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Authors: Joseph Prince

Tags: #Devotional, #Grace, #Joseph Prince

Reign In Life: 90 Powerful Inspirations For Extraordinary Breakthroughs (7 page)

BOOK: Reign In Life: 90 Powerful Inspirations For Extraordinary Breakthroughs
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Three years ago, I had a high-powered career with plenty of financial resources and a wonderful family. The flip side was constant exhaustion from a ridiculous schedule, guilt from not spending time with my young son and husband, and stress from trying to balance it all on my own. On top of everything, I had been taught that Jesus expected a perfect performance from me in order for His blessings to flow in my life. I was burned out and very deficient in many areas of my life, including joy
.
As I read one of Pastor Prince’s books and listened to his CDs, I began to see how Jesus paid the price for my sins to give me His righteousness and freedom, and that it was His will for me to live an abundant life, full to the brim and overflowing. Very gently, Jesus began to move me away from the “success” that was making me so unhappy
.
My husband and I made plans to change our circumstances so that I could be with my children on a more permanent basis. Despite the financial implications for our family, Jesus gave me such a shalom-peace about our decision. So I left my high-powered, financially stable job to begin my own consultancy. Jesus was amazing in providing for us throughout the year, not just financially, but also in quality time. I had time to draw infinitely closer to Him, time for my family, and even time for my hobbies, which included finishing the writing of my first novel
.
However, being still involved with corporate life through my consultancy, I struggled to walk in the peace that Jesus promised us. The old habits I’d formed with regards to stress and worry still intruded into the new space Jesus had provided for me. Then, unexpectedly, the doors in my business began to close. Confused and uncertain, I felt as though I was in the middle of a hurricane as I tried to open the doors that would lead me deeper into corporate consulting. But through Pastor Prince’s sermon
, The Key of David—God Opens Doors That No One Can Shut,
Jesus reassured me that He was in control, and that I could trust Him because He loves me
.
I stand in awe of Jesus because He has closed doors that weren’t good for me and opened doors beyond my grandest dreams. He opened the door to having my book published by one of the biggest international publishing houses in the world. In just five months, Jesus turned my situation around, giving me a new career in which I can reach and inspire many more people than I would ever have dreamed possible. He has provided me with family time and time to be with Him. I know from His Word that He will bring me good success. I now wake up looking forward to the day with such joy and expectation of His goodness—not because of anything I have done, but all because of Him!
When I look back on the journey Jesus has brought me through, I can see His grace at every turn. Jesus is so kind, magnificent, and altogether lovely! He has delivered me into a truly rich and bountiful life that is full of His joy and abundance!
That, my friend, is the grace of God. It provides rest and freedom from all your self-efforts. It is the unshakable basis on which you can expect God to provide for you and lead you to good success. If you are weary and heavy laden, come to Jesus, the gracious one, and learn from Him all that He has done for you. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. By His grace, find rest, yes, true rest for your soul. Start receiving the treasures that were purchased for you by His blood and begin reigning in every area of life!
Today’s Thought
Jesus’ amazing grace is what brings true rest to my soul and provision for every area of life
.
Today’s Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for showing me what true grace teaching is and for inviting me to come to You to find rest for my soul. I thank You that Your yoke of amazing grace is easy and Your burden is light. Lord, I come into Your presence with boldness because of the blood that You shed on the cross for me, and I lay all my sins, failings, addictions, and bondages at Your feet. I receive Your forgiveness and power to overcome them. I believe that You love me and have already forgiven me. I worship and adore You, my precious Lord and Savior. Amen
.
Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation)
.
E
PHESIANS
2:5
AMP
Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me…and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls
.
M
ATTHEW
11:29
AMP
So let us do our best to enter that rest…
H
EBREWS
4:11
NLT
Today’s Scripture
“…I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel… not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers…
I will
put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and
I will
be their God, and they shall be My people…For
I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds
I will
remember no more.”
H
EBREWS
8:8–10, 12 (emphasis mine)
D
o you sometimes think God is happy with you, and then at other times think He is angry with you? Or that He forgives all your sins today, but that tomorrow He may not be as forgiving? That’s what a lot of Christians believe. “It’s simple,” they tell me. “God is happy with me when I do right, and He is angry with me when I do wrong.” Really? I call this “schizophrenic Christianity”!
Dear reader, if you find yourself in this unhappy camp, I believe it is because you are living between two covenants—the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace. As a result, you believe in a mixed message that tells you there are times when God is happy with you and times when He is angry with you.
Let me show you something that will clear up this erroneous belief. While the old covenant of law is based on “you shall not…you shall not…you shall not,” I want you to notice in today’s Scripture that the new covenant of grace is the Lord saying, “I will…I will…I will…” It is clear that the emphasis and demand of the covenant of law is on
you
performing, while the emphasis and demand of the covenant of grace is on
God Himself
performing! He will do everything on our behalf. In fact, because Jesus has already died on the cross for us, He has already
done
everything on our behalf. Remember, Christianity is “done, done, done,” not “do, do, do.” Jesus came to establish the new covenant of grace and under this new covenant, God is no longer angry with you because His anger and wrath have already been exhausted on the body of Jesus on the cross.
Pay close attention to this for it will radically transform your life:
the only reason Jesus could cry out “It is finished!” (John 19:30) on the cross was that the full anger of God against sin had been totally exhausted on His body
. Jesus cannot lie! And if the anger of God against all your sins has already been completely exhausted, how can God be angry with you today when you fail? How can God be angry with you when He has already declared, “Your sins and your lawless deeds I will remember no more”?
Many Christians have been robbed of fellowship and intimacy with God because they believe the
lie
that God is still angry with them because of their sins. They avoid having contact with Him, thinking that He gets angry with them whenever they fail. So instead of going to God when they fail, they run in the opposite direction. Instead of running to the solution, they run away from it.
Stop being robbed of true intimacy and a relationship with your gracious heavenly Father. Instead of avoiding Him when you fail, know that He has the answer to all your problems. This is why you can always run to Him and receive grace for your failures. His grace is greater than all your failures. He loves you perfectly and wants you to reign in life, so go to Him with all your imperfections. He is your God, and He will love and transform you into wholeness!
Today’s Thought
Because the full anger of God against sin has been totally exhausted on Jesus’ body, He is not angry with me when I fail
.
Today’s Prayer
Father, thank You for the amazing sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, where You completely exhausted Your anger against all my sins on the body of my substitute. Because of the cross, You have declared that my sins and lawless deeds You will remember no more. Thank You for assuring me through Your Word that Your love for me is not dependent on my performance. I will no longer be robbed of true intimacy and fellowship with You. Today, I receive Your grace afresh to reign in life. Amen
.
“For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the L
ORD
, who has mercy on you
.
I
SAIAH
54:10
But there is forgiveness with You [just what man needs], that You may be reverently feared and worshiped
.
P
SALM
130:4
AMP
…so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus
.
E
PHESIANS
2:7
NASB
Today’s Scripture
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
J
OHN
1:29
W
hen I was growing up in the Lord, I used to picture God as an elderly, unsmiling man with white hair, white eyebrows, and a white beard. I used to see Him holding a big club, waiting to bash me on the head as soon as I failed or made a mistake. Of course, when I grew in my understanding of God, I started to see Him without that big menacing club, but He was still not smiling and He was still very old.
I still remember how, as a teenager, I was praying one day when I heard God’s voice saying to me, “Son, why do you picture Me like that, as an old man?” I replied confidently, “Well, You are a Father and that’s how fathers look like, right?” He replied, “Son, do you know that growing old is part of the curse that came upon the earth because of Adam’s sin? In heaven, there is no curse. We are forever young.”
When I heard Him say that, all of a sudden, I began to see God as the same God who spoke with Abraham as a friend under the terebinth trees and showed him the stars, the same God who parted the Red Sea and delivered the children of Israel from slavery, the same God whose hand of favor made a young shepherd boy king over all of Israel. That’s how I see my God today.
He is forever young, strong, and loving!
He is not wielding a club and ready to punish me. His arms are spread wide, ready to embrace me.
My friend, do you see God as an aged judge or a young-looking, loving Father? Do you see an angry God today, or a God who is smiling and ready to embrace you? Because of Jesus’ finished work, I finally came to see that we are no longer under the covenant of law where God is happy with you sometimes and angry with you at other times.
Today, He will never be angry with you, but will always accept, love, and favor you because of Jesus Christ
.
Years ago, a very disturbed looking guy came running up to me after I had preached a sermon and said, “Pastor, you talked about God’s love, but the Bible also says that God is wrath!” I explained to him that while God
has
wrath, the Bible never defines God as wrath. Instead, according to the Bible’s definition,
God is love
(1 John 4:8). He then exclaimed, “But Pastor Prince, sometimes I see God being angry in the Bible!”
I explained, “When we see God being angry in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation, His anger is toward those who have rejected Him and Jesus. But for you and me, believers in the new covenant, we will never be punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is not angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross. Jesus became the Lamb of God who took away all our sins. On the cross, He cried out, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Why do you think He cried that? He cried that so we would all know specifically that at that point in time, God’s wrath fell upon Him. He became our sin offering and the fire of God’s wrath punished Him completely. He who knew no sin became our sin, so that you and I who are already believers will never experience God’s wrath.”
After I had explained this, this precious brother thanked me. The disturbed look that had creased his face had given way to a smile. I believe that as he walked away, there was a peace and assurance in his heart that God was not angry with him because his sins had already been judged completely on the cross at Calvary. Hallelujah!
BOOK: Reign In Life: 90 Powerful Inspirations For Extraordinary Breakthroughs
10.57Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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