speak to the woman who had been searching for things to satisfy her in her life. Now, Jesus has come to offer you the more abundant life too. (John 10:10)

In Luke 5:12–13, Jesus touched the leper and healed him. Although He could heal from afar, which He did for the 10 lepers in Luke 17:12–14, Jesus chose to heal this leper by touching him. The leper had been dehumanised, after being cut off from society for such a long time. Jesus’ personal touch gave him more than a new lease in life — it made him whole.

In the same way, Jesus has a personal love for you because you matter to Him. He calls you by name, sees beyond your every fault and wants to meet your every need!