Receive As You Hear The Good News
Romans 1:16
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…
If you have been to motivational seminars, you would probably have heard the speakers say, “If you follow these five steps, then you will come to a place of financial increase.” They would probably have told you also that if you don’t succeed, it is because you did not follow the steps correctly or diligently.
Thank God that the gospel or good news does not work like that! The minute you hear or read the good news, and you believe and receive it, His Word goes forth to sozo (the Greek word for “save”) you, making you well, prosperous and whole, “for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”.
What is the good news? It is that God loves us so much that He gave us His Son to take our beating so that we can have His blessings without having to work for them. Right now, as you are reading this devotional, listening to a preacher or watching a sermon DVD, as you hear God’s Word, His power is released into your situation, working things out for you and turning your situation around for your good.
In Acts 14:8–10, we see Paul preaching the good news in Lystra. A man who was crippled from birth was listening to Paul. Paul, seeing that he had faith to be healed, said, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And the man leaped and walked! He heard the good news, believed it and was healed.
At a leadership conference in Oslo, Norway, where I was speaking, a pastor there shared how a well-respected businessman in his church was healed while listening to one of my sermon CDs. This man was deaf in one ear. And when he was listening to my teaching on the CD, his deaf ear popped open without anyone laying hands on him or praying for him! He was just listening to the good news when his ear opened. Now, that is what I call the power of God unto his salvation, sozo-ing him, making his hearing whole!
My friend, these miracles happen not because we follow some kind of formula faithfully, but because we hear the good news preached and simply believe it!
Feed your FAITH and your doubts will STARVE.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Receive As You Hear The Good News
Receive As You Hear The Good News
Romans 1:16
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…
If you have been to motivational seminars, you would probably have heard the speakers say, “If you follow these five steps, then you will come to a place of financial increase.” They would probably have told you also that if you don’t succeed, it is because you did not follow the steps correctly or diligently.
Thank God that the gospel or good news does not work like that! The minute you hear or read the good news, and you believe and receive it, His Word goes forth to sozo (the Greek word for “save”) you, making you well, prosperous and whole, “for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”.
What is the good news? It is that God loves us so much that He gave us His Son to take our beating so that we can have His blessings without having to work for them. Right now, as you are reading this devotional, listening to a preacher or watching a sermon DVD, as you hear God’s Word, His power is released into your situation, working things out for you and turning your situation around for your good.
In Acts 14:8–10, we see Paul preaching the good news in Lystra. A man who was crippled from birth was listening to Paul. Paul, seeing that he had faith to be healed, said, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And the man leaped and walked! He heard the good news, believed it and was healed.
At a leadership conference in Oslo, Norway, where I was speaking, a pastor there shared how a well-respected businessman in his church was healed while listening to one of my sermon CDs. This man was deaf in one ear. And when he was listening to my teaching on the CD, his deaf ear popped open without anyone laying hands on him or praying for him! He was just listening to the good news when his ear opened. Now, that is what I call the power of God unto his salvation, sozo-ing him, making his hearing whole!
My friend, these miracles happen not because we follow some kind of formula faithfully, but because we hear the good news preached and simply believe it!
Romans 1:16
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…
If you have been to motivational seminars, you would probably have heard the speakers say, “If you follow these five steps, then you will come to a place of financial increase.” They would probably have told you also that if you don’t succeed, it is because you did not follow the steps correctly or diligently.
Thank God that the gospel or good news does not work like that! The minute you hear or read the good news, and you believe and receive it, His Word goes forth to sozo (the Greek word for “save”) you, making you well, prosperous and whole, “for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”.
What is the good news? It is that God loves us so much that He gave us His Son to take our beating so that we can have His blessings without having to work for them. Right now, as you are reading this devotional, listening to a preacher or watching a sermon DVD, as you hear God’s Word, His power is released into your situation, working things out for you and turning your situation around for your good.
In Acts 14:8–10, we see Paul preaching the good news in Lystra. A man who was crippled from birth was listening to Paul. Paul, seeing that he had faith to be healed, said, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And the man leaped and walked! He heard the good news, believed it and was healed.
At a leadership conference in Oslo, Norway, where I was speaking, a pastor there shared how a well-respected businessman in his church was healed while listening to one of my sermon CDs. This man was deaf in one ear. And when he was listening to my teaching on the CD, his deaf ear popped open without anyone laying hands on him or praying for him! He was just listening to the good news when his ear opened. Now, that is what I call the power of God unto his salvation, sozo-ing him, making his hearing whole!
My friend, these miracles happen not because we follow some kind of formula faithfully, but because we hear the good news preached and simply believe it!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Is Anything Too Hard For God?
Is Anything Too Hard For God?
Jeremiah 32:27
27“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
Do you have a problem believing that the moment a sinner receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he is saved? I believe that you will say, “No.”
Let me then ask you which is harder for God (though in reality, we know that nothing is hard for God): To save a soul from hell or heal a sick body? Of course, it is “harder” to save a soul from hell because God had to send His Son to the cross.
So if God has already given you the greatest miracle that you can ever receive, which is to pluck you out of the clutches of eternal damnation and give you eternal life, what is healing your body, saving your marriage, turning your rebellious teenage son around or giving you that business deal to Him?
Therefore, don’t think that when you come to God with a headache, He says, “No problem,” but should you come to Him with cancer, He says, “Cancer? Wow! Not that easy. This is more problematic. I will need more power!”
No! It may appear more difficult to us, but with God, nothing is too hard for Him because He says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
This was indeed the case for a church member who was suffering from ovarian cancer. After I had prayed for her, I told her, “This cancer is not a problem for God. Just believe that when God said that nothing is too hard for Him, it is so!” In a matter of weeks, she came back with tears in her eyes, testifying that she went back to the doctor and he pronounced her healed after he could find no traces of cancer in her.
Beloved, if it is a miracle you need, it is a miracle you will get. God has already given you the greatest miracle of eternal life, so why would He not give you all the other lesser miracles?
Jeremiah 32:27
27“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
Do you have a problem believing that the moment a sinner receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he is saved? I believe that you will say, “No.”
Let me then ask you which is harder for God (though in reality, we know that nothing is hard for God): To save a soul from hell or heal a sick body? Of course, it is “harder” to save a soul from hell because God had to send His Son to the cross.
So if God has already given you the greatest miracle that you can ever receive, which is to pluck you out of the clutches of eternal damnation and give you eternal life, what is healing your body, saving your marriage, turning your rebellious teenage son around or giving you that business deal to Him?
Therefore, don’t think that when you come to God with a headache, He says, “No problem,” but should you come to Him with cancer, He says, “Cancer? Wow! Not that easy. This is more problematic. I will need more power!”
No! It may appear more difficult to us, but with God, nothing is too hard for Him because He says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
This was indeed the case for a church member who was suffering from ovarian cancer. After I had prayed for her, I told her, “This cancer is not a problem for God. Just believe that when God said that nothing is too hard for Him, it is so!” In a matter of weeks, she came back with tears in her eyes, testifying that she went back to the doctor and he pronounced her healed after he could find no traces of cancer in her.
Beloved, if it is a miracle you need, it is a miracle you will get. God has already given you the greatest miracle of eternal life, so why would He not give you all the other lesser miracles?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Your ‘Work’ Is To Enter His Rest
Your ‘Work’ Is To Enter His Rest
Hebrews 4:10–11
10… he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest...
A baby learns to sit first before he starts to stand and walk. The Christian life also begins with sitting. God “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. (Ephesians 2:6) How well we walk after that depends on how well we sit and rest in the finished work of Christ.
The promised land was a land of rest where God promised His people “large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant”. (Deuteronomy 6:10–11)
But for 40 years, God’s people wandered in the wilderness because they refused to believe that God had given them a land where everything had been prepared — the work was finished. They could not believe that God had given them a land full of riches to enjoy, a land which just flowed with His goodness.
Today, there are believers who still cannot believe that the work of Jesus is truly complete and finished. They are trying to complete a completed work, finish a finished work and defeat a defeated devil.
There are believers today who are always working and trying to produce their healing, prosperity, success and victory. God wants us to stop trying and start trusting in His love for us. He wants us to stop working and struggling, and start resting and believing in His grace toward us.
The only “work” left for us to do today is to enter His rest. We are to labor every day to enter His rest. We are to rest inwardly and believe that the work is done because it is a finished work, and trust in God’s undeserved favor toward us. We are to rest in Jesus our true ark, who will carry us through tempestuous waters.
So today, “if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… be diligent to enter that rest”. (Hebrews 4:7, 11) Let’s enter His rest. Let’s enjoy sitting together with Christ in the heavenly places, then we will run and not be weary! (Isaiah 40:31)
Hebrews 4:10–11
10… he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest...
A baby learns to sit first before he starts to stand and walk. The Christian life also begins with sitting. God “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. (Ephesians 2:6) How well we walk after that depends on how well we sit and rest in the finished work of Christ.
The promised land was a land of rest where God promised His people “large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant”. (Deuteronomy 6:10–11)
But for 40 years, God’s people wandered in the wilderness because they refused to believe that God had given them a land where everything had been prepared — the work was finished. They could not believe that God had given them a land full of riches to enjoy, a land which just flowed with His goodness.
Today, there are believers who still cannot believe that the work of Jesus is truly complete and finished. They are trying to complete a completed work, finish a finished work and defeat a defeated devil.
There are believers today who are always working and trying to produce their healing, prosperity, success and victory. God wants us to stop trying and start trusting in His love for us. He wants us to stop working and struggling, and start resting and believing in His grace toward us.
The only “work” left for us to do today is to enter His rest. We are to labor every day to enter His rest. We are to rest inwardly and believe that the work is done because it is a finished work, and trust in God’s undeserved favor toward us. We are to rest in Jesus our true ark, who will carry us through tempestuous waters.
So today, “if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… be diligent to enter that rest”. (Hebrews 4:7, 11) Let’s enter His rest. Let’s enjoy sitting together with Christ in the heavenly places, then we will run and not be weary! (Isaiah 40:31)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Discerning The Lord’s Body
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?
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 on the bread? 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)
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!
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, nor die before your time (1 Corinthians 11:27–30) No, you will be strong and healthy, and you will live long!
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?
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 on the bread? 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)
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!
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, nor die before your time (1 Corinthians 11:27–30) No, you will be strong and healthy, and you will live long!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Power Of Your Words
The Power Of Your Words
Proverbs 18:21
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Most people, when they desperately want something, will say things like, “I am dying for that piece of cake!” Few will say, “I am living for that piece of cake!”
What is worse is that we are quick to mention death when things go wrong. We Singaporeans are quick to say things like, “Die lah! Die lah!” at the drop of a hat. Nobody says, “Live lah! Live lah!”
Yet, the truth is that every word you speak has power — to build or destroy hopes and dreams, to restore or cause loss, to heal or break the spirit, to bring delight or despair, to bless or curse — for God’s Word says that death and life are in the power of the tongue.
So stop lining your words up with the negative circumstances. Instead, start lining your words up with God’s Word and release the power of His Word to work for you.
For example, instead of speaking lack and poverty, say, “God’s Word tells me that the good things are already here. I therefore pronounce my life blessed. I pronounce my life prosperous. I pronounce my life great. Darkness and gloom, poverty and sickness, defeat and depression, will not be in my life!”
Instead of speaking sickness and death, say, “I will live long. I will not die young. Jesus died young for me so that I can live long for Him. I am the righteousness of God in Christ and God’s Word declares that no evil befalls the righteous. So no evil will come on me now and in the future!”
Instead of speaking fear over your children, say, “God’s Word declares that the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. Therefore, my children are delivered from every curse, every power of darkness and every evil. In the name of Jesus, I call forth a great, bright and blessed future for my children!”
God wants you to have a life filled with good days and an abundance of every good thing. So say, “In the name of Jesus, I command blessings, favor, health, prosperity, protection, dominion and power to fill my life!”
Proverbs 18:21
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Most people, when they desperately want something, will say things like, “I am dying for that piece of cake!” Few will say, “I am living for that piece of cake!”
What is worse is that we are quick to mention death when things go wrong. We Singaporeans are quick to say things like, “Die lah! Die lah!” at the drop of a hat. Nobody says, “Live lah! Live lah!”
Yet, the truth is that every word you speak has power — to build or destroy hopes and dreams, to restore or cause loss, to heal or break the spirit, to bring delight or despair, to bless or curse — for God’s Word says that death and life are in the power of the tongue.
So stop lining your words up with the negative circumstances. Instead, start lining your words up with God’s Word and release the power of His Word to work for you.
For example, instead of speaking lack and poverty, say, “God’s Word tells me that the good things are already here. I therefore pronounce my life blessed. I pronounce my life prosperous. I pronounce my life great. Darkness and gloom, poverty and sickness, defeat and depression, will not be in my life!”
Instead of speaking sickness and death, say, “I will live long. I will not die young. Jesus died young for me so that I can live long for Him. I am the righteousness of God in Christ and God’s Word declares that no evil befalls the righteous. So no evil will come on me now and in the future!”
Instead of speaking fear over your children, say, “God’s Word declares that the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. Therefore, my children are delivered from every curse, every power of darkness and every evil. In the name of Jesus, I call forth a great, bright and blessed future for my children!”
God wants you to have a life filled with good days and an abundance of every good thing. So say, “In the name of Jesus, I command blessings, favor, health, prosperity, protection, dominion and power to fill my life!”
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