If you were a parent, wouldn’t you want the best for your children? Would you ever want them to be diseased, poor, and suffering? Of course not. You’d want your children to be blessed, strong, and healthy, and enjoying the best things in life, wouldn’t you?
Think about this for a moment. If you on earth know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father in heaven who loves you and knows how to bless you and your children with divine health, provision, and protection!
Beloved, expect to receive good from the Lord, who is full of grace and mercy, every day!
Today’s Scripture “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28, NIV
Inner Rest When things come against you in your health, your finances, or relationships, it’s easy to get upset and let your mind constantly dwell on the what-ifs. If your mind never rests, if you live wrought up, fighting everything you don’t like, you’re going to be worn out. Your physical body can rest, but inner rest is just as important as outer rest. If you start resting, turning it over to God, He’ll go to work. He sees what’s happening. He knows what wasn’t fair. And the good news is, God already has the solution. He has a way to not just bring you out, but He’s going to make the enemy pay for bringing the trouble. He’s going to bring you out better.
Now do your part. Bring it to Jesus and sit down and rest in faith. Quit worrying and trying to figure it out. There are no logical solutions to some situations. The Scripture says, “Lean not to your own understanding.” It’s okay to take your seat and live from a place of rest, a place of peace, a place of trust.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You that I can come to You and unload all the weight of heaviness, regrets, and difficulties. I could be worried and upset, but I’m going to give it to You, take my seat, and live from a place of rest. I believe that You are bigger than any problem, and You have this covered. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
There is no doubt that all believers want to experience God’s unmerited favor in their lives. All of us want to experience success in our marriages, families, careers, as well as ministries.
We all want to enjoy God’s best and richest blessings. We want His provision, health, and power flowing mightily in our lives, and we know that all these blessings are wrapped up in God’s unmerited favor.
When His unmerited favor is on your side, nothing can stand against you. But if His favor is unmerited, how can we qualify for it? If we cannot earn, deserve, or merit it, how can we be confident that we have His unmerited favor?
One of the key things that I desire to do is to build upon the existing teachings on favor and to give believers a firm foundation on why they have the right to God’s unmerited favor in their lives today. Do you know the answers to the following questions?
Why can you expect good to happen to you?
Why can you enjoy God’s unmerited favor?
Why can you ask God for big things?
Beloved, your answers are all found on the Mount of Golgotha, the place of the skull. It’s the place where the sinless Man became sin, so that you and I can become the righteousness of God in Him. His righteousness is your right to God’s unmerited favor.
You can expect good . . .
You can enjoy God’s unmerited favor . . .
You can ask God for big things . . .
. . . because you have been made the righteousness of God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross!
Don’t just take my word for it. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21 again: “For He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [Jesus Christ].”
Your righteousness in Christ is the sure foundation on which you can build your expectations to receive God’s unmerited favor. God sees you through the lens of the cross of His Son, and as Jesus is today deserving of blessings, peace, health, and favor, so are you (1 John 4:17)!
Today’s Scripture “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones….Come up to me on the mountain, and I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the ones you smashed.” Deuteronomy 10:1–2, NLT
What You Smashed In Deuteronomy 10, God took Moses to the top of Mount Sinai and encompassed the mountain in a great cloud, with lightning and thunder. It was a powerful, holy, majestic moment when the finger of God inscribed the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets. But afterward when Moses saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf, he was so angry that he raised the stone tablets, something sacred that God had entrusted to him, and smashed them into pieces.
We all have mishandled something incredibly valuable that God has given us. Perhaps we let our anger, our pride, our having to be right, tear a precious relationship apart. We mishandled the career God gave us. We gave in to compromise and lost our integrity. If God gave us what we deserve, we’d be done. But God is the God of another chance. He said to Moses and to us, in effect, “You smashed something sacred. But if you go back up the mountain, I’ll give it to you again.” Don’t let guilt or regrets keep you back. He’s going to restore what you threw down.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You that when I make mistakes and mishandle what You’ve given me, You don’t say, ‘Too bad that you messed up. Now you’re on your own.’ Thank You that You don’t give me what I deserve but You give me another chance. I will not let regrets and guilt hold me back. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
SECTION TWO
Beloved, there may be a devil out there who tries to drag you down in defeat, but the Bible tells us clearly that we have One greater than him, inside of us. It is important that you be established in this truth.
You don’t have to be afraid of the devil, because Jesus, who is in you, is greater than the devil in this world. No matter what the enemy’s evil tactics are, he will not prevail against you in this battle. The devil is a defeated foe.
Greater is He who is in you than all the negative thoughts the enemy can throw at you. Greater is He who is in you than the feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Greater is He who is in you than every accusation that is leveled against you.
Stand strong on this declaration: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn” (Isa. 54:17). Wow! No weapon formed against you shall prosper.
The Bible doesn’t say that you will not experience any challenges or be faced with any attacks. But it does promise that you can be confident in the certainty that they shall not prosper against you.
Do you know why you can stand firm on this promise today? In the very same verse, God goes on to declare that “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me” (Isa. 54:17).
This protection is your heritage. God does not protect you because of your right doing; He protects you because your righteousness is from the Lord Himself!
Notice that the weapon that is against you could have already been formed, which means that it may already have been conceived, prepared, and aimed at you. Don’t be afraid. Whatever this weapon or challenge may be, know beyond any doubt that it shall not prevail against you.
This is God’s promise to you today—no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Not because your behavior is perfect, but because your standing in Christ is perfect. Your victory is firmly secured through Jesus’ finished work, which is your heritage in Christ.
Today’s Scripture Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day! Habakkuk 2:3, TLB
Get a New Grip. God has an appointed time to bring His promises to pass in your life, and it will not be one day late. You may have been waiting a long time. Thoughts tell you, “You’ve missed out. It’s not going to happen.” No, when you come into your appointed time, God will make up for what looks like lost time. With one touch of God’s favor, suddenly it happens. Suddenly the business takes off, suddenly you meet the right person, suddenly your child is back on course, suddenly you’re well.
We want everything fast, but God knows the right time. He is saying to get a new grip. Take hold of His promises in a new way. Make up your mind that no matter how long it takes or how impossible it looks, you’re going to be a believer and not a doubter. Keep declaring that it’s on the way, keep waiting with expectancy, and you’re going to see God show out in your life. He’s going to do things that are uncommon, unusual. You didn’t see it coming. It’s the greatness of our God.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You that what You have purposed for my life will come to pass and You are never late. I choose to stop stressing out over what I don’t have, knowing it will be here down to the very day of when I really need it. I believe that You will make it happen. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
There’s a beautiful picture hidden in verse 4 of Psalm 91. It’s a picture of a mother hen protecting her chicks.
The Scriptures above record how the Lord Jesus looked at Jerusalem and lamented over it. Later, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying, “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:43–44). The Greek word for “wept” in verse 41 is klaio, and it means to be so affected emotionally as to sob and wail aloud.
Can you see the Lord’s tender mercies toward Israel as He shed much tears over her? He wished that He could gather Israel under His feathers as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but the Lord could not force His protection on them because they rejected Him.
I believe that as our Lord wept, He foresaw not only the Roman siege of Jerusalem, when the temple was burned to the ground and many of the Jews killed or sold as slaves, but He also foresaw the horrors of the Holocaust.
Notice that the Lord said, “But you were not willing!” This clearly tells us that the Lord will not force on us His protection if we are not willing to come under His wings.
Beloved, are you willing to have the Lord Jesus protect you and your family today? Then tell Him. Let’s never take our Lord’s protection for granted. Instead, let’s take time daily to let Him know that we are putting our trust in Him for His covering and protection.
Do you want to know what happens when you do that? Look at what Boaz said to Ruth: “The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge” (Ruth 2:12).
Wow! It was already a privilege for this Moabite outcast, who was disqualified by the law, to find refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. But God even rewarded her for doing so.
In the same way, it is a privilege for us to be able to take refuge under His wings. Yet when we tell the Lord that we need Him and want His refuge, He gives us a full reward for trusting Him and for coming under His wings. What a God!
Today’s Scripture While he was still talking to her, messengers arrived from Jairus’s home with the news that it was too late—his daughter was dead and there was no point in Jesus’ coming now. But Jesus ignored their comments and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me.” Mark 5:35–36, TLB
Some Things You Have to Ignore In Mark 5, Jesus was delayed on the way to heal Jairus’s daughter when messengers came to Jairus, saying, “We’re sorry, but your daughter has died. There’s no use bothering Jesus anymore.” Jesus overheard what was said, but He ignored their comments. Notice the principle: There are times when you overhear negative words about problems you face, but you have to ignore them. Don’t dwell on it. Don’t give those negative seeds any room in your soil. You’re not denying the problem, you’re not acting as though it doesn’t exist, but you’re not letting it take root. You can’t have faith if there’s doubt, fear, and worry.
The Scripture says to “lean not to your own understanding.” Yes, use common sense, but there is no solution to some things we face in the natural. If you try to figure it out, you’re going to get confused and discouraged and talk yourself out of it. You can’t stop that you heard it, but take the next step and ignore it. Jesus ignored it, prayed for the little girl, and she came back to life.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You that no matter what other voices may be saying about my life, You have the final say. Thank You that I can stay in faith and choose to not dwell on negative reports. I believe that as I get my thoughts in agreement with Your Word that I shall overcome. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
Paul did not lay his hands on the crippled man at Lystra to heal him. The faith to be healed came from just listening to Paul preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and when he simply responded to the apostle’s command to stand up, he was healed.
While what Paul preached to the man was not recorded for us, we do have one of Paul’s sermons recorded word for word for us by the Holy Spirit in the preceding chapter (Acts 13:16–41). And the highlight or climax of that sermon is found in today’s Scripture.
Now, listen carefully to this: the power of the gospel that Paul preached to the crippled man is found in the forgiveness of all your sins for “everyone who believes.” There is no other qualification for being forgiven of all your sins.
The old covenant was based on justification by works (obedience to the Ten Commandments). You had to perform to be forgiven. But the new covenant of grace is based entirely on justification by faith (believing in Jesus Christ). Can you see the radical difference?
The demand is no longer on you, but on Christ. This is the good news: all who believe in Jesus receive the forgiveness of all their sins and are justified from all things! Good news? Hallelujah! There is no better news than this!
We have experienced this time and again in our church services. As people are sitting in the service and hearing the gospel of grace and Jesus’ finished work being preached, healing miracles break forth!
This has happened not just in our church services, but also in other places. One of my dear friends, Marcel Gaasenbeek, shared with me a wonderful healing miracle that took place in his car as he was driving to Romania with a few friends.
Marcel is a pastor of a dynamic grace church in Holland, and on this particular day, he was on his way to Romania for a preaching engagement. He was listening to one of my sermons in his car, something that he did often.
Lulled by the monotony of the long drive, one of Marcel’s friends dozed off in the backseat. This friend had been involved in a jet ski accident some years ago, and since then he often suffered sharp pains in his back.
Somehow, through the fog of sleep, he heard me preach this: “Jesus has already healed you and the devil is the one giving you lying symptoms in your body.” He said “Amen!” in his heart, agreeing that Jesus had already healed him by taking his sin and bearing his sicknesses and pains on the cross.
At that moment, he felt the power of God go through him, and he was completely healed! All the pain in his back was gone!
That’s the power of hearing and hearing the gospel of Jesus. That’s how faith comes! The more of Jesus you hear, the more of His grace you receive. The more revelation you get of His finished work, the more you will receive an impartation of faith for any situation, even the seemingly impossible ones!
Today’s Scripture The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.” Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. Mark 8:24–25, NLT
Take Another Look. In Mark 8, after Jesus put His hands on a blind man’s eyes but he wasn’t healed completely, the man was honest with Jesus. He could have been intimidated and thought, “This is the Son of God. He is a respected healer. I can’t tell Him that my sight is blurred. At least it’s much better than being blind. I need to pretend. I need to act like it’s perfect.” Instead, he was real; he was vulnerable. It took a lot of nerve to say, “Jesus, I can’t see clearly. It’s not what it should be. I see people walking around but they look like trees.” Jesus didn’t get upset and say, “What’s wrong with you? You need to have more faith. I pray for people all the time and they always get completely healed.” Jesus didn’t condemn him. He didn’t make him feel less-than. Jesus just touched him again and said, in effect, “It’s okay. I’m not through with you. I have a second touch.”
Don’t give up on the dreams and desires God put in your heart. He has a second touch.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for Your first touch of grace and helping me get to where I am. Thank You for being the God of second touches that push me into the fullness of Your blessings. I declare that I will not miss out on Your best by settling for what hasn’t happened yet. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
When the Almighty God is your loving Father and you are His beloved, what fears can you have? Fear of the future? Fear of sickness? Fear of death?
Beloved, when you have a revelation of how much God loves you and that He sees you completely righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, all your fears will dissipate, for if God is for you, who or what can be against you? What sickness can come against you and successfully bring you down?
So look away from your circumstances and call out without fear to your Father. He loves you and will never condemn you! Feed on His everlasting love for you and receive your healing from Him!
In 1942, C S Lewis wrote a brilliant book entitled The Screwtape Letters. It tells the story of a senior demon teaching a junior demon how to exploit man’s weaknesses and frailties.
Along the same lines, I would imagine that Romans 7:9 is probably the most studied and memorized verse in hell. All junior demons would be taught this verse and the lecture would be titled, “How to bring about a revival of sin”!
According to Paul, when you introduce the law, there will be a REVIVAL OF SIN! And that’s not all. Apart from reviving sin, the law also kills and brings death!
Isn’t it amazing, then, that there are well-meaning ministers who preach strongly on the Ten Commandments, thinking that imposing the law would cause sin to be removed?
According to Romans 3:20, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” In other words, without the law, there would be no knowledge of sin.
For instance, you can drive at any speed that you like on a road that doesn’t have a speed limit and nobody can accuse you of speeding. But once the authorities put a speed limit on the same road, you now have the knowledge that if you drive beyond say, 70 miles an hour on this road, you would be breaking the law.
In the same way, Paul said, “For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet'” (Rom. 7:7). That is why the enemy always pours accusations on you using the voice of a legalist. He uses the law and the commandments to show up your failures, to put a spotlight on how your behavior has disqualified you from fellowship with God, and to constantly point out how you are undeserving of His acceptance, love, and blessings!
The enemy uses the law to heap condemnation upon you and give you a sense of guilt and distance from God. He knows that the more condemnation and guilt you experience, the more likely you are to feel alienated from God and to continue in that sin.
The only way out of this vicious circle of defeat is to put the spotlight on the finished work of Jesus, who by His death at the cross took your condemnation and qualified you to receive God’s acceptance, love, and blessings forevermore.
When we are going through a difficult time or dealing with a heavy burden of stress, anxiety, fear, or condemnation, it’s extremely challenging to make the paradigm shift from self-occupation to Christ-occupation. So how do we do it?
To answer that question, let me show you how David encouraged himself in the Lord whenever he was fearful, anxious, or depressed. Let’s learn from someone whom God describes as “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22).
God’s Word reveals to us that whenever David was in trouble, he worshiped the Lord with beautiful psalms, hymns, and praises. Instead of wallowing in his own defeat and groping in darkness, David would turn his eyes to the heavens and lift up his voice to the King of kings.
In his closing years, when Absalom, his own son, betrayed him and tried to usurp the throne, David could have chosen to retaliate by sending out his loyal troops against Absalom. However, he didn’t have the heart to fight against his beloved son.
Instead David fled from Absalom with tears in his eyes and a broken heart. Just imagine how crushed David must have been.
But rather than be overwhelmed by the excruciatingly painful circumstances surrounding him, David looked to the Lord and worshiped Him with these eternal words as he ascended the Mount of Olives: “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill” (Ps. 3:3–4).
Isn’t it wonderful to know that when we cry out to God in worship, He hears us? As David worshiped the Lord, God turned his circumstances around for his good. God allowed a person in Absalom’s camp to give him unsound advice, and as a result Absalom’s coup d’état failed.
I am telling you that no matter what your trouble is today, learn to worship Jesus in your valley of trouble and praise His lovely name. See Him as your shield. See Him as your glory and the lifter of your head.
Be consumed with Jesus, and He will turn your circumstances around for your good. Let your heart find rest and peace in the security of His love.
Today’s Scripture Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24, NIV
Take the Pressure Off. There’s so much pressure on people to perform these days. Research shows that the largest increase in anxiety has been among young people. Especially with social media, there’s the constant pressure to compare. “Am I good enough, pretty enough, funny enough? Do I have enough followers? Am I popular?” If you fall into that trap, you’ll never feel good about yourself because you’ll always see someone who seems more talented, more beautiful, more successful. There will be the pressure to outperform, outdress, have more friends, more talents, more compliments. That’s a never-ending cycle that will wear you out, take your joy and peace, and cause you to miss becoming who you were created to be.
Take the pressure off yourself. That’s what’s causing the anxiety. You don’t have to keep up. You’re not competing with them. Run your race. Be who God made you to be. Others can’t do what you can do. They don’t have your gifts and talents. They don’t have your beauty. You’re a masterpiece. You’re made in the image of God. Nobody can beat you at being you.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You that Your favor, Your blessing, and Your grace are unique to my life. Thank You that I am just right for the race You’ve called me to run and that I’m not in a competition with anyone else. Help me to be the best me that I can be and enjoy my journey. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
When God becomes Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace, in your life, He doesn’t just soothe your emotions. He will lead you with His peace.
For example, you may be making some decisions at your work, for your children, or perhaps even where and when to travel for your vacation. Talk to Jesus about it. He will lead and guide you with His peace.
If there is peace from the Lord, go with that decision. If there is an absence of peace and you feel a sense of restraint, back away from it.
You will find that guidance from the Lord comes very easily when God manifests Himself as Jehovah Shalom. In His peace, decisions don’t feel forced and full of strife. In His peace, there is a rest. His peace will guide you supernaturally to be at the right place, at the right time, with the right people.
After our Lord called Gideon a man of valor, his response was: “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites” (Judg. 6:13).
Doesn’t Gideon remind us of ourselves? Instead of hearing what the Lord had just called him, he began to complain. “Why has the Lord forsaken us?”
Astoundingly, the Lord simply turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judg. 6:14).
What? First, the Lord Jesus calls this man who is in hiding “a man of valor.” Now, He calls this complaining man, who is mad at God, to go in that might of his and save Israel? Shouldn’t it be, “Be gone from My presence, you stinking complainer, I must have found the wrong guy”?
I am so glad that the Lord is not like you and me. He always calls the things that are not as though they are (Rom. 4:17).
And I believe that as you receive a revelation of how the Lord is the God of peace in your life, you may be fearful and complaining now, but like Gideon, God will send you to be a testimony of His protection. He will send you to all your friends, coworkers, and loved ones who are bound by fear, and He will use you to deliver them from fear!
Today’s Scripture May he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. Hebrews 13:21, NLT
Preparation Time There’s a plant called the Chinese bamboo. For the first four years, it barely grows above ground. But underground, it’s developing a massive root system. In the fifth year, the plant will take off and shoot up to as high as eighty feet in the air. What makes the fifth year possible is the four years of preparation.
Perhaps you’re frustrated because you’re being your best, but you don’t see any signs of increase—the business isn’t growing, you’re not getting any good breaks, you’re marriage hasn’t improved. The problem is that we want fifth-year results without having to go through the four years of preparation that develop our character and prove to God that we’ll be faithful. Don’t be discouraged. What you can’t see is that God is doing a work in you. Your roots are going down deeper. At the right time, when God knows you’re ready, you’re going to come into your fifth year when you suddenly shoot up—suddenly you come out of debt, suddenly you meet the right person, suddenly your health improves, suddenly your career takes off.
A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for the dreams You put in my heart. Thank You that You are equipping me and empowering me to accomplish all of Your promises. I believe that the preparation process that You are taking me through will take me to where You want me to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
The more areas of your life you involve the Lord in, the more you can experience His protection. You can even ask the Lord to guide you in something as seemingly natural as your travel itinerary.
In fact, read the passage above. The apostle Paul allowed the Holy Spirit to lead them at every step.
We see from those Scriptures that closed doors are not necessarily negative, and could be signs of God’s protection over our lives. The challenge for some of us is that we are so adept at planning and scheduling our busy lives that many times, we don’t make room for the Lord to intervene and to guide us to be at the right place at the right time.
Let’s not put our trust in our intelligence and planning, but in His wisdom, leading, and counsel. There is a proverb that says, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). Even as we plan, I pray that we will always remember to commit all our ways to the Lord, and allow Him to direct our steps.
Being led by the Spirit does not have to be something complicated. When you walk close to the Lord and have a close relationship with Him, He can lead you in supernaturally natural ways.
Some years ago, a couple in our church were vacationing at a beach resort on Penang Island in Malaysia, when the wife felt like eating something in another location on the mainland. Because of that “prompting” in her belly, they headed off earlier than they had originally planned. While they were loading their vehicle, a man kept hurrying them and asking them to move off as they were apparently blocking the hotel driveway, and that had really irritated them at that time.
In any case, just fifteen minutes after they had crossed from the island to the mainland, they heard the news that an earthquake in the Indian Ocean had triggered a killer tsunami that crashed onto the beachfront they were at, killing more than fifty people. Had they left just a little later, they could have been among the casualties of the tragedy that day. Looking back, the couple believes that the man at the hotel might even have been an angel sent by the Lord to get them out of harm’s way quickly.
I don’t know about you, but I want the Lord to direct all my steps! Call upon Him today and He will answer you.
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