Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times

[Carol]

AUGUST 1 The Power of His Love and Grace​

Grace is the only thing against which the devil has no defense. If you are living by your self-effort to earn God’s approval, the devil has power over you because he can always point to something that you have not done. This gives him dominion over you. If you claim God’s protection and healing based on what you have done, the devil, who is a master accuser, just has to point to one of your failures, and all your faith implodes. You will disqualify yourself mentally and inwardly from receiving whatever you might be trusting the Lord for.

But grace qualifies us for protection. Because Jesus paid the price, we who are in Him have a right to walk in divine health and protection. When the devil accuses you, saying, “How dare you believe God for protection, when you are (he goes on to list your failures),” you just have to point to Jesus’ blood, which has paid for all your failures. With grace as your basis, the God of peace can reign over your fears and impart to you unshakable faith for His protection!

Something else happens when you understand His grace—you will also grow in your understanding of how perfectly loved you are by your Father in heaven. God so loved you and me, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross on our behalf, carrying all our sins upon His own body so that today, we can come boldly to His throne of grace. He did it so that today, we are not as sheep without a shepherd, but we are so deeply loved and cared for by our Abba Father. We are His children and when we call on Him, He WILL answer. We have a God who demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners—when we had nothing to offer Him but our brokenness, our shame, our sins, and our disqualifications! Oh what perfect love!

The Word of God says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:18–19). Are you fearful today? Ask yourself this question: Do you know how much God loves you? You see, you can’t reason away fear. But when you have a revelation of His perfect love for you, every fear in your life will be cast out. To the extent that you understand His love for you, you will live fearlessly in dangerous times!

The Prayer of Protection Devotional

 

[Carol]

AUGUST 2 - Forgiveness and Healing Go Hand-in-Hand

I encourage you to start today with this thought: the way out of being sin-conscious is to hear more teaching on the finished work of Jesus and how His blood has cleansed and forgiven us of all our sins. When you believe that your sins have already been punished on Jesus’ body and receive Him as your sin offering, your heart will be sprinkled with His blood from an evil conscience. As you listen to Christ-exalting teachings, instead of carrying sin-consciousness and condemnation in your mind and heart, you will be washed with the pure water of God’s Word. This will in turn affect your physical body and bring healing to every part that is not well!

Some Christians are not able to receive healing for themselves or within their families because they are not able to receive forgiveness. They are still sin-conscious and doubt their forgiveness. They believe that God may have forgiven their past sins, but not the sins of their whole life. God knows that people need the assurance that their sins are forgiven before they can receive healing in their bodies, so the Bible makes His forgiveness of our sins very clear. In Psalm 103,when the psalmist lists the “benefits” from the Lord, he starts with “who forgives all your iniquities” before moving on to “who heals all your diseases.”

Not so long ago, I received this praise report from Patricia, who lives in South Africa. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and they were getting ready to go to the hospital for his positron emission tomography (PET) scan when she read one of my daily devotionals on the holy Communion. Feeling consumed by worry for her husband and condemnation for not being able to entrust the situation completely into the Lord’s hands, she took Communion and for the first time,discerned that the body of Jesus was beaten so that our bodies might be healed and made whole. She also meditated on how Jesus’ blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. After that, Patricia said,“I felt a peace only God could give. I was able to enter into a state of rest and faith without any effort on my part. I am proud to say, my Savior reigns. No cancer was found in my husband’s organs and the doctors could not explain why.” What an amazing testimony of the power of knowing you are forgiven in Christ!

In Mark 2:1–12, we read the account of the paralytic man lowered through the roof and placed before Jesus. Jesus said to the paralytic man, “Son, your sins are forgiven you,” before He said, “Arise,take up your bed, and go to your house.” Why? Because Jesus knew that unless the man had the assurance that all his sins had been forgiven, he would not have the faith to jump up, grab his mat, and walk out of that house.

Beloved,your sins are forgiven you. Stop punishing and condemning yourself.Believe the truth of the gospel and let your conscience be satisfied!Start enjoying all His benefits because they are your blood-bought rights. Forgiveness is yours. Healing is yours. Redemption from destruction is yours. Being crowned with loving-kindness and tender mercies is yours. Hallelujah! Simply believe that your sin debt has been settled and walk in these blessings today!

The Prayer of Protection Devotional

 

[Carol]

How to Live Fearlessly

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Psalm 91:5–6

I love how Psalm 91 reminds us that we have round-the-clock protection.

Whether it is at night or in the day. Whether it is in darkness or at noonday. Whether we are faced with a terror or confronted by arrows. Whether pestilences threaten or destruction looms. We do not have to be afraid because our God, who watches over us, neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps. 121:3–4)!

The reality is, the world we live in seems to be engulfed in negative news and fear. We often hear reports of senseless terrorist attacks on innocent civilians, horrific accidents claiming multiple victims, or an epidemic affecting entire communities, leading to hundreds of babies being born with deformities. I know that many can’t help but dread that the same tragedies could befall them.

But beloved, I want you to know that in the midst of all that is happening in the world, you can be fearless, and this comes from knowing the Lord as the God of peace.

Romans chapter 15 ends with the apostle Paul saying, “Now the God of peace be with you all” (Rom. 15:33). You might ask, Isn’t God with us all the time? Why then did Paul specifically say, “The God of peace be with you all”?

What Paul was speaking over the people was for God to manifest Himself as the God of peace in their lives. In other words, even though God is always with us, we may not always experience Him as the God of peace.

Do you know what happens when God manifests Himself as the God of peace in your life? Romans 16:20 tells us this: “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

Do you see what the God of peace will do in your life? He will crush every fear, every worry, and every anxiety!

Do you see grace in that verse as well? Grace—the undeserved, unearned, and unmerited favor of God—is the only thing against which the devil has no defense.

That is why we put our faith in the blood of Jesus when we talk about protection. His sinless blood was shed to pay the price for the guilty one.

And because Jesus paid the price, we who are in Him have a right to walk in divine health and protection. Grace qualifies us for God’s all-encompassing protection. Amen!

This devotional is taken from the book The Prayer of Protection Devotional—Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times.

 

[Carol]

AUGUST 16​

He Is Willing​

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matthew 8:1–3
If you have entertained doubts about Jesus’ willingness to heal you because of your sins and shortcomings, I want to show you how Jesus healed someone who was disqualified and considered unclean under the Levitical law. Matthew 8 takes place at the Mount of Beatitudes right after Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and it opens with the verses above.

One of my favorite places to visit in Israel is the Mount of Beatitudes. A number of years ago, I climbed up to where Jesus could have sat while He preached to the multitudes below, then I walked along a path that I realized led all the way to Capernaum.

I had always imagined Jesus going down the mountain toward the multitude, but I realized that if He had, it wouldn’t say “great multitudes followed Him.” Very likely, He had to be walking down another side of the mountain toward Capernaum for the multitudes to follow Him. Just one verse after Jesus healed the man with leprosy, the Bible tells us He entered Capernaum (Matt. 8:5), so that makes sense to me.

As I walked along that path, I came to a huge pile of rocks on the side and noticed other slabs of stone strewn nearby. All of a sudden, I felt the Lord arrest me, and He began to give me an inner vision. I saw how the man with leprosy could have hidden under those rocks so he could hear Jesus preach without being seen by the multitudes. Had he been seen, being unclean because of his leprosy, people repulsed by his condition might have hurled stones at him to drive him away.

I saw the anguish of the man whose body was covered with leprous sores and raw, exposed flesh, and who had also been forced to isolate himself and be cut off from his loved ones so he would not contaminate or defile them (Lev. 13:45–46). I saw the desperation of the man who threw himself before Jesus, worshiping Him as he said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And I saw the beauty and the majesty of our Lord Jesus as He touched the man with leprosy and pronounced, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

In that moment, the Lord didn’t just restore the man’s health, He also restored his humanity.

That Jesus touched a man with leprosy is amazing. Under the law, when the clean touches the unclean, the clean becomes unclean. Our Lord Jesus was showing that under grace, when the clean (Jesus) touches the unclean, the unclean becomes clean! Jesus did not contract defilement by touching the man with leprosy—He banished it. Beloved, He will do the same for you.

This devotional is adapted from the book The Healing Power of the Holy Communion—A 90-Day Devotional.

 

[Carol]

Grace Does Not Mean Automatic Salvation for All​

When our Lord Jesus died at Calvary, He took all of humanity’s sins with one sacrifice of Himself at the cross. He took the judgment, punishment, and condemnation for every sin upon Himself. That’s the value of the one Man, Jesus. He is an overpayment for all our sins.

Now, does this mean everyone is automatically forgiven and saved?

Of course not! While everyone’s sin was paid for at Calvary, every individual needs to make a personal decision to receive forgiveness of all his sins by receiving Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. Any so-called “grace” teaching that teaches otherwise is counterfeit grace teaching. There is no other way to be saved except through Jesus and His shed blood. Look at what God’s Word says:

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

—Romans 10:9–13

There is no ambivalence in Scripture as to how a person becomes a born-again believer in Christ. To be saved, you have to confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.

Jesus is the only way. There is no salvation without Jesus. There is no forgiveness without the cleansing blood of Jesus. There is no assurance that all our sins have been forgiven without the resurrection of Jesus. Salvation is found in Jesus and Jesus alone!

I am also aware that there are counterfeit grace preachers who teach that everyone, even Satan and his fallen angels, will one day in the ages to come be saved. Because of this belief, they also teach that hell isn’t a real place of everlasting punishment. These people take an extreme position on God’s love to the exclusion of His righteousness and judgment, refusing to believe what the Scriptures clearly teach about eternal torment in hell for the unsaved. This is not the gospel of grace.

Beware of the Dangers of Counterfeit Grace | Official Joseph Prince Praise Article | JosephPrince.com

We live in exciting times. Our Lord Jesus is truly restoring the gospel of grace that was...

www.josephprince.com

 

[Carol]

​

AUGUST 23​ ​ ​ It’s Not What You Have but Who You Have​ ​

​

Would you consider the young man Joseph, who was about to be sold into slavery, “a successful man”?
Of course not!

Yet, God says in His own words that Joseph was a successful man.

God's definition of success is contrary to the world's definition. Corporate America measures success based on what you have done, what you have accomplished, and what you have accumulated. It is based entirely on you focusing all your time, energy, and resources in meriting titles and collecting accomplishments.

Now, we have witnessed how this self-indulgent accumulation has led to the subprime crisis, the decimation of investment banks, and a widespread international financial meltdown.

My friend, I want to encourage you to begin to see that the world’s model of success is unstable and built upon a foundation that is shakable. It may have the appearance of the good life, but it is temporal, and we have all seen for ourselves how the world’s transient wealth can dissipate like smoke and easily slip away like the shifting sands in the desert.

From Genesis 39:2, it is clear that success is not what you have, but rather who you have! Joseph literally had nothing materially, but at the same time, he had everything because the Lord was with him. The material things that you have accumulated or are feverishly trying to amass do not make you a success. It is the presence of the Lord in your life that makes you a success!

We need to learn to stop pursuing things and to start pursuing Him. God sees your relationship with Him as the only thing that you need for every success in your life. I can’t imagine starting in a worse place than Joseph. He was completely naked. He had nothing! No bank accounts, no educational qualifications, no natural connections with people of influence, nothing. Thank God the Bible records a picture of Joseph who began with nothing, so that you and I can have hope today. If you think that like Joseph, you have nothing, well, you can start believing in the power of the presence of the Lord in your life. Start looking to Jesus and claim that promise in that scripture for yourself!
Say, “The Lord is with ME, and I am a successful person.”

Say it a hundred times if you have to, and begin to see this as your reality. Stick this promise on your mirror, and every morning when you brush your teeth, remind yourself that today, as you go to work, as you go to school, as you start the day caring for your children at home (or do whatever it is that you need to do), the Lord is with you. And because He is with you, YOU ARE ALREADY A SUCCESS! When you have Jesus in your life, you are no longer trying to be a success; you ARE a success!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.[/td]

​